Fulcher January 13 2011 What is psychology Psychology the scientific study of behavior and mental processes Behavior outward overt actions and reactions Mental processes internal covert activities ex thinking feeling remembering EMPIRICAL APPROACH PRACTICE OF ACQUIRING INFORMATION BY DIRECT OBSERVATION AND MEASUREMENT USING SYSTEMATIC SCIENCE METHODS Critical thinking process of objectively evaluating comparing analyzing and synthesizing information Four main goals of psychology 1 Describe behavior what is happening 2 Explain behavior Why is it happening 3 Predict behavior under what circumstances 4 Control behavior how can it be changed Psychology then and now Wilhelm wundt 1832 1920 created systematic experiments trying to discover what was going on inside of the brain o Father of psychology the first one to actually call himself a psychologist and call his lab a psychology lab o First psychology lab Leipzig Germany o Investigated reactions to stimuli o Used method of introspection people themselves trying to come up with the components Edward titchener and structuralism o Thought the way to understand the human psyche is to break it down into its component structures into the tiny units that make up our thoughts Fulcher January 13 2011 o Student of wundt o Started to use the method of introspection exclusively o Problem with introspection subjective and unscientific because it was being based on opinion ex describing an apple William james and functionalism o How organisms adapt their behavior to an ever changing environment o Influenced by Charles Darwin and his theory of evolution and emphasis on natural selection o Natural selection those behaviors that lead to more successful reproductive abilities will be more likely to flourish in future generations o James thought titchener s work was unscientific Gestalt psychology o German movement against structuralism led by max Wertheimer o Believed that psychological events could only be understood in their entirety as whole units called gestalts Ex phi phenomenon ex lightbulbs switching on and off timing it like the light is moving back and forth o Movement has been influential in studying sensation perfection and modern day cognitive Sigmund freud and psychoanalysis o Austrian physician Believed that peoples problems are caused by internal conflicts between acceptable behavior and unacceptable unconscious desires JOHN WATSON AND BEHAVIORISM o STRONGLY OBJECTED TO STRUCTURALISM o EMPHASIZED OBJECTIVE OBSERVABLE ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON OVERT BEHAVIOR o ADOPTED IVAN PAVLOV S CONCEPT OF CONDITIONING o EXPLAIN BEHAVIOR ENTIRELY IN TERMS OF STIMULI AND RESPONSES o LITTLE ALBERT EXPERIMENT Orphan baby experiment shows baby a white rat Psychology the science Fulcher January 13 2011
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