History and Approaches
The word Psychology gets thrown around a lot in today's world, often by people who are using it incorrectly or do not have a full understanding of the definition. Our study of Behavior and mental processes will take us through the year and will give you the beginnings of an understanding of yourself and others.
Philosophical Roots
Since the dawn of humanity people have wondered at the power of the human mind. The Greek philosophers were perhaps the first to really express their feelings on the subject and even more importantly, write it all down. Socrates was one of these philosophers and stated that he believed that humans were born with certain ideas or thoughts already within us. Others, like his intellectual grandson Aristotle, believed humans are born with minds that are like a blank slate ready to be written upon by our life's experiences. This debate has become one of the hot-topic issues even to this day. The Nature V. Nurture is the core of many conflicts within the psychological community itself as well as with society. As with many issues in psychology, the truth in this debate lies somewhere between the two answers, with each being correct in different aspects of the course.
Society continues the philosophical approach to psychology for over 1500 years until the scientific revolution began to change the way people looked at virtually all aspects of life. Sir Francis Bacon became one of these men who founded the modern scientific era. His approach to research helped to usher in a time when the Nature V. Nurture debate continued to rage and frustrate people. To help solve the debate, people started to apply the principles of the scientific method to research in psychology in order to get reliable results instead of simply thinking about things. One key aspect of this new approach was empiricism. Empiricism stated that knowledge came from experiences and that science should look to the observe and experiment to verify their beliefs. Even in today's research we rely heavily on empiricism. When looking at results we have to have quantifiable, measurable evidence, not simply a gut feeling like many of the philosophers of the past had. Despite their shortcomings, this philosophical work of great thinkers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, John Locke, St. Augustine, etc. helped pave the way for modern psychology by getting people to think about the mind.
Society continues the philosophical approach to psychology for over 1500 years until the scientific revolution began to change the way people looked at virtually all aspects of life. Sir Francis Bacon became one of these men who founded the modern scientific era. His approach to research helped to usher in a time when the Nature V. Nurture debate continued to rage and frustrate people. To help solve the debate, people started to apply the principles of the scientific method to research in psychology in order to get reliable results instead of simply thinking about things. One key aspect of this new approach was empiricism. Empiricism stated that knowledge came from experiences and that science should look to the observe and experiment to verify their beliefs. Even in today's research we rely heavily on empiricism. When looking at results we have to have quantifiable, measurable evidence, not simply a gut feeling like many of the philosophers of the past had. Despite their shortcomings, this philosophical work of great thinkers like Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, John Locke, St. Augustine, etc. helped pave the way for modern psychology by getting people to think about the mind.
Psychology Turns Into A Science
In the late 19th century this application of scientific thought took another turn when William Wundt, a professor at the University of Leipzig, established a laboratory to test psychological principles. This application of experiments really turned psychology into a science. Soon psychologist began to organize themselves into different branches or schools. The first of these was Structuralism. Structuralism had people use introspection, the process of looking into themselves to think about how their mind was organized or structured. Over time, the process of introspection fell out of public favor as it required highly intelligent, verbal people. As people began to realize their thoughts on themselves were often wrong, the process died out. It was soon replaced by functionalism, which took a much more practical approach. As opposed to structuralism with its introspection, functionalism looked at hos thoughts behavioral processes allow an organism to function. How does it adapt, enabling it to flourish and survive. One of the men behind this new school of psychology was William James, a philosopher/psychologist/physician. He was the first person to teach a course in psychology in the United States. He based some of his ideas on the work of Charles Darwin, who had recently published a book explaining his theory on how species changed over time. While James' research did contribute to early scientific psychology, his lasting impact came from the fact that he taught psychology, even writing the first psychology textbook.
Many of his former students would go on to make major contributions themselves and he would help create the field of modern psychology. G. Stanley Hall (a student of James' from Harvard) would go on to be one of the founding members and first president of the American Psychological Association, APA. Another of his students, Mary Whiton Calkins changed the face of education when James, against public opinion, allowed her into the graduate program of Psychology at Harvard. he school denied her degree, instead offering her a degree from their undergraduate college for women. Never the less, she did go on toe become the first female president of APA. The first female to receive a Ph.D. in psychology was Margaret Floy Washburn who also became president of the APA after writing a book on The Animal Mind. Overall, James' contributions helped to create the field.
