Monday, September 27, 2010
Psych 02
Defining Psychology & Historical Origins
Psychology: The scientific study of behavior and the mind
-Scientific: experimental, research-based
-Behavior: what people do and why they do it
-Mental:
Levels of Analysis
Biological
-Brain processes, genetic influence
Psychological
-Thoughts, feelings, motives
Environmental
-Physical and social environments
Perspectives on Behavior
Perspectives= lens for interpreting
* Mind-body dualism
-Mind=spiritual entity
-Mind not subject to physical laws
* Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
-Mind & body interact through pineal gland in the brain
* Monism
-Mind & body are one
* Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
-Study mind by studying brain processes
* British empiricism
-Ideas & knowledge gained through senses
* John Locke (1632-1704)
-Reason can be wrong
-Observation rather than reason
* Other Influences
-Psychophysics: focus on physical stimuli
-Charles Darwin (1809-1882): focus on evolutionary adaptation
Historical Origins
* Scientific study
-Late 19th century
-Wilhelm Wundt
-Senses
- G. Stanley Hall
-Sensation, perception
-William James
-Consciousness, emotions, the self, values, and religion
Early Schools: Structuralism and Functionalism
* Structuralism (Titchener, 1867-1927)
-Basic elements
-Participants report sensation experiences
-Study how arms and hands move by studying tendons, muscles, and bones
-How brain inputs and processes information
-Basic Research: understanding the process itself
* Functionalism (William James, 1842-1920)
-How they functions
-Examine participants’ emotions, reason, values, etc.
-Why do we have arms and hands? How do they help us adapt to the environment?
-Why brain inputs and processes information in certain ways
-Applied Research: How to solve practical problems
Other Perspectives
* Psychodynamic Perspective: The unconscious (1900’s)
* Behavioral...