Introduction and History of Psychology

1. Lesson 1 Introduction and History of Psychology

2. True or False? • Many things that happen to us leave no record in memory True: Most of the information around us never reaches memory, and what does reach memory often gets distorted

3. True or False? • You are born with all the brain cells you will ever have False: Recent research shows that some parts of the brain continue producing new cells throughout life

4. True or False? • Intelligence is a purely genetic trait that does not change throughout a person’s life False: Intelligence is the result of both heredity and environment, and may change throughout your life

5. True or False? • The most common form of mental disorder occurs in 30% of the population True: Depression, the single most common disorder, may affect up to a third of the population at some point in their lives

6. True or False? • Repeated exposure to the same face leads us to like it less False: Familiar people (and their faces) are generally liked more than less familiar people

7. Psychology is a broad field, with many specialties, but fundamentally, psychology is the science of the brain and mental processes What Is Psychology – and What Is It Not?

8. What Is Psychology – and What Is It Not? • Psychology –The scientific study of the brain and mental processes • Psychology is not • Mere speculation about human nature • A body of folk wisdom about people that “everybody knows” to be true

9. What Is Psychology – and What Is It Not? • Psychology disputes unfounded claims from pseudopsychology Pseudopsychology– Erroneous assertions of practices set forth as being scientific psychology

10. Psychology is a broad field with many specialties, grouped in three major categories: experimental psychology, teaching of psychology and applied psychology What DoPsychologists Do?

11. What DoPsychologists Do? • Experimental psychologists • Conduct most research across psychological spectrum • May work in private industry or for the government • Often teach at college or university

12. What DoPsychologists Do? • Applied psychologists • Use knowledge developed by experimental psychologists to solve human problems I/O Sports Forensic School Psychobiology Counseling Clinical

13. Modern psychology developed from several conflicting traditions, including structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis What Are Psychology’s Historical Roots?

14. History Devoted to uncovering basic structures that make up mind and thought Structuralism Functionalism Gestaltpsychology Behaviorism Psychoanalysis

15. Structuralism • German Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) • Generally acknowledged as establishing modern psychology as a separate field of study • Structuralist: Focused on the basic elements of human mental experience • Very important was his systematic approach to draw others to psychology

16. Tradition Structuralism Believed mental processes could best be understood in terms of their adaptive purpose and function Functionalism Gestaltpsychology Behaviorism Psychoanalysis

17. Functionalism • American William James (1842-1910) • ‘Father of Psychology’ in the USA • Functionalist: focused on the actions of the conscious mind and goal of behaviours • Functionalists study how animals and people adapt to their environments

18. Tradition Structuralism Functionalism Interested in how we construct “perceptual wholes” Gestalt psychology Behaviorism Psychoanalysis

19. Gestalt Psychology • A group of German psychologists who disagreed with the structuralism and functionalism • Argued that perception looks at the whole not a sum of its parts; “whole pattern” is Gestalt in German • Studied how sensation is assembled into perceptual experiences • A forerunner to other, later, cognitive approaches

20. Tradition Structuralism Functionalism Gestalt psychology Argued psychology should deal solely with observable events Behaviorism Psychoanalysis

21. Behavioralism • Russian Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) started the movement • Famous for Pavlov’s Dog’s experiment -- conditioning • Led to research exploring the development of behaviour • Behaviourists: believe psychology should concern itself only with observable facts of behaviour

22. Tradition Structuralism Functionalism Gestalt psychology Behaviorism Asserted mental disorders arise from conflicts in the unconscious mind Psychoanalysis

23. Psychoanalysis • Austrian Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) • More interested in the unconscious mind unlike other psychologists of the time • Theorized to use free-association to reveal unconscious processes • Psychoanalyst: studies how unconscious motives and conflicts determine human behaviour • His views remain a tool in many applications today

24. END