Many of his former students would go on to make major contributions themselves and he would help create the field of modern psychology. G. Stanley Hall (a student of James' from Harvard) would go on to be one of the founding members and first president of the American Psychological Association, APA. Another of his students, Mary Whiton Calkins changed the face of education when James, against public opinion, allowed her into the graduate program of Psychology at Harvard. he school denied her degree, instead offering her a degree from their undergraduate college for women. Never the less, she did go on toe become the first female president of APA. The first female to receive a Ph.D. in psychology was Margaret Floy Washburn who also became president of the APA after writing a book on The Animal Mind. Overall, James' contributions helped to create the field.
The Science Grows
The first half of the twentieth century saw the fledgling science of psychology grow and change. Many of the people involved in this new stage of psychology were in fact physicians, biologist and physiologists in addition to being philosophers (most people still considered philosophy necessary to psychology as most of the work was still being done by thinking about things to get answers). The fact that so many were rained in other fields helped psychology because they brought their expertise into the course. Many of them made contributions that would forever alter the field. Some of them were: Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, changed the way we look at learning and Sigmund Freud, an Austrian physician, helped develop the psychoanalytic perspective. Later men such as B.F. Skinner and John B. Watson would change everything by dismissing introspection entirely and focusing more on examining observable behavior. This redirection in focus led to a change in the way people looked at psychology. It was no longer the study of the mind, but instead was becoming the study of behavior. Many of them actually cared very little for the study of thought because it was unobservable and unreliable. This would continue until the 1960's when psychologist such as Jean Piaget (developmental psychologist) and the two humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers began to migrate back into a study of thought and mental processes. It is around this time that the two parts (thought and behavior) came together and the modern study of behavior and mental processes emerged.
The nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw drastic changed in psychology and the study of mental health. The science had come a long way since the days of Dorthea Dix ( a nurse and activist for the mentally handicapped) helped to create the first mental hospitals to care for those people unable to care for themselves. By the turn of the last century, modern psychology had emerged and had become divided into various perspectives, based on the views of various individuals. Some of these are based on the work of the founders described above while others are based on new technologies, thoughts, and ideas.
The nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw drastic changed in psychology and the study of mental health. The science had come a long way since the days of Dorthea Dix ( a nurse and activist for the mentally handicapped) helped to create the first mental hospitals to care for those people unable to care for themselves. By the turn of the last century, modern psychology had emerged and had become divided into various perspectives, based on the views of various individuals. Some of these are based on the work of the founders described above while others are based on new technologies, thoughts, and ideas.
Contemporary Psychology
Modern psychology is dominated by certain issues that drastically effect the way you look at the world. Some people see each of these issues as black or white, while others see things in shades of gray. The major issues that dominate the field today are as follows:
The answer to the above questions and the reason for your answer tends to place you into one of the modern perspectives of psychology. These perspectives will determine how you look at a situation and therefore will determine what you will see. Two psychologist can see the same person and focus on different aspects of the persons thoughts and behaviors and see greatly different causes.
- Stability v. Change: how constant do we remain throughout our lives? How do we change?
- Rationality v. Irrationality: are humans rational creatures or are we prone to irrationality?
- Continuity v. Stages: do we develop in stages or are we constantly changing?
- Good v. Bad: are people naturally good and only bad when something is wrong, or are we evil at heart?
- Nature v. Nurture: perhaps the biggest of the conflicts, are we pre-programmed or blank slates ready to learn?
The answer to the above questions and the reason for your answer tends to place you into one of the modern perspectives of psychology. These perspectives will determine how you look at a situation and therefore will determine what you will see. Two psychologist can see the same person and focus on different aspects of the persons thoughts and behaviors and see greatly different causes.
