Week 1 -history of psychology Flashcards
What is psychology?
Psyche=soul/mind
Ology= scientific study of
Study of mind and behaviour
How is psychology a science?
Sciences are defined by their use of the scientific method, not their subject matter. Follows the scientist-practitioner model.
Does appealing to psychology makes something automatic credible?
No- critical thinking skills are needed to distinguish science and pseudoscience
How will studying psychology help me?
Develop critical thinking skills
Learn scientific method
Develop information literacy skills
Develop data analysis and interpretation skills
Develop communication skills
Understand complexity of human behaviour
Understand human diversity
Who was the first psychologist?
Wilhelm Wundt? (1832-1920), wrote principles of physiological psychology
Used introspection to understand consciousness
Relies on trained observers to report experiences and stimuli that always produced the same reaction (relies on reaction time)
Was trying to understand the structure of consciousness
Who was William James?
First American psychologist. Accepted and influenced by Darwin’s theory of natural selection
Organisms adapt to their environment
Psychology enabled the study of function of behaviour
Who was Sigmund Freud?
Emphasised unconscious mind
Gaining access to it was crucial (dream analysis, free association, Freudian slips)
Controversial, but contemporary psychotherapy has been found to be effective
Psychoanalytic theory (not falsifiable)
What is Gestalt psychology
Didn’t have a large influence outside Europe
Emphasised WHOLE sensory experience, not individual components m
Movement was short lived as a consequence of WWII
(Incl. max wertheimer, Kurt kiddos, Wolfgang Kohler)
What is behaviourism
Rejected as a study of the mind
Focused entirely on observable behaviour
Pavlov studies conditioned reflexes through classical conditioning
-Paired a neutral stimulus that produced a natural response
- eventually the neutral stimulus alone would prove the result
John Watson focuses on learned behaviour and conditioning of emotion (little Albert)
Skinner also focused on learned behaviour
Studied reinforcement and punishment(eg. learning lights mean food)
Operant conditioning (conditioning chamber with rats and pigeons, mice)
What is humanism
Rose from dissatisfaction with dominant perspectives (behaviourism and
pessimism of psychoanalysis)
Abraham Maslow creates the hierarchy of needs - behaviour motivated by human needs
Satisfy basic needs and higher needs will motivate behaviour
(from top to bottom) self actualisation, esteem, social, security, physiological
Carl Rogers developer clients entered therapy- needed to have unconditional positive regard, genuineness and empathy
What was the cognitive revolution?
Rise of linguistics, computer and neuroscience in 1959s promoted the cognitive revolution.
Mind became a focus research
Chomsky, a linguistic, was a leader in this revolution
What is multicultural psychology?
Multicultural psychology is a major influence in contemporary psychology and includes such broad topic areas as racial identity development, acculturation, prejudice and stereotyping, and multicultural competence Multicultural psychology considers the influence of contextual variables (e.g., race or ethnicity) on human functioning in diverse societies. Cross-cultural psychology focuses on relationships between individuals and/or groups from different cultures. Cross-cultural psychology also focuses on comparisons between cultural groups (e.g., contrasting cultural values, practices, etc.).
Dominant psychological theories arose in WEIRD societies (western, educated, industrialised, rich, democratic)
What is biological psychology and evolutionarily psychology
Bio psychology combines psychological methods with physiological
and neuroscientific methods
Evolutionary psychology is how evolution history and our evolutionary adaption gives rise to behaviour!
What is perceptual psychologists?
Interested in sensation and the conscious perceptions they give rise to, especially visual perception.
What is cognitive psychology
Study of mind and mental processes, aims to understand how cognition and thoughts relate to actions and experiences
