2. Agenda 1. Bellringer: One thing you’d like to see this year. (5) 2. Class Expectations and Syllabus (15) 3. Lecture: Origins of Psychology, Major Thinkers (20) 4. Who am I? Activity (10) 5. Reaction Time Activity (15) 6. HW: Creating a Psychology Meme (5)

3. Psychology is… The study of behavior and mental processes Behavior = what you do Mental processes=experiences, thoughts, feelings, sensations, and perceptions “Psych” = mind; “ology” = study (Aristotle)

4. History of Psychology Psychology has its roots in philosophy focusing on two major questions: Is there a connection between mind & body? Are Ideas innate or experiential?

5. Socrates – 469-399 B.C. “know thyself” emphasized the importance of self- examination and personal reflection. Believed the mind was separate from the body, the mind continued to exist after death, and ideas are innate Plato – 428-348 B.C. Supports the ideas of his teacher Socrates Believed in innate ideas; suggested that the brain is the seat of mental processes – supports dualism meaning the mind and body interact.

6. Aristotle 384-322 B.C. Suggested that the soul is not separable from the body and that knowledge (ideas) grow from experience Denied existence of innate ideas; suggested that the heart is the seat of mental processes; supports monism the idea that mind and body are one thing Rene Descartes 1596-1650 Disagreed with Socrates and Plato Wondered how the mind and body communicated Dissected animals and found the fluid in the brain contained animal spirits.

7. Francis Bacon – 1561-1626 One of the founders of modern science, particularly the experimental method

8. John Locke – 1632-1704 Mind at birth is a blank slate or “tabula rasa” upon which experience writes. This helped to form idea of empiricism. Empiricism – view that knowledge comes from experience via the senses and science flourishes through observation and experiment.

9. By late 1800s Psychology emerges as a science Major Themes in Psychology: Nature vs. Nurture (ideas of natural selection) Stability vs. Change Rationality vs. Irrationality

10. Key Figures in the Field of Psychology

11. William Wundt – 1832-1920 1. founder of psychology – campaigned to make psychology an independent discipline from philosophy and physiology 2. 1879 (birth date of psych) – established the first formal laboratory for psychological research at University of Leipzig, Germany – first experiment was Wundt’s attempt to measure “atoms of the mind” 3. used technique called introspection – means to look within/self-reflective/self-examination and reporting what thinking, feeling, sensing at a particular moment

12. Edward Titchener – 1867-1927 - student of Wundt’s who joined Cornell University 1. brought psychology to the U.S. 2. introduced structuralism – a school of thought that focused on the inner workings of the consciousness or the mind’s structural elements. Used introspection.

13. William James – 1842-1910 - Harvard teacher and writer 1. introduced functionalism – a school of thought that focused on how and why the mind works – considered the functions of our thoughts and feelings – how things work 2. wrote Principles of Psychology in 1890

14. Mary Calkins – student of William James and first female president of the American Psychological Association (1905) Margaret Washburn – first female to receive a Ph.D. in psychology (1931)

15. John Watson – 1878-1958 1. Founder of behaviorism – a science rooted in overt behavior that observers could record and measure - OBSERVATION 2. minimized the importance of heredity – believed that the environment molds the behavior of organisms

16. B.F. Skinner – 1904-1990 - modern behaviorist 1.supported behaviorism 2. studied how behavior is shaped by rewards and punishments or positive and negative outcomes **Watson and Skinner hit of one of basic questions – nature (genetic) vs. nurture (environment and/or experience)

17. Who am I? Started the first psychology experiments, utilized introspection. Believed in a “Blank Slate” In my research, animal spirits inhabit the brain. Introduced the idea of structuralism. Changed the focus of psychology from introspection to observation. First woman to receive a Ph.D in Psychology Looked at punishment vs reward, still utilized in education today.

18. Creating a Psychology Meme