Psychology Chapter 1 Notes
well-known Gestalt maxim
"whole is greater than the sum of the parts"
Although some early schools of psychology have essentially disappeared, contemporary perspectives in the field, including the behavioral, psychodynamic, humanistic, physiological, cognitive, and sociocultural perspectives, continue to evolve and to shape our understandings of behavior.
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Although the influences of Gestalt psychology extend to many areas of psychology, it is best known for its contributions to the study of perception.
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Behaviorism was based on the belief that psychology would advance as a science only if it turned away from the study of mental processes and limited itself to the study of observable behaviors that could be recorded and measured.
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Freud also believed that early childhood experiences play a determining role in shaping our personalities and behavior, including abnormal behaviors like excessive fears or phobias. He held that abnormal behavior patterns are rooted in unconscious conflicts originating in childhood. These conflicts involve a dynamic struggle within the unconscious mind between unacceptable sexual or aggressive impulses striving for expression and opposing mental forces seeking to keep this threatening material out of conscious awareness.
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Freud conceived of the unconscious as the repository of primitive sexual and aggressive drives or instincts and of the wishes, impulses, and urges that arise from those drives or instincts, believed that the motives underlying our behavior involve sexual and aggressive impulses that lie in the murky depths of the unconscious, hidden away from our ordinary awareness of ourselves; we may do or say things without understanding the true motives that prompted these behaviors.
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Freud's model of therapy, called psychoanalysis, is based on the belief that therapeutic change comes from uncovering and working through unconscious conflicts within the personality.
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Freud's psychology focused not only on the mind, but also on a region of the mind that lay beyond the reach of ordinary consciousness—a region he called the unconscious.
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Gestalt psychology was based on the principle that the human brain organizes our perceptions of the world, so that we perceive organized patterns or wholes, not individual bits and pieces of sense experiences added together.
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Many psychologists today subscribe to a broad learning-based perspective, called social-cognitive theory, that emphasizes the environmental and cognitive influences on behavior.
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Psychologists today, however, believe that human development is much more complex than Watson thought. Few would believe that Watson could have succeeded in meeting the challenge he posed (if he were given control over the lives of infants, he could determine the kinds of adults they would become)
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Skinner showed he could train animals to perform simple behaviors by rewarding particular responses. A rat could learn to press a bar and a pigeon to peck a button if they were rewarded for these responses by receiving pellets of food (rewards and punishments)
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Skinner showed how more complex behaviors could be learned and maintained by manipulation of rewards, which he called reinforcers.
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Skinner studied how behavior is shaped by rewards and punishments, the environmental consequences that follow specific responses.
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Social-cognitive theorists believe that personality comprises not only learned behavior but also ways in which individuals think about themselves and the world around them
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Structuralism, the early school of psychology associated with Wundt and Titchener, used introspection as a method of revealing the fundamental structures of mental experience in the form of sensations, perceptions, and feelings.
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The linchpin of the behavioral perspective is behaviorism, the belief that environmental influences determine behavior and that psychology should restrict itself to the study of observable behavior. many psychologists believe that traditional behaviorism is too simplistic or limited to explain complex human behavior. though traditional behaviorism continues to influence modern psychology, it is no longer the dominant force it was during its heyday in the early to mid-1900s.
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The psychodynamic perspective focuses on the role of unconscious motivation (inner wishes and impulses of which we are unaware) and the importance of childhood experiences in shaping personality.
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Wilhelm Wundt was interested in studying mental experiences. He used a method called introspection, which is an attempt to directly study consciousness by having people report on what they are consciously experiencing.
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William James, the founder of functionalism, believed that psychology should focus on how our behavior and mental processes help us adapt to the demands we face in the world.
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Wundt and his students sought to break down mental experiences into their component parts, including sensations, perceptions, and feelings, and then discover the rules that determine how these elements come together to produce the full range of conscious experiences.
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by the 1920s, behaviorism had become the main school of psychology in the United States, it remained the dominant force in American psychology for several generations. popularity owed a great deal to the work of the Harvard University psychologist B. F. Skinner
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many behavior therapists subscribe to a broader therapeutic approach, called cognitive-behavioral therapy, which incorporates techniques for changing maladaptive thoughts as well as overt behaviors
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psychologists study what we do and what we think, feel, dream, sense, and perceive. use scientific methods to guide their investigations of behavior and mental processes.
