Introducing PsychologyChapter 1

The Scientific Method

Identify a specific problem or question Formulate a hypothesis Collect data through observation and

experiment Analyze the data

Hypothesis

An educated guess about the relationship between two variables

The researcher has some evidence for suspecting a specific answer

The Researcher states what he expects to find, expressing it in such a way that it can be proved or disproved

Goals of Psychology

Describe – Gather info about behavior being studied to present what is known

Explain – Explain why people and animals behave the way the do

Predict – Predict what organisms will do, what people will feel or think in various situations

Control – Influence or control behavior in helpful ways

Basic Science

The pursuit of knowledge about natural phenomena for its own sake

Applied Science

Discovering ways to use scientific findings to accomplish practical goals

600-300 B.C.Ancient Greece and Rome

Roots of Psychology

Philosophy – a means of exploring and understanding the general nature of many aspects of the world, primarily through introspection

Physiology – the scientific study of living organisms and of life-sustaining functions and processes, primarily through observation

Roots of Psychology

In ancient Greece, the two fields did not differ much.

Both philosophers and physiologists believed that understanding could be reached without observations

Hippocrates 460-377 B.C.

Father of medicine Differed from

philosophers and physicians of the day through his unorthodox belief that disease was not a punishment from the gods.

Hippocrates 460-377 B.C.

Speculated that biological malfunctions, not demons, caused mental illness.

Hippocrates 460-377 B.C.

Used empirical observations to study medicine

Saw the mind as a separate distinct entity that controlled the body

Thought the body was composed of physical substance, whereas the mind is ethereal

Hippocrates 460-377 B.C.

Proposed the mind resides in the brain. Based upon observations that when

either side of the brain was injured, spasms were observed in the opposite side of the body.

Mind-Body Dualism

The philosophical belief that the mind is qualitatively different from the body.

Plato vs. Aristotle

Contemporaries of Hippocrates.

Two very different views of reality

Plato on Reality

Reality does not exist in the concrete objects that we see and touch, but reality only exists in the ideal, abstract forms of the objects in a timeless dimension of pure thought—in our minds

Aristotle on Reality

Reality lies only in the concrete world of objects. Plato’s abstract forms were only derivations of the concrete objects.

Aristotle on Reality

Did not believe in dualism. Believed the mind does not exist in its own right, merely a by-product of anatomical and physiological activity.

Empiricist

One who believes that we acquire knowledge through empirical methods, obtaining evidence through experience, observation, and experimentation.

Rationalist

One who asserts that knowledge is most effectively acquired through logical methods, using philosophical analysis to understand the world and people’s relation to it.

Empiricist vs. Rationalist

Both approaches have merit.

1300-1600The Renaissance Period

1300-1600 The Renaissance

The birth of science as we know it Direct observation was established as

the basis for knowledge Theory should guide and give meaning

to observations But theories should be amended or

abandoned, based upon observations

1600-1850The Early Modern Period

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

French philosopher Agreed with Plato’s

rationalist view that the introspective, reflective method was better than the empirical method.

Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

Believed in mind-body dualism

Believed that man has innate (versus acquired) knowledge

John Locke (1632-1704)

British empiricist philosopher

Believed humans born without knowledge and therefore seek knowledge through empirical observation

John Locke (1632-1704)

His term for the human condition is tabula rasa, meaning “blank slate” in Latin—Experience writes knowledge upon us

Schools or Approaches in Psychology

Structuralism

First major school of thought in Psychology

Goal was to understand the mind by analyzing its elements, such as particular sensations or thoughts.

Less interested in how people think than it what they think

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

German, considered by many to be the founder of modern psychology

Forerunner to structuralism Method of study a form of

self-observation called introspection

Wundt Laboratory in Leipzig

Wundt set up the first laboratory for the study of psychology, but was limited to introspection as the sole method of research.

Edward Titchner (1867-1927)

Studied under Wundt, then later at Cornell University

Became a leader in structuralism with views similar, but not identical to Wundt’s

Edward Titchner (1867-1927)

He changed his mind about structuralism later in life

It proposed too many elementary sensations, no means for understanding thought processes

Edward Titchner (1867-1927)

And too rigidly tied to a single methodology: introspection

Structuralism died out, but gave rise to functionalism

Functionalism

First U.S.-born movement in Psychology Focuses on active psychological

processes rather than on passive psychological structures or elements

Ask the questions: What do people do, and why do they do it?

