Unit 1 Evolution of Psychology PDF

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Unit 1 Evolution of Psychology Thursday, November 5, 2020

6:30 PM

How Psychology Developed Psychology’s intellectual parents were classic philosophy and 19th-cen and physiology, disciplines that shared an interest in the mysteries of th Psychology became an independent discipline when Wilhelm Wundt e first psychological research laboratory in 1879 at Leipzig, Germany. He psychology as the scientific study of consciousness. The new discipline grew rapidly in North America in the late 19th centu by G. Stanley Hall’s career. Hall established America’s first research lab

ntury philosophy e mind. established the defined ry, as illustrated b in psychology

and founded the American Psychological Association. Structuralism vs Functionalism Structuralism emerged through the leadership of Edward Titchener, an immigrated to the United States in 1892 and taught for decades at Co Structuralism was based on the notion that the task of psychology is to consciousness into its basic elements and investigate how these eleme Just as physicists were studying how matter is made up of basic particl structuralists wanted to identify and examine the fundamental compo conscious experience, such as sensations, feelings, and images. Most of the research concerned sensation and perception in vision, he touch. To examine the contents of consciousness, the structuralists dep method of introspection, the careful, systematic self-observation of one conscious experience. Limitations associated with the use of introspection were a factor that the demise of structuralism. If you depend solely on an individual’s refle document a phenomenon, there is no independent objective evaluat claim. Functionalism was based on the belief that psychology should investig or purpose of consciousness, rather than its structure. The chief impetus emergence of functionalism was the work of William James. James’s thinking illustrates how psychology, like any field, is deeply em network of cultural and intellectual influences. James had been impres Charles Darwin’s concept of natural selection. According to the princip selection, heritable characteristics that provide a survival or reproducti are more likely than alternative characteristics to be passed on to subs generations and thus come to be “selected” over time. Applying this idea to humans, James noted that consciousness obviou important characteristic of our species. Hence, he contended that psy investigate the functions rather than the structure of consciousness. He consciousness consists of a continuous flow of thoughts. In analyzing co its “elements,” the structuralists were looking at static points in that flow to understand the flow itself which he called the stream of consciousn

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to understand the flow itself, which he called the stream of consciousn Whereas structuralists naturally gravitated to the laboratory, functional interested in how people adapt their behaviour to the demands of the around them. This practical slant led the functionalists to introduce new psychology. The impassioned advocates of structuralism and functionalism saw the fighting for high stakes: the definition and future direction of the new sc psychology. Although both schools of thought gradually faded away, fostered the development of two descendants that have dominated m psychology: behaviourism and applied psychology. Behaviourism Founded by John B. Watson, behaviourism is a theoretical orientation b premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behav important to understand what a radical change this definition represen proposing that psychologists abandon the study of consciousness altog focus exclusively on behaviours that they could observe directly. In ess what scientific psychology should be about. To him, the power of the scientific method rested on the idea of verifia principle, scientific claims can always be verified (or disproved) by any and willing to make the required observations. If psychology were to b would have to give up consciousness as its subject matter and becom science of behaviour. Behaviour refers to any overt (observable) response or activity by an o asserted that psychologists could study anything that people do or say playing chess, eating, complimenting a friend—but they could not stud the thoughts, wishes, and feelings that might accompany these observ behaviours. Watson’s views on the nature–nurture issue (that nurture plays the majo governing behaviour), his writings contributed to the strong environme became associated with behaviourism. Behaviourists came to view psychology's mission as an attempt to relat

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behaviours (“responses”) to observable events in the environment (“sti is any detectable input from the environment. Because the behaviouri stimulus–response relationships, the behavioural approach is often refe stimulus– response (S–R) psychology. Ivan Pavlovs research into stimulus-response bonds helped pave the w behaviourism to take hold. The stimulus-response approach also gave research in psychology. Researchers no longer needed human subject their mental processes. And animals lent themselves as better suited to conditions, due to allowing researchers to have more control over thei At this time, other schools of thought were emerging. One, called the G was primarily concerned with perception, and argued that psychology continue to study conscious experience rather than overt behaviour. A physician named Sigmund Freud who had been contemplating the m unconscious mental processes. Psychoanalytic Sigmund Freuds approach to psychology grew out of his efforts to trea disorders. In his medical practice, Freud treated people troubled by ps problems such as irrational fears, obsessions, and anxieties with an inno procedure he called psychoanalysis. Freud gradually won acceptance within medicine, attracting promine as Carl Jung and Alfred Adler. Most psychologists contemptuously view psychoanalytic theory as unscientific speculation that would eventuall The theory spread through popular culture, thus the widespread popul of psychoanalytic theory essentially forced psychologists to apply their methods to the topics Freud had studied: personality, motivation, and behaviour and therapy. As they turned to these topics, many of them s some of Freud’s notions. Although psychoanalytic theory continued to heated debate, it survived to become an influential theoretical perspe According to Freud, the unconscious contains thoughts, memories, and are well below the surface of conscious awareness but that nonethele influence on behaviour. Freud eventually concluded that psychological disturbances are large

