II. History of Psychology

The literal definition of Psychology is - the study of the soul or mind. Although it seems as though psychology has been around (and should have been around) for a long time, psychology as a science really began just over 100 years ago.

Why did it take until so recently for psychology to become a science? Until recently people did not believe that the mind could be studied objectively.

The technology was not there. We had no way to take the next step from speculation to science.

A. Psychology as a science grew out of two other existing sciences:

1) philosophy - philosophers were grappling with psychological questions hundreds of years ago, such as:

how do sensations become mental thoughts? Example - how does the feel of a hand stroking your face become a thought? And then if I ask you to imagine that feeling, can you do so?

Is the world that we perceive truly reality? Example - does color exist?

Do we actually chose our actions or are they predetermined?

To address these issues, philosophers used RATIONALISM - true knowledge comes from proper reasoning and logic to find truth. Is this a sound (or VALID) path to scientific truth?

2) physiology - while philosophy is based on rationalism, physiologists based their science on observation. They used the SCIENTIFIC METHOD (don't worry, this will be cover in detail soon), which came from EMPIRICISM.

Early physiologists studied such questions as nerve signals and receptors in the eyes. It should be easy to see how this discipline led to the field of psychology. Once Psychology became a science, several schools of thought emerged, each with its own perspectives and important people.

B. Schools of Thought

1) Structuralism

Wilhelm Wundt - set up the first psychological laboratory in 1879. He was studying an area that became known as Structuralism.

school of thought that sought to identify the components (structure) of the mind.

They believed that the way to learn about the brain and its functions was to break the mind down into it's most basic elements. Their Basic Premise was:

the whole is = to the sum of the parts

The field was popularized by Edward Titchener (student of Wundt) who was interested in the conscious mind and used a technique called INTROSPECTION.

Conscious - feelings, thoughts and sensations that you are aware of at that moment. These things make up the conscious.

Introspection - To look within and examine your own thoughts or feelings.

BUT, introspection relies on subjective or self-report data which is a week methodological form of data collection. Example. - If you become angry and then begin to examine your anger through introspection you alter your current state (most likely stopping to examine your current state will reduce your anger and hostility) and thus the experience of anger.

2) Functionalism - Moved away from focusing on the structure of the mind to a concern with how the conscious is related to behavior... How does the mind affect what people do?

One of the major proponent of Functionalism was Thorndike (created the ever-popular puzzle box).

He studied the primary issue of functionalism...WHAT FUNCTION DOES A BEHAVIOR HAVE

The puzzle box showed that the function of the animal's behavior was to get out of the box.

However, some Functionalists still used introspection and/or examined "unobservable" concepts.

WILLIAM JAMES - in his pursuit of the meaning of life, James was active in art, medicine, physiology, psychology, parapsychology, philosophy and religion.

He viewed the mind as a stream which can not be meaningfully broken down into distinct components.

...It is nothing jointed; it flows. A river or stream are metaphors by which it is most naturally described. In talking of it hereafter, let us call it the stream of thought, of consciousness, or of subjective life.

3) Behaviorism

Founded by John B. Watson, this school of thought that rejected the study of mental processes in favor of the study of overt behavior and external factors - OBSERVABLE EVENTS.

Another behaviorist, Ivan Pavlov, threatened to fire anyone in his laboratory who dared to use mental terminology.

Along with one of the mostly active leaders in the field, B. F. Skinner, the Behaviorists concluded that in order to understand and study psychology, we must study what we can see and record. Although Watson did not deny the existence of the human mind and mental experiences, he rejected the notion that the mental experience of, for example, thirst, causes drinking. Instead, he indicated that psychology should examine the bodily explanation of the cause of drinking (such as dehydration of muscle tissue) or the environmental explanation (such as the sight of a frosty beer when you have been working in the hot sun for many hours - not that many of you college student is familiar with beer) over the mental explanations (such as the feeling of needing a drink).

Skinner, however, was an extremist: ...I am a radical Behaviorist simply in the sense that I find no place in the formulation for anything which is mental...

4) Gestalt

"form or shape"- focused on perception & problem solving.

The school of thought (founded by Max Wertheimer) that claimed we perceive and think about wholes rather than simply about combinations of separate elements.

In other words...the whole is NOT = to the sum of the parts

Example: look at geese flying south for the winter in a "V" formation. If you look at individual geese, you do not see the "V" shape, only a couple of birds flying - but, if you look at the entire flock, you see the form and structure.

5) Psychoanalysis

school of thought that focused on the importance of the UNCONSCIOUS mind (not consciousness). In other words, psychoanalytic perspective dictates that behavior is determined by your past experiences.

SIGMUND FREUD founded this field and has become synonymous with psychology. Freud's psychoanalytic perspective began in his attempts to cure patients of physical symptoms (such as leg paralysis) that had not apparent cause. He was introduced to hypnosis - he tried this on one of his patients who, after undergoing hypnosis, was cured of all physical ailments.

He later concluded that such disorders were the result of unconscious psychological conflicts about sex cause by "cultural prohibitions against sexual enjoyment." These conflicts were then converted into physical symptoms that provided the patient with an excuse not to engage in the "taboo"behaviors.