History of Psychology

1
History of Psychology
2
Lecture Overview

• What is Psychology?
• History of Psychology
• Early views of Mental Disorder
• Origins of Psychological Science
• Psychological Science Today
• Levels of analysis

3
What is Psychology?

• Psychology is the study of the
• Mind -- mental activity such as thoughts,
  feelings, and subjective experiences
• Brain an organ in the skull that produces
  mental activity and behavior
• Behavior any observable action or response

4
History of Psychology

• Interest in understanding human behavior and
  mental processes has existed for centuries
• Areas of interest
• Consciousness
• Madness or Mental Disorder

5
History of Psychology

• Written documents addressing these issues date
  back 25 centuries to the Greek Philosophers
  Socrates, Aristotle, Plato
• In Asia, evidence of interest in exploring
  consciousness and in controlling it with
  meditation and yoga
• In Africa, personality and mental disorder
  explained based on traditional spiritual beliefs

6
Early Views of Mental Disorder

• Earliest conceptions of mental disorder
  displeasure of the gods or demonic possession
• E.g., Ancient Babylonians insanity resulted
  from possession by the demon Idta

7
Early Views of Mental Disorder

• Treatment developed out of conception of mental
  disorders
• Flogging
• Starvation
• Drinking unpalatable brews
• Trephining

8
Trephining
9
Trephining
10
Early Views of Mental Disorder

• Evidence of Humane Treatment
• Sleeping in the temple of the deity of healing
• Artistic endeavors
• Bathing in hot springs
• Exercise
• Those who were not cured, however, were chased
  from the temples and/or stoned

11
Early Views of Mental Disorder

• Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.)
• Earliest proponent of somatogensis
• Mental disorder resulted from disturbances of the
  body NOT demonic possession
• Stress can also damage the mind and body

12
Early Views of Mental Disorder

• Hippocrates
• Normal Functioning depended on delicate balance
  of four humors or body fluids
• Mental Disorder resulted from an imbalance of
  these humors
• Blood changeable mood
• Black Bile -- melancholia
• Yellow Bile (choler) irritable anxious
• Phlegm sluggish or dull

13
Early Views of Mental Disorder

• Treatment
• Looked for natural remedies
• E.G., For melancholia
• Tranquility
• Sobriety
• Care in choosing food and drink
• Abstinence from sexual activity

14
History of Psychology

• Galen (1st Century AD) autopsy of apes ? lead
  to his belief in the role of the brain in mental
  function
• 3rd Century AD -- Return to demonology mentally
  ill as witches (?) Church had responsibility for
  care of mentally ill
• 1700s -- move toward Psychogenesis mental
  disorders attributed to psychic malfunctions
• 1850s -- Return to Somatogenesis with
  publication of Kraeplins classification system

15
Origins of Psychological Science
Nature -vs- Nurture Debate
16
Origins of Psychological Science
Nature -vs- Nurture Debate
Ongoing debate since the time of the Greeks about
causes of psychological characteristics Nature ?
psychological characteristics are biologically
determined or innate that is, we are born with
it Nurture ? psychological characteristics are
acquired through learning, experience, or culture
17
Origins of Psychological Science
Nature -vs- Nurture Debate
E.G., Schizophrenia intelligence Current
thinking ? all behavior is some combination of
Nature and Nurture
18
Implications of the Nature/Nurture Debate

• Thinking, feeling, experiencing, behavior have
  multiple causes
• Biology is NOT destiny

19
Origins of Psychology as a Science
1637
Nature -vs- Nurture Debate
Religious doctrine ? the mind and the brain were
separate entities Descartes mind and brain
were separate but related Current conception
the mind is what the brain does!
Cartesian Dualism
20
Implications of Mind-Body Debate
1637
Nature -vs- Nurture Debate
Brain
Cartesian Dualism
Behavior
Mind
21
Origins of Psychology as a Science
1859
1637
Darwin Theory of Natural selection
Cartesian Dualism
Species evolve through a process known as natural
selection Characteristics that were adaptive in
specific environments had a selective advantage
22
Survival Mechanisms Famine

• Taste-specific satiety become satiated more
  quickly when exposed to a single flavor than to a
  variety of flavors
• We have a preference for foods that are high in
  fat and sugar
• Current Implications high rate of obesity

23
Survival Mechanisms Learning

• Specific area of the brain that recognizes reward
• This area of the brain lights up when a
  behavior is followed by a biologically relevant
  consequence
• Leads to repetition of the behavior
• Current Implications ? brain mechanisms that set
  us up for addiction

24
Survival Mechanisms Sex

• Gender differences in tendency toward promiscuity
  develops from need to ensure survival of
  offspring
• Males ? more sexual partners means greater number
  of offspring survive
• Females ? better sexual partners means greater
  likelihood of offspring survival
• Remember Biology is NOT destiny

25
Implications of Evolutionary Theory

• Pioneering research in animals could be used to
  explain human behavior
• Pavlovs dogs implications for human learning
• Helmholtz research on nerve impulses in frogs
  could be used to understand nerve impulses in
  humans
• Animal models of addiction, ADHD and other mental
  disorders allow us to determine brain areas
  involved in these disorders and novel compounds
  for treatment

26
Origins of Psychology as a Science
1859
1879
Wundt introduces Structuralism
Structuralism conscious experience can be
broken down into its most basic components or
elements Introspection the process of
reporting on ones own mental experiences of a
stimulus Identified major areas of interest to
psychologists
Darwin Theory of Natural selection
27
Origins of Psychology as a Science
1879
1890
William James Argued that structuralism was
too narrow Functionalism Influenced by
Darwinian Theory The mind evolved to serve
adaptive functions These adaptive functions
should be evident in behavior and in daily life
thus interested in studying the functions of the
mind
Wundt introduces Structuralism
James introduces Functionalism
28
Origins of Psychology as a Science
1900
1890
Freud as physician, found patients
with neurological symptoms that had no
physical explanation Unconscious mind much of
mental activity occurred outside of an
individuals conscious awareness Mental
disorder unconscious mental forces in conflict
Freud the unconscious
James introduces Functionalism
29
Origins of Psychology as a Science
1900
1912
Freud the unconscious
Gestalt Theory We perceive information as
uniform and whole not as separate elements The
whole is greater than the sum of its elements
Gestalt Psychology the whole gt the sum of its
parts
30
Origins of Psychology as a Science
31
Origins of Psychology as a Science
1912
1925
Behaviorism behavior is a function of
learning
Behaviorism Studying the mind is
unscientific Observable behavior, not the mind,
should be the focus of scientific inquiry All
behavior is a function of environmental
influences
Gestalt Psychology the whole gt the sum of its
parts
32
How do we Understand Behavior?

• 7 Levels of Analysis
• Genetic
• Neurochemical
• Brain Systems
• Behavioral
• Perceptual/Cognitive
• Individual
• Social/Cultural

• 7 Disciplines
• Biological
• Developmental
• Behavioral
• Cognitive
• Trait
• Clinical
• Sociocultural

33
Understanding Behavior using a Levels of
Analysis Approach

• Depression
• Genetics
• Neurochemistry
• Developmental
• Perceptual/Cognitive

• Academic Performance
• Genetics
• Behavioral
• Developmental
• Perceptual/cognitive
• Social/Cultural