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personal conflicts existing at an unconscious level. More generally, his p theory attempts to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorde on unconscious determinants of behaviour. B.F. Skinners Behaviourism Although Skinner was influenced by Watson’s methodological behavio Pavlov’s work on conditioned reflexes, he eventually developed a syst own philosophy of radical behaviourism that represented a departure forms of behaviourism and neo-behaviourism. He did not deny the existence of internal, mental events but he redefin private events and did not think that they should be given special statu explaining behaviour. According to Skinner, if the stimulus of food is followed by the response can fully describe what is happening without making any guesses abo animal is experiencing hunger. The fundamental principle of behaviour documented by Skinner is dec Organisms tend to repeat responses that lead to positive outcomes, a to repeat responses that lead to neutral or negative outcomes. Skinner’s followers eventually showed that the principles uncovered in research could be applied to complex human behaviours as well. Beh principles are now widely used in factories, schools, prisons, mental hos variety of other settings. He asserted that all behaviour is fully governed by external stimuli. Just an arrow is governed by the laws of physics. Thus, if you believe that yo the result of conscious decisions, you’re wrong. According to Skinner, p controlled by their environment, not by themselves. In short, Skinner arr conclusion that free will is an illusion. Humanists By the 1950s, behaviourism and psychoanalytic theory had become th influential schools of thought in psychology. However, many psycholog theoretical orientations unappealing The principal charge hurled at b

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theoretical orientations unappealing. The principal charge hurled at b that they were “dehumanizing.” Many people argued that both main thought failed to recognize the unique qualities of human behaviour. In psychology, humanism is a theoretical orientation that emphasizes t qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for pe Humanists take an optimistic view of human nature. The maintain that pawns of either their animal heritage, or environmental circumstances humans are fundamentally different from other animals, and therefore has little relevance. The most prominent architects of the humanistic movement have bee and Abraham Maslow. Rogers argued that human behaviour is govern each individual’s sense of self, or “self-concept”—which animals presu he and Maslow maintained that to fully understand people’s behaviou must take into account the fundamental human drive toward persona asserted that people have a basic need to continue to evolve as hum to fulfill their potential. In fact, the humanists argued that many psycho disturbances are the result of thwarting these uniquely human needs.

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Psychology as a Profession Many psychologists provide a variety of professional services to the pu falls within the domain of applied psychology, the branch of psycholog with everyday, practical problems. The first applied arm of psychology to emerge was clinical psychology today, clinical psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with and treatment of psychological problems and disorders. Stimulated by the demands of World War II, clinical psychology grew ra 1950s. Thus, psychology became a profession as well as a science. This toward professionalization eventually spread to other areas in psycholo Renewed Interest in Cognition and Physiology During the 1950s and 1960s, advances in the study of cognition (refers t processes involved in acquiring knowledge) led to renewed interest in processes, as psychology returned to its roots. Advocates of the cognit argue that human behaviour cannot be fully understood without cons people think. The 1950s and 1960s also saw advances in research on the physiologic behaviour. Advocates of the biological perspective assert that human behaviour can be explained in terms of the bodily structures and bioch processes that allow organisms to behave. Cultural Diversity In the 1980s, Western psychologists, who had previously been rather pr

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developed a greater interest in how cultural factors influence behavio was sparked in large part by growing global interdependence and by cultural diversity in Western societies. Why has the focus of Western psychology been so narrow? A host of fa probably contributed. First, cross-cultural research is costly, difficult, and consuming. It has always been cheaper, easier, and more convenient psychologists to study the middle-class white students enrolled in their s Second, some psychologists worry that cultural comparisons may inadv stereotypes of various cultural groups, many of which already have a l being victimized by prejudice. Third, ethnocentrism—the tendency to view one’s own group as superi as the standard for judging the worth of foreign ways—may have cont Western psychologists’ lack of interest in other cultures. Some of the impetus probably came from the sociopolitical upheavals and 1970s. The civil rights movement, the women’s movement, and the movement all raised doubts about whether psychology had dealt ade human diversity. Above all else, however, the new interest in culture appears attributab trends: (1) Advances in communication, travel, and international trade the world and increased global interdependence, bringing more and Americans and Europeans into contact with people from non- Western (2) the ethnic makeup of the Western world has become an increasing multicultural mosaic. Evolutionary Psychology The 1990s witnessed the emergence of a new theoretical perspective evolutionary psychology. The central premises of this new school of tho patterns of behaviour are the product of evolutionary forces and that favours behaviours that enhance reproductive success. The basic premise of evolutionary psychology is that natural selection f behaviours that enhance organisms’ reproductive success—that is, pa to the next generation Thus if a species is highly aggressive evolutiona

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to the next generation. Thus, if a species is highly aggressive, evolutiona argue that it’s because aggressiveness conveys a survival or reproduct for members of that species, so genes that promote aggressiveness are be passed on to the next generation. Although evolutionary psychologists have a natural interest in animal b have not been bashful about analyzing the evolutionary bases of hum personality, and development.

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