History of Psychology as a Science

1
History of Psychology as a Science

• Old Ideas New Methods

2
Old Ideas Enduring Questions

• What is the mind? Is it separate from the body?
• What makes people who they are biology or
  environment?
• Is personality stable or can we change over time?
• What does it mean to be normal?

3
Philosophical Beginnings

• Plato v. Aristotle (ancient Greece)
• Plato
• Idealism
• Rationalism
• Aristotle
• Empiricism

4
Philosophical Beginnings

• Hippocrates (ancient Greece)
• First Western classification of mental disorders
• Mental illness is caused by imbalance of body
  humors
• Black bile, yellow bile, blood, phelgm
• Example too much black bile depression

5
Philosophical Beginnings

• Descartes (Renaissance)
• Dualism
• The mind and the body are separate.
• Mind spiritual
• Body mechanical

6
Philosophical Beginnings

• Locke vs. Rousseau (1700s)
• Locke
• Tabula rasa blank slate
• Rousseau
• Natural unfolding of hidden potential
• noble savages

7
Philosophical Beginnings

• Darwin
• Evolution natural selection
• Herbert Spencer Social darwinism
• Laws of natural selection apply to social systems

8
Psychology as a Science

• 1879
• Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychology
  laboratory
• Leipzig, Germany
• Wundt Father of psychology
• First experiment measured the time between
  hearing a ball drop and knowing that the ball
  had dropped
• Used introspection to study behavior

9
Psychology as a Science

• Not all psychologists agree about how behavior
  and mental processes should be studied.
• Different schools of thought or perspectives
  have emerged, grown, died, and endured through
  the years.

10
Psychology as a Science

• Structuralism
• Explored the nature of the mind
• Combined physics and philosophy
• Wundt his students
• Edward Titchner brought structuralism to the US
  (Cornell University)
• G. Stanley Hall established first psychology
  lab in US (Johns Hopkins Univ.)
• First president of APA

11
Psychology as a Science

• Functionalism
• Explored why the mind works the way is does
• Opposed structuralism
• Biggest advocate William James
• First American psychologist (Harvard)
• Wrote first psychology textbook Principles of
  Psychology (12 volumes)

12
Psychology as a Science

• Gestalt Psychology
• German school
• gestalt means whole
• Disagreed with structuralism
• Focus too narrow
• The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
• Phi phenomenon as inspiration

13
Psychology as a Science

• Psychoanalysis
• Sigmund Freud father of psychoanalysis
• Belief in the influence of unconscious thoughts
  motives
• Early childhood experiences are key to explaining
  adult behavior
• Influential students
• Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Karen Horney

14
Psychology as a Science

• Behaviorism
• Rebellion against psychoanalysis
• Evolution of structuralist perspective
• Desire for psychology to be more scientific
• Concentrated solely on studying observable
  behavior
• Founder John B. Watson
• Influenced by Ivan Pavlov classical
  conditioning
• Perspective dominated psychology for 70 years
• Main leader B.F. Skinner

15
Psychology as a Science

• Humanistic psychology
• Rebellion against behaviorism psychoanalysis
• Third Force in psychology
• Emerged in the 1950s and 1960s
• Focused on helping people thrive
• Main leaders
• Abraham Maslow (hierarchy of needs)
• Carl Rogers (unconditional positive regard)

16
Psychology as a Science

• Cognitive Revolution
• Began in 1970s
• Rebellion against behaviorism, which ignored the
  study of consciousness mental processes
• Early theories based on computer models
• Main leaders
• Martin Seligman
• Robert Sternberg
• Judith Rodin

17
Psychology as a Science

• Neuroscience
• Began in 1980s
• Resulted from advanced technology
• Links biological processes with behaviors and
  mental processes
• Evolutionary psychology
• Links theory of evolution to behavior mental
  processes

18
Psychology as a Science

• Modern Types of Psychologists
• Clinical
• Educational
• Industrial/Organizational (I/O)
• Forensic
• Behavior genetics
• Behavioral economics
• Developmental
• Cognitive
• The list goes on

19
Psychology as a Science

• Modern psychology
• Eclectic
• Divided between clinical and academic
  psychologists
• More diverse
• More women earn PhDs in psychology than men
• High percentages of ethnic minorities earn
  advanced degrees in psychology

20
Psychology as a Science

• Notable achievements of women people of color
• Women
• First APA President Mary Whiton Calkins (1905)
• First PhD awarded Margaret Floy Washburn (1894)
• People of color
• First African American PhD Francis Cecil Sumner
  (1920)
• First female African American PhD Inez Beverly
  Prosser (1933)
• First African American APA President Kenneth
  Clark (1970)
• with Mamie Phipps Clark research influenced
  Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court ruling