AP Psychology Growth of Psychology

 Psych Immersions? (Connections to something else in psychology, another text, or your world.)  Critical questions from the reading?

EQ 1-2 zTrace the growth of psychology.

Psychology’s Roots Are in Philosophy Prescientific Psychology  Do you have a soul?  Is the mind connected to the body or distinct?  Are ideas inborn or is the mind a blank slate filled by experience?

Prologue: Psychology’s Roots

Psychology’s Roots  Psychological Science Is Born  Empiricism – Thank you Enlightenment  Knowledge comes from experience via the senses  Science flourishes through observation and experiment

Psychology’s Roots  Wilhelm Wundt ( vil´helm voont) opened the first psychology laboratory at the University of Liepzig (c. 1879)

Psychology’s Roots  Selective Attention  Wundt’s significance?  By insisting on measurement and experimentation he moves Psych from Philosophy to Science

Psychology As Science zPsychologists use the scientific method zSteps to the scientific method yCollect data yGenerate a theory to explain the data yProduce a testable hypothesis ySystematically test the hypothesis

Psychology’s Roots  Bradford Titchener ( tich´unur)  Emulates the analysis of compounds by looking at atoms  Structuralism used introspection (looking in) to explore the elemental structure of the human mind

What is this?

Psychology’s Roots  Structuralism –  School of psychology that stressed the basic units of experience (physical sensation, feelings, and memories) and the combinations in which they occur.  Study these ‘atoms of experience’ to get the structure of the mind

Prologue: Psychology’s Roots  William James  Rejects Structuralism  Influenced by Darwin  Functionalism – theory of mental life and behavior that is concerned with how an organism uses its perceptual abilities to function in its enviroment.

Prologue: Psychology’s Roots Figure 1- British Psychological Society membership

The Growth of Psychology zSigmund Freud: Psychodynamic psychology yBehavior results from forces at work within the individual, often at an unconscious level yLate 1800s yHard to prove or disprove scientifically

Return to the observable in the early 1900s zJohn B. Watson: Behaviorism yStudied only observable behaviors yExpanded upon the work of Pavlov zB.F. Skinner: Behaviorism revisited yExpanded behaviorism yViewed the mind as a “black box” that was irrelevant

The Cognitive Revolution zThe precursors to cognitive psychology: yGestalt psychology xStudy of how we perceive objects as whole patterns xTherapy that wishes to treat the whole person yHumanistic psychology xEmphasizes realization of full potential xRecognizes importance of love, self esteem, belonging, and self-actualization

The Cognitive Revolution of the 1960s zStudy of mental processes yThinking yLearning yFeeling yRemembering yDecision making

New Directions in Psychology zEvolutionary psychology yStudies the adaptive value of behaviors and mental processes zPositive psychology yStudy of the subjective feelings of happiness and well-being yFocus is on positive attitude

Multiple Perspectives zThere is no single right answer zSeveral perspectives can provide insight into behavior

Psychology’s Big Issues zNature-nurture controversy yAre we a product of innate, inborn tendencies controlled by our genetic make-up? yAre we a reflection of experiences and upbringing? zPerson–Situation yIs behavior caused by factors inside the person or outside? zStability–Change yAre behavior patterns learned in childhood permanent or do people change over time? zDiversity-Universality yHow am I like every person, like some people, and like no one else? zMind–Body yWhat is the relationship between the mind and the body?

EQ 1-2 zTrace the growth of psychology.