History Of Psychology Chapter 1 PDF

CHAPTER 1 History of Psychology: A Brief Overview Etymology Greek goddess named Psyche Greek word “psyche” = soul Root word “ology” = scientific study of Concepts of soul and mind were not clearly distinguished at the time. German professor Rudolf Göckel – first preserved printed book (year...

CHAPTER 1 History of Psychology: A Brief Overview Etymology Greek goddess named Psyche Greek word “psyche” = soul Root word “ology” = scientific study of Concepts of soul and mind were not clearly distinguished at the time. German professor Rudolf Göckel – first preserved printed book (year 1590) to contain the word “psychology” in its Greek form. Definition of Psychology Psychology: the scientific study of behavior and mental processes – Behavior: outward or overt actions and reactions – Mental processes: internal, covert activity of our minds Psychology is a hub science. Map of science generated using a similarity measure based on co-citations. Large font size labels identify major areas of science. Small labels denote the disciplinary topics of nearby clusters of journals. From Boyack Philosophy and the Mind It was not until the late 1800s that psychology became accepted as its own academic discipline. Before this time, the workings of the mind were considered within the context of philosophy. Philosophers: – (427-347 BCE) Plato: Tripartite Mind – (384-322 BCE) Aristotle: studied memory, sensation, desire, learning – (1596-1650 CE) Descartes: ‘Cogito ergo sum = I think, therefore I am.’ –(1632-1704 CE) John Locke: Tabula rasa In the Beginning: Wundt, Titchener, and James 1 of 3 Wilhelm Wundt’s psychology laboratory – Germany in 1879; Wundt is known as the father of psychology – Showed that psychology could be a valid experimental science – Studied the structure of the human mind – Developed the technique of objective introspection: the process of objectively examining and measuring one’s thoughts and mental activities – His School of Thought was known as voluntarism In the Beginning: Wundt, Titchener, and James 2 of 3 Titchener and Structuralism – Edward Titchener ▪ Expanded on Wundt’s ideas ▪ Wundt’s student; brought structuralism to America – Structuralism died out in the early 1900s In the Beginning: Wundt, Titchener, and James 3 of 3 William James and Functionalism – How the mind allows people to adapt, live, work, and play – Focused on the purpose of consciousness and behavior African Americans and Early Psychology – Francis Cecil Sumner: Father of African American Psychology, Ph.D. in 1920 ▪ He was interested in understanding racial bias and supporting educational justice. – Inez Beverly Prosser: First African American woman to obtain a Ph.D. in psychology (1933) ▪ One of the first psychologists to argue that racism had a damaging effect on African American children  Early Approaches: Gestalt Gestalt – An organized whole – This movement started with Max Wertheimer, who studied sensation and perception A Gestalt Perception A Gestalt Perception Principle: Figure-ground relationship  Early Approaches: Psychoanalysis Psychoanalysis: theory and therapy based on the work of Sigmund Freud (neurologist) Freud’s patients suffered from nervous disorders with no apparent physical cause. – Proposed the existence of an unconscious (unaware) mind into which we push—or repress—our threatening urges and desires – Believed that these repressed urges, in trying to surface, created nervous disorders – Stressed the importance of early childhood experiences  Early Approaches: Behaviorism Behaviorism Proposed by John B. Watson – Focuses on observable behavior only – Must be directly seen and measured – Based on Pavlov’s work, who demonstrated that a reflex could be conditioned or learned Behaviorism – Watson believed that human emotions could be conditioned. – Watson believed that phobias were learned ▪ Case of “Little Albert”: baby taught to fear a white rat ▪ Ethical problems  Theories of Psychology – A summary of the 7 modern perspectives  Psychodynamic Perspective – Modern version of psychoanalysis – A combination of theories – Freud’s theories: psychoanalysis – Freud’s theories plus those of the Neo-Freudians (e.g., Alfred Adler, Erik Erikson, Carl Jung): psychodynamics – More focused on the development of a sense of self and discovery of motivations behind a person’s behavior other than sexual motivations – Less focus on intrapsychic conflicts, more on relationships and social environment  Behavioral Perspective – B. F. Skinner studied operant conditioning of voluntary behavior – Operant conditioning is the learning of voluntary behavior through the effects of pleasant and unpleasant consequences to responses – Skinner introduced the concept of reinforcement to behaviorism –Focuses on observable behavior  Humanistic Perspective – Owes far more to the early roots of psychology in the field of philosophy – Focused on the growth potential of healthy individuals – People have free will: the freedom to choose their own destiny ▪ Self-actualization: achieving one’s full potential or actual self – Early founders: ▪ Abraham Maslow ▪ Carl Rogers  Cognitive Perspective – Focuses on memory, intelligence, perception, problem solving, and learning – The mind actively processes information from our senses (touch, taste, etc.). – Emphasizes the role that thoughts play in determining behavior  Sociocultural Perspective – Focuses on the relationship between social behavior and culture – Social environment and culture influence behavior – Human development and learning originate in social, historical, and cultural interactions.  