The Schools of modern Psychology (The Perspectives)
For an example of the differences between the perspectives, let us take a look at the Saturday Night Live character of Mary Katherine Gallagher. When she gets nervous, she sticks her hands into her arm pits and then sniffs her fingers. Some psychologists would look at the mental process behind this behavior, while others would look more at the social implications of this behavior. Some people would only care about the behavior itself, caring nothing for the thought process that caused it. Some people would try and examine if this behavior could somehow help her attract a mate or if it would drive them away, hurting her chances to mate. Others might examine her brain looking to see if there is some sort of physical issue causing the behavior. Some would even try and examine her unconsciousness thoughts or issues that would be causing this behavior. Psychologists look to one of these perspectives or even a combination of them to create their own angle on things.
Biological/Neuroscience School: people from this school focus on the brain and body chemistry. They would attribute her behavior to something physically going wrong with his body. They would look at Mary Katherine Gallagher’s brain for abnormalities, look at his blood chemistry and diet, and maybe put her on drugs to change her behavior.
Evolutionary School: People from this school think all behavior is simply a process of natural selection. Way back in the caveman days, Mary Katherine Gallagher’s great great great great great great great great great great great great grandmother also sniffed her fingers after sticking them in her armpits. For some reason this trait helped her ancestors to survive and they passed this trait all the way down to her. Think for a second, are you afraid of snakes? Most of you are. Some of our ancestors were and some were not. Those that were not afraid of snakes, saw the pretty snake, went up to pet them and died. Those that had a natural fear of snakes, stayed away from them, lived to have sex, then generations later, you were born.
Psychodynamic/Psycholanalytic School: The psychodynamic school comes from the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud (who will talk all about later). This school postulates (what a great word) that all behavior comes from unconscious drives. The unconscious is that dark hidden place that we all have where all of our secret desires hang out. We are not aware of what is in our unconscious (although through therapy Freud believed he could tell you what was really there), and most of it comes from unresolved conflicts in our childhood. In Mary Katherine Gallagher's case, a person from the psychodynamic school might say that she has an unconsciousness issue from earlier in her life to cause her to do this. Another thought could be that this behavior is a defense mechanism that allows her to cope with anxiety producing thoughts.
Behavioral School: The behavioral school would totally ignore Mary Katherine Gallagher's feelings or hidden desires. They would just focus on his behaviors that they were able to observe. They do not care about the feelings that cause her to sniff her armpit smelling fingers, only on the behavior itself. If they can stop the behavior, they feel they have done the best thing because you can’t see feelings, only actions. They may try things like some sort of punishment every time she sniffs her fingers, or rewarding her if she does not do it. We will cover this in much greater detail later in the year.
Humanistic School: These are the feel good hippie psychologists. They believe that everyone has free will and by listening to others and trying to fulfill our potential then we can attempt to be the best we can be (which they called self-actualization). They would listen to Mary Katherine Gallagher and hear out her problems. They would tell her to focus on the healthy person they know she can be. For Humanists believe that everyone has the power to solve their own problems if they can shed themselves of that negative vibe. Scientists always have the most trouble dealing with the Humanistic school because it is really hard to tell if it works.
Cognitive School: The cognitive school focuses on how we interpret, process and remember events. They would say that Mary Katherine Gallagher wants to sniff her pits when she gets nervous because she has learned that that is the best way to deal with the world. We are all cognitive therapists with our best friends. If your best friend just breaks up with their boyfriend or girlfriend and says that their life is over, what will you say? Hopefully, you will say that they will find somebody better and will be happier without the hassle of that dysfunctional relationship. You are attempting to change the way they interpret the world; that is cognitive psychology.
Social-Cultural School: This school simply says that our behaviors and thinking are a result of our culture. We all grow up in different environments, with various religions, family structures, money etc... All of these things effect the way we think and act. In Mary Katherine Gallagher 's case maybe this seemingly strange behavior is the result of her being surrounded by a family and social group that are overly obsessed with their armpit smell and she is constantly checking to see if she is acceptable.
Biopsychosocial School: (BPS) This school of thougt combines the above mentioned schools of Biological and Social-Cultural in order to explain the connections between the physical, social and psychological issues that we all face. In Mary Katherine Gallagher’s case, they could say that it is a combination of a physical issue (imbalance of certain neurotransmitters) as well as social and psychological issues. This is one of the newer schools of psychology and seems to show how psychologists are starting to realize that the different aspects of the discipline are all connected and not separate.