Functionalism

Functionalists view humans as actively engaged in processing their sensations and formulating their actions

Agree on questions to ask, but are widely diverse in the methods for finding those answers and in the answers they find.

William James (1842-1910)

Leader in the functionalist movement, guided functionalism toward pragmatism (a view of science and psychology that asserts that knowledge is validated by its usefulness).

William James (1842-1910)

Author of the very influential book Principles of Psychology (1890)

Influence of Functionalism

Functionalism, like structuralism did not survive as an organized school of thought

However, its influence remains widespread today, particularly in specializations that stress flexibility in research or the practical use of results.

Associationism

More an influential way of thinking than a rigid school of psychology

Mainly interested in middle- to higher-level mental processes such as learning.

Opposite of structuralism that insisted on studying only elementary sensations

Associationism

Associationism examines how events or ideas can become associated in the mind, thereby resulting in learning.

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)

First experimenter to apply associationist principles systematically.

Studied the effect of repetition on memory and learning.

Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909)

He only used himself as a subject

Made break-through discovery about the role of active rehearsal (conscious repetition) in recollection.

Edwin Guthrie (1886-1959)

Guthrie did further work on Ebbinghaus’ ideas, testing animals.

Showed that two observed events become associated through temporal contiguity

Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949)

Held that “satisfaction” rather than Guthrie’s temporal contiguity is the key to forming associations.

Called this principle the Law of Effect

The Law of Effect

Over time the actions (“the effect”) for which an organism is rewarded (“the satisfaction”) are strengthened and therefore more likely to occur again in the future.

In contrast, actions that are followed by punishment, are weakened, less likely to occur again in the future.

Influences of Associationism

Ebbinghaus, Guthrie & Thorndike followed functionalist tradition of using various methods in research.

Associationism in its strictest form has not survived because too simplistic

Has had an influence on behaviorism

Psychology In the 20th Century

Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930)

A forerunner of cognitivism. Argued that the self should be

studied in its social context. Unable to attain a PhD

because most schools refused to allow women at the time. Attended classes at Harvard & Clark as non-student.

Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930)

She became first female president of both the American Psychological Association and the American Philosophical Association

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

Nobel prize-winning Russian physiologist

Discovered classical conditioning while studying digestion in dogs

Classical Conditioning• Discovered accidentally

in 1927 by Ivan Pavlov while studying the process of digestion in dogs.

• Wanted to understand how a dog’s stomach prepares to digest food when something is placed in its mouth.

Classical Conditioning• Discovered that the

mere sight or smell of food was enough to get the dog to start salivating.

Pavlov’s Experiment

• Pavlov rang a tuning fork and then immediately placed meat powder on the dog’s tongue.

• After a few repetitions, the dog would salivate as soon as it heard the tuning fork, even if the meat powder was not placed on his tongue.

Pavlov’s Experiment

• Neutral stimulus – The tuning fork, something that had nothing to do with the response to meat prior to conditioning

Pavlov’s Experiment

• Unconditioned stimulus (UCS) – an event that leads to a certain, predictable response without prior training. Food leads to salivation without the dog needed to be trained to salivate when smelling meat.

Pavlov’s Experiment

• Unconditioned response (UCR) – a reaction that occurs naturally and automatically when the unconditioned stimulus is presented.

• Conditioned stimulus (CS) – an ordinarily neutral event that, after training, leads to a response such as salivation.

Pavlov’s Experiment

• Conditioned response (CR) – the response to a conditioned stimulus

classical conditioningControlling an animal’s or a person’s responses in such a way that an old response becomes attached to a new stimulus

Classical Conditioning

• Occurs gradually• Each pairing of the CS with the UCS

strengthens the conditioning• Timing is an issue. Conditioning is

strongest when the CS is introduced just before the UCS

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Behaviorism

Psychology should focus only on the relationship between the observable behavior and the environmental events or stimuli.

Conjectures about internal thoughts and ways of thinking are just speculation

John Watson (1878-1958)

American founder of radical behaviorism

Any behavior can be shaped or controlled

John Watson (1878-1958)

"Give me a dozen healthy infants, well formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I'll guarantee you to take any one at random, and train him or her to become any type of specialist I might select - doctor, lawyer, merchant chief and, yes, even beggar man or thief, regardless of his talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations, and the race of his ancestors."

