S1 Wk 2 - History of Western Psychology Flashcards
how old is psychology
- birth of psychology around 1879 with Wilhelm Wundt’s laboratory in Leipzig
- start of psychology as a science
whats plato’s ‘tripartite’ theory
argued that we need to balance reason with emotion and desire
what did Aristotle write in his book on the mind (De Anima) 2
- argues that mind/reason is independent of the body
- and the ‘libido’ is the force governing all life (inc. plants)
who do Plato and Aristotle’s ideas compare with
Plato’s compare with Freudian theory
Aristotle’s ideas anticipate Descartes and Darwin
four temperaments by Hippocrates then galen
Mood regulated by physical composition, excess fluids
- phlegmatic (phlegm)
- melancholic (black bile)
- sanguine (blood)
- choleric (yellow bile)
what and who is Cartesian dualism
- Rene Descartes (1596 - 1650): birth of rationalist philosophy
- Cogito ergo sum - I think, therefore I am
- we can separate the mind from the body as a purely rational element
whos John Locke and what did he come up with
- 17thc UK philosopher
- mind as ‘tabula rasa’
- all reason and knowledge the result of experience
- approach known as empiricism ( need evidence that things exist)
how were people with psychological problems dealt with
Until the 18th century largely dealt with through confinement or primitive surgery to drive out devils
psychiatry emerges branch of medicine
Developments in physiology 2 points
19th century scientists began to discover parts of brain associated with different psychological functions
e.g. Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas associated with the production and comprehension of language
Early experimental psychology - 3 psychologists and what they did
Helmholts: (1850s) reaction times
Fechner: perceptual discrimination
Wundt: subjective reports introspection (believed that higher order processes defy experimentation)
4 times stamps of the first psychologists
1870s: opening of first Laboratories dedicated to psychology
1875: William James (US) mostly teaching
1879: first research at Wilhelm Wundt’s lab in Leipzig University
1909: Institute for experimental psychology
Psychoanalytic Theory Freud 3 points
- freud and followers working within medicine ( psychiatry)
- idea of talking cure based on Freud’s notion of the unconscious
- huge influence on clinical practice and everyday psychology
The study of animal behaviour when and who three points
1900s: important influence on psychology
- pavlov’s theory of conditioning: dogs salivate to Bell even when food removed
- Thorndike: similar findings with cats escaping puzzle box
Behaviourism when and who three points
- application of animal findings to humans
- 1920: JB Watson’s little Albert study
- behaviorism became the dominant approach in psychology by WWII
Skinner: reinforcement when and what 2 points
1950s: BF Skinner introduced behaviorist principles into education
positive and negative reinforcement studied for their effectiveness as rewards / punishment
Social learning theory what who and when 3 points
Idea that children learn from observing models
bundura 1960s: particular interest in learned aggression
bobo doll studies - still wrongly applied to media violence
Humanism when who and what the 4 points
1960s Rogers, Maslow etc
criticised behaviourism and psychoanalytic Theory
focus on growth and potential for achieving happiness
later worked up into positive psychology
The cognitive Revolution who when what 3 points
1960s: Bruner and Neissen also created behaviourism
adoption of the computer as a model for thinking about the brain
memory, attention, cognitive processing all became important
Psychometrics what who 3 points
Ever sophisticated methods being developed to measure individuals
Hans Eysenck: three Factor theory of Personality
studied using the Eysenck personality questionnaire
The psychologist as clinician when what 2 points
1955: first clinical psychology course started at institute of psychiatry in London
provided an alternative psychiatry for treating mental health issues
neuropsychology 3 points
Advances in brain science have transformed our capacity for knowledge
seeing inside the brain affords insights unavailable to past thinkers
but brings risk of overinterpretation
Evolutionary psychology what three points
Another modern trend towards explaining behaviour through inherited characteristics
driven particularly by dawkins’s The Selfish Gene 1975
also huge risk of over interpretation
