AP Notes – History and Approaches

Early Theories – Where did we come from as a science??? In the beginning – people studied philosophy and physiology – both starting to study the human mind by the 1870s. 1879 - Wilhelm Wundt wanted to study human as a separate group not tied to the other two.  In Germany he will establish the first lab to study human beings. This is the official start of psychology.  Thus Wundt is the “Father of psychology”  Wundt will study consciousness – the awareness of experiences

Psychology grows – first 2 schools of thought  Structuralism – will be started by Edward Titchner - he had studied under Wundt and then came to the US. Structuralism is based on the notion that we need to analyze consciousness in its basic elements to figure out why things are the way they are. (sensations, the components of vision, hearing, touch) o Introspection – careful, systematic self-observation of one’s own conscious experience. (with structuralism we would train people to analyze their thoughts and then exposed them to perceptual experiments (auditory tones, optical illusions, visual stimuli – then report)  Functionalism – we should study the purpose of consciousness, why do we think the way we do, not some meaningless structure. We need to study how people adapt their behavior to their environment. William James will start this school of thought. William James also wrote the first textbook

 Gestalt – exact opposite of structuralism. We should study the whole not the parts to understand human behavior. (We will come back to this with perception) Max Wertheimer will start this school of thought.

Other early view – These are still around  Psychoanalysis – Freud – unconscious, repression, defense mechanisms  Behaviorism – John B. Watson, then B.F. Skinner

Current Psychological perspectives 1. Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic (1900)  Sigmund Freud studied humans not in a university. All of his work was done working with mental patients. He would bring people in and do talk therapy. o He felt all of our problems stem from the unconscious o With this school of thought – we try to explain personality, motivation and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious issues o Freud felt early childhood experiences shaped your life. o We should study dreams and focus on sex and aggression o Big Problem - untestable Ex of psychoanalytic ______

2. Behavioral (1913)  John B. Watson felt that studying thoughts was very unscientific. We should focus on measurable things o Behaviorism – the study of observable behavior o He addressed the big issue of nature vs. nurture – he argued that every human being is born a blank slate and how we treat them as they develop determines what they become. o Little Albert – proved we could cause fears (not born) o The environment can change, genetics cannot – focus on this o B.F Skinner (Behaviorist) – focused on rewards and punishments are our motivators in life o Big Problem – we are only robots with no free will Ex. of behaviorism ______

3. Humanistic (1950s)  In the 1950s – after WWII a lot of people began to criticize psychoanalysis (sex and aggression) and behaviorism (no free will/robots) as our only motivators. They felt there had to be something more. o According to Humanists we are all born inherently good. Then something happens to us. o Two big names in Humanism – Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers o We have free will – Holocaust – made the decision to go along o We can’t base our behavior on rat studies – we needed to focus on humans o Very optimistic view of human beings – all humans WANT to be good and we search to be self- actualized o Big Problem – untestable, not scientific Ex. Of Humanism ______

4. Cognitive(1950s)  This could almost be seen as the exact opposite of Psychoanalytic. Instead of studying unconscious causes we need to focus on CONSCIOUS thoughts. How do we store and process information. o Key names – Jean Piaget and Noam Chomsky Ex. of Cognitive ______

5. Biopsychology/Neurobiology/Biomedical (1950s)  A person’s functioning can be explained in terms of bodily structures and biochemical processes  Neurotransmitters, Hormones, Brain parts, would treat with drugs. Ex. of bio ______

6. Evolutionary (1980s)  Behavioral patterns have evolved to solve adaptive problems. Natural selection favors behaviors that enhance reproduction o A lot of attraction boils down to evolution o Big name Darwin Ex. of evolutionary ______

7. Sociocultural (1960s)  Our behaviors can be explained by the society we are raised Ex. of socio ______

Test Yourself Psychological Perspectives (Schools of Thought) – Which one is it? 1. Georgina has a pessimistic explanatory style which causes her to think about things in a negative way.

2. Rita has an MRI to try and find a tumor that her doctor suspects is located on her hypothalamus.

3. In order to teach Trevor how to be responsible, his mother asks him to do chores every weekend. If he does them, he receives and allowance, if he doesn’t he is grounded for two weeks.

4. After eating yogurt that was past its due date, Jerry got very ill, what field of psychology would explain this a survival mechanism that humans have developed across time to stay alive?

5. Jordan’s mother gave her up for adoption as an infant, and Jordan has always felt abandoned. As a result, she has spent her teen years rebelling by using drugs and alcohol and dropping out of school. Her adoptive parents are disappointed that she has not reached her full potential.