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AP Psychology. Quiz History of Psychology. The “First” Psychological Experiment. Psamtik I of Ancient Egypt Conquered the Assyrians, revived art and architecture and made time for the world’s first notated psychological experiment Consider the stages of economic development -
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AP Psychology • Quiz • History of Psychology
The “First” Psychological Experiment Psamtik I of Ancient Egypt Conquered the Assyrians, revived art and architecture and made time for the world’s first notated psychological experiment Consider the stages of economic development - If humans have been in existence for around 800,000 years, why is it only recently that we have started to really delve into the human mind and body?
Hypothesis and Experiment – Egyptian Style • Step 1: Commandeer two infant children from a lower class servant • Step 2: Have someone raise them, in isolation, and keep them from hearing any sounds made from humans (or language of any kind) • Step 3: Wait two years, rinse/repeat, and wait for them to speak • Step 4: make up a story to make you seem awesome even though it’s completely implausible and modern science will prove it incorrect.
Messages From Above: Who is in control? “Achilles called the men to gather together, this having been put into his mind by the goddess of the white arms, Hera, who had pity on the Greeks when she saw them dying… and he said to them, “I believe that backwards we must make our way home if we are to escape death through fighting and plaguing.” the Iliad
Ancient Hebrews as well… “After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy sheild, and thy exceeding great reward.” Genesis, 15:1
Saul’s psychotic fits… in religious text “But the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him… And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. I Samuel, 16:14-23
The East also gets involved… • 6th century BC • India – Buddha attributes human thoughts to our sensations and perceptions • China – Confucius stresses the power of thought and decision that lay within each person • “A man can command his principles; principles do not master the man”
The strongest shift occurs in Greece… • Solon: poet and lawgiver – sidebar… why aren’t more lawgivers writing poetry these days? When are the great works of John Boehner going to be released? • Scribed one of the most famous pieces of advice in Western Civilization at the Temple of Apollo at Delphi • KNOW THYSELF
Enter the Greeks: • Socrates – the “original” • Plato – the idealist • Aristotle – the realist
Socrates (469-399) • Not much is known – what is known comes via his student, Plato • Socratic Method Knowledge is in recollection – we learn not from experience, but from reasoning, which leads us to discover knowledge that is within us.
Plato (427-348) • The Idealist • Assumption that character and intelligence are largely inherited and that certain ideas are inborn (bias?) • Rejects sense impressions • We use our hands to touch and feel the difference between hard and soft, but it is our minds (innate) that make the judgment, not our senses • Metaphysical in approach
Aristotle (384-322) • Plato’s most distinguished pupil • Contradicted Plato almost entirely • Had intense interest in concrete facts • Had a love for empirical data and observation – inductive reasoning • Saw sense perception as the a raw essential for knowledge “The facts have not yet been sufficiently established. If ever they are, then credit must be given to observation rather than to theories, and to theories only insofar as they are confirmed by the observed facts.”
Skipping Ahead… Why/when does this resurgence of Ancient Greek thought/philosophy occur in Europe? • John Locke – rejects notion of inborn ideas (tabula rasa – blank slate) • Rene Descartes – rejects Locke believing that some ideas are innate
Charles Darwin • The Origin of Species • Diversity of life thru proposed evolutionary processes • Natural Selection • Principle that among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations
When Did Psychological Science Begin? • 1879 – University of Leipzig, Germany • Wilhelm Wundt – created the first university lab for study in psychology • Students will flock from all over the world to study under him
Edward Titchener • Student of Wundt • Introduced structuralism • Early school of thought that used introspection to explore structural elements of human minds
Issues with STRUCTURALISM • Requires smart verbal people (bias?) • Unreliable because results, like experiences, vary from person to person • No way to standardize it • People’s recollections of actual events frequently err • Boston Massacre
William James • Consider the functions of our feelings and thoughts • Functionalism: how our mental and behavioral processes function, how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish • Explore emotions, memories, willpower, etc • Heavily influenced by Charles Darwin (adaptive nature of functionalism) • Responsible for introducing psychology to the educated public (bias?)
Fun fact - • William James is responsible for nearly inventing the final exam • Grumble grumble grumble
Mary Whiton Calkins • Interesting sociological story • Early female psychology pioneer • Refused PhD • First APA female president - 1905
Margaret Floy Washburn • First PhD in psychology held by a woman • Second female to become APA president
Beverly Inez Prosser • First African American woman PhD
How Psychological Science has Developed • Early Days – Wundt, Titchener, James • Introspection, inner sensations, feelings and emotions based • Transition to Freud • Emotional responses to childhood experiences and how our unconscious thought processes affect behavior • 1920’s psych = mental life
1920-1960’s • Shift from mental to behavior focused • Record rates of how people’s behavior changes as they respond to different situations • Watson, Skinner
Humanistic Psychology • Around the same time – humanistic psych will rebel against Freudian psychology and behaviorism • Humanistic psychology: emphasizes the growth potential of healthy people and the individual’s potential for personal growth • Rogers, Maslow
1960’s – The Cognitive Revolution • Cognitive Neuroscience – study of brain activity linked with mental activity • Perception, thinking, memory, language • Hugely important to treatment and understanding new ways to treat things like depression, OCD, etc
What is Psychology? • There are fads, shifts, and transitions with no clear defined sense of science as it is ever changing • Loosely – psychology can be defined as: the science of behavior AND mental processes