What is Psychology?
Psychological Science is born
before 300 BCE, Aristotle theorized about learning and memory, motivation and emotion, perception and personality.
Scientific psychology began in Germany in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory
during the 1870's Wilhelm Wundt created an experimental apparatus; had a machine that measured the time lag between people's hearing a ball hit a platform and their pressing a telegraph key
->people responded in about one-tenth of a second when the sound occurred
->people responded in about two-tenths when they realized they were consciously aware of perceiving the sound
->shows that to be aware of one's awareness takes a little longer
Wundt was seeking to measure "atoms of the mind"-the fastest and simplest mental processes
this new science of psychology became organized into two different branches, or schools of thought
-> Two early schools: Structuralism & Functionalism
->Structuralism used introspection to define the mind's makeup
->Functionalism focused on how mental processes enable us to adapt, survive and flouris
Philosopher William James thought it would be more fruitful to consider the evolved functions of our thoughts and feelings
James assumed that smelling, thinking developed because it was adaptive-it contributed to our ancestors' survival
Consciousness serves as a function
->enables us to consider our past, adjust to our present and plan for our future
Psychological Science Develops
Wundt and Ttichener focused on inner sensations, images and feelings
James engaged in introspective examination of the stream of consciousness and of emotion
Psychology was defined as "the science of mental life"
Until the 1920's, John B. Watson and B.F.Skinner dismissed introspection and redefined psychology as "the scientific study of observable behavior"
They say science is rooted in...