History of Psychology

The scientific study of the mind and behavior

Psychology

- Ancient Egyptian doctors linked traumatic brain injuries to behavioral changes

- Ancient Greek philosophers contemplated the origins of knowledge

- Ancient Greek physician, Hippocrates, developed the world's first personality classification (hot, dry, wet, cold)

Historical Roots

The idea that personality, intellect, and character traits could be determined by measuring the bumps, shapes, and contours of the skull

Phrenology

Suffered brain injury in frontal lobe and became impulsive/irritable. Incident linked the frontal lobe to decision-making, planning, and social behavior.

Phineas Gage

Approach to psychology that attempted to isolate and analyze the mind's basic elements. Limitation: experiences are subjective.

Key Figures: William Wundt (opened first experimental psychology lab)

Structuralism

Subjective observation of one's own experiences.

Introspection

Approach to psychology that studies the purpose and functions of behaviors/mental processes.

Key Figure: William James

Functionalism

The process by which specific attributes that promote an organism's survival and reproduction become more prevalent in the population over time.

Key Figure: Charles Darwin

Natural Selection

Restricts scientific inquiry to observable behavior (less subjective more scientific) Ex: stimulus + response when feeding lab dogs.

Behaviorism

Any behavior that is rewarded will be repeated and any behavior that isn't repeated won't be. Ex: Animals to act on their environment to find food.

Key Figures: Watson and Pavlov (rat + lever experiement)

Reinforcement

The scientific study of internal mental processes—how people perceive, learn, remember, think, and solve problems. Study only observable behavior more scientific and less subjective

Cognitive Psychology

The loss of function with no obvious physical origin

Hysteria

Attempts to explain how behavior and personality are

influenced by unconscious processes.

Key Figure: Sigmund Freud (suspected hysteria + other nervous disorders stemmed from painful childhood experiences, or the hidden unconscious)

Psychoanalytic Theory

The part of the mind that contains information that people are unaware of

Unconscious

A field that draws comparisons about individual

and group behaviors across cultures.

Cross-Cultural Psychology

Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic

W.E.I.R.D.

Fundamental knowledge and theoretical understanding with long-term, abstract goals.

Basic Research

Aims to solve specific, practical, real-world problems with tangible results.

Applied Research