Unit 0 History of Psychology — The Different Psychological Schools of Thought

What is Psychology?

  • Definition: The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

  • Behavior: Anything an organism does (can be recorded).

  • Mental Processes: Internal subjective experiences we infer from behavior (sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, feelings).

Critically Thinking About Humans

  • People have always had questions pertaining to humans:

    • 1. Why we do the things we do?

    • 2. Why do we think the way we do?

  • Aristotle - thought about learning, memory, motivation, personality, etc.

  • Dream interpretation.

The Need For A Scientific Approach

  • Intuition is not scientific proof.

  • People want/need proof/evidence and data of why people behave or interact the way they do.

  • Psychology uses a systematic approach to understanding humans & their complex behavior.

A Long & Complicated Path To Today…

  • Page 5 notes a long historical path; no detailed content provided in the transcript beyond this heading.

Phrenology

  • Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828)

  • Phrenology: The detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character and mental ability.

  • Not accurate but a start.

Structuralism & Functionalism

  • Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) & Edward Titchener (1867-1927)

  • Structuralism:

    • Early school of Psychology, used introspection to reveal the structures of the human mind.

  • Introspection:

    • Looking within; how does something make you feel or what does something make you think of?

Structuralism & Functionalism (continued)

  • William James (1842-1910) & Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930)

  • Functionalism:

    • Early school of Psychology that explored how mental and behavioral processes function, how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.

  • Consciousness: developed because it was adaptive.

Gestalt Psychology

  • Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, & Wolfgang Köhler (1920s)

  • Gestalt Psychology:

    • Emphasises the tendency to organize & integrate stimuli into meaningful patterns.

    • The larger picture is more important than the individual pieces.

  • Vision and info processing.

  • Example: Difference between a desk and a table.

Behaviorism

  • John B. Watson (1878-1958) & B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)

  • Behaviorism (Behaviorists):

    • Psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes.

    • Study observable behavior.

    • If can’t be observed it can’t be studied.

Freudian Psychology

  • Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

  • Freudian Psychology (Psychoanalytic):

    • Behavior is affected by:

    • Unconscious thoughts

    • Childhood experiences

  • Used introspection “talk therapy”.

  • Behaviorism & Freudian Psychology were two main branches into the 1960s.

FREUD'S ICEBERG THEORY

  • Conscious: Thoughts, perceptions, memory stored knowledge, self-awareness.

  • Preconscious: Stored knowledge accessible with effort.

  • Unconscious: Instincts, fears, selfish motives.

  • Diagram components mentioned: Thoughts, Perceptions, Memory, Stored Knowledge, Conscious, Preconscious, Unconscious,Instincts, Fears, Selfish Motives.

Humanistic Psychology

  • Carl Rogers (1902-1987) & Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)

  • Humanistic Psychology:

    • Focus on how current environmental influences can nurture or limit growth potential.

    • Importance of our need to be loved and accepted.

  • Rejected Freud and Behaviorism.

Cognitive Psychology

  • 1960s – Took Psychology back to its roots.

  • Cognitive Psychology:

    • Explores the way we perceive, process, and remember information.

  • Cognitive Neuroscience:

    • Interdisciplinary study of brain activity linked with cognition:

    • Perception

    • Thinking

    • Memory

    • Language

Contemporary Psychology: Nature Vs. Nurture

  • Nature-Nurture Issue:

    • Contribution that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behavior.

    • Discussed since ancient times (clean slate vs. innate traits).

    • Today = nature & nurture.

Nature Approaches to Psychology vs Nurture (Diagram/Overview)

  • Biological Approach:

    • Focus on genetic, hormonal, and neuro-chemical explanations of behavior.

  • Psychoanalysis

  • Cognitive Psychology

  • Humanism

  • Innate drives of sex and aggression (as per Maslow integration in the diagram)

  • Schemas, perception and memory and how they are constantly changed by the environment.

  • Society influences a person’s self-concept.

  • Innate physical needs and upbringing in environment (nature vs nurture).

  • Behaviorism: All behavior is learned from the environment through conditioning.

Contemporary Psychology: Evolutionary Psychology

  • Evolutionary Psychology:

    • Study of the evolution of behavior and the mind.

    • Uses principles of natural selection.

