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A Historical Overview of Psychology: From Its Roots to Modern Perspectives, Study notes of Developmental Psychology

An introduction to the field of psychology, discussing its origins from ancient philosophers to modern scientific approaches. Topics include the scientific nature of psychology, its goals, and its historical roots. The document also covers the emergence of functionalism, behaviorism, cognitive psychology, and social and cultural perspectives.

Typology: Study notes

2009/2010

Uploaded on 05/03/2010

saher406
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Introduction to
Psychology
Chapter 1
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Introduction to

Psychology

Chapter 1

Welcome to the Study of

Psychology!

 What do psychologists study these days?  Normal behavior: causes and mechanisms  Abnormal behavior and mental illness  Goals of modern psychology  Study the “essentials of behavior and mind” 

Why do people act, think, and feel the

way they do?

 Develop a knowledge base about human and animal behavior

What’s it For?  Goal: Survive in your environment  Mental processes contribute to survival  Solving adaptive problems = Find a way to meet challenges to survival  Example: How do you recognize and avoid danger?  Understanding purpose of processes leads to better understanding of those processes

5

1.1 Psychology’s Roots—The

Great Philosophers

 Plato (428 BC–347 BC) argues for nativism  innate knowledge  Aristotle (384 BC–322 BC) and “tabula rasa”  philosophical empiricism  Descartes (1596–1650) – dualism  pineal gland  Phrenology – takes “Gall” (1758–1828)  mapping the mind?

7

1.1 Psychology’s Roots—Coming

to the USA

 Titchener (1867–1927)  (^) hard introspective labor  Elemental qualities of consciousness  James (1842–1910)  functional approach  Darwin— The Origin of Species (1859)  natural selection  G. Stanley Hall (1844–1924)  child development & adolescence

The First Psychology Laboratory  1879, University of Lepzig  Wilhelm Wundt  Philosophy professor with background in physiology  Advocated scientific techniques for studying mental processes  Main focus: Immediate conscious experience

Functionalism  William James, James Rowland Angell  Understand mental processes by understanding the goal or purpose of those processes  Example: What is the goal or purpose of memory?  Greatly influenced by work of Darwin

Behaviorism  John B. Watson, B. F. Skinner  Problems with introspection:  Cannot directly observe mental events  Subjective, varies by individual  Solution: Focus only on observable behavior in carefully controlled experiments  Special emphasis on animal behavior

Freud’s Ideas  Psychoanalysis: Freud’s theory of how the mind works and how to address disorders  Psychological problems solved through insight  Unconscious mind  Conflicts, memories outside of awareness  Many psychological problems arise from childhood experiences

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1.4 Beyond Behaviorism

 Advent of computers  (^) decline in behaviorism  Information processing systems  (^) can we think of mental events as the flow of information through the mind?  (^) computer metaphor  Cognitive psychology  (^) Remembering, attending, thinking, believing, evaluating, feeling, and assessing

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1.4 The Rise of Cognitive

Neuroscience

 Cognitive psychologists studied the “software” of the brain  but what about the hardware?  Karl Lashley (1890–1958)  train rats to run maze  surgically remove brain parts & run maze again  hope to find spot in brain where learning occurs  Scientists who followed developed area now called behavioral neuroscience

17

1.5 Social and Cultural

Perspectives

 Social psychology  Triplett’s bicycle study  Lewin’s “field theory”  Asch’s “mental chemistry”  Allport—stereotyping, prejudice, and racism

19

1.6 Psychology’s Past and

Present

 July 1892—APA is born at Clark University  7 original members  150,000 members today  20% come from academia  APS formed in 1982  renamed in 2006

20

1.6 Psychology’s Past and

Present

 Mary Whiton Calkins (1863–1930)  first woman elected president of APA  Francis Cecil Sumner (1895–1954)  first African American to hold PhD in psychology  Kenneth Clark (1914–2005)  first member of a minority group to become president of APA  elected in 1970