History-of-Psychology

Overview of Psychology and Psychopathology

  • Psychology is over 100 years old, but the origins of treating abnormal behavior go back 8,000 to 10,000 years to the Stone Age.

  • Evidence from thousands of skulls with trephining holes has been found in Europe and South America.

  • Trephining involved creating holes in the skull, likely believed to release evil spirits.

Trephining Practices

  • Trephining: a practice from the Stone Age where holes were drilled into people’s skulls for unknown reasons.

    • Hypothesized to allow evil spirits to escape or as a treatment for abnormal behavior.

    • Similar practices were recorded as late as the 1970s among the Kisii of Kenya.

  • Possible connections to frontal lobotomies, using primitive techniques to treat severe mental illness.

Demonic Possession (Demonology)

  • Many ancient societies assumed strange behaviors were due to demonic possession.

  • Worldwide belief in demonology, prevalent among Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, Hebrews, Christians.

  • Example of demonic possessions found in religious texts like the Bible, demonstrating society's views on mental illness.

Treatment Methods in Ancient Times (for Demonology)

  • The church often addressed mental illness through religious practices and exorcisms.

  • Treatment methods included:

    • Prayer rites and exorcisms: Time-consuming rituals performed by priests.

    • Noise and loud sounds: Used to exorcise demons.

    • Starvation and potions: Based on the assumption that poisons might purge demons.

    • Flogging and beating: Used as methods for treatment, albeit inhumane.

Greco-Roman Healing

  • Healing temples dedicated to Asclepius, the Greek god of healing.

    • Patients would stay overnight hoping for healing through dreams.

    • Healing process based on mystical experiences rather than medical reasoning.

Hippocrates: The Father of Modern Medicine

  • Lived 5th to 4th century BC; separated medicine from religion.

  • Proposed that physical causes (somatogenic origins) explain deviant behavior.

    • Categorized mental illness into three types: mania, melancholia, and frenitis (brain fever).

      • Mania: A hyperenergetic and impulsive mental state.

      • Melancholia: A deep state of sadness or depression.

      • Frenitis: Historical term for brain fever or severe agitation people act crazy.

    • Suggested treatments based on balancing bodily fluids (blood, bile, phlegm).

    • Four humors (Need balance of these humors):

      1. Blood: Associated with a sanguine temperament, characterized by sociability and optimism.

      2. Phlegm: Linked to a phlegmatic temperament, marked by calmness and reliability.

      3. Yellow Bile: Corresponds to a choleric temperament, known for being energetic and passionate.

      4. Black Bile: Tied to a melancholic temperament, often associated with sadness and introspection. According to Hippocrates, an imbalance of these humors would lead to illness.

Witch Hunts

  • Following the fall of the Roman Empire (476 AD), society turned back to superstition and the church's influence rose.

  • Middle Ages (1300-1500 AD) - series of famines, plagues and social unrest (population cut in half!)

  • Large scale witch hunts began (1484 AD) —innocent people were accused and tortured.

  • Significant events contributing to witch hunts:

    • Inquisition: Church mechanism established for questioning alleged witches.

    • (1486 AD) Publication of Malleus Maleficarum: A manual on how to hunt witches, which worsened accusations and torture.

Witch Hunt Procedures

  • Guilty until proven innocent: common questions included asking how long one had been a witch.

    • How long have you been a witch?

    • Why did you become a witch?

    • How did you become a witch, and what happened on that occasion?

      • Guilty until proven innocent

    • What animals have you bewitched to sickness or death, and why did you commit such acts?

    • What is the ointment of which you rub your broomstick is made of?

      • witches believed to fuck brooms with high ointments

  • Examination of physical marks or behaviors as evidence of witchcraft (red spots).

  • Skin insensitivity

  • Sudden loss of reasoning

  • Women were disproportionately targeted based on societal beliefs around sexuality and power.

  • Suspected witches were tortured if they did not confess

    • confessor were imprisoned for life

    • unconfessed were burned at the stake

Tortures Used During Witch Hunts

  • Various tortures employed:

    • Drowning tests: Suspected witches were submerged in water.

      • if she dieded she was not witch

    • Racking: Stretching victims until limbs dislocated.

    • Burning and hanging: Common ending for those accused who didn't confess.

    • Hot irons and confinement: Methods to extract confessions.

Evolving Treatment of the Mentally Ill

  • In the late 16th century, asylums were established, marking the beginning of institutional care for the mentally ill but often cruel treatment.

  • Philippe Pinel advocated for humane treatment around 1800, emphasizing psychological care over physical restraint.

    • Asylum conditions improved for the better as a result

Significant Figures in Psychology

  • Wilhelm Wundt: Established the first psychological laboratory, often called the father of psychology. Psychology as a separate science

  • Sigmund Freud: Developed psychoanalysis based on unconscious motivations and early experiences.

  • Ivan Pavlov: Discovered classical conditioning through experimentation with dogs.

  • John B. Watson: Founded behaviorism, emphasizing the impact of the environment on behavior.

  • B.F. Skinner: Radical behaviorist known for studying reinforcement and punishment in learning.

  • Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow: Pioneered humanistic psychology focusing on human potential, self-actualization, and positive aspects of human nature.