These perspectives needn’t contradict one another. Rather, they are complementary outlooks on the same biological state. It’s like explaining why grizzly bears hibernate. Is it because hibernation enhanced their ancestors’ survival and reproduction? Because their inner physiology drives them to do so? Because cold environments hinder food gathering during winter? Such perspectives are complementary, because “everything is related to everything else”
Finally, if these schools don't make much sense to you, that's OK. All long as you have the basic ideas that there are different ways of looking at the same issues in psychology, I promise you will be fine
Biological/Neuroscience School: people from this school focus on the brain and body chemistry. They would attribute her behavior to something physically going wrong with his body. They would look at Mary Katherine Gallagher’s brain for abnormalities, look at his blood chemistry and diet, and maybe put her on drugs to change her behavior.
Evolutionary School: People from this school think all behavior is simply a process of natural selection. Way back in the caveman days, Mary Katherine Gallagher’s great great great great great great great great great great great great grandmother also sniffed her fingers after sticking them in her armpits. For some reason this trait helped her ancestors to survive and they passed this trait all the way down to her. Think for a second, are you afraid of snakes? Most of you are. Some of our ancestors were and some were not. Those that were not afraid of snakes, saw the pretty snake, went up to pet them and died. Those that had a natural fear of snakes, stayed away from them, lived to have sex, then generations later, you were born.
Psychodynamic/Psycholanalytic School: The psychodynamic school comes from the famous psychologist Sigmund Freud (who will talk all about later). This school postulates (what a great word) that all behavior comes from unconscious drives. The unconscious is that dark hidden place that we all have where all of our secret desires hang out. We are not aware of what is in our unconscious (although through therapy Freud believed he could tell you what was really there), and most of it comes from unresolved conflicts in our childhood. In Mary Katherine Gallagher's case, a person from the psychodynamic school might say that she has an unconsciousness issue from earlier in her life to cause her to do this. Another thought could be that this behavior is a defense mechanism that allows her to cope with anxiety producing thoughts.
Behavioral School: The behavioral school would totally ignore Mary Katherine Gallagher's feelings or hidden desires. They would just focus on his behaviors that they were able to observe. They do not care about the feelings that cause her to sniff her armpit smelling fingers, only on the behavior itself. If they can stop the behavior, they feel they have done the best thing because you can’t see feelings, only actions. They may try things like some sort of punishment every time she sniffs her fingers, or rewarding her if she does not do it. We will cover this in much greater detail later in the year.
Humanistic School: These are the feel good hippie psychologists. They believe that everyone has free will and by listening to others and trying to fulfill our potential then we can attempt to be the best we can be (which they called self-actualization). They would listen to Mary Katherine Gallagher and hear out her problems. They would tell her to focus on the healthy person they know she can be. For Humanists believe that everyone has the power to solve their own problems if they can shed themselves of that negative vibe. Scientists always have the most trouble dealing with the Humanistic school because it is really hard to tell if it works.
Cognitive School: The cognitive school focuses on how we interpret, process and remember events. They would say that Mary Katherine Gallagher wants to sniff her pits when she gets nervous because she has learned that that is the best way to deal with the world. We are all cognitive therapists with our best friends. If your best friend just breaks up with their boyfriend or girlfriend and says that their life is over, what will you say? Hopefully, you will say that they will find somebody better and will be happier without the hassle of that dysfunctional relationship. You are attempting to change the way they interpret the world; that is cognitive psychology.
Social-Cultural School: This school simply says that our behaviors and thinking are a result of our culture. We all grow up in different environments, with various religions, family structures, money etc... All of these things effect the way we think and act. In Mary Katherine Gallagher 's case maybe this seemingly strange behavior is the result of her being surrounded by a family and social group that are overly obsessed with their armpit smell and she is constantly checking to see if she is acceptable.
Biopsychosocial School: (BPS) This school of thougt combines the above mentioned schools of Biological and Social-Cultural in order to explain the connections between the physical, social and psychological issues that we all face. In Mary Katherine Gallagher’s case, they could say that it is a combination of a physical issue (imbalance of certain neurotransmitters) as well as social and psychological issues. This is one of the newer schools of psychology and seems to show how psychologists are starting to realize that the different aspects of the discipline are all connected and not separate.
