5 Steps to a 5 AP Psychology, 2010-2011 Edition (12 page)

Roots of psychology can be traced to philosophy and physiology/biology over 2000 years ago in ancient Greece. As a result of examining organisms, physician/philosopher/physiologist Hippocrates thought the mind or soul resided in the brain, but was not composed of physical substance (mind-body
dualism
). Philosopher Plato (circa 350 B.C.), who also believed in dualism, used self-examination of inner ideas and experiences to conclude that who we are and what we know are innate (inborn). On the other hand, Plato’s student Aristotle believed that the mind/soul results from our anatomy and physiological processes (
monism
), that reality is best studied by observation, and that who we are and what we know are acquired from experience. About 2000 years later (circa 1650), similar ideas persisted with René Descartes and John Locke. Descartes defended mind-body dualism (
Cogito ergo sum
—“I think, therefore I am”) and that what we know is innate. On the other hand, empirical philosopher Locke believed that mind and body interact symmetrically (monism), knowledge comes from observation, and what we know comes from experience since we are born without knowledge, “a blank slate” (
tabula rasa
). The debate about the extent to which our behavior is inborn or learned through experience is called the
nature-nurture controversy
.

By the late 1800s, psychology was beginning to emerge as a separate scientific discipline. Biologist Charles Darwin applied the law of natural selection to human beings, forwarding the idea that human behavior and thinking are subject to scientific inquiry. Physiologists Ernst Weber and Gustav Fechner showed how physical events are related to sensation and perception. Hermann von Helmholtz measured the speed at which nerve impulses travel. Should their studies be considered under the heading of biology or psychology?

Schools of psychology aren’t schools the way we think of them, but early perspectives or approaches.

Wilhelm Wundt is generally credited as the founder of scientific psychology because in 1879 he set up a laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, specifically for research in psychology, dedicated to the scientific study of the immediate conscious experiences of sensation. Using careful methodology, he trained his associates and observers to objectively analyze their sensory experiences systematically through introspection (inward looking). He required that results be replicated, which means tested repeatedly under different conditions to produce similar results.

Wundt focused on the structure of the mind and identification of the basic elements of consciousness (sensations, feelings, and images) using trained introspection. G. Stanley Hall set up a psychology lab employing introspection at Johns Hopkins University, helped found the American Psychological Association, and became its first president. Edward Titchener brought introspection to his own lab at Cornell University, analyzed consciousness into its basic elements, and investigated how these elements are related. Wundt, Hall, and Titchener were members of the
School of Structuralism
.

Margaret Floy Washburn was Titchener’s first graduate student and the first woman to complete her Ph.D. in psychology.

American psychologist William James thought the structuralists were asking the wrong questions. James was interested in the function or purpose of behavioral acts. He viewed humans as more actively involved in processing their sensations and actions. James and other psychologists, such as James Cattell and John Dewey, who studied mental testing, child development, and educational practices, exemplified the
School of Functionalism
. Functionalists focused on the application of psychological findings to practical situations and the function of mental operations in adapting to the environment (stream of consciousness) using a variety of techniques. Their goal was to explain behavior. Functionalism paved the way for behaviorism and applied subfields of psychology.

Mary Whiton Calkins, who studied psychology under James at Harvard, became the first woman president of the American Psychological Association. She viewed her psychology of selves as a reconciliation between structural and functional psychology.

Major modern perspectives or conceptual approaches to psychology are behavioral, psycho-dynamic, humanistic, biological, evolutionary, cognitive, and sociocultural.

The
behavioral approach
focuses on measuring and recording observable behavior in relation to the environment. Behaviorists think behavior results from learning. Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov trained dogs to salivate in response to the sound of a tone, demonstrating stimulus-response learning. Pavlov’s experiments at the beginning of the 20th century paved the way for behaviorism, which dominated psychology in America from the 1920s to the 1960s. Behaviorists examine the ABCs of behavior. They analyze
a
ntecedent environmental conditions that precede a behavior, look at the
b
ehavior (the action to understand, predict, and/or control), and examine the
c
onsequences that follow the behavior (its effect on the environment). Behaviorists have rejected the study of consciousness/mental processes because such private events cannot be verified or disproved. American behaviorist John B. Watson said that psychology should be the science of behavior. B. F. Skinner worked mainly with laboratory rats and pigeons, demonstrating that organisms tend to repeat responses that lead to positive consequences and not to repeat responses that lead to neutral or negative consequences. He thought that free will is an illusion. Like Aristotle and Locke before them, behaviorists such as Watson, E. L. Thorndike, and B. F. Skinner took the position that behavior is determined mainly by environment and experience rather than by genetic inheritance. In Germany, Gestalt psychologists studying perception disagreed with structuralists and behaviorists, maintaining that psychologists should study the whole conscious experience.

