Transcript The 7 PERSPECTIVES of Psychology

The
7 PERSPECTIVES
of Psychology
The Birth of Psychology
• Wilhelm Wundt - 1879 University of
Leipzig
– Psychology’s first experiment,
birth of a science
– Established first psychology
lab
– Introspection (looking
inward)
• Edward Titchener
– Brought psych to U.S.
– Margaret Floy Washburn-first
woman to earn Psych PhD
(barred from experimental
psych)
Structuralism
– Wundt, Titchener, Hall (founder & first president
of APA)
• Uses introspection to explore the structural elements
of the mind
– Break down mental processes into most basic parts
– Strengths
• first major school of thought in psych
• Influenced experimental psych
– Weaknesses
• Experiments too subjective (unreliable results)
• Too concerned with internal behavior which is
not observable or measured accurately
Functionalism
• A reaction to structuralism
• Sought to explain how our mental
& behavioral processes function
– How do they enable us to adapt,
survive, and flourish?
– Focused on purpose of behavior
• William James influenced by
Darwin
– First professor of psych at
Harvard
– What’s the purpose of behavior?
– Educated Mary Calkins – first
woman president of APA
• Today 2/3 of psych PhDs are
The 7 Perspectives
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Biological
Behavioral
Cognitive
Evolutionary
Humanistic
Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic
Sociocultural
Why do we behave, think,
feel, and experience
sensations like we do?
• 7 different perspectives (aka
approaches & schools of thought) to
explain this
Perspective 1:
BIOLOGICAL
• Seeks to understand:
– The interaction between anatomy
(brain/ nervous system) AND behavior
– How the body & brain enable emotions,
memories, & sensory experiences
– What parts of the brain are involved in certain
behaviors
• Main idea: What affects your body affects your
behavior
– Ex: you drank an energy drink before you
entered class & are bouncing off the walls
– Ex: neurotransmitters=depression, insomnia…
– Ex: tumor on Amygdala=punch
Perspective 2:
EVOLUTIONARY
• Behavior can be best explained in terms of how
adaptive that behavior is to our survival
– We behave the way we do because we inherited
those traits & behaviors
– Thus, those behaviors must have helped ensure our
ancestors survival
– This process selects physical and behavioral
characteristics to promote survival
• Natural Selection: we have evolved into our
present states over long periods of time
• Ex: you are afraid of spiders because your
ancestors were & helped them survive
• Key Person: Charles Darwin!!!
Classical & Operant
Conditioning
Perspective 3:
COGNITIVE
• In order to understand someone’s
behavior, we must understand
how they think
– Importance of how our mind
sees, processes, stores, and
remembers information
– How does our interpretation of a
situation affect our thinking,
reactions, behavior?
– EX: trying to change friend’s
mind about abusive boyfriend
– Key person: Jean Piaget
Perspective 4:
BEHAVIORAL
• Argue psychology is the study of observable
behavior
– Behavior is determined by your environment &
experience not genetics
– The mind & mental events are not important b/c
they can’t be observed (feelings don’t matter)
• Main idea: Everything is trained & learned,
nothing is born
– EX: you are afraid of spiders
– To change behavior you must be
reconditioned
• Key people: Watson, Skinner, Pavlov
Perspective 5:
HUMANISTIC
• Argue that humans have unique qualities of
behavior different from other animals
– Free will & potential for personal growth
guide behavior & mental processes
– Emphasize the importance of feelings, love, &
acceptance
– view human nature as positive
– Focus on how our environment influences our
growth potential & need for love and
acceptance
– Self-actualization-process of fulfilling your
potential
• Key People: Abraham Maslow & Carl Rogers
Perspective 6:
SOCIOCULTURAL
• Says that much of your behavior and your
feelings are dictated by the culture you live
in
– must be taken into account when trying to
understand, predict, or control behavior
– EX: Some cultures kiss each other when
greeting, some bow, some shake hands
• What does our society/culture value?
Perspective 7:
Psychoanalytical/Psychodynamic
• The interaction between the conscious and
unconscious (mental process that we do not
normally have access to but are influenced by)
shape behavior
– Stresses the importance of childhood
experiences to the development of personality
– Focus is to resolve unconscious conflicts through
uncovering info that has been repressed (buried
in unconscious)
– Defense Mechanisms: distorting reality to
reduce anxiety (displacement, repression,
displacement…)
– Id, ego, superego
• EX: A man cannot form relationships with others
b/c he was beaten as a child, causing a fear of
getting close to others