History & Research Goals and Perspectives Unit 1 / Learning Goal 1

I. Introducing Psychology The Goals of Psychology “If you wanted to understand someone or something, where do you begin?”

The Goals of Psychology  Describing  Explaining  Predicting  Changing

A common enough scenario  As you walk through the park, you observe two people having (what you consider) a heated conversation on a park bench. Later, after you’ve returned home, your roommate asked you what you saw on your walk. As you think back to the two people on the bench, you may be mentally following the four-step process psychologists employ without even realizing it!

You Describe Well, while walking in the park I saw two people engage in a heated argument

You Explain Well, I assume it was an argument- they were both raising their voices, and trying to talk over one another

You Predict: I don’t think they resolved the argument- I’m betting they walked away angry

You Change Well, perhaps I did not have all the information exactly right... Maybe they weren’t arguing, and if they were, maybe they resolved their differences...

II. Origins of Psychology This early phase of psychology’s entrance into being a scientific field of inquiry BEGINS with structuralism preceding functionalism.

The other 7 perspectives were built off of the foundation of Structuralism & Functionalism

The Psychodynamic Approach  Focused on the mind and its effects (unconscious or conscious) on behavior.  Very similar to the early approach of psychology (structuralism/functionalism)

The Behavioral Approach  Rejected popular approaches that explained behavior according to mental processes.  Retained the assumption that all research must be tested empirically (as attempted in structuralism).  Emphasized observable behaviors as an indication of learning

The Humanistic Approach NURTURE  Dissatisfied with behavioral approach explanations for human learning and behavior.  Also dissatisfied with the psychodynamic emphasis on the role of sex in the development of an individual.  Retained the concept from psychodynamism that the unconscious can be a powerful factor of influence  modified the psychodynamic approach and placed greater value concepts of “free will” and social influences on individuals.

The Cognitive Approach  Focuses on learning, thinking, memory processes, and decision making.  Brought psychology’s historical roots (structuralism and functionalism) to bear on mental processes.  Rejected much of the behavioral perspective’s rejection of mental processes.  Emerged at a time when computers were also just getting started- so, this approach also built many theories on our cognitive mechanisms being compared or likened to computer terms- like “process,” “function,” and “operation.”

The Biological Approach  A subtle connection to early psychology, with indirect roots to structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, and cognition.  These roots stem from psychology always relying on the scientific method to demonstrate behavior and or mental processes (i.e. biological function- resulting biological/consequence).  As the emergence of the dynamic relationship between health, mind, and body became a contemporary movement, the biological approach succeeded in connecting many of our behaviors to health benefits or consequences.

The Evolutionary Approach NATURE  May have began earlier than acknowledged, but emerged with a great scientific following near the time the biological approach gained momentum in psychology.  Drew support from early writings of Charles Darwin, this approach attempts to answer questions left either unanswered or un-asked in psychology.  May have been built on earlier models of explaining behavior; the connection is not psychodynamic (childhood affects our present), but rather our evolutionary heritage affects our present

The Sociocultural Approach  The greatest emphasis for this approach has come from the awareness that culture and society bear powerful influence on individuals.  Within culture and society, religion, ethnicity, occupation, and socioeconomic factors have great psychological impact on individuals.