1. History of the Development of Psychology PAGE 24-34

2. “Psychology has a long past yet its history is short”. Hermann Ebbinghaus, 1908 What do you think this means?

3. To learn about the present you just need to know about the past. Psychology’s past was full of people who asked a lot of questions. This helped to mould Psychology to what it is today. Psychology emerged from Philosophical roots and is now an established scientific study.

4. Why should we study PSYCHOLOGY’S history?

5. By knowing about the past we can make assumptions about the future The topics/ issues that psychologists still study today are ones that concern philosophers, scientists and psychologists years ago. (nature vs. nurture debate)

6. Philosophical beginnings to an empirical science. Psychology was not recognised as a specific discipline until the end of the 19 th century. Psychology developed from 2 different areas: philosophy and natural science.

7. Philosophy : the formal study of knowledge, reality and human nature. It is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Famous Greek philosophers (Socrates, Plato, Aristotle) taught and wrote about ideas and concepts which have a psychological nature.

8. Aristotle Aristotle: made a number of advances in the area of memory, dreams, motivations and values. He believes psychology should be considered an extension of biology His views about the human Psyche (human mind or soul) were different to the thoughts of Socrates and Plato. He believed that there was a close connection between the body and the psyche and that they could not be separated. In suggesting this he was saying that our mental activities are inseparable from our physical ones. For example to understand sight you need to know about the mental processes involved as well as the parts and function of the eye.

9. Psychology as an empirical Science Towards the end of the 19 th century behaviour and mental processes were studied using scientific methods rather than philosophical analysis. Scientific method is a controlled approach to planning, conducting and reporting research. Psychology then began to exist as a separate discipline (modern psychology).

10. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) Founder of experimental Psychology Trained as a doctor, practiced medicine for 6 months. Interested in studying the human conscious. In 1879 he opened up his famous laboratory in Leipzig where he and his students conducted original scientific research. He blended philosophical ideas and physiology to create the independent discipline of psychology.

11. William James (1842-1910) While Wundt was establishing his laboratory William James was developing his own approach to psychology- one that emphasised the importance of asking good questions rather tan using scientific research.

12. William James (1842-1910) Founding father of psychology in America Trained as a doctor Believing in analysing how the mind functioned rather than trying to observe its individual parts like Wundt. James believed that the consciousness does not exist as bits and pieces but flows like a stream. (stream of consciousness) James thought that like a stream, the consciousness (sense of awareness) has the following properties -it is personal -it is constantly changing -it is continuous -it is selective -it is active

13. Wundt vs. James Both James and Wundt were pioneers in the development of modern psychology. Both had different approaches to the study of behaviour Wundt’s approach with an emphasis on the basic mental processes became known at STRUCTURALISM (analysing the contents of the mind by studying its basic parts, its structure) James’ interest in how the mind worked became know as FUNCTIONALISM (emphasises that the function, NOT the structure of consciousness should be studied)

14. Homework Complete Learning Activities 1.12 1.13 1.15 1.16