Do Now Why would it be important to understand the history of psychology?
Note Color Code Notes are not required by highly encouraged Yellow = Notes Blue = Vocabulary Applications Green = Class Questions This color code is also on the wall.
Unit 1: History of Psychology and Approaches What is Psychology?
Psychology’s Roots Ancient Greeks Socrates & Plato Aristotle concluded that the mind can be separated from the body and continues after the body dies knowledge is born within us Think of Professor X at the end of X-men 3 Aristotle believed knowledge grows from our experiences and is stored in our memories
Psychology’s Roots …Continued Rene Descartes Mind & body separate Connection between nerve pathways and reflexes Animal spirits Francis Bacon approach of experiment, experience, and common-sense John Locke Tabula Rasa (blank slate) when we are born our mind is a blank slate and our experiences write on this slate Empiricism Bacon & Locker ideas = modern empiricism
Psych Roots – First Experiment Wilhelm Wundt (1879) University of Leipzig Reaction time experiment
Psych Roots – Structure of the Mind Edward Titchener had people report what was going on in their minds as they experienced things Structuralism Introspection Looking inward proved unreliable because people experience things differently and vary Only smart people could participate
Psych Roots – Minds Function Functionalism William James How did the mind function? Darwin perspective meaning that our ability to smell through our nose was something that we adapted to in order to survive. He was considered a functionalist Mary Calkins first female student (James’ student) and was denied her PhD from Harvard because of her gender First woman to be president of the American Psychological Association Margaret Floy Washburn first female to receive a PhD is psychology Experimental Psychology Study behavior and thinking using scientific method EX: Why did the girl hit the guy? Observe, hypothesis, experiment, data, theory
Psychological Science Develops Recap Wundt and Titchener = inner sensations and images James = introspection, looking at consciousness and feelings Freud= how childhood experiences effect our lives Thus until 1920 psychology was defined as the science of mental life
Psychological Science Develops…Continued 1920s-1960s psychology was redefined as the scientific study of observable behavior Behaviorism Should be scientific and ONLY look at behavior EX: Will the girl hit all guys? … Line up guys next to girl and see if she hits them B.F. Skinner Skinner box operant conditioning John B. Watson Little Albert Classical conditioning
Psychological Science Develops… Continues In the 1960s and beyond humanistic psychology rebelled against Freudian psych and behaviorism Humanistic Psychology Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow focused on the importance of current environmental influences on our growth EX: focus on how your current friends make you a better person not your childhood friends Cognitive Neuroscience how we perceive, process, and remember info Aka Cognitive psych
Psychology Today Todays definition of psychology Psychology Science in this book will be the way one asks and answers questions Behavior anything an organism does Mental process the internal experiences we infer from behavior
Today Questions? Quiz on HW (What is Psych?) Begin HW Grade, review, clarify Begin HW HW = Contemporary Psych