Chapter 1 Newest

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Chapter 1

Psychology: Yesterday and Today


What Is Psychology?

Psychology is the science1 of mental processes and behavior.

1Systematic knowledge gained through observation and experimentation.


Levels of Analysis

The person

The group

The brain


Is psychology all common sense?


The Evolution of a Science Structuralism

• Wilhelm Wundt & Edward Titchener (student of Wundt)

• Focused on identifying the “building blocks” of consciousness (sensations & feelings)

• Introspection: Looking within Not objectively verifiable

• Wundt set-up 1st Psychology Lab in 1879


The Evolution of a Science

Functionalism• William James• Influenced by Charles Darwin

Studied how consciousness helped an individual survive and adapt to an environment

Animal observations provide clues for human behavior

• James set-up the first psychology laboratory in America


The Evolution of a Science

Gestalt Psychology• Max Wertheimer• Focused on

consciousness and principles of perceptual organization The whole is greater than

the sum of its parts


The Evolution of a Science Psychodynamic Theory

• Sigmund Freud• The mind has separate components

Conscious and unconscious components• Much of behavior in influenced by the

unconscious• Psychoanalysis


The Evolution of a Science Behaviorism

• John Watson & B. F. Skinner• The mind cannot be observed• Behavior can be observed• Science should study the observable• Reinforcement• Stimulus-response


The Evolution of a Science Humanistic Psychology

• Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow• Client-centered therapy• We strive for self-actualization


The Evolution of a Science The Cognitive Revolution

• Alan Newell & Herbert Simon• Focus on mental processes (information

processing)• Computer metaphor• Cognitive neuroscience


The Evolution of a Science Evolutionary psychology

• Lida Cosmides, John Tooby, David Buss, & Steven Pinker

• Evolutionarily successful cognitive strategies and goals survived

• Cultural universality

Chapter 1 Newest

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