Unit 1: Psychology’s History and Approaches
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Transcript of Unit 1: Psychology’s History and Approaches
Psychology’s RootsPrescientific Psychology
• Rene Descartes• Francis Bacon• John Locke
–Tabula Rasa (blank slate)
• EmpiricismScience should rely on observation and experimentation
Psychology’s RootsPsychological Science is Born
• Wilhelm Wundt (1879)–University of Leipzig–Reaction time experiment
Psychology’s RootsThinking About the Mind’s Structure
• Edward Titchener– Structuralism
• Physicists & chemists broke matter down into structures, why not the mind?
• Introspection reveals the structure of the mind
• “Tell me about things that are yellow”
Psychology’s RootsThinking About the Mind’s Function
• William James–Influenced by Darwin & evolutionary
theory– Functionalism
How mental and behavioral processes function
• Experimental psychology
Psychological Science Develops
• Behaviorism–John B. Watson –B.F. Skinner–“study of observable behavior”
Psychological Science Develops
• Humanistic psychology–Carl Rogers–Abraham Maslow
• Cognitive Neuroscience
Psychology’s Biggest Question
• Nature – Nurture Issue–Biology versus experience–History
• Greeks• John Locke v. Rene Descartes• Charles Darwin
–Natural selection
Psychology’s Three Main Levels of Analysis
• Levels of Analysis–Biological–Psychological–Social-cultural
• Biopsychosocial Approach
Psychological Approaches/Perspectives
• Biological psychology• Evolutionary psychology• Psychodynamic psychology• Behavioral psychology• Cognitive psychology• Humanistic psychology• Social-cultural psychology