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)

Radical behaviorism in modern times most closely tied to the work of Skinner

Distinguished between two kinds of learned behavior: respondent & operant

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)

Respondent behavior, the type studied by Pavlov, elicited by a definite stimulus, involuntary

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)

Operant behavior, cannot be certainly elicited, largely voluntary, probability of behavior repeated when reinforced

Gestalt Psychology

Psychological phenomenon are best understood when viewed as organized, structured wholes—that is, holistically—not when analyzed into myriad components.

Movement grew as a reaction to behaviorism and structuralism

Max Wertheimer (1880-1943)

Started the Gestalt movement with fellow German psychologists Kurt Koffka and Wolfgang Köhler.

Gestalt Psychology Criticism

Has produced an abundance of theory and very little data.

Experimentation under the Gestalt approach tends to lack careful experimental controls.

Unprecise definition of terms

Cognitivism

Emphasizes the importance of thought as a basis for understanding much of human behavior

The study of how people learn, structure, store, and use knowledge (Neisser, 1967)

Cognitivism

How is knowledge acquired, stored, transformed, and used?

What is consciousness, and where do conscious ideas originate?

What is the nature of perception and memory? What is thought? How do these abilities develop?

Biological Psychology

Also called psychobiology Attempts to study behavior by carefully

studying physiology (the scientific study of living organisms and life-sustaining functions) and anatomy (the study of the structures of living organisms)

Biological Psychology

Not really an organized school of thought but rather the affirmation that biological theorizing and experimentation are desirable bases for studying psychological problems

Evolutionary Psychology

Based upon Darwin’s theory of natural selection and evolution(1859), the goal is to explain behavior in terms of an organism’s evolved adaptations to a constantly changing environmental landscape

Psychodynamic Psychology

One of the oldest and most controversial and influential schools of psychology.

Emphasizes the importance of conflicting unconscious mental processes

Stresses the importance of early childhood experiences on the adult personality

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

Developed by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud

Major contributions• Significance of

unconscious and dreams

• Free association• Defense mechanisms

• Conscious - current awareness• Preconscious - not aware of material but

it’s retrievable (via ordinary retrieval)• Unconscious - not aware of material but it’s

not retrievable (via ordinary retrieval)

Levels of Consciousness

Conscious = Tip of Iceberg

ID EGO

SUPEREGO

The Structure of Personality

The Id – Reservoir of Psychic Energy

Most primitive part of the mind; what we are born with

Source of all drives and urgesOperates according to the pleasure

principle and primary process thinking

The Structure of Personality

The Ego- Executive of Personality

The part of the mind that constrains the id to reality

Develops around 2-3 years of ageOperates according to the reality

principle and secondary process thinkingMediates between id, superego, and

environment

The Structure of Personality

The Superego-Upholder of Values and Ideals

The part of the mind that internalizes the values, morals, and ideals of society

Develops around age 5Not bound by reality

The Structure of Personality

Neo-Freudians

Several of Freud’s disciples who rebelled and formulated their own versions of the theory.

A greater emphasis on conscious as opposed to unconscious processing

Influence of key human relationships on how one views the world

Humanistic Psychology

In response to that rather negative view of psychodynamic theory which sees man controlled by environmental events in his childhood

Humanistic psychology emphasizes free will and the importance of human potential

Humanistic Psychology

Holistic rather than analytical approach Emphasizes conscious rather than

unconscious experience in development An analytic approach like that of Freud’s

attempts to break down a personality into its constituent components

Humanistic Psychology

Humanistic approach doesn’t attempt to divide a personality into smaller elements

Argues that the essence of the personality is lost through such divisions

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)

A leading humanistic psychologist

Proposed that all people possess an innate drive toward self-actualization (striving to reach their potential)

Self-Actualized have in common

An objective view of reality, acceptance of their nature (both of their strengths and their weaknesses)

A commitment to their work A need for autonomy, coupled with empathy

for humankind Resistance to blind conformity, and drive to be

creative in work and in life

Carl Rogers (1902-1987)

Followed Maslow’s emphasis on self-actualization, but stressed that it was dependent upon the relationship between the mother and child

Carl Rogers (1902-1987)

If the mother meets the child’s need for unconditional love (unconditional positive regard), the child will probably be well-adjusted.

Many of the problems we have as adults are due to a lack of positive regard

Humanistic Psychology

Humanistic approach has provided valuable insight into human nature

It’s theories are somewhat less comprehensive than some other approaches

Research base supporting this approach is somewhat limited