The Evolution of Psychology

1. Father of Psychology

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   • Made Psychology an independent discipline
2. Established 1st formal laboratory for research of psychology (University of Leipzig 1879)
3. 1st journal responsible for publishing research of psychology (1881)
4. Focused on consciousness - awareness of immediate experience

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   • mind & mental processes

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• Student of Wundt

1. Responsible for Psychology's popularity in North America
2. Established 1st research laboratory for research in Psychology in America (Johns Hopkins University 1883)
3. Launched 1st Psychology journal in the US (1887)
4. Driving force behind starting the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1892

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   • Elected 1st President

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• Structure "Static points" Laboratory Analyze

1. Edward Titchener

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   • Credited for Structuralism
2. Definition: The belief that the purpose of Psychology is to analyze consciousness into its basic elements & investigate how they are related
3. Examine fundamental components of conscious experience (Sensations, Feelings, Images)
4. Introspection: The careful, systematic self-observation of one's own conscious experience

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   • Limitations of introspection led to demise of structuralism

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• Function "Flow" Real world Investigate

1. William James

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   • Chief impetus of functionalism "Principles of Psychology" (1890)
   1. Consciousness consists of a continuous flow of thought - "The stream of consciousness" - James wanted to understand that flow
2. Definition: the notion that psychology should investigate the function or purpose of consciousness

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• founded behaviourism (early 1900's) Favoured nurture (environment & experience)

1. Watson believed mental processes were not a proper subject for scientific study

1. Behaviour: Any overt (observable) response or activity by an organism
2. Stimulus: Any detectable input from the environment

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• Subjects easier to control

1. Approach to psychology was to treat mental disorders & psychological problems such as irrational fears, obsessions & anxieties with an innovative procedure he called psychoanalysis
2. Concluded psychological disturbances are largely caused by personal conflicts @ unconscious level
3. Suggested people are masters of their own minds
4. Proposed behaviour is greatly influenced by how people cope with their sexual urges

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• Central figure in behaviourism Harvard "Beyond Freedom and Dignity" (1971)

1. Developed Radical Behaviourism
2. Argued that psychology could understand & predict behaviour adequately without resorting to physiological explanations
3. Concluded free will is an illusion

1. Must take into account the fundamental human drive towards personal growth

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   • Maslow
2. Person-centered-therapy

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   • Rogers

1. Animals and humans separated by sense of self

1. Applied Psychology: Concerned with everyday, practical problems
   1. School Psychology, Industrial & Organizational Psychology and Counselling Psychology
2. Clinical Psychology: concerned with the diagnosis & treatment of psychological problems & disorders
   1. Came into high demand after WWII

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• 1950's-1960's

1. Studied cognitive development in children

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• Canadian 1956

1. Demonstrated that electrical stimulation of the brain could evoke emotional responses such as pleasure and rage in animals

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• 1965

1. Showed that the left & right hemispheres of the brain are specialized to handle different types og mental tasks

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• 1962

1. Worked on how visual signals are processed in the brain

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• "The Organization of Behaviour: A Neuropsychgological Theory" (1949)

1. Stated origin of behaviour was the brain and introduced Cell Assembly: repeated stimulation leads to the development od cell assemblies. They resemble cognitive units that together or in concert with other cell assemblies facilitate behaviour

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• President of APA (1997)

1. Realised Psychology was unnecessarily negative in its approach

1. Positive Subjective Experiences

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   • Positive emotions & happiness
2. Positive Individual Traits

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   • Personal strengths & virtues
3. Positive Institutions & Communities

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   • How societies fostering civil discourse, strong families, healthy work environment etc.

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• Looks at human development across the lifespan.

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• Focuses on interpersonal behaviour & the role of social forces in governing behaviour. (attitude formation, attitude change, prejudice, conformity, attraction, aggression, intimate relationships & behaviour in groups)

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• Encompasses the traditional core of topics that psychology focused on heavily in its first half-century as a science: sensation, perception, learning, conditioning, motivation & emotion

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• Examines influence of genetic factors on behaviour and the role of the brain, nervous system, endocrine system and bodily chemicals in the regulation of behaviour

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• Focuses on "higher" mental processes (memory, reasoning, information processing, language, problem solving, decision making & creativity)

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• Interested in describing and understanding individual's consistency in behaviour, which represents their personality.

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• Concerned with the measurement of behaviour and capacities, usually through the development of psychological tests. (asses personality, intelligence, and a wide range of abilities). Also concerned with development of new techniques for statistical analysis

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• Studies how people learn & the best way to teach them. (curriculum design, teacher training, student motivation, classroom diversity, etc.)

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• Focus on how psychological factors relate to the promotion and maintenance of physical health and the causation, prevention and treatment of illness

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• Empiricism: the premise that knowledge should be acquired through observation Conclusions based on observation

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• Theory:  A system of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations

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• Develops in a social & historical context

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• Behaviour is complex and most aspects of it are determined by multiple causes

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• Culture: Refers to the widely shared customs, beliefs, values, norms, institutions, & other products of a community that are transmitted socially across generations 

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• nature vs nurture Individuals are born & made, according to todays psychologists

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• People see what they want to see & what they expect to see Perception is personalized & subjective