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structuralists were concerned with understanding the structure of the human mind. functionalists were concerned with the functions of mental processes
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the psychodynamic perspective remains a vibrant force in psychology, it continues to evolve. "neo-Freudians" tend to place less emphasis on basic drives like sex and aggression than Freud did and more emphasis on processes of self-awareness, self-direction, and conscious choice.
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the word psychology is derived from two Greek roots: psyche, meaning "mind," and logos, meaning "study" or "knowledge." psychology can be traced back to ancient Greece, when philosophers began to record their thoughts about the nature of mind and behavior. psychology remained largely an interest of philosophers, theologians, and writers for several thousand years. did not begin to emerge as a scientific discipline until the late 19th century.
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When Did This Occur? Two Frenchmen, Alfred Binet and Théodore Simon, announce development of the first intelligence test, which they describe as "a measuring scale of intelligence."
1905
When Did This Occur? Ivan Pavlov's work on conditioning first appears in an American scientific journal.
1908
When Did This Occur? Max Wertheimer and colleagues begin research on Gestalt psychology.
1910
when was Gestalt pyschology created?
1910
When Did This Occur? Watson publishes the behaviorist manifesto, Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It.
1913
When Did This Occur? Francis Sumner is first African American to receive a Ph.D. in psychology in the U.S.
1920
When Did This Occur? Henry Alston is first African American to publish his research findings in a major psychology journal in the U.S.
1920
the largest organization of psychologists in the United States
American Psychological Association (APA)
argued that human behavior is as much a product of environmental consequences as the behavior of other animals.
B.F. Skinner
an Englishman who was a disciple of Wundt, brought Wundt's teachings and methods of introspection to the United States and other English-speaking countries.
Edward Titchener
first American to work in Wundt's experimental laboratory. founded the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1892. he served as its first president. in 1883, he had established the first psychology laboratory in the United States, which was housed at Johns Hopkins University.
G. Stanley Hall
German word meaning "unitary form" or "pattern."
Gestalt
school of psychology that holds that the brain structures our perceptions of the world in terms of meaningful patterns or wholes.
Gestalt psychology
rejected the structuralist belief that mental experience could be understood by breaking it down into its component parts. believe the brain organizes our perceptions of the world by grouping elements together into unified or organized wholes, rather than as individual bits and pieces of sense experience
Gestalt pyschologists
reasoned that because you can never observe another person's mental processes, psychology would never advance as a science unless it eliminated mentalistic concepts like mind, consciousness, thinking, and feeling. rejected introspection as a method of scientific inquiry, proposed that psychology should become a science of behavior, not of mental processes. shared with the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle the belief that science should rely on observable events.
John Broadus Watson
who founded behaviorism?
John Broadus Watson
who founded Gestalt pyschology?
Max Wertheimer
who created pyschoanalysis?
Sigmund Freud
was a poor student, required to repeat a grade. he tended to daydream in class. often be found sitting with an open book in his hand, staring off into space rather than reading his assigned text. he persevered, eventually graduating from medical school, launched a successful research career as a physiologist. later, he would apply his scientific training to his true passion, the understanding of conscious experience. establishing the first psychology laboratory, the man who had once been left back in school because he was so absorbed in his own thoughts became the first scientist of the mind.
Wilhelm Wundt
who created the world's first laboratory dedicated to pyschology in Leipzig, Germany (1879)?
Wilhelm Wundt
who is credited for founding pyschology as an experimental science?
Wilhelm Wundt (German scientist)
was trained as a medical doctor but made important contributions to both psychology and philosophy. he too used introspection, then he shifted the focus to the functions of behavior.
William James
who founded functionalism?
William James
who is recognized as the father of American psychology?
William James (Harvard psychologist)
who aided Max Wertheimer in his experiments of perception?
Wolfgang Köhler and Kurt Koffka
who is associated with structuralism?
Wundt and Titchener
what helped pyschology transition from philosophy to science?
