History of Psychology. The 1st Psychologists? Odysseus “saw the cities of many peoples and he knew...
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Transcript of History of Psychology. The 1st Psychologists? Odysseus “saw the cities of many peoples and he knew...
The 1st Psychologists?
• Odysseus “saw the cities of many peoples and he knew their minds”
• Psamtick I performed the first controlled psychological experiment and he accepted the results!
Darwin
• What does Darwin have to do with psychology?– Natural selection - how nature determines
which species survive - influencing both physical characteristics and behavior
– Influenced early psychologists like James– The evolutionary perspective (coming soon)– Do you have to believe in evolution to be a
psychologist?
Wilhelm Wundt - 1879
• German physiologist studied perception, the “atoms of the mind” - the simplest mental processes
• Structuralism - break down complex tasks into simpler steps
• Trained G. Stanley Hall who opened the 1st American psy laboratory
Herman Ebbinghaus - 1880’s
• Studied memory in Germany
• Found that when learning a list of words, we forget much of it very soon, but a percentage is retained in long-term memory
• After studying a foreign language, you will forget much of the vocabulary after a year or two, but will retain 30 - 40% for decades
William James - 1890’s
• Philosopher and MD
• Principles of Psychology
• Functionalism - influenced by Darwin
• Consciousness as a stream
Salt
• What’s the difference between structuralism and functionalism?
• Try using salt as a metaphor….
E.L Thorndike - 1890’s
• American who studied learning - cats trapped in a puzzle box (cats learn gradually, by repetition, not in sudden flashes of insight)
• Law of Effect - we tend to learn those things that have satisfying outcomes
• Remains influential today
S. Freud - 1900’s
• Medical doctor in Vienna
• How to treat patients with “hysterical” illnesses?
• Studied with Charcot, the hypnotist
• 1900 - Interpretation of Dreams
• Unconscious, defense mechanism, growth in stages, psychodynamics
Freud extended
• Jung - collective unconscious
• Adler - personality - inferiority complex
• Anna Freud, Karen Horney on women
• Cultural effects
• Good science?
Behaviorists - 1910’s
• Pavlov, a physiologist, studied animals
• Watson, a PhD psychologist, saw no value in studying the “mind”
• Classical conditioning
• Skinner and operant conditioning
• Very influential even today
Humanists - 1930’s, ‘40’s, ‘50’s
• Maslow, Rogers, May
• Less interested in illness
• More interested in improving the lives of “normal” people
• Self-actualization: openness to experience, living in the moment, trusting oneself, a “good life”
Watson and Crick - 1950’s
• Description of DNA
• Boom in genetics
• How do genes affect our behavior? How come one identical twin is alcoholic and one isn’t?
1960’s and later
• Cognitive psychology - how do we think, plan, remember, judge, learn?
• Bandura - social learning• Socio-cultural psychology - how do people
around the world differ? How are they similar?
• Social psych - Milgram, Zimbardo - why do we behave in groups the way we do?
Neuroscience
• New methods of brain research allow us to watch our brain in action.
• How do we process memories?
• How do we learn to shoot a basketball?
• What’s the brain chemistry of mental illness?
PerspectivesWhy different perspectives?
• Lots of different influences on behavior
• We need theories to organize information, explain facts, predict behavior
Perspectives
• Neuroscience• Evolutionary• Behavioral genetics• Psychodynamics• Humanist• Behavioral• Cognitive• Socio-cultural
• Neuroscience – What areas of the brain are active when
swimming?– What brain chemicals are important in
depression?
• Evolutionary– How does natural selection influence
personality?– Is there an advantage to extroversion?– Why haven’t left-handers died out?– Why haven’t gays died out?
• Behavioral genetics– Are children of alcoholics likely to be alcoholic
as well?
• Psychodynamics– How would Freud explain love?– Do your childhood experiences determine your
adult personality?– Do we do things unconsciously?
• Humanist– What counts as a good life? How do we achieve
satisfaction?
• Behavioral– How do we learn to be kind? Why are boys
more aggressive than girls?
• Cognitive– How do we plan parties? Solve puzzles? How
do we judge a defendant when we sit on juries? How do we remember the days of the week?
• Socio-cultural– Why are Japanese schools different from
American schools? Why do some Asian parents arrange marriages for their children?
Big questions?
• Nature vs. nurture?
• Change vs stability?
• Rational vs irrational?
• Big picture or little picture?