History and Approaches to Psychology

• Perspective is a point of view

Socrates & Plato

• Knowledge is inherent from birth

Introspection

• Involves examining one's own thoughts and feelings

Aristotle

• Knowledge stems from experiences stored in memory

Francis Bacon (1620)

• Developed the scientific method

Wilhelm Wundt

• Established the first psychology experimental lab in 1879
• Used introspection via lab observations

Edward Titchener

• Associated with Structuralism
• Believed conscious experience is understood through basic elements: objective sensations, subjective feelings

Structuralism

• Postulates the mind functions by combining objective sensations and subjective feelings

Gestalt Psychology

• Consciousness is best understood as a total experience, not by breaking it down

William James (Functionalism - 1896)

• First American psychologist
• Authored the first modern psychology book in 1890

Functionalism

• Consciousness helps people adapt to their environments

Sigmund Freud (1896)

• Founded Psychoanalysis
• Hypothesized unconscious motives and internal conflicts determine behavior

Psychoanalysis

• A set of psychological theories and therapeutic methods

John B. Watson (1913)

• Championed Behaviorism
• Argued psychology should be limited to observable behavior

Behaviorism

• Focuses on observable behaviors

B.F. Skinner (1938)

• A behaviorist who introduced reinforcement to control and maintain behavior

Operant Conditioning

• Uses positive rewards

Abraham Maslow & Carl Rodgers (1954)

• Founded Humanism
• Emphasized individual freedom to choose and capacity for personal growth

Cognitive Perspective

• Focuses on how people think, process, store, and retrieve information

Biological Perspective

• Focuses on the physical structures and substances underlying behavior, thoughts, or emotions

Social-Cultural Perspective

• Examines how thinking or behavior varies across situations or due to cultural influences

Behavioral Perspective

• Studies how we learn and behave through rewards, punishments, and observation

Humanistic Perspective

• Explores how healthy people strive to reach their full potential

Psychodynamic Perspective

• Studies how unconscious drives and conflicts affect us (Freud)

Evolutionary Perspective

• Emphasizes natural selection to study the roots of behavior and mental processes

A review of the historical perspectives in psychology. This includes Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Francis Bacon, Wilhem Wundt, Titchener and William James. Includes introspection, structuralism, functionalism and Gestalt psychology.