In Austria, Sigmund Freud also disagreed with behaviorists. He treated patients with mental disorders by talking with them over long periods of time to reveal unconscious conflicts, motives, and defenses in order to enhance each patient’s self-knowledge. His psychoanalytic theory focused on unconscious internal conflicts to explain mental disorders, personality, and motivation. Freud thought the unconscious is the source of desires, thoughts, and memories below the surface of conscious awareness, and that early life experiences are important to personality development. Variations of psychoanalysis by Carl Jung, Alfred
Adler, Karen Horney, Heinz Kohut, and others are collectively known as the
psychodynamic approach
.

By the middle of the 20th century, in disagreement with both behaviorists and psychoanalysts, Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers, and other psychologists thought that humans have unique qualities of behavior different from other animals. The unique qualities of free will and potential for personal growth guide behavior and mental processes. Humanists emphasize the importance of people’s feelings and view human nature as naturally positive and growth seeking. Using interview techniques, humanists believe that people have the ability to solve their own problems.

At about the same time, research on the physiological bases of behavior flourished. Technological advances enabled biologists to extend knowledge far beyond Weber’s, Fechner’s, and von Helmholtz’s work to examine how complex chemical and biological processes within the nervous and endocrine systems are related to the behavior of organisms. Many biological psychologists think that the mind is what the brain does.

An offshoot of the biological approach, evolutionary psychologists, returning to Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection, explain behavior patterns as adaptations naturally selected for, because they increase reproductive success.

Technological advances also permitted psychologists to renew their study of consciousness (thinking and memory), currently called cognition. Cognitive psychologists emphasize the importance of receiving, storing, and processing information; of thinking and reasoning; and of language to understanding human behavior. Jean Piaget studied cognitive development in children, laying part of the foundation for preschool and primary educational approaches.

In the second half of the 20th century, travel and the economy became more global, greatly increasing interactions among people from different cultures. Psychologists recognized that people from different cultures interpret gestures, body language, and spoken language differently from one another. Psychologists began to study social and environmental factors that influence these cultural differences in behavior. The
sociocultural approach
examines cultural differences in an attempt to understand, predict, and control behavior.

No single theoretical approach explains all aspects of behavior, although all provide a framework for studying and understanding behavior. Most psychologists adopt ideas from multiple perspectives. Psychologists who use techniques and adopt ideas from a variety of approaches are considered
eclectic
.

Scientific psychology developed in universities with research laboratories where basic research was conducted, and where experimental psychologists continue to add knowledge to the field. After World War II, many opportunities for applied psychologists developed outside of these institutions. The number of clinical, counseling, and school psychologists
mainly involved in treatment grew enormously. Specialties treating children, adolescents, students, older people, and athletes emerged. Industries and organizations hired psychologists to help them prosper. The field became more fragmented and specialized.

Research and applied psychologists deal with a huge number of topics. Topics can be grouped into broad categories known as domains. Psychologists specializing in different domains identify themselves with many labels. Examples include the following:

Clinical psychologists
evaluate and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.

Counseling psychologists
help people adapt to change or make changes in their lifestyle.

Developmental psychologists
study psychological development throughout the lifespan.

Educational psychologists
focus on how effective teaching and learning take place.

Engineering psychologists
and human factors psychologists promote the development and application of psychology to improve technology, consumer products, energy systems, communication and information, transportation, decision making, work settings, and living environments.

Forensic psychologists
apply psychological principles to legal issues.

Health psychologists
concentrate on biological, psychological, and social factors involved in health and illness.

Industrial/Organizational psychologists
aim to improve productivity and the quality of work life by applying psychological principles and methods to the workplace.

Neuropsychologists
explore the relationships between brain/nervous systems and behavior. Neuropsychologists are also called biological psychologists or biopsychologists, behavioral geneticists, physiological psychologists, and behavioral neuroscientists.