Science of Psychology - Principles of Growth and Development

Psychology

Scientific study of human behavior and mental processes (mind).

Science

Focused on studying and investigating certain behaviors by applying one or a combination of scientific methods.

Study of Behavior

To study the mind, one has to associate the way of thinking of an individual with his behavior.

Mental Processes

Includes forms of cognition, and ways of knowing (man’s perception, attention, and capability to remember, to reason, and to solve problems).

Behavior

Actions and reactions of the individual when exposed or placed in a certain situation or environment.

Overt

Behaviors that are outward.

Covert

Activities that are hidden.

Conscious

Acts that are within the level of one’s awareness.

Unconscious

Acts that are not within the level of one’s awareness.

Rational

Acts that are exercised with reason.

Irrational

Acts that are committed for no apparent reason or explanation.

Voluntary

Acts are done with full volition or will.

Involuntary

Processes within our body that go on even while we are sleeping.

Simple

Involve a few neurons in the process of behaving.

Complex

It involves more neurons in the process of behaving.

Aims and Goals of Psychology

Describe, Explain, Predict, Control

Animism

It is the gods and spirits who were attributed to be the direct cause of events and activities of man.

Democritus

Theorized that the human mind is composed of atoms, which penetrate in and out of our system.

Plato

Believed that the soul is distinct to man and it is God-given.

Head (Mind)

Element of Reason

Heart (Emotions)

Spirited Element

Diaphragm

Element of Bodily Appetites and Desire

Aristotle

Father of Psychology because he was the first person to put into writing his explanation about man's behavior.

Functions of the soul

Vegetative, Appetitive, Rational

Vegetative

Basic maintenance of life

Appetitive

Desire and motives

Rational

Governs reason that is located in the heart

Hippocrates

Father of the Medicine

Galen

Behavior may be attributed to the humors or vital juices of the body or the bile.

Sanguine (Yellow)

Cheerfulness

Phlegmatic (Green)

Sluggishness

Melancholic (Black)

Sadness

Choleric (Red)

Quick-Tempered

St. Augustine of Hippo

Introduced the method of introspection (individual tries to describe his conscious processes).

St. Thomas Aquinas

Belief that when the body dies, the soul separates and becomes a spirit.

Rudolf Gockel

Often attributed to the initial use of the term “psychology” in his writing “Yucologia Hoc Est De Hominis Perfectione, Anima, Ortu”

Francis Bacon

First proposed that psychology should separate from philosophy and psychology should be treated as a natural science – NATURALISM

Rene Descartes

Introduced the idea of dualism and reflex action, indicating that the mind and body interact.

Mind

Spiritual Entity

Body

Physical or Material Entity

Thomas Hobbes

Discomforts/pains must be overcome human beings are physical objects and sophisticated machines whose functions and activities can be described and explained in purely mechanistic terms

John Locke

Tabula Rasa – Mind Blank Tablet/Slate

George Berkeley (1709)

The idea of an individual becoming true only to himself because of the level of knowledge he believes in.

Christian Von Wolff

Had his theory of reality; Two Parts of Reality

Ontology

Treats of possible things

Metaphysics

Treats of actual things

Three Special Subjects

The Universe, The Soul, God

David Hume (1748)

Gave the difference between impressions and ideas, between created images and direct sensation.

Franz Anton Mesmer (1774)

Utilized the method of “Animal Magnetism” in curing hysteria, which evolved into hypnosis.

Immanuel Kant (1782)

Stated that the mind is not blank, but rather the mind is capable of acquiring knowledge through sensory experiences

Johann Friedrich Herbart (1816)

Was responsible for making psychology a science.

Ernst Weber (1817)

Pioneered areas about the ideas that are necessary to be stimulated to be able to gain sensation.

Hermann von Helmholtz (1856)

Made the theory of color vision.

Charles Darwin (1859)

Introduced the theory of evolution; introduced the concept of natural selection.

Gustav Fechner (1860)

Had an insight that the law of the connection between the mind and the body can be found in a statement of quantitative relation between mental sensation and material stimulus.

Paul Broca (1861)

Observed that the persons who suffered from damage to a specific area of the brain's left hemisphere may lose their ability to speak fluently.

Francis Galton (1865)

Father of Behavioral Genetics.

Wilhelm Wundt

Father of modern/scientific psychology.

William James

Founder of American Psychology met with Wilhelm Wundt and went on to publish a two-volume book entitled, “Principles of Psychology”

Emil Kraeplin

Father of modern psychiatry.

Edward Titchener

Studied under Wilhelm Wundt and went on to develop the idea of Structuralism.

Sigmund Freud

Father of psychoanalysis

Carl Jung

He emphasizes the importance of the collective unconscious as the basis of the effect on behavior

Alfred Adler

Conceptualized the importance of superiority and inferiority as a factor that affects man’s existence.

Karen Horney

Made a theory that human beings have the “basic need for love and security”

Karl Pearson

A major contribution to psychology through the statistical evaluation of human behavior. Apart from correlational analysis, Pearson developed the chi-squared statistic with the intellectual encouragement of Galton.

Charles Spearman

“First systematic psychometrician” and father of classical test theory- pioneered the statistical technique called factor analysis and discovered a general factor (g) in correlations among mental tests.

Alfred Binet and Theodore Simon

Developed the First Intelligence Quotient (IQ) test

Ivan Pavlov

First experimental model of learning, Classical Conditioning

William McDougall

The exponent of hormic psychology, the central idea is that there is an end or purpose which goads us to action, without any real knowledge of its nature, and often without benefit or even thought of pleasure

Edward Thorndike

“Father of educational psychology” known for his early animal studies and the founding principle of Instrumental Learning, “The Law of Effect”

B.F. Skinner

Operant Conditioning

Structuralism

William James; Wilhelm Wundt

Functionalism

John Dewey; William James; James Rowland Angell; Harvey

Carr

Behaviorism

John B. Watson

Gestalt

Max Wertheimer

Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud

Psychoanalysis as a form of

Psychotherapy, Theory of Personality, Theory of Development

Cognitive Psychology

It is a theoretical perspective that focuses on the realms of human perception, thought, and memory.

Jean Piaget

Students learn better when they can invent knowledge through inquiry and experimentation instead of acquiring facts presented by a teacher in class.

Lev Vygotsky

Emphasized the role of social interactions in knowledge construction.

Existentialist Psychology

Brenato; Husseri

Humanistic

Abraham Maslow

Theoretical

Based on the proposed explanation or conclusion involves theories, concepts, and basic principles

Experimental

Observations and experiments

Abnormal

Study the cause of behavioral disorders.

Physiological

Study the functions of the different organs and systems of the body relating to behavior.

Dynamic

Interpretation of internal drives and motives

Developmental

Growth and development

Comparative

Behavior and mental processes of different species

Applied

Application of concepts, theories, and principles

Educational

Psychological principles to the problems of education.

Industrial

Businesses, firms, and industries.

Social

Study of people’s behavior about society.

Counseling

They are alleviating and preventing mental illness.

Clinical

Treatment of mental disorders.

Forensic/Legal

Law or legal proceedings.

Psychometric

Measurement of behavior and capacities through psychological tests.

Biopsychology

The application of the principle of biology to the study of mental processes and behavior

Physiological Psychology

The study of neural mechanisms of perception and behavior through direct manipulation of the brains of nonhuman animal subjects in controlled experiments