Chapter 1 - Psychology as a Science & History of Psychology Flashcards
Definitions of “perspectives”
- the art of representing three-dimensional objects on a two-dimensional surface so as to give the right impression of their height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other.
- a particular attitude towards or way of regarding something; a point of view.
What is a course in “perspectives on psychology”?
A way to “see” the different fields of Psychology
Different areas of Psychology
- Theoretical (philosophy) vs. Applied (education, therapy, positive psychology)
- Islamic (islamic studies, IP, Islamically-integrated) vs. Secular (cognitive, psychoanalytic, humanistic)
- Psychology: the Western story
- The ancient world and the study of the Soul
- The modern world and the study of the Mind
- Contemporary Psychology and the study of Behaviour
“Western culture” refer to the definition of Samuel Huntington,
The core of “Western Civilisation” : Europe, North America, Australia, New Zealand
closely related cultures :
* Latin America
* The Orthodox World
The “West Culture” sees its birth in two ancient cultures:
- The Greek culture (12th century BC-600 AD), and in particular the elements of:
* Philosophy: Socrates, Plato and Aristotle : The valute of logic
* Democracy: voting, self-determination
* Literature and Theatre - The Roman culture
* The Roman Empire (27 BC–476 AD)
* Sophisticated legal system
* Tolerance of other cultures and religions
* “Personal freedoms”
* Incorporation of Greek culture
To understand a culture we should understand _____ & _____ why?
- Space (see maps before)
- Time (evolution through the centuries)
Why?
* Western Psychology has its roots in the Hellenistic period
* It shows some developments in the Roman period
* Between the end of the Medieval and Renaissance periods a very important shift takes place
* In the Modern world psychology becomes a science
* We now live in the Postmodern world. It is in this period in which we will work as Muslim Psychologists!
Psychology: history of the word
- Psyche in Greek Mythology
- Modern psychology comes from the Greek language:
- ψυχή = soul
- λογία = study / research
- This is the reason why psychological associations often use Ψ as a symbol
- Philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, or Aristotle believed the soul was immortal
The Modern world and the study of the Mind
- Modern discoveries changing the idea of Psychology
a. The neuron doctrine
b. Discovery of the speed of neural impulse - Psychophysics as a science
= Study of the relationship between physical stimuli and human perception
→ Emergence of a new science of psychology
→ Opening of the first psychology laboratories in Germany and the U.S.
Examples of some techniques used in the first psychological laboratories:
- Self-reports of reactions to various stimuli, i.e. Introspection
- Study of sensation and perception
- Goal: identification of the elements of consciousness
The Contemporary world and the study of the Behaviour
- Interest towards the applied side of psychology
- For example: intelligence
- Other fields: military, industry, education, design
- The emergence of Psychology as a profession
- Historical reasons: the traumas of the World Wars
- 1988: Founding of the American Psychological Society
Until today, we rely on intelligence tests whose first development was in the 1920s.
- Alfred Binet developed a test to identify schoolchildren needing educational support
- Stanford University standardised the test and propagated it
Why did this shift from Soul to Mind to Behaviour happened?
- Changes in the perception of the Self:
a* XII Century: from extensive to intensive self
b* Humanism: shifting away from God (theocentrism) to man
c* Romanticism: positive evaluation of feelings, intuition and emotions
d* Rationalism: Descartes and dualism
“Psychology as Science of Self II. The Nature of the Self”
By Mary Whiton Calkins (1908)
- Psychology should study the “conscious self”
- What is the Self?
- It is in close relationship with the body
- It should not be described like philosophers do
- What characteristics does the Self have?
- Permanent and persistant
- Inclusive
- Unique
- Related
Some of the key currents of contemporary Psychology
- Philosophy of Mind
- Cognitive Psychology
- Psychodynamic
- Neuroscience
- Computational Psychology
- Evolutionary Psychology
- Humanistic Psychology
