Modern Psychology’s Roots

1. Modern Psychology’s Roots Chapter One (p. 2-7)

2. William Wundt • 1832-1920 • Often referred to as the “Father” of modern psychology. • Opened a laboratory devoted exclusively to psychological experiments in 1879.

3. E.b. Titchener • Student of Wundt • Introduced structuralism, the first prominent system for organizing psychological beliefs • Structuralism attempted to understand the STRUCTURE of consciousness (intensity, clarity and quality of its basic parts) • This provided a theory to disprove that gave rise to other schools of thought.

4. Gestalt Psychology • School of thought that stated “that the whole is different than the sum of its parts.” • Alone a musical note has one meaning. But putting that note into a symphony gives the note a completely different meaning.

5. William James • (1842-1910) • 1st American psychologist • Authored the first psychological textbook • Thought the goal of psych was to study the FUNCTION of consciousness, known as functionalism (how we adapt to our environment).

6. Sigmund Freud • Austrian neurologist who founded the system of psychoanalysis. • Best know for his theories of the unconscious mind and repression. • Belief that sexual drives fueled all human motivation • Interpretation of dreams

7. Psychoanalytic perspective • Created by Sigmund Freud • Different in that it: • A) focused on abnormal behavior, which Freud attributed to unconscious drives and conflicts, often stemming from childhood (Mommy/Daddy issues). • B) relied on personal observation and reflection instead of controlled lab experiments (made it personal). Yet this was viewed as “unscientific”.

8. Ivan pavlov • Russian physiologist • Used dogs to study how animals learn and how their bodies react to stimuli. • Fueled a move in psych towards OBSERVABLE behaviors. • Backlash: many viewed these psychologists as trying to predict and therefore control human behavior.

9. John Watson • Founder of Behaviorism. • Behaviorists study only observable and objectively describable acts; studying anything that one cannot see is subjective • Dominant psych view for most of the 20th century.

10. B.F. Skinner • (1904-1990) American psychologist whose ‘brand’ of behaviorism focused on the role of responses in learning. • Famous “Skinner Box”; used animals to study responses to various stimuli.

11. Carl Rogers • Humanistic in his approach to psych • Focuses on the conscious experience, the individual’s freedom to choose and capacity for personal growth. • Famous “19 Propositions” of ‘Self’. • Fellow ‘humanistic’ psychologist Abraham Maslow founded the “self-actualization” pyramid.

12. Jean piaget • Swiss developmental psychologist who studied how children develop physically and mentally. • Stressed the importance of education : “only education is capable of saving our societies from possible collapse, whether violent, or gradual."

13. Ticket out the door • Elaborate on Piaget’s quote : “only education is capable of saving our societies from possible collapse, whether violent, or gradual.“ • Use complete sentences. At least one paragraph (4-5 sentences).