Wundt's laboratory
what led to Gestalt pyschology?
a train ride; saw illusions that objects in the distance, moved along witht the train
help people acquire more adaptive behaviors to overcome psychological problems such as fears and social inhibitions.
behavior therapists
form of therapy that involves the systematic application of the principles of learning.
behavior therapy
influenced by Watson and Skinner
behavior therapy
approach to the study of psychology that focuses on the role of learning and importance of environmental influences in explaining behavior.
behavioral perspective
school of psychology that holds that psychology should limit itself to the study of overt, observable behavior.
behaviorism
school of psychology that focuses on the adaptive functions of behavior.
functionalism
examined the roles or functions of mental processes—why we do what we do.
functionalists
a response to the two dominant perspectives at the time, behaviorism and Freudian psychology. called the "third force" in psychology.
humanistic psychology
school of psychology that believes that free will and conscious choice are essential aspects of the human experience.
humanistic psychology
inward focusing on mental experiences, such as sensations or feelings.
introspection
psychodynamic theorists who have followed in the Freudian tradition
neo-Freudians
processes by which we organize sense impressions and form meaningful representations of the world around us.
perception
what is an example of introspection?
present subjects with an object, such as a piece of fruit, and ask them to describe their impressions or perceptions of the object in terms of its shape, color, or texture and how the object felt when touched; asked to sniff a scent and describe the sensations or feelings the scent evoked in them.
Freud's method of psychotherapy; it focuses on uncovering and working through unconscious conflicts he believed were at the root of psychological problems.
psychoanalysis
are concerned with the workings of the unconscious mind
psychoanalysts
view that behavior is influenced by the struggle between unconscious sexual or aggressive impulses and opposing forces that try to keep this threatening material out of consciousness.
psychodynamic perspective
focus on our inner lives—our fantasies, wishes, dreams, and hidden motives—has had a profound impact on popular literature, art, and culture.
psychodynamic theory
science of behavior and mental processes.
psychology
incorporates methods, such as analysis of dreams and of "slips of the tongue," that Freud believed could be used to gain insight into the nature of the underlying motives and conflicts of which his patients were unaware.
pyschoanalysis
examples of reinforcement?
raccoon to shoot a basketball, train fish to tap a particular target shape
examples of human reinforcement?
saying "excuse me" when we sneeze, attending class, reading a book
challenged their fellow psychologists to find ways to study these mental processes rather than casting them aside as unscientific, as traditional behaviorists would.
social-cognitive theorists
"If I do X, then Y will follow."
social-cognitive theory
contemporary learning-based model that emphasizes the roles of cognitive and environmental factors in determining behavior.
social-cognitive theory
this perspective originated in the 1960s with a group of learning theorists who broke away from traditional behaviorism believed that behavior is shaped not only by environmental factors, such as rewards and punishments, but also by cognitive factors, such as the value placed on different objects or goals and expectancies about the outcomes of behavior
social-cognitive theory
what was Edward Titchener?
structuralist
what was Wilhelm Wundt?
structuralist
what is the problem with introspectionism?
there is no way to directly observe a person's mental experiences or know how one person's feelings or sensations compare to another's.
what is an example of Skinner's reinforcement?
trained a pigeon to play a tune on a toy piano, and a pair of pigeons to play a type of ping-pong in which the birds rolled a ball back and forth between them.
in Freudian theory, the part of the mind that lies outside the range of ordinary awareness and that contains primitive drives and instincts.
unconscious
what is an example of functionalism?
we develop habits, such as the characteristic ways in which we use a fork or a spoon, because they enable us to perform more effectively in meeting the many demands we face in daily life.
When Did This Occur? American Psychological Association (APA) formed; G. Stanley Hall first president.
1892
When Did This Occur? Margaret Floy Washburn is first woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology.
1894
When Did This Occur? Sigmund Freud publishes first work on psychology.
1895
When Did This Occur? Lightner Witmer establishes the first psychology clinic in the U.S.
1896
When Did This Occur? Freud publishes The Interpretation of Dreams.
1900
When Did This Occur? Mary Whiton Calkins becomes first woman president of APA.
1905
According to Freud, much of our behavior is determined by unconscious forces and motives that lie beyond the reach of ordinary awareness.
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When Did This Occur? G. Stanley Hall initiates the American JOURNAL of Psychology
1887
When Did This Occur? James writes first psychology text, Principles of Psychology.
1890
When Did This Occur? Gustav Fechner publishes Elements of Psychophysics.
1860
When Did This Occur? William James gives first psychology lecture at Harvard.
1875
When Did This Occur? G. Stanley Hall receives first Ph.D. in psychology in the U.S.
1878
When Did This Occur? Wilhelm Wundt establishes first psychology laboratory.
1879
When Did This Occur? First American psychology laboratory established at Johns Hopkins University by G. Stanley Hall.
1883
