Prehistory and History of Psychology

A series of flashcards covering foundational concepts, theories, and prominent figures in the history of psychology.

Psychology

The study of behavior and the mind.

Behavior

Observable actions of a person or an animal, subject to natural laws.

Mind

Refers to sensations, memories, motives, emotions, thoughts, and other subjective phenomena of an individual.

What does psychology use?

• Psychology uses systematic observation and the collection of data to answer questions about the mind, behavior, their interactions

  • It seeks to describe, predict, and explain behavior and the mental processes underlying behavior

  • Many theories are elaborations or revisions of previous ones

Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek speculation on the nature of mind heavily influenced the prehistory of psychology as a science

Socrate and Plato

argued that humans possess innate knowledge that is not obtainable simply by observing the physical world

Aristotle

Argued that we derive truth from the physical world

• Application of logic and systematic observation of the world laid basis for empirical scientific method

Dualism

Divides the world into two parts: Body and Spirit.

• Currently drives the debate about differences in the brain (command center for the central nervous system) and the Mind (Sensations, memories, emotions, thoughts, and other subjective experiences of a particular individual)

Rene Descartes

Believed that the physical world and all of the creatures in it are like machines in that they behave in observable, predictable ways

• Believed that humans were the exception to this rule because they possess minds

  • Mind is not observable and not subject to natural laws

  • Hypothesized that the mind and body interact and mind control body while body provides the mind with sensory input to decipher it

John Locke

• Extended Descartes’ application of natural laws to all things, believing that even the mind is under control of such laws

  • School of thought= Empiricism

• Wrote essay concerning Human understanding aka humans are born knowing nothing

• Emphasized nature over nurture

Empiricism

The acquisition of truth through observations and experiences.

Tabula Rasa

The idea that humans are born knowing nothing; described as a 'blank slate'. aka all knowledge is derived from experience

Thomas Hobbes

believed that the idea of a soul or spirit or mind is meaningless

John Lock and Hobbes severely influenced behaviorism

Materialism was his ideology

Materialism

The belief that only matter and energy exist; consciousness is a by-product of brain machinery.

Charles Darwin

Proposed Theory of Natural Selection

Natural Selection

Theory proposed by Darwin that explains evolution based on adaptive traits.

(Survival to the fittest)

Evolutionary Theory

• affected psychology by providing a way to explain differences between species and justfying the use of animals as a means to study the roots of human behavior

• Behavior evolves just like physiology: both function to help individuals survive

Wilhem Wundt

• Father of Psychology

• Wanted to apply methods he used to study the body to study the mind

• Open laboratory to study consciousness

Edward Tichnor

sought to identify the smallest possible elements of the mind, theorizing that understanding all of the parts would lead to understanding of greater structure of the mind aka Structuralism

Structuralism

A theory that seeks to identify the smallest possible elements of the mind.

Introspection

Interview process

• Experimenter could present stimuli to subjects, ask them to describe their conscious and then work to identify commonalities among various participants’ conscious descriptions

William James

• Argued that what is important is the function of the mind, such as how it solves a complex problem

• Heavily influenced by Darwin, believed that the important thing to understand is how the mind fulfills its purpose

• Opposed structuralist approach

• Functionalism

Functionalism

Approach emphasizing the function of the mind in solving complex problems.

Dorthea Dix

crucial in advocating for the rights of mentally ill poor people and was instrumental in founding the first public mental hospital in the US

Mary Whiton Calkins

First female graduate student in psychology, but denied a PhD because of gender

Margret Floy Washburn

 First female PhD in Psychology and second female president of the American Psychology Association

Washburn thesis was the first foreign policy published by William Wundt but was not allowed to join the organization of experimental psychologists because of her gender

Approaches

Biological, Behavioral Genetics, Behaviorist, Cognitive, Humanistic, Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic, Sociocultural, Evolutionary, and Biopsychosocial

Biological Psychology

• Field of Psychology seeking to understand interactions between anatomy and physiology (Particularly the nervous system) and behavior

• Practiced by applying biological experimentations to psychological problems

  • Determining which portion of the brain is involved in a particular behavioral process through using CAT scans, MRIs, EEGs or PET scans

Behavioral genetics

•  Field of Psychology exploring how particular behaviors may be attributed to specific, genetically based psychological characteristics

• Takes into account biological predisposition and extent of influence that environment had on the manifestation of that trait

• A person studying this might investigate to what extent risk-taking behavior in adolescents is attributable to genetics

Behaviorist

• Mind or mental events are unimportant, as they cannot be observed

• Classical conditioning

• Operant Conditioning

• Behaviorism

Behaviorism

Psychology that focuses on observable behavior rather than mental events.

