History of Psychology

Question 1

Wundt and Structuralism

Answer 1

• German Scientist (first to be referred to as a psychologist)
• Introspection (“internal perception”) – examine their own conscious experience as objectively as possible
• First requirement – use repeatable stimuli; produce same experience in the subject; fully attentive to the inner reaction
• Second requirement – use “trained”/practical observers; immediately observe and report
• Structuralism – attempting to understand the structure and characteristics of the mind (remaining subjective)

Question 2

James and Functionalism

Answer 2

• First American psychologist
• Barwin’s Theory of Evolution by Natural Selection –the idea that natural selection leads to organisms that are adapted to their environment, including behavior
• Functionalism – focus on how mental activities helped an organism fit into its environment

Question 3

Freud and Psychoanalytic Theory

Answer 3

• Austrian neurologist; fascinated by patients suffering from “hysteria”
• Hysteria –physical symptoms and emotional disturbance
• Psychoanalytic Theory – focus on the role of a person’s unconscious and early childhood experiences

Question 4

Wertheimer, Koffka, Köhler, and Gestalt Psychology

Answer 4

• German psychologists

* Gestalt – sensory experience can be broken down into individual parts

Question 5

Pavlov, Watson, Skinner, and Behaviorism

Answer 5

• Ivan Pavlov – studied conditioned reflex (learning behavior)
• John B. Watson – focus on observable behavior and try to bring that behavior under control
• B. F Skinner – focus on how behaviors were affected by its consequences (reinforcement and punishment)
• Behaviourism – shifting the focus of psychology from the mind to behavior (observing and controlling)

Question 6

Maslow, Rogers, and Humanism

Answer 6

• Abraham Maslow – propose a hierarchy of human needs in motivating behavior
• Carl Rogers – used therapeutic technique known as client-centered therapy AKA psychotherapy
• Humanism – a perspective that emphasizes looking at the whole individual and stresses concepts such as free will, self-efficacy, and self-actualization