These perspectives needn’t contradict one another. Rather, they are complementary outlooks on the same biological state. It’s like explaining why grizzly bears hibernate. Is it because hibernation enhanced their ancestors’ survival and reproduction? Because their inner physiology drives them to do so? Because cold environments hinder food gathering during winter? Such perspectives are complementary, because “everything is related to everything else”
Finally, if these schools don't make much sense to you, that's OK. All long as you have the basic ideas that there are different ways of looking at the same issues in psychology, I promise you will be fine
Chart on Perspectives:
To better understand the various perspectives of the course you should try and make a table like the one below and fill it out with the appropriate information.
Perspective | General Philosophy | Important People | View of the cause of disorders | Treatment techniques | View on personality | view on motivation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Structuralism | ||||||
Functionalism | ||||||
Behaviorism | ||||||
Gestalt | ||||||
Psychodynamic | Our unconscious mind plays a huge role in everything. | Sigmund Freud Alfred Adler Carl Jung |
Unconscious, unresolved repressed issues from past | Psychoanalysis: Free association, dream analysis, TAT test | Id, ego, superego, psychosexual stages | We strive to satisfy our id impulses but we must meet demands of society |
Humanism | ||||||
evolutionary | ||||||
biological | ||||||
cognitive | ||||||
biopsychosocial | ||||||
Domains of Psychology
What types of psychologists are there? What can you do with a degree in psychology? The following are the main types of psychologists and their domains. What type do you think is most important?
So you want to be a psychologist? In addition to deciding what school of thought (perspective) you will fall into, you will need to decide what type of job you want. Psychologists perform a wide variety of jobs that work in many different fields. Below are a few of the more common domains, or fields, of psychology;
Biological- These Psychologists focus on doing research based on physical issues that can cause issues for people. They look at brain structures, chemical imbalances in the brain and other physical factors that effect us.
Clinical- This is what most of you think of when I say the word psychologist. These are the people that treat you when you have issues psychologically. They help people with all varieties of mental disorders. The key difference between them and psychiatrists is that clinical psychologists can not prescribe medication because they have not attended med school and are not doctors.
Cognitive- These psychologists focus on examining how we think. They will look at brain activity as well as examine the thought processes of people.
Counseling- These psychologists help people that might have issues in their life but do not have true mental disorders. Many of you may have visited a counseling style psychologist to help deal with the death of a loved one, divorce of parents or other life-altering issues.
Developmental- These psychologists examine how we develop as people. They will generally focus on one aspect of development such as physical, social, cognitive, moral, etc. and how these issues are connected to the way we think.
Educational- Most schools and school systems have educational psychologists employed to help ensure students are in the best situation they can be. They will focus on things such as how to help students who are struggling, how to help teachers provide the best environment for the students, helping all students try and reach their potential through differentiation of instruction and assignments. They often spend the bulk of their time dealing with identifying and working with special education students.
Experimental (applied and basic)-These are the people in white lab coats doing the experiments all other fields of psychology rely on to get the information they use to do everything they do. They generally fall into two categories, basic and applied. Basic research is research that is done for the sake of doing research. It may have little or no practical value, but often does help others doing applied research reach conclusions they may have not made without the information. The applied researchers do research that will have a real life application. They are trying to directly change the way things are done by examining the causes for certain thoughts and behaviors as well as examining how to best deal with them.
Human Factors- these are psychologists that work with designers of all things technological to help ensure the best possible interactions between people and machinery/computers. They will help do things like natural mapping to help make it easier for people to turn the correct stove eye. They are all about making it as simple as possible for us to use machines of any sort.
Industrial-Organizational- Most major companies and organizations employ psychologists in their human resources department. These people help with the hiring/training/evaluation and retention process. They help chose people who are best suited, see that they receive everything they need to be successful, and aid in their evaluation. Employee moral and happiness is a big part of their job as well because a happy employee will generally work harder and be more profitable for everyone.
Personality- These psychologists are focused on the personality and how we all view ourselves. They also examine our personal differences and similarities as it relates to personality and try and examine the cause for these similarities and differences.
