History and Approaches

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Psychology

Behavior refers to:

Any action or reaction of a living organism which can be directly observed

Mental processes include:

Internal processes such as thinking, feeling, and desiring that can only be indirectly observed

4 goals of Psychology:

Describe particular behaviors, explain why a behavior or mental process occurred, predict the conditions under which a future behavior or mental process is likely to occur, apply psychological knowledge to promote desired goals and prevent unwanted behaviors

Psychology describes particular behaviors by:

Naming, classifying, and measuring them

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) was a:

German scientist

Who established the first psychology research laboratory?

Wilhelm Wundt

Wundt wrote a:

Landmark text

Who was the first person to call himself a “psychologist”?

Wilhelm Wundt

Wundt and his students conducted studies on the:

"elements" of consciousness

The "elements" of consciousness that Wundt and his students conducted studies on include:

Sensation, perception, emotion

Wundt pioneered a research method called:

Introspection

What happens during introspection?

Subjects report detailed descriptions of their own conscious mental experiences

Edward Titchener (1867-1927) was inspired by whose ideas?

Wundt’s

Edward Tichener established a:

Psychological laboratory

Edward Tichener established a psychological laboratory at:

Cornell University

Titchener trained his students to use:

Introspection

The purpose of Titchener training his students to use introspection was for them to:

Identify the most basic components, or structures, of conscious experiences

Example of how a structuralist uses introspection:

Ask research subjects to describe their immediate sensations while looking at a rose

Structuralism proved to be a(n) reliable/unreliable method of investigation

Unreliable

Why did Structuralism prove to be an unreliable method of investigation?

Different subjects often reported very different introspective findings about the same stimulus

Introspection could not be used to study:

Young children, animals, or complex subjects such as mental disorders.

Functionalists were led by:

William James (1842-1910)

William James was a professor at:

Harvard

Functionalists emphasized studying:

The purpose, or function, of behavior and mental experiences

How did Functionalists view the introspective method of gathering information?

Rejected it

Example of how Functionalists rejected the introspective method of gathering information:

Instead of asking subjects to describe the emotion of fear, functionalists studied how fear enables people and animals to adapt to their environments

What did Functionalists do to the scope of psychological research?

Broadened it

Functionalists broaden the scope of psychological research to include:

The direct observation of human and nonhuman animals

Both the structuralists and the functionalists focused on the study of:

Conscious experiences

Sigmund Freud was a(n):

Austrian physician

Sigmund Freud emphasized:

The role of unconscious drives and conflicts in determining behavior and personality

Freud's school of psychological thought is known as:

Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis focused attention on:

Conflicts between accepted norms of behavior and unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses

Freud believed that what things provide glimpses into the unconscious mind?

Dreams, slips of the tongue (called "Freudian slips"), and memory blocks

The modern psychodynamic approach incorporates:

Many of Freud's landmark theories

Structuralists vs Gestalt psychologists:

Divided the object under study into a set of elements that could be analyzed separately vs focused on constructing perpetual wholes

Gestalt theories and methodologies are used to explain:

Perceptual organization

Early approaches of Psychology:

Wilhelm Wundt, Structuralism, Functionalism, Psychoanalysis, Gestalt

Behaviorists believe that what processes are unobservable?

Both conscious and unconscious mental processes

Behaviorism focuses scientific investigations on:

Observable behaviors that can be objectively measured

Behaviorists believe that human behavior is:

Learnt

Behaviorists believe that human behavior can / cannot be controlled

Can

Behaviorists believe that human behavior can be controlled through:

Presence or absence of rewards and punishments

Behaviorism emerged from the pioneering work of:

Ivan Pavlov

Ivan Pavlov was a:

Russian physiologist

Pavlov conducted a series of famous experiments which demonstrated that:

Much behavior among animals is learned rather than instinctive

John B. Watson (1878-1958) was a(n):

American psychologist

John B. Watson applied whose line of reasoning to human behavior?