Classical Conditioning

•  first identified by Ivan Pavlov was one of the most important earl findings

  • A basic form of learning in which behavior comes to be elicited b a formerly neutral stimulus

  • John Watson and Rosalie Rayner applied this to humans in the Little Albert experiment: made loud noises behind a 9 year old whenever he touches something white and furry making him scared of it afterwards

Operant conditioning

• a subject learns to associate a behavior with an environmental outcome

• BF Skinner was behind this

Behavior Modification

A set of techniques in which psychological problems are considered to be the product of learned habits, which can be unlearned by the application of behavioral methods

Behaviorism is applied here

Cognitive Psychology

• Definition: approach rooted in the idea that to understand people’s behavior, we must first understand how they construe their environment aka how they think

• focuses on learning, memory, problem solving, decision making, language, and intelligence

• combines both the structuralist approach of looking subcomponents of thought and functionalist approach of understanding the purpose of thought

• Sometimes called cognitive-behavioral approach, largely replaced the purely behavioral approach as the predominant psychological method used in the US

Humanistic Approach

• rooted in tradition of studying the role of consciousness, free will, and awareness of the human condition

• holistic study of personality that developed in response to a general dissatisfaction with behaviorism’s inattention to the mind and its function and psychoanalysis’s focus on the unconscious conflict and drives

• emphasize personal value and goals and how they influence behavior, rather than attempting to divide personality into smaller components

Abraham Maslow

• proposed idea of self-actualization, the need for individuals to reach their full potential in a creative way

  • attaining self-actualization meaning accepting yourself and your nature while knowing your limits and strengths

Carl Rogers

stressed the role of unconditional positive regard in interactions and the need for a positive self-concept as critical factors in attaining self-actualization

Psychoanalytic Theory/ Psychodynamic

Freud's theory that emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind and early childhood experiences.

• Concerned with individuals and their mental problems

• Drew a distinction between concious and unconcious mind

Concious Mind

a mental state of awareness that we have ready access to

Evolutionary

• Draws upon theories of Darwin

• Behavior best explained in terms of how adaptive that behavior is to our survival

  • Fear is an adaptive evolutionary response; without fear, our survival would be Jeopardized

Sociocultural Approach

• believing that the environment of a person lives in has a great deal to do with how the person behaves and how other perceive that behavior

• cultural values vary from society and must be taken into account if one wishes to understand, predict, or control behavior

• considers the role sociological factors like socioeconomic status, education, occupation, and demographics in understanding a person’s psychological health

Biopsychosocial Approach

Emphasizes the interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors in understanding behavior.

Conscious Mind

Mental state of awareness we have ready access to.

Unconscious Mind

Mental processes we do not normally have access to, influencing behavior.

Psychoanalytic theory

stresses the importance of early childhood experiences and a child’s relationship with their parents to the development of personality

Psychoanalytic Approach

therapy focuses on the resolution of unconscious mind conflict through uncovering information that has been repressed, or buried in their unconscious

Domain

Broad areas of psychological research

Behavior Modification

Techniques to unlearn detrimental habits based on behaviorist principles.

Biological domain

Question concerning the effect of drugs on behavior

Social Domain

Question dealing with relationships between drug users and their families

Clinical Domain

a question that considers treatment options for someone addicted to drugs

Cognitive domain

What thoughts might someone entertain to justify their drug use

Counseling domain

How might a school counselor talk to a student about drugs

Developmental Domain

At what ages might someone be susceptible to peer pressure

Educational Domain

How effective are the school systems

Experimental Domain

Dealing with experiments

Industrial Organization

Dealing with Workplaces

Personality Domain

Deals with personality

Psychometric domain

Dealing with how to measure things in psychology

Positive Domain