Chapter 1: History and Approaches

A. Pre-Psychology
1. Plato: humans are born with innate knowledge – nature
2. Aristotle: truth derives from the physical world – nurture
3. Rene Descartes (1596-1650): Unlike physical world with observable and predictable laws, humans are controlled by
minds – nurture
4. John Locke (1632-1704): Human is a blank slate (Tabula Rasa) - nurture
5. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679): consciousness is simply from the brain; all matter and energy – materialism,
behaviorism, nurture
6. Charles Darwin (1809-1882): Natural selection – evolutionary psychology

B. Wave One - Introspection

1. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
i. Set up the first psychological laboratory at Leipzig, Germany
ii. Introspection
1. Asked subjects to accurately record their cognitive reaction to simple stimuli
2. Edward Titchener (1862-1929)
i. First to bring psychology to U.S.
ii. Structuralism
1. Identify the smallest parts of the mind to understand the whole structure of the mind
2. Mind operates by combining subjective emotions and objective sensations
3. William James (1842-1910)
i. Published the first psychology textbook “The Principles of Psychology”
ii. Functionalism
1. Examined how the structures function in our lives – survival

C. Wave Two - Gestalt Psychology

1. Max Wertheimer (1880-1943)
i. Tried to examine a person’s total experience
ii. The way we experience the world is more than an accumulation of perceptual experiences
iii. The whole experience is more than just the sum of the parts of the experience

D. Wave Three – Psychoanalysis

1. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
i. Conscious vs Unconscious Mind
1. Conscious Mind: State of awareness that we have access to
2. Unconscious Mind: Mental processes that we do not have access to
ii. Importance of childhood experience
iii. Repression / Dream Analysis
iv. Defense Mechanism
v. Psychoanalytic / Psychodynamic / Psychosexual
vi. Criticism: unscientific, unverifiable theories

E. Wave Four – Behaviorism

1. Mind is unimportant; Should look at only behavior
2. John Watson (1878-1958)
i. Studied conditioning experiments of Ivan Pavlov
3. B. F. Skinner (1904-1990)
i. Operant conditioning – reinforcement
F. Humanist Perspective (Based on humanism)
1. Stressed individual choice and free will
2. We make choices with consciousness and awareness
i. Based on psychological, emotional, and spiritual needs
3. Developed in response to behaviorism
i. Personal values and goals
4. Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
i. Self-actualization: the need for one to reach their full potential
5. Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
i. Unconditional positive regard, learned helplessness

G. Psychoanalytic Perspective
1. Unconscious mind, repressed trauma, ego, defense mechanism

H. Neuroscience Perspective (Biopsychology)

1. Study of physiology of nervous systems and brain anatomy
2. Human cognition and reaction might be caused by genes, hormones, and neurotransmitters
3. CAT, MRI, EEG, PET, fMRI

I. Evolutionary Perspective (Darwinian)

1. Natural selection – genes and traits for survival

J. Behavioral Perspective
1. Conditioning – classical, operant, reinforcement, punishment

K. Cognitive Perspective
1. Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
i. Stages of development
ii. Schema, assimilation
2. Combination of structuralism and functionalism

L. Socio-Cultural Perspective
1. The environment influences one’s behavior greatly
2. Importance of cultural value

M. Bio-Psycho-Social Perspective
1. Cognitive –difference in personal experience
2. Biological – genetics
3. Social – culture, conditioning, pressure

N. Eclectic
1. No one perspective has all the answers to the variety of human thought and behavior