History of Psychology
Pre-empiricism (<1800)
• Philosophy-psychology combination
– Plato (387 BC) – brain is seat of mental processes – Aristotle (335 BC) – children are born tabula rasa; heart is the seat of mental processes – Descartes (1637) – dualism; children are born with innate ideas – Locke (1690) – supported tabula rasa idea; stressed the importance of empiricism
• 1774 – Franz Mesmer develops “mesmerism”, a predecessor of hypnosis.
Early empirical influences on psychology (1800-1879)
Young (1802) – trichromatic theory of vision Franz Gall (1808) – phrenology Weber (1834) – difference threshold Phineas Gage (1848) – case study in brain function Darwin (1859) – Proposed theory of natural selection Galton (1869) – Claims that intelligence of inherited; begins eugenics movement Wernicke (1874) – language comprehension;
***Wundt (1879) – established first psychology laboratory
Late 1800’s: The debate to define psychology
Structuralism (Wundt) – psychology should be the study of the basic units of thought; its structure, so to speak. - subjects were trained for years to learn to break down their thoughts and perceptions into basic units; this was called “introspection” Functionalism (James) – psychology should be the study of how mental processes help us to adapt, survive, and flourish Who won?
Wundt
James
Early Battles in Psychology in the US
The first quarter of the 20th century, psychology was dominated by three major, competing movements: Psychoanalysis, behaviorism, and eugenics Freudian psychoanalysis vs. Watson’s behaviorism - Freud’s ideas were based on case studies and self analysis. - Watson’s emphasized the necessity of empirical research to bring credibility to the young science of psychology. Nature (eugenics movement) vs. Nurture (Watson’s behaviorism) - Eugenics Record Office was opened in 1910 and began advocating forced sterilization; Terman developed StanfordBinet test (1916); was modified for WWI army recruits and immigrants. - Watson (1920) demonstrated the malleability of human behavior with his Little Albert experiment.
Psychology Expands(1920-1950)
• • • • • • • • • • • Alder (1912) – neoFreudian; proposes inferiority and superiority complex Piaget (1923) – cognitive development in children Anna Freud (1927) – psychoanalysis of children. Kohler (1929) – Gestalt psychology as a criticism of behavioralism Moniz (1936) – Frontal lobotomy Allport (1936) – proposes trait theory Skinner (1938) – Operant conditioning Weschler (1939) – develops (WAIS) Hathaway and McKinley (1943) – publish MMPI Horney (1945) – neoFreudian; criticizes Freud’s theories for being sexist Spock (1948) – publishes first edition of The Commonsense Book of Baby and Child Care
Rejection of determinism; the beginning of humanism
Psychoanalysis was:
-Deterministic -Pessimistic
Behaviorism was:
-Deterministic -Dehumanizing
• Humanism (Maslow and Rogers) began in the 1960’s as a reaction to these things. Humanism embraced:
– The good in people – Self-actualization – Optimism
• Maslow was a hero of the counterculture movement of the 1960’s
Embracing our thoughts: The rebirth of consciousness
Cognitive psychology was also a reaction to dissatisfaction with determinism, pessimism, dehumanization of earlier schools of thought. It coincided with the development of brain imaging techniques (CAT scan, EEG, MRI) that allowed scientists to “see” into the brain.
Atrocities of war make us think
Social psychology developed out of Gestalt psychology. Atrocities of WWII provided the ideas for many early experiments (Lewin’s leadership styles, Milgram’s obedience, Asch’s conformity)
Recent Movements
1. Evolutionary psychology – the study of how current behaviors are shaped by selection in past environments. 2. Positive psychology – using empiricism to find what makes people happy, healthy, and heroic.
Psychoanalysis (Freud, Jung, Adler, Horney) Behaviorism
(Thorndike, Pavlov, Watson, Skinner, Bandura)
Humanistic
(Maslow, Rogers)
Positive Psych (Seligman)
(Bandura, Beck)
Cognitive Psych
Evolutionary Psych Gestalt Psychology Social Psychology
Zimbardo, Milgram) (Asch,
Functionalism
(James)
Stucturalism (Wundt)
1850
1900
1950
2000