Comprehensive Study Guide: Definition, History, and Early Perspectives of Psychology

Psychology as a Scientific Field

• Definition and Approach:

  • Psychology relies on precise and careful measurement to study behavior and mental processes scientifically.

  • The scientific method in psychology is designed to prevent possible biases from leading to faulty observations.

• Psychology's Four Goals:

  • Description: Focuses on answering the question, "What is happening?"

  • Explanation: Focuses on answering the question, "Why is it happening?"

  • Theory: Defined as a general explanation of a set of observations or facts.

  • Prediction: Focuses on answering the question, "Will it happen again?"

  • Control: Focuses on answering the question, "How can it be changed?"

Structuralism

• Core Definition:

  • An early school of psychology focused on the structure or basic elements of the mind.

• Wilhelm Wundt:

  • Established the first formal psychology laboratory in Germany in 1879.

  • Developed the technique of objective introspection, which is the process of objectively examining and measuring one's thoughts and mental activities.

• Key Figures:

  • Edward Titchener: A student of Wilhelm Wundt who brought structuralism to America.

  • Margaret Washburn: A student of Edward Titchener who became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology.

• Historical Outcome:

  • Structuralism died out in the early 1900s.

Functionalism

• Core Definition:

  • Focused on how the mind allows people to adapt, live, work, and play.

• Key Figure:

  • Proposed by William James.

• Influence on Modern Psychological Fields:

  • Educational psychology

  • Evolutionary psychology

  • Industrial/organizational psychology

Gestalt Psychology

• Core Definition and Origin:

  • Gestalt translates to "good figure" psychology.

  • Started with Wertheimer, who studied sensation and perception.

• Gestalt Perception:

  • Explores how the eye tends to "fill in the blanks" when viewing incomplete visual input.

  • Demonstrates that perception interprets visual stimuli as complete shapes (for example, seeing images as circles rather than as a series of dots or a broken line).

• Integration into Cognitive Psychology:

  • Gestalt ideas are now an integral part of the study of cognitive psychology.

  • Cognitive psychology focuses not only on perception, but also on:

  • Learning

  • Memory

  • Thought processes

  • Problem solving

Psychoanalysis

• Core Definition:

  • The theory and therapy based on the work of Sigmund Freud.

• Key Theoretical Concepts:

  • Freud's patients suffered from nervous disorders with no found physical cause.

  • Proposed the existence of an unconscious (unaware) mind into which individuals push, or repress, all of their threatening urges and desires.

  • Believed that these repressed urges, in trying to surface, created nervous disorders.

  • Stressed the crucial importance of early childhood experiences.

Behaviorism

• Core Definition:

  • The science of behavior that focuses on observable behavior only.

  • Dictates that behavior must be directly seen and measured.

• Key Figures and Case Studies:

  • Proposed by John B. Watson.

  • Based heavily on the work of Ivan Pavlov, who demonstrated that a reflex could be conditioned (learned).

  • Watson believed that phobias were learned responses.

  • Case of "Little Albert": Watson demonstrated conditioning by teaching a child known as "Little Albert" to fear a white rat.

  • Mary Cover Jones: An early pioneer in behavior therapy.

Modern Perspectives

• Psychodynamic Perspective:

  • Serves as the modern version of psychoanalysis.

  • Focuses more on the development of a sense of self and the discovery of other motivations behind a person's behavior than sexual motivations.

  • Associated with learning objectives covering modern perspectives linked to figures such as B. F. Skinner, Abraham Maslow, and Carl Rogers.