Psychology: The scientific study of
the human mind and its functions,
especially those affecting behaviour
in a given context
Influential People of Psychology
Ancient Greece: Classic greek philosopher's
started the foundation of psychology, and
brought fourth ideas including separation of
mind and body, nativism, and empiricism
Socrates (469-399 B.C.E)
Plato (427-347 B.C.E.)
Aristotle (385-322 B.C.E.)
Aristotle also created a
popular theory about memory.
His conception of memory
suggested that memories are
the result of three principles,
similarity, contrast and
contiguity.
Renaissance (Europe) : The development of ideas
about the mind, behaviour and human nature
developed largely during this period
Rene Descarters (1596-1650)
Descarters famously argued the
dualism of the mind and body.
He believed they were
fundamental different.
Descarters strongly attached the
idea of dreams, memory,
perception, emotions to natural
"properties" of the body and the
"mind" or soul being immaterial.
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
John Locke (1632-1704)
David Hume ( 1711-1776)
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873
The Science of Psychology
(1700's-1900's) : This is when the
focus turned to the
experimentation of psychology and
medicine. Biology was often refereed here.
Wilhelm Wundt
(1832-1920)
Wundt set up the first
research lab in 1879
Germany
Wundt argued that psychology
should be a scientific study of
consciousness
"psychology informs us about
those life phenomena that we
perceive by external senses. In
psychology, the person looks
upon himself as from within and
tried to explain the interrelations
of those processes that this
internal observations discloses " -
Wilhelm Wundt
Considered founder of psychology
Robert Whyte
(1714-1766)
Franz Gall
(1758-1828)
Paul Broca
(1824-1880)
Stanley Hall (1846-1924)
launched Americas
first psychology
journal (1887)
helped establish the
American Psychology
Association (1892)
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
Psychoanalytic theory : attempts to explain
personality, motivation, and mental disorders by
focusing on unconscious determinants of behaviour
Carl Jung
Alfred Adler
Freud believed that the unconscious contains thoughts,
memories and desires that are well below the surface of
conscious awareness but that nonetheless exert great
influence on behaviour
he proposed that behaviour is greatly influenced
by how people cope the "sexual urges"
Structuralism V.S Functionalism: as
psychology developed to main
schools of thought developed
Structuralism
Edward Titchener (1867-1927)
took leadership in the
structuralist community
Structuralism was based on
the notion that the task of
psychology is to analyze
conciousness into its basic
elements and investigate
how these elements are
related
most of structuralists
concerned their work
with sensation and
perception in vision,
hearing and touch.
Functionalism
William James (1842-1910)
many functionalist beliefs
were taken from James work
functionalism was based
on the belief that
psychology should
investigate the function or
purpose of consciousness
rather than its structure
Charles Darwin
(1809-1882)
Darwin's natural selection theory
proved that typical
characteristics of a species
serves a pourpose
Behaviourism Emerges (1900's) :
was the third major school of
thought that dramatically altered
the cource of psychology
John B. Watson (1878-1958)
founder of behaviourism
"A time has come when psychology
must discard all references to
consciousness" - John Wastson
Behaviourism is a theoretical orientation
based on the premise that scientific
psychology should study only observable
behaviour
believed that behaviour is
governed primary from
environment rather than
heredity
Radical Behaviourism (1950's)
B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) :
believed people are controlled by
their environment and "free will is
an illusion"
emphasized on animal
research, and kept a
strict focus on
observable behaviour
discussed how organism
behaviours ARE effected by their
biological endowment
The Humanists Revolt (1950's) :
At this point in time
behaviourism and
psychoanalytical theory had
become the the most
influential schools of thought.
many psychologists found these
theoretical orientations
"unappealing" and
"dehumanizing". This lead to the birth of "Humanism" in psychology
Humanism is a theoretical orientation that
emphasizes the unique qualities of humans,
especially their freedom and their potential for
personal growth. This theory has an "optimistic"
view on human nature
Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
humanists believe
people are not pawns of
either their animal
heritage or
environmental
circumstance and are
governed by an
individual sense of "self"
Psychology In Canada
The first experimental laboratory
in Canada was established in 1891
at the university of Toronto by
James Mark Baldwin
The Canadian
Psychological Association
was formed in 1939
John Wallace Baird was the first Canadian President of APA
Psychology becomes a Profession (1950's)
: Providing professional services to the public
Applied Psychology: the branch of psychology
concerned with everyday, practical problems
Clinical Psychology: the branch of psychology
concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of
psychological problems and disorders
was used previously in screening
military recruits and to
treat soldiers suffering
from trauma. (WII 1939-1945)
Interests In Cultural Factors Grow (1980's)
Western psychologists developed an
increased interest in how cultural
variables influence behaviour
this trend was stimulated by the
increased cultural diversity in
western societies and by growing
global interdependence
Evolutionary Psychology Gains Prominence (1990's)
its crucial premise is that the patterns of behaviour
seen in species are the product of evolution, just like
anatomical characteristics
according to evolutionary psychologists, natural
selection favours behaviours that enhance
organisms reproductive success
David Buss
Martin Daly
Margo Wilson
Leda Cosmides
John Tooby
Cognitive Psychology (1950's)
Jean Piget
Noam Chomsky
Herbert Simon
thoughts: mental process
Human behaviour cannot be
fully understood without
examining how people
acquire, store and process
information
Biological Psychology
physiological basis
of behaviour in
humans and
animals
an organisms functioning
can be explained in terms of
the bodily structures and
biochemical processes that
underline behaviour