where do you stand? how much is psychology a real science like physics, chemistry or biology? how...
TRANSCRIPT
AP PSYCHOLOGY: HISTORY (2-4%) &
APPROACHES (8-10%)
Where do you stand?
How much is Psychology a real science like Physics, Chemistry or Biology?
How much of Psychology’s facts (like the bystander effect) can be trusted if every human is different?
What is psychology?
DefinitionFrom the Greek terms
psyche meaning mind or soul
and logos meaning study of
= the study of the mind
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo4pMVb0R6M#t=67
Origin of Psychology Philosophers like Hippocrates,
Socrates, Descartes, and Locke Late 1800s, psychology emerged as
its own discipline Biologists like Charles Darwin and
physiologists like Weber and Fechner show how physical events are related to sensation and perception
Birth date = 1879 Wundt established 1st research lab in
Germany
Wundt Studied consciousness
Wanted to describe basic elements ○ how they are organized and
how they relate
Used introspection Began psychology’s
transformation from philosophy of mental processes to science of mental processes
I “Wundt”er Vat is going on
in his head?
Titchener & Structuralism Student of Wundt Studied consciousness as well as
images and other aspects that are harder to quantify Added “clearness” as element of sensation
Called approach “structuralism” = trying to define the structure of consciousness
Functionalism Focus = understanding how
mental processes function to allow humans to live and adapt
William James – American psychologist at Harvard (late 1870s) first lab to show demos to
studentsrejected Wundt & Titchener’s
work G. Stanley Hall – first research
lab at Johns Hopkins
Behaviorism John B. Watson – observable
behavior of animals and humans = only appropriate subject matter for psych (early 1900s)Should base psychology only on what
can be seen in behavior (he had disdain for introspection!)
Thought all human behavior was learned
B.F. Skinner = rewards & punishments shape, maintain & change behavior
Gestalt Wertheimer, Koffka & Kohler Gestalt = whole “The whole is greater than the
sum of it’s parts”. Emphasis = if you break
consciousness into small elements = you destroy the whole
Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud – (late 1800s early 1900s)All behavior= based in conflicts at an
unconscious level Developed psychotherapy (dream analysis)Emphasized importance of childhoodBased on medical cases not on lab
experiments
The often forgotten
Eclectic approachMeans exactly that – taking techniques and
ideas from a variety of approaches.
Approaches (see handout) Evolutionary Behavioral Biological Cognitive Humanistic Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic Sociocultural
Even Big Bird Can Hurt People Sometimes
FOLDABLES STUDY TOOL:
On the outside cover, label YOUR NAME and “Perspectives in Psychology”
The goal is to make a study aid to include the name of perspectives, name(s) associated with it and what (how) the perspective studied psychology.
Open your foldable like a book. Using the middle pages, record these five historical perspectivesStructuralism, Functionalism, Psychoanalytical, Gestalt,
Behaviorism Pull the edges to reveal a place to record to 5
contemporary perspectivesCognitive, Humanist, Biological, Evolutionary, Socil-
Cultural