The Discipline of Psychology

Psychology

The objective study of the mind, derived from the root words "psyche" (mind) and "logos" (study).

Hub science

An influential science, as defined by Boyack.

Seven

The number of hub sciences.

1.2-1.8 million

The number of undergraduates in the US enrolled in introductory psychology courses.

30%

The percentage of high school graduates who have completed a psychology course.

21-24%

The percentage of the world's psychologists that are located in the US.

80%

The percentage of the world's psychologists in the US during the 1980s.

1870s

The decade when psychology dates back to.

6000 to 5000 BCE Assyria

The time period of the earliest examples of dream descriptions.

Common dreams

Being chased, trying again and again, and arriving too late.

Psychology roots

Philosophy and natural sciences.

Aristotle

Philosopher who believed all knowledge is gained through sensory experience.

Empiricism

A 17th-century British philosophical school emphasizing knowledge through experience.

Hermann von Helmholtz

Researcher known for studying touch reaction time.

Gustav Fechner

Psychologist who studied auditory perception and mental processes.

Statistical significance

More than 50% or chance, as defined by Gustav Fechner.

Wilhelm Wundt

The first psychologist and psychology experimenter, assistant to Helmholtz.

Wundt's experiment

Focused on hearing reaction time.

Edward Titchener

Wundt's student who established structuralism.

Gestalt psychology

A school of thought led by Kurt Koffka, Max Wertheimer, and Wolfgang Köhler.

Functionalism

A psychological perspective advocated by William James.

Principles of Psychology

A dominant psychology textbook written by William James.

Stream of consciousness

A term coined by William James to describe the flow of ideas when awake.

Mary Whiton Calkins

A student of William James who studied memory and served as APA president in 1905.

Functionalism fate

Absorbed into mainstream psychology.

Historical view of psychological disorders

Initially thought to be caused by evil spirits or magical forces.

Sigmund Freud

Introduced concepts of the unconscious mind, sexuality development, and dream analysis.

Psychoanalysis

A dominant psychological approach in the early 20th century.

Francis Cecil Sumner

The first African American to earn a doctorate in psychology, focusing on psychoanalysis, religion, and racism.

Humanistic psychology

Known as the "third force," emphasizing the corrupting influence of society.

Freud's beliefs

Human behavior exists on a continuum with animal behavior, with society playing a civilizing role.

Humanistic psychology influences

Draws from Jean-Jacques Rousseau and 18th-century Romantic philosophers.

Abraham Maslow

Known for his work on what makes a person good and for developing positive psychology.

Carl Rogers

Developed client-centered therapy.

Client-centered therapy

Focuses on clients rather than patients, emphasizing active listening and unconditional love.

Behaviorism

A psychological perspective dominant from the early 1900s to the 1960s.

Structuralism fate

Has fallen out of favor in modern psychology.

Behaviorists' experiments

Primarily involved animal research and learning.

Abraham Maslow's contributions

Developed a theory of motivation and ideas about exceptional individuals.

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov

Discovered classical conditioning while studying digestion.

John B

Independently discovered classical conditioning through rat learning experiments.

John B

Transitioned from academia to a successful advertising career.

Watson's psychological legacy

Restricted psychology to the study of observable behavior.

Edward Thorndike

Known for the law of effect, studying behaviors in cat puzzle boxes.

Law of effect

States that behaviors with positive outcomes are repeated, while those with negative outcomes are not.

B

Proposed that inner states follow the same rules as outer states and developed the Skinner box.

Skinner's behaviorism applications

Applied to smoking cessation and self-paced education for ASD treatment.

Ulric Neisser

Authored the 1967 book "Cognitive Psychology."

Alan Newell and Herbert Simon

Pioneers in artificial intelligence.

1980s

The decade when most universities began offering courses in cognition.

1990s

The emergence of cognitive neuroscience through collaboration between biology and cognitive psychology.

Black box model

A behaviorist approach where data enters and responses exit without understanding internal processes

Jean Piaget 1928

Published Judgement and Reasoning in the Child

1921

First Gestalt journal published in Germany

James McKeen Cattell at UPenn and Columbia

First psychology professor; student of Wilhelm Wundt

Wilhelm Wundt at university of Lezpig, Germany

First psychology laboratory

G. Stanley Hall, Johns Hopkins

Student of Wundt; first American psychology laboratory

Joseph Jastrow (Hall's student)

First Doctorate of psychology, Johns Hopkins

Lightner Witmer

Opens first psychology clinic

Big theory vs. perspectives

Needs a lot of experimental data vs. focuses specifically

Cross-cutting themes

Ethics, application, variations in human functioning, cultural and social diversity

24% of doctoral-level psychologists

Percentage that teaches and/or conducts university research

45% of doctoral-level psychologists

Percentage that works as therapists

1-2 years

Years added to bachelor's to get a master's

2-5 years

Years added to master's degree to get doctoral degree

1 year

Years added for those preparing to be a clinical psychiatrist