About this item

CHAPTER 1

PSYCHOLOGY: YESTERDAY AND TODAY

CHAPTER LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Define psychology and describe the goals and levels of analysis psychologists use.

· Psychology is the study of mental processes and behaviour.

· The goals of psychology are to describe, explain, predict, and control behaviour and mental processes. Psychologists vary in the degree to which they focus on some of these goals more than others.

· The study of psychology must occur at multiple levels, including the level of the brain (the biological activity associated with mental processes and behaviour), the level of the person (the content of mental processes), and the level of the group (social influences on behaviour).

2. Describe the influences of early myths and ancient Greek philosophies on psychology.

· Early explanations of human behaviour were rooted in superstition and magic.

· Later, philosophers, beginning with the ancient Greeks, tried to develop more objective theories of human consciousness and reality.

· The work of such early philosophers as Hippocrates, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle contributed to the later formation of psychology as a natural science.

3. Name important early psychologists and describe their major theories and research methods.

· The development of psychology has been strongly influenced by shifts in the social environment and development of new technology.

· The first psychology laboratory was founded in Leipzig, Germany, by physiologist Wilhelm Wundt. Wundt was interested in human consciousness and will, which he studied through small, structured activities that could be easily watched and replicated.

· Structuralism, a school of thought developed by one of Wundt’s students, relied upon the use of introspection, the careful observation of human perception. The goal of the structuralists was to find the smallest building blocks of consciousness.

· William James established the first psychology laboratory in the United States at Harvard. He helped shift the field’s focus to the functions of mental events and behaviours, forming a school of thought known as functionalism.

· Gestalt psychologists studied human tendencies to perceive pattern rather than dividing consciousness into its smallest parts. They focused on putting together the “parts,” or individual sensations, to create a “whole” or perception that went beyond the sum of the parts.

4. Summarize the major principles of the psychoanalytical, behaviourist, humanistic, cognitive, and neuroscience approaches to psychology.

· Over the years, different fields of psychology emerged, with different ideas about what was the appropriate area of study for human psychology. Some of the most influential fields were the psychoanalytic, behaviourist, humanistic, cognitive, and neuroscience schools of thought.

· Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytical theory focused on the importance of unconscious mental processes.

· Behaviourists believed strongly that psychology should restrict its focus to the careful study of observable behaviours.

· Humanistic psychologists reacted against the mechanical portrayals of people by the behaviourists, and emphasized individuals’ potential for growth and self-actualization.

· Cognitive psychologists reignited interest in the study of mental processes, comparing the workings of the mind to the workings of computers.

· Biological science, including interest in the workings of the brain and in our genetic inheritance, was the major influence on neuroscience approaches.

5. Describe the three major branches of psychology and summarize key trends in psychology.

· The theoretical and cultural diversity of the field of psychology has increased dramatically over recent years.

· There are three key branches of psychology: academic, applied, and clinical/counselling.

· Across the three branches and many specialty areas in psychology, psychologists are united by their shared values. Psychologists generally agree that psychology is theory-driven, empirical, multi-level, and contextual.

· Currently, psychology appears to be developing as a science in response to a growing diversity throughout the field, advances in technology (such as brain scanning), and the development of new schools such as positive psychology.