PS210 History of Psychology Unit 1 Nichola Cohen Ph.D.

Overview  Get to know each other  Class expectations and the syllabus  Why is the history of psychology important?  Questions

Syllabus  Please read it!  Reading: A History of Modern Psychology by Schultz & Schultz (10 th edition)  Each week 1-2 chapters  Check the reading tab for each unit

Flex seminars  Choice of seminars  Wednesday 8PM EST – Karen Shockley  Sunday 10PM EST – Sanjay Paul  Monday 8PM EST – Nichola Cohen  You only need to attend 1 seminar!  Or, you can complete seminar option 2

Deadlines  All assignments and DB posts are due by PM EST Tuesday  I do accept late work BUT you will lose 1 letter grade per week for late submission  Extensions can be granted for extenuating circumstances  me and let me know before the deadline is missed

Discussion board  You should post 1 primary response and 2 peer responses  Primary post = 150 words  Peer responses = 50 words  Posts must be substantial  You must make reference to the reading  3 points for this!  APA formatting required  E.g. It is sometimes said that Psychology is one of the oldest as well as one of the newest scientific disciplines (Schultz and Schultz, 2012)  Schultz, D.P. and Schultz, S.E. (2012). A History of Modern Psychology (10 th edition). Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Projects  Projects: Units 4 and 9  Start thinking about them early  Read the rubric!  Unit 4 project = 200 points  Final project = 300 points

Quizzes  Quizzes: Units 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 10  10 multiple choice questions  30 minutes  Can only access once!  Do the reading before you access the quiz  Grades for the quizzes will not be available until 1 week after the deadline

Questions  Course questions section  me  Discussion board  Seminar

One final thing….  Be nice!

What sorts of Psychologists are there?

 Applied Psychologists  Clinical psychologists  School/Child psychologists  Organizational psychologists

What sorts of Psychologists are there?  Applied Psychologists  Clinical psychologists  School/Child psychologists  Organizational psychologists  Experimental Psychologists  Sensation and Perception  Learning and Memory

Why is it important to study the history of Psychology?

 We don’t want to repeat past mistakes  To understand where we are now we need to see how we got here

Historiography

 The techniques and principles employed in historical research

Historiography  The techniques and principles employed in historical research  Descriptions from witnesses  Letters  Diaries  Photographs  Pieces of laboratory equipment  Interviews

Why might historical information contain inaccuracies?

 Information is sometimes lost or destroyed  Information may be deliberately or accidentally biased, altered or hidden by the subject or the historian  Inaccurate translation from 1 language into another

What is the Zeitgeist?

 The climate or spirit of the times

What is the Zeitgeist?  The climate or spirit of the times What factors might influence the Zeitgeist?

What is the Zeitgeist?  The climate or spirit of the times What factors might influence the Zeitgeist?  Economy  War  Prejudice and discrimination

Historical approaches  Personalistic approach  Development is attributable to a particular person  E.g. Freud is the only person who could have developed psychoanalysis  Naturalistic approach  Development is attributable to the times or the Zeitgeist  E.g. Many people could have come up with the theory of evolution, but the timing was right for Darwin

Schools of thought in psychology

 Group of psychologists associated with the leader of a movement  Share similar ideas and theories and investigate similar problems  Examples – structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, Gestalt psychology and psychoanalysis

Why do some people consider Psychology to be one of the oldest as well as one of the newest scientific discipline?

 The subject matter of Psychology can be traced back to the 5 th century philosophers  However Psychology in it’s current form, based on observation and controlled experimentation did not start until the late 1800’s