The Evolution of the Field of Psychology

Who was William James (1842–1910)?

An American scholar who helped broaden psychology to include the study of animals, religious experience, children, and abnormal behaviour.

What areas did William James help broaden psychology to study?

Animals

Religious experience

Children

Abnormal behavior

What school of psychology did William James strongly support?

Functionalism

What is functionalism?

A school of psychology concerned with the function of mental processes rather than their structure.

What strongly influenced functionalism?

Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution by natural selection.

What did Darwin study that influenced functionalism?

Darwin studied how physical traits help animals survive.

How did Darwin's ideas influence functionalists?

Functionalists applied a similar idea to the mind, asking how mental processes help humans adapt to their environment.

What did functionalists want to understand?

How the mind functions to allow humans to adapt to their environments.

How did functionalists view mental processes?

As fluid and constantly changing in response to the changing environment.

What is the main idea of functionalism?

Mental processes serve a function by helping people adapt to their environment.

Who was Charles Darwin?

An English naturalist whose theory of evolution by natural selection strongly influenced functionalism.

What book by Charles Darwin influenced functionalism?

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, published in 1859.

How did functionalism differ from structuralism?

Functionalism focused on the function/purpose of mental processes, while structuralism focused on the structure/components of the mind.

How did structuralists view the mind?

As a relatively lifeless set of building blocks.

Why did functionalists consider mental processes fluid?

Because mental processes are constantly changing in response to changes in the environment.

What did Alfred Adler publishes?

‘The Practice and Theory of Individual Psychology’.

Who was Phineas Gage?

A man who suffered a massive brain injury that changed his personality.

What part of Phineas Gage’s brain was injured?

His frontal lobe.

What caused Phineas Gage’s brain injury?

A metal rod caused a massive injury to his frontal lobe.

What happened to Phineas Gage’s memory and intellect after his injury?

His memory and intellect remained intact.

What did Phineas Gage’s case suggest about the brain?

Different areas of the brain may be related to different aspects of behaviour and personality

What did Phineas Gage’s injury spark interest in studying?

Which areas of the brain are related to personality.

Why is Phineas Gage’s case important to psychology?

His case provided evidence that damage to a specific brain area can alter personality, helping researchers study brain–behaviour relationships.

What is the key finding from the Phineas Gage case?

Frontal lobe damage → altered personality, while memory and intellect remained intact.

Who was Carl Rogers?

An American psychologist who founded the school of psychology known as Humanism. 1902–1987

How did Rogers develop his theory?

Through his work as a psychotherapist, focusing on mental health.

Which school of psychology did Rogers strongly reject?

The psychoanalytic school.

What did Rogers believe all people have?

An innate need to develop their own potential.

What did Rogers call the innate need to develop one's potential?

The self-actualizing tendency.

What is the self-actualizing tendency?

The innate drive to develop one's own potential.

When do problems arise according to Rogers?

When people lose touch with their innate impulses to self-actualize.

What might people focus on instead of self-actualization?

Gaining external acceptance from others.

What was Rogers's overall goal for an individual?

To become a Fully Functioning Person.

What must be achieved to become a Fully Functioning Person?

Three major criteria must be met (Openness to experiences, existential living, and trust in one's experiences), leading to two auxiliary criteria (sense of freedom and enhanced creativity).

What is the sequence for becoming a Fully Functioning Person?

Three major criteria → sense of freedom + enhanced creativity.

What are the major ideas of Rogers's Humanism?

People have an innate drive toward self-actualization and can become Fully Functioning Persons.

Who was Sigmund Freud?

An Austrian doctor who founded Psychoanalytic Psychology. 1856–1939.

What school of psychology did Freud found?

Psychoanalytic Psychology.

What did Freud believe about human nature?

Unseen, unconscious mental forces shape human nature.

How did Freud’s ideas differ from those of the Behaviourists?

Freud emphasized unconscious mental forces, while Behaviourists focused on observable behaviour.

What does Freud’s iceberg metaphor represent?

Only a small part of the mind is conscious/visible, while most is buried in the unconscious.

What is the unconscious according to Freud?

The deep part of the mind containing mental processes that are outside conscious awareness.

Why do we repress many unconscious thoughts?

Because many unconscious thoughts are threatening.

What is repression?

Pushing threatening thoughts or impulses out of conscious awareness into the unconscious.

How can unconscious thoughts sometimes appear?

Through dreams or slips of the tongue.

What are Freudian slips?

Slips of the tongue that may reveal unconscious thoughts or feelings.

What did Freud believe motivated all behaviour?

A sexual drive (libido).

What did Freud write extensively about?

Personality development.

What are the three components of personality according to Freud?

The id, ego, and superego.

What did Karen Horney publishes?

‘Our Inner Conflicts’.

Who was Karen Horney?

A psychologist who criticized Freud’s theory of female sexual development.

Who was Paul Broca?

A French doctor who studied the brain and language.

What did Paul Broca discover?

An area in the left frontal lobe now called Broca’s area.

What is Broca’s area critical for?

The production of verbal language.

What is the key connection to remember?

Paul Broca → left frontal lobe → Broca’s area → verbal language production.

Who was Solomon Asch?

A psychologist who studied the effects of conformity.

What were participants asked to do in Asch’s study?

Compare a line on one card with three lines of different lengths on another card.

Who were the other participants in the room?

They were actually actors working with the experimenter.

What answer did the actors give?

They all agreed on an incorrect answer.

What was Asch trying to find out?

Whether non-actor participants would conform to the actors and choose a clearly wrong answer.

What is conformity?

Changing or adjusting one’s behaviour or answer to match a group.

What was the key finding Asch was investigating?

Whether group pressure could cause people to give an obviously incorrect answer.

What is the key sequence to remember from Asch’s study?

Actors give wrong answer → participant faces group pressure → Does participant conform?