Class Starter for Read “Exploring Psychology” p. 14. Answer the following question: –Why is phrenology called a pseudoscience?

Origins of Psychology Found in Philosophy Early Greeks –Heart more important than the mind –Observation a way to know world Renaissance – formal scientific methods Dualism-mind and body are distinct –Decartes-mind controls body

Historical Approaches Structuralists –Interested in basic elements of human experience Functionalists –Study how mental processes help people adapt to their environment Inheritable traits –Study how heredity influences a person’s abilities, behavior, and character Gestalt psychology –Study how sensations are assembled into perceptual experiences

Contemporary Approaches Psychoanalytic Psychology Behavioral Psychology Humanistic Psychology Cognitive Psychology Biological Psychology Sociocultural Psychology

Psychoanalytic Psychology Study unconcious motives and conflicts as affecting human behavior Sigmund Freud –Free association Interpreted through psychoanalysis –Dream analysis –Intensive case study

Behaviorist Psychology Pavlov –Conditioned reflex as response to stimulus John B. Watson –Observable facts of behavior –All behavior results from conditioning B.F. Skinner –Reinforcement-response to a behavior that increases likelihood behavior will be repeated

Humanists Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers –Behavior is internal and self-directed Each person is unique –Has a self concept –Potential to develop fully Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Cognitivists Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky –Focus on thinking, problem solving, creativity Understand how people process, store and use information

Biological Psychology Use PET and CAT scans to study brain Link genetic factors to human behaviors

Sociocultural Psychology How do cultural and ethnical similarities and differences influence behavior? Look to minimize & resolve cultural conflicts –Ex. Diversity in the U.S.