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: History of Psychology by Schultz & Schultz  Each week 1-2 chapters from this book  Sometimes additional readings – check the reading tab for each unit

Flex seminars  Choice of seminars  Wednesday 10PM EST – Karen Shockley  Thursday 3PM EST – Nichola Cohen  Sunday 8PM EST – Tim Littell  You only need to attend 1 seminar!  Or, you can complete seminar option 2

Discussion board  Most units have 2 discussion board threads  You should post 1 primary response and 2 peer responses to each thread  Primary post = 175 words  Peer responses = 50 words  Posts must be substantial  You must make reference to the reading  4 points for this!  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, 2008)

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  Projects: Weeks 4, 7 and 9  Start thinking about them early  Read the rubric!

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

What disciplines did Psychology evolve from?

 Philosophy  Physiology

What disciplines did Psychology evolve from?  Philosophy  Asked similar questions to Psychologists BUT did not experimentally test them  Physiology  Relied on controlled experimental observation and experimentation which became the methodology for Psychology

Why might historical information not always be accurate?

 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

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

That’s all for now!