Unit 1 - Psychology's History and Approaches

James (Psychology's Roots Timeline)

(1842-1910)-first psych textbook-Functionalism= yo know how mind and consciousness work we must understand how the mind functions, a bit more practical than structuralism

Freud (Psychology's Roots Timeline)

(1900)-Psychoanalysis-we're shaped by unconscious motives,

Behaviorism

(1920s-1960s) the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2). Created by Watson and skinner in 1920s to dismiss introspection and focus on science of observable behavior

Behaviorists (Psychology's Roots Timeline)

(1920s-60s)-Watson and Skinner-rejected introspection

cognitive neuroscience

(1960 and beyond) the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language). Beneficial in understanding/treating disorders

humanistic psychology

(1960s and beyond) historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individual's potential for person growth. Emphasized the importance of current environmental influences on our growth potential, and the importance of having our needs for love and acceptance satisfied (Rogers and Maslow)

Functionalism

(before 1920s ish) A school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish. Created by William James, believes that our functions developed because of adaptation (he is mostly known for being an amazing teacher but also was very spunky) encourages explorations of down to earth emotions, memories, willpowers, habits, and streams of consciousness.

Structuralism

(before 1920s) an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind. Looking inward, self reflection. Hoping to assemble structure of mind from simple parts. Created by Edward Titchenor requires smart/verbal people but proved to be unreliable information that always varied or had no answers so it lost significance pretty quickly

Contemporary Psychology

-APA has about 150k members -international union of psych = about 69 nations -continuing to grow and globalize, especially with modern tech

nature vs nurture issue

-Psychology's Biggest question -Basically Biology vs. Experience -the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors -today's psych sees traits and behaviors coming from an interaction of nature and nurture modern belief is: nurture works on what nature endows

Psychologists Researchers

-Wide variety of psychologist researchers: 1. Biological Psychologists = exploring links between brain/mind 2. Developmental Psychologists = the scientific study of physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span (womb to tomb) 3. educational Psychologists= the study of how psych processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning 4. Personality Psychologists= the study of an individuals characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting 5. social Psychologists= the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another 6. industrial-organizational (I/O) Psychologists= the application of psych concepts and methods to optimize human behavior in workplaces 7. human factors Psychologists= the study of how people and machines interact and the design of safe and easily used machines and environments

psychiatry

-a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy -similar to counseling/clinical but they are licensed to prescribe drugs

psychodynamic/psychoanalytic psychology

-a branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior, and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders -how our past experiences effect current ex/might view an outburst as an outlet for unconscious hostility Hand: thumb, think hitchhiking, thumb pointing backwards to our past

biological/neuroscience psychology

-a branch of psychology that studies the links between biological (including neuroscience and behavior genetics) and psychological processes. -focuses on how the brain and body enable us to have emotions/memories -most science-y ex/ may study brain circuits that cause "red face" or how heredity and experience influence our individual temperament Hand: Pinkie is our smallest finger and we know the least about the brain

basic research

-conducted by some psychologists -pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

applied research

-conducted by some psychologists -scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

levels of analysis

-the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon -each of us made up of a complex system that is part of this larger social system

natural selection

-the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations -organizing principle of biology

Cognitive Psychology

-the scientific study of all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating -focus on how we process and think ex/study how our interpretation of a situation affects anger and how our anger affects our thinking Hand: pointer finger, pointing to our brain

social-cultural psychology

-the study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking -to understand others we must understand their similarities and differences in cultures Hand: palm, represents "everything"

evolutionary psychology

-the study of the roots of behavior and mental processes using the principles of natural selection ex/ analyzes how anger facilitated the survival of our ancestor's genes Hand: Just your wrist for no reason

Psychology different branches/schools of thought

1. structuralism 2. functionalism 3. behaviorism 4. Gestalt Psych 5. Psychoanalysis

Descartes (Psychology's Roots Timeline)

1595-1650-Dualism= body and mind are separate, not true but was important then

Locke (Psychology's Roots Timeline)

1632-1704-Blank Slate or tabula rasa, you're born with a blank slate and therefore shaped by experience

Wundt (Psychology's Roots Timeline)

1879-birth of modern psychology-first Psych lab-introspection= looking inward to find something

Titchenor (Psychology's Roots Timeline)

1892-structuralism=focusing on structural parts, mind broken down into elements, assumption that we always know why we feel a certain way, very theoretical

Humanists (Psychology's Roots Timeline)

1960s-Maslow-individual choice and free will, we need love and acceptance

Aristotle (Psychology's Roots Timeline)

350 BC-knowledge is not preexisting-grows from the experiences stored in our memories, first to think about mind/body connection

Bio vs Psych vs social/cultural Influences

Bio: -natural selection of adaptive traits -genetic predispositions responding to environment -brain mechanisms -hormonal influences Psych: -learned fears and other learned expectations -emotional responses -cognition processing and perceptual interpretations Social/Cultural: -Presence of others -cultural, societal, and family expectations -peer and other group influences -compelling models (such as in media)

counseling and clinical psychology

Both adminsiter/interpret tests, provide counseling/therapy, and sometimes conduct/apply research COUNSELING: -a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being -challenges and crisis help CLINICAL: -a branch of psych that studies, assesses, and treats people with psych disorders

Cognitive Revolution and Current day (Psychology's Roots Timeline)

CR: (1960s-)-How our mind processes and retains info -Current Day-more cognitive neuroscience-study of brain activity with mental activity

Professor Wundt

Known as person that conducted psychology's first experiment

Psychometrics

Subfield of psych: the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits

Margaret Washburn (also Psychology's Roots Timeline)

Titchener's student; first woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology

Perspectives in Psychology (Remember Hand Diagram)

Viewpoints for understanding behavior and mental processes: 1.Biological Psych 2. Evolutionary Psych 3. Psychodynamic Psych 4. Behavioral Psych 5. Cognitive Psych 6. Social-cultural Psych 7. Humanistic approach All examples in individual flashcards about how each might shed light on someone's anger

SQR3

a study method incorporating five steps: Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve, Review

biopsychosocial approach

an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis each is a valuable vantage point yet each alone is incomplete formed by the different levels of analysis

humanistic approach

historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individual's potential for personal growth

Mary Calkins (also Psychology's Roots Timeline)

student under William James who should have earned her Ph.D. from Harvard; Harvard denied her the degree she had earned, offering her a degree from Radcliffe College, which she refused the degree; she became a memory researcher and the American Psychological Association's (APA's) first female president in 1905

behavioral psychology

the scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning ex/ determine which external stimuli triggers anger Hand: middle finger, flipping you off because its a certain observable behavior that we just know what it means

Experimental Psychologists

the study of behavior and thinking using the experimental method. Women were barred from joining this organization for a long time

Empiricism

the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation Came out of Locke's and Bacon's ideas combined

Psychology

today we define psych as: the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Encompasses the concern of observable behavior AND mental processes behavior= anything organism DOES mental processes= internal, subjective experience we infer from behavior science= psych is about HOW things happen and is a way of asking/answering questions