Pavlov’s

John B. Watson applied Pavlov’s reasoning to:

Human behavior

Watson is best known as the:

Founder of behaviorism

Watson believed that human beings could be:

Socialized in any direction

Watson believed that human beings could be socialized in any direction through:

Learning

Who declared "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in, and I guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and, yes, even beggar and thief.”?

John B. Watson

When did John B. Watson declare "Give me a dozen healthy infants, well formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in, and I guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and, yes, even beggar and thief.”?

1924

Watson's ideas had a great influence on the thinking of:

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)

Who was the leading advocate of behaviorism?

B. F. Skinner

What made B. F. Skinner the leading advocate of behaviorism?

His experiments and writings

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) was a(n):

American psychologist

Carl Rogers (1902-1987) played a key role in the rise of:

Humanistic psychology

Rogers believed that the drive toward self-actualization is:

Innate

Why did Rogers believe that the drive toward self-actualization is innate?

Every person has the ability to reach their full potential

Carl Rogers emphasized the importance of:

Free will and choice in human behavior

The humanistic approach played an important role in the rise of:

Self-help and support groups

Key leaders in the development of Humanistic psychology?

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

Freud's key theories about the unconscious continue to influence contemporary psychologists who follow the:

Psychodynamic perspective

The psychodynamic perspective continues to emphasize the importance of:

Unconscious thoughts and desires

The psychodynamic perspective places less emphasis on:

Sexual instincts

The psychodynamic approach to therapy emphasizes:

Repressed memories, free association, dream interpretation, and analysis of transference

Psychologists who employ the biological approach study the:

Physical bases of human and animal behaviour

The cognitive approach focuses on the way humans:

Gather, store, and process sensory information

Cognitive psychologists are influenced by the:

Computer Revolution

Cognitive psychologists conceptualise:

Human memory, thinking, and problem solving

How do cognitive psychologists conceptualise human memory, thinking, and problem solving?

By using an information-processing model

Example of how cognitive psychologists use an information-processing model to conceptualise human memory, thinking, and problem solving

A cognitive psychologist would study problem-solving strategies in chess.

Edward Tolman conducted pioneering research on:

Latent learning and cognitive maps

The sociocultural approach focuses on how:

Culture and social situations affect the way people think, feel, and behave

The evolutionary approach uses the principles of:

Evolution

The evolutionary approach uses the principles of evolution to explain:

Psychological processes and phenomena.

Evolutionary psychologists believe that _____ plays a key role in determining human behavior.

Natural selection

Examples of how evolutionary psychologists use principles of evolution to explain psychological processes and phenomena:

Investigating how natural selection plays a part in why many people have an innate fear of the dark, male preference for attractive, youthful spouses and the female preference for males who possess high social status and financial resources

The biological, psychological, and sociocultural approaches can be used to form:

An integrated approach

The biopsychosocial approach allows psychologists to utilize:

Focused theoretical perspectives that offer ways of looking at behavior or mental processes

Modern approaches of Psychology:

Behavioral, humanistic, psychodynamic, biological, cognitive, sociocultural, evolutionary, biopsychosocial

Psychology embraces a narrow/wide range of specialty areas

Wide

Which psychological specialty areas attract the largest number of doctoral students?

Clinical psychology and counseling

Clinical psychology specializes in the:

Evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of mental and behavioral disorders.

Forensic psychology applies the principles of psychology to the:

Legal profession

Examples of legal profession which forensic psychology applies the principles of psychology to:

Jury selection and psychological profiling

Educational psychology uses:

Knowledge of how people learn

Educational psychology uses knowledge of how people learn to:

Help develop instructional methods and materials

Industrial-organizational psychology applies the principles of psychology to:

The workplace

Examples of aspects of the workspace which industrial-organizational psychology applies the principles of psychology to:

Employee motivation, job satisfaction, personnel selection, effectiveness of management training programs.

Sample careers of Psychology:

Clinical, forensic, educational, industrial-organizational