Chapter 1: Introduction and Research Methods

Psychology - the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Goals of Psychological Science

1. Describe
2. Explain
3. Predict
4. Control

ORIGIN OF PSYCHOLOGY

1. STRUCTURALISM - emphasized that complex conscious experiences broken down into

structures. Introduced by Edward Titchener.
Introspection - understanding oneself by analyzing the self.
2. FUNCTIONALISM - emphasized function of behavior and mental experiences. Introduced by
William James.
3. PSYCHOANALYSIS - emphasized the role of unconscious factors in personality and
behavior. Introduced by Sigmund Freud.
4. BEHAVIORISM - emphasized observable behaviors. Pioneered by B.F. Skinner.
5. HUMANISTIC - emphasized each person's unique potential for psyhological growth.

PEOPLE OF PSYCHOLOGY
Rene Descartes
- interactive dualism = mind and body are separate entities that interact to produce sensations,
emotions, and other conscious experiences.

Aristotle
- impact of physiology on emergence of psychology
- scientific discoveries deomonstrated that the scientific method could be applied to behavior
and mental process

Wilhelm Wundt
- founder of Psychology
- 1874 - wrote the Principles of Physiological Psychology
- 1879 - first psychology laboratory at the University o Leipzig

Edward Titchener
- student of Wundt
- developed approach called structuralism

William James
- developed approach called functionalism
- influenced by Charles Darwin
- stressed the importance of how behavior functions to allo people and animals to adapt to their
environments.

G. Stanley Hall/ Granville Stanley Hall

- student of William James
- first psychological lab in the United States at John Hopkins
- founder of American Psychology Association

Mary Whiton Calkins

- first women to EARN a PhD in psychology
- 1905 - elected president of the APA

Margaret Floy Washburn

- student of Edward Titchener
- first American women to EARN AND RECEIVE an official PhD in Psychology

Francis C. Sumner
- student of G. Stanley Hall
- first African American to receive a PhD in psychology

Kenneth Bancroft Clark

- conducted research that was instrumental in U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 decsion to end
segregation in schools
- first African American APA president

B.F. Skinner/ Burrhus Frederic Skinner

- believed that psychology should restrict itself to studying outwardly observable behaviors that
could be measured and verified in compelling experimental demonstrations.
- pioneer of behaviorism.
- introduced Operant Conditioning.

Ivan Pavlov
- demonstrated that dogs could learn to associate a neutral stimulus, such as the sound of a bell
with an automatic behavior, such as reflexively salivating to food.
- introduced Classical Conditioning.

John B. Watson
- posited that the goal of the behaviorist was to discover the fundamental principles of learning
- how behavior is acquired and modified in response to enviromental influences
- Baby Albert Experiment

Sigmund Freud
- Autrian Physician
- started school of thought called psychoanalysis
- suggests behavior and personality influenced by unconscious conflicts
- powerful influence on later theories of psychology

Carl Rogers
- emphaized the person's conscious experiences, unique potential for psychological growth and
self-direction, self-determination, free will, and the importance of choce in human behavior.
- suggested humanistic psychology differs significantly from psychoanalysis and behaviorism

Abraham Maslow
- heirarchy of needs
- theory of motivation
- emphasized the importance of psychological growth

CONTEMPORARY PSYCHOLOGY
- modern psychology has become more specialized and diverse with various perspetive

PERSPECTIVES IN PSYCHOLOGY

1. BIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
- physical basis of behavior
Neuroscience - study of physiological mechanisms in brain and nervous system that organize
and control behavior.

2. PSYCHODYNAMIC PERSPECTIVE
- emphasis on unconscious processes and early experience

3. BEHAVIORAL PERSPECTIVE
- study of how behavior is acquired and modified through experience and environment

4. HUMANISTIC PERSPECTIE
- focuses on personal growth, interpersonal relationships, and self-concept

5. POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY PERSPECTIVE

- studes how to contribute to optimal functioning and counterbalance traditional emphasis on
problem and disorders

6. COGNITIVE PERSPECTIVE
- focuses on mental process, memory, perception, language, problem solving, and thinking

7. CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE
- emphasized diversity of behavior across cultures and the fact that many earlier findings were
not universal
8. EVOLUTIONARY PERSPECTIVE
- applies the principles of evolution to explain psychological processes
- most adaptive characteristics are perpetuated through natural selection

PSYCHOLOGIST - trained in the diagnosis, treatment, causes, and prevention of psychological

disorders
- PhD or PsyD degrees
PSYCHIATRIST - have medical degrees followed by specialized training in diagnosis,
treatment, causes, and prevention of psychological disoders
- MD degrees