  • Behavior Genetics:

    • Study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

Contemporary Psychology: Cross-Cultural & Gender Psychology

  • Cross-Cultural Psychology:

    • Culture: Behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and passed from one generation to the next.

    • People from all cultures share basic behaviors.

    • Helps us understand our similarities and differences.

  • Gender Psychology:

    • Branch that studies how gender plays a role in a person’s behavior.

    • Gender matters in: Dreams, expression & detection of emotion, substance abuse disorder, depression, and eating disorders.

    • Despite differences, males and females are still very similar.

Contemporary Psychology: Positive Psychology

  • Martin Seligman (1942)

  • Positive Psychology:

    • Scientific study of human functioning, with the goal of discovering & promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities thrive.

  • Focus on human flourishing:

    • Pleasant, engaged, meaningful lives = happiness.

Mindquest Group (illustration of well-being vs pathology)

  • Graphic contrasts traditional psychology and positive psychology.

  • Concepts shown:

    • Well-being, life satisfaction, relationships, meaning, goals, accomplishments, happiness.

    • Questions such as: What is right with you? What is wrong with you?

    • Emphasizes empowerment and growth rather than pathology alone.

Psychology’s Three Levels of Analysis

  • Biopsychosocial approach:

    • 1. Biological Influences: Genetics.

    • 2. Psychological Influences: Emotional responses, perceptions, cognitive processes.

    • 3. Social-Cultural Influences: Groups, norms, peers.

Psychologists Vs. Psychiatrists

  • Psychologist:

    • Masters (approx. 2 years) + Doctoral (3-5 years): PhD (research) vs PsyD (clinical).

    • Cannot prescribe medicine.

  • Psychiatrists:

    • Bachelor’s degree (4 years) → Medical School (4 years) → Psychiatry Residency (4 years).

    • Can prescribe medicine.

    • Works primarily with medicine to offer solutions to patients.

Counselors

  • Masters Degree (6 years).

  • Works with less severe mental disorders:

    • Family

    • Marriage

    • Group

    • Educational

    • Anxiety

    • Substance abuse

Psychologist: What he/she does (Page 26)

  • Biological: Explore the links between brain and mind.

  • Developmental: Study changing abilities from womb to tomb.

  • Cognitive: Study how we perceive, think, and solve problems.

  • Personality: Investigate our persistent traits.

  • Social: Explore how we view and affect one another.

Psychologist: What he/she does (Page 27)

  • Clinical: Studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders.

  • Counseling: Helps people cope with academic, vocational, and marital challenges.

  • Educational: Studies and helps individuals in school and educational settings.

  • Industrial/Organizational: Studies and advises on behavior in the workplace.

PERCENT OF 2009 PSYCHOLOGY DOCTORATES EMPLOYED IN DIFFERENT SECTORS

  • Independent: 6%

  • Medical school: 6%

  • Other educational institutions: 8%

  • Business or nonprofit: 10%

  • Practice: 6%

  • University: 26%

  • Government/VA medical center: 16%

  • Hospital or health services: 25%

Perspective Focus Sample Questions

  • Neuroscience:

    • How the body and brain enables emotions?

    • How are messages transmitted in the body?

    • How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives?

  • Evolutionary:

    • How the natural selection of traits promotes the perpetuation of one’s genes?

    • How does evolution influence behavior tendencies?

  • Behavior genetics:

    • How much our genes and our environments influence our individual differences?

    • To what extent are psychological traits such as intelligence, personality, sexual orientation, and vulnerability to depression attributable to our genes? To our environment?

Perspective: Psychodynamic & Behavioral

  • Psychodynamic:

    • How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts?

    • How can someone’s personality traits and disorders be explained in terms of sexual and aggressive drives or as disguised effects of unfulfilled wishes and childhood traumas?

  • Behavioral:

    • How we learn observable responses?

    • How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations?

    • What is the most effective way to alter our behavior, say to lose weight or quit smoking?

Perspective: Cognitive

  • How we encode, process, store and retrieve information?

  • How do we use information in remembering? Reasoning? Problem solving?

Perspective: Social-Cultural

  • How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures?

  • How are we — as Africans, Asians, Australians or North Americans – alike as members of the human family?

  • As products of different environmental contexts, how do we differ?

Episode 1

  • INTRO TO PSYCHOLOGY (opening segment of the course/unit).

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