History of Psychology

Question 1

Behavioral Perspective

Answer 1

Behaviorists explain human thought and behavior in terms of conditioning (learning).

Behaviorists look strictly at observable behaviors and what reaction organisms get in response to specific behaviors.

Dominant school of thought in psychology from the 1920s through the 1960s.

Question 2

Evolutionary (or Darwinian) Perspective

Answer 2

Evolutionary psychologists (also sometimes called sociobiologists) examine human thoughts and actions in terms of natural selection.

Natural selection in this context refers to the idea that some psychological traits might be advantageous for survival and that these traits would be passed down from the parents to the next generation
.
Similar to (and in some ways a subset of) the Biopsychology Perspective.

Question 3

Biopsychology (or Neuroscience) Perspective

Answer 3

Biopsychologists explain human thought and behavior strictly in terms of biological processes.

Neuroscientists believe that human cognition and reactions might be caused by the effects of our genes, hormones, and neurotransmitters in the brain or by a combination of all three.

Question 4

Cognitive Perspective

Answer 4

Cognitive psychologists examine human thought and behavior in terms of how we interpret, process, and remember environmental events.

Cognitive psychologists believe that the rules or methods we use to view the world are important to understanding why we think and behave the way we do.

Question 5

Functionalism

Answer 5

The theory was described by William James.

Examines how the mental processes described by Wilhelm Wundt function in our lives.

Question 6

Social-Cultural (or Sociocultural) Perspective

Answer 6

Social-cultural psychologists look at how our thoughts and behaviors vary from people living in other cultures.

Sociocultural psychologists emphasize the influence culture has on the way we think and act.

For example, social-cultural psychologists are interested in the emphasis some cultures place on the value of the group (collectivism) or the individual (individualism).

Question 7

Humanist Perspective

Answer 7

The humanists, including theorists Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) and Carl Rogers (1902-1987), stressed individual choice and free will.

This contrasts with the deterministic behaviorists who theorized that all behaviors are caused by past conditioning.

Humanists believe that we choose most of our behaviors and that these choices are guided by physiological, emotional, or spiritual needs.

Question 8

Introspection

Answer 8

Technique used by Wilhelm Wundt who asked subjects to accurately record their cognitive reactions to simple stimuli.

Through this process, Wundt hoped to examine basic mental processes.

Question 9

Psychoanalytic Perspective

Answer 9

Described by Sigmund Freud.

Psychoanalysts believe that the unconscious mind–a part of our mind that we do not have conscious control over or access to-controls much of our thoughts and actions.

Psychoanalysts look for impulses or memories pushed into the unconscious mind through repression.

Psychoanalysts think we must examine our unconscious mind through dream analysis, word association, and other psychoanalytic therapy techniques in order to understand human thought and behavior.

Question 10

Sigmund Freud
(1856-1939)

Answer 10

Believed he discovered the unconscious mind -a part of the mind over which we do not have conscious control and which determines, in part, how we think and behave.

Proposed that we must examine the unconscious mind through dream analysis, word association, and other psychoanalytic therapy techniques if we are to truly understand human thought and behavior.

Has been criticized for being unscientific and creating unverifiable theories.

Question 11

John Watson (1878-1958)

Answer 11

Declared that psychology must limit itself to observable phenomena, not unobservable concepts like the unconscious mind, if it is to be considered a science.

Wanted to establish behaviorism as the dominant paradigm of psychology.

Behaviorists maintain that psychologists should only look at behavior and causes of behavior-stimuli (environmental events) and responses (physical reactions)-and not concern themselves with describing elements of consciousness.

Question 12

Ivan Pavlov

Answer 12

Performed pioneering conditioning experiments on dogs.

These experiments led to the development of the classical conditioning model of learning.

UCS/UCR/NS/CS/CR

Question 13

Margaret Floy Washburn (1871-1939)

Answer 13

First woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology (1894).

Known for her experimental work involving animal behavior and sensation/perception processes.

Question 14

Max Wertheimer (1880-1943)

Answer 14

Gestalt psychologist.
Argued against dividing human thought and behavior into discrete structures.

Gestalt psychology tried to examine a person’s total experience because the way we experience the world is more than just an accumulation of various perceptual experiences.

Gestalt theorists demonstrated that the whole experience is often more than just the sum of the parts of the experience.

Question 15

William James (1842-1910)

Answer 15

Published The Principles of Psychology, the science’s first textbook.

Established the Theory of Functionalism: How mental processes function in our lives.

Brought psychology to the United States.

Question 16

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

Answer 16

Set up the first psychological laboratory in an apartment near the university at Leipzig, Germany.

Trained subjects in introspection. Subjects were asked to accurately record their cognitive reactions to simple stimuli.

Established the theory of Structuralism, which attempted to study thinking using the technique of introspection.

Considered the “Father of Scientific Psychology.”

Question 17

B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)

Answer 17

Expanded the basic ideas of behaviorism to include the idea of reinforcement and punishment-environmental stimuli that either encourage or discourage certain responses.

Helped establish and popularize the operant conditioning model of learning.

Skinner’s intellectual influence lasted for decades.

Question 18

Mary Whiton Calkins (1863-1930)

Answer 18

Student of William James.

Became president of the American Psychological Association (1905).

Completed her doctoral studies but Harvard refused to award her a Ph.D. because, at the time, they did not grant doctoral degrees
to women.