Biopsychological Perspective – Attributes human and animal behavior to biological events occurring in the body, such as genetic influences, hormones, and activity of nervous system – Part of the larger field of neuroscience – Our biology influences our behavior  Evolutionary Perspective – Focuses on the biological bases of universal mental characteristics that all humans share – Looks at how mind works and why it works as it does – Behavior seen as having an adaptive or survival value Psychological Professionals and Areas of Specialization Psychologist (PhD or PsyD) – Professional with an academic degree and specialized training in one or more areas of psychology – May specialize in any one of a large number of areas ▪ Clinical, counseling, developmental, social, and personality, among others Psychiatrist (MD) – Medical doctor who has specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders  At a Master’s degree level: Psychiatric social worker, Licensed mental health counselor, Licensed marriage and family therapist Psychological Science - An overview of Methods and Measurement The Scientific Approach Learning Objective 1.6 Psychology Is a Science; Steps in the Scientific Method Scientific approach: system of gathering data so that bias and error in measurement are reduced Steps in the scientific approach: – Perceive the question – Form a hypothesis ▪ Tentative explanation of a phenomenon based on observations – Test the hypothesis – Draw conclusions – Report your results ▪ Others may replicate study or experiment to see whether same results will be obtained to demonstrate reliability of results Descriptive Methods: Naturalistic Observation – Watching animals or humans behave in their normal environment – Major advantage: realistic picture of behavior – Disadvantages ▪ Observer effect ▪ Observer bias ▪ Each naturalistic setting is unique, and observations may not hold. Descriptive Methods Laboratory Observation – Watching animals or humans behave in a laboratory setting – Advantages ▪ Control over environment ▪ Allows use of specialized equipment – Disadvantage ▪ Artificial situation may result in artificial behavior Descriptive Methods Case Studies – Study of one individual in great detail – Advantage: tremendous amount of detail – Disadvantage: cannot apply to others – Famous case study: Phineas Phineas Gage survived a steel tamping rod going through his head Gage after some explosive powder went off unexpectedly. The steel tamping rod entered above the left side of his mouth, passed through his left frontal lobe, and exited through the top of his skull.  Descriptive Methods Surveys – Researchers ask a series of questions about the topic under study – Given to representative sample of population – Population: entire group of people or animals in which researcher is interested Advantages: data from large numbers of people; study covert behaviors Disadvantages: must ensure representative sample or results not meaningful; courtesy bias Correlations: Finding Relationships Correlation – Measure of relationship between two variables ▪ Variable: anything that can change or vary ▪ Knowing value of one variable allows researchers to predict the value of other variable – Measures of two variables go into a mathematical formula and produce a correlation coefficient (r), which represents two things: ▪ Direction of the relationship ▪ Strength of the relationship Correlations: Finding Relationships Correlation coefficient ranges from -1.00 to +1.00 The closer to +1.00 or -1.00, the stronger the relationship between the variables – No correlation = 0.0 – Perfect correlation = -1.00 or +1.00 Correlations: Finding Relationships Positive correlation: variables are related in the same direction – As one increases, the other increases – As one decreases, the other decreases Negative correlation: variables are related in opposite direction – As one increases, the other decreases Figure 1.4 Five Scatterplots These scatterplots show direction and strength of correlation. It should be noted that perfect correlations, whether positive or negative, rarely occur in the real world. A B C D E F Which of the following coefficients indicates the strongest correlation? a) -0.8 b) +0.5 c) +0.7 d) -0.2 2) Which of the following coefficients indicated the weakest correlation? a) -0.9 b) +0.8 c) -0.2 d) +0.1  Correlation does not prove causation! The Experiment Experiment – A deliberate manipulation of a variable to see whether corresponding changes in behavior result, allowing the determination of cause-and-effect relationships – Experiment example: effects of watching violent cartoons on children’s aggressive behavior Operationalization: specific definition of a variable of interest that allows it to be directly measured – Example: definition of aggressive play The Experiment Independent variable (IV) – Variable in an experiment that is manipulated by the experimenter – Example of IV: violent TV Dependent variable (DV) – Variable in an experiment that represents the measurable response or behavior of subjects in the experiment – Example of DV: aggressive play The Experiment Experimental group – Subjects in an experiment who are subjected to the independent variable – Experimental group: watch TV Control group – Subjects in an experiment who are not subjected to the independent variable and who may receive a placebo treatment (controls for confounding variables). – Control group: no TV The Experiment Importance of Randomization – Random assignment: process of assigning subjects to experimental or control groups randomly, so that each subject has an equal chance of being in either group – Controls for confounding (extraneous, interfering) variables Control group Experimental grou Experimental Hazards and Controlling for Effects Placebo effect – Phenomenon in which the expectations of participants in a study can influence their behavior Experimenter effect – Tendency of experimenter’s expectations for a study to unintentionally influence results of the study Experimental Hazards and Controlling for Effects Single-blind study – Subjects do not know whether they are in experimental or control group – Reduces placebo effect Double-blind study – Neither the experimenter nor the subjects know which subjects are in the experimental or control group – Reduces placebo effect and experimenter effect The Guidelines for Doing Research with People Institutional review boards – Groups of psychologists or other professionals who look over each proposed research study and judge it according to its safety and consideration for the participants in the study The Guidelines for Doing Research with People Common Ethical Guidelines ✓ Rights and well-being of participants must be weighed against the study’s value to science. ✓ Participants must be allowed to make informed decision. ✓ Deception must be justified. ✓ Participants may withdraw from study at any time. ✓ Participants must be protected from risks or told explicitly of risks. ✓ Investigators must fully debrief participants. ✓ Data must remain confidential. ✓ If study results in undesirable consequences, researcher responsible for detecting/removing/correcting. Animal Research Animal research answers questions we could never investigate with human research. The focus is on avoiding exposing animal subjects to unnecessary pain or suffering. Animals are used in approximately 7 percent of psychological studies.