Psychometric- This branch of psychology focuses on the techniques we use to measure the different aspects of psychology. Most of them will focus on developing the tests and procedures to measure the various aspects of psychology or try and refine the basic theories of how to measure various things in psychology. They may work with or as clinical, human resources (I/O), educational, cognitive, or developmental psychologists.
Social- These psychologists focus on how we interact with other people. They are often employed by schools and organizations to examine and ensure harmony within a group. They will often work for the government to help gauge the tide of public opinion as well as to try and help change the direction of this tide at times.
Biological- These Psychologists focus on doing research based on physical issues that can cause issues for people. They look at brain structures, chemical imbalances in the brain and other physical factors that effect us.
Clinical- This is what most of you think of when I say the word psychologist. These are the people that treat you when you have issues psychologically. They help people with all varieties of mental disorders. The key difference between them and psychiatrists is that clinical psychologists can not prescribe medication because they have not attended med school and are not doctors.
Cognitive- These psychologists focus on examining how we think. They will look at brain activity as well as examine the thought processes of people.
Counseling- These psychologists help people that might have issues in their life but do not have true mental disorders. Many of you may have visited a counseling style psychologist to help deal with the death of a loved one, divorce of parents or other life-altering issues.
Developmental- These psychologists examine how we develop as people. They will generally focus on one aspect of development such as physical, social, cognitive, moral, etc. and how these issues are connected to the way we think.
Educational- Most schools and school systems have educational psychologists employed to help ensure students are in the best situation they can be. They will focus on things such as how to help students who are struggling, how to help teachers provide the best environment for the students, helping all students try and reach their potential through differentiation of instruction and assignments. They often spend the bulk of their time dealing with identifying and working with special education students.
Experimental (applied and basic)-These are the people in white lab coats doing the experiments all other fields of psychology rely on to get the information they use to do everything they do. They generally fall into two categories, basic and applied. Basic research is research that is done for the sake of doing research. It may have little or no practical value, but often does help others doing applied research reach conclusions they may have not made without the information. The applied researchers do research that will have a real life application. They are trying to directly change the way things are done by examining the causes for certain thoughts and behaviors as well as examining how to best deal with them.
Human Factors- these are psychologists that work with designers of all things technological to help ensure the best possible interactions between people and machinery/computers. They will help do things like natural mapping to help make it easier for people to turn the correct stove eye. They are all about making it as simple as possible for us to use machines of any sort.
Industrial-Organizational- Most major companies and organizations employ psychologists in their human resources department. These people help with the hiring/training/evaluation and retention process. They help chose people who are best suited, see that they receive everything they need to be successful, and aid in their evaluation. Employee moral and happiness is a big part of their job as well because a happy employee will generally work harder and be more profitable for everyone.
Personality- These psychologists are focused on the personality and how we all view ourselves. They also examine our personal differences and similarities as it relates to personality and try and examine the cause for these similarities and differences.
Psychometric- This branch of psychology focuses on the techniques we use to measure the different aspects of psychology. Most of them will focus on developing the tests and procedures to measure the various aspects of psychology or try and refine the basic theories of how to measure various things in psychology. They may work with or as clinical, human resources (I/O), educational, cognitive, or developmental psychologists.
Social- These psychologists focus on how we interact with other people. They are often employed by schools and organizations to examine and ensure harmony within a group. They will often work for the government to help gauge the tide of public opinion as well as to try and help change the direction of this tide at times.
Final Thoughts:
This first unit is meant to introduce you to the various topics in psychology. Hopefully you know will at least understand the various aspects of the course and can identify which type of psychologists do certain jobs and understand the various perspectives all of those psychologists have based on their actions. The history part of this chapter is important as it helps you understnad how we got to where we are in psychology. At the same time, most of the people discussed in the history portion will come up again later in the course as we get to their specific area of contribution to the various aspects of psychology. Some of them are amazing and you will love, others not so much. Try and remember as you go through the buffet that is AP Psychology, Sometimes you will love what we are talking about, other times not. Just like your mom made you eat the brussel sprouts when you were a kid before you could get dessert, I will make you cover the boring stuff so you can really enjoy the fun. Good luck with the course and I hope you enjoy the course.