What is Psychology? - ✔✔The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
-- behavior: any action
-- metal processes: perceptions, thoughts, feelings (latent constructs)
-- scientific
Goals of Psychology - ✔✔1. Describe (what is happening?)
2. Explain (why is it happening?)
3. Predict (when will i happen again?)
4. Control (how can it be changed?)
Wilheim Wundt - ✔✔"Father of Psychology"
- Some work involved *objective introspection*
• 1. First attempt to bring objectivity/measurement in
psychology
• 2. Founded the 1st experimental psychology
laboratory.
objective introspection - ✔✔Wundt -- process of objectively examining and measuring one's own
thoughts and mental activities
EX: place object, like rock, in student's hand and have student explain everything he was feeling from
holding the rock -- all sensations by the rock
Edward Titchener - ✔✔• Student of Wundt, translated many of Wundt's works into English
• *Structuralism*
,- Study consciousness by trying to understand its smallest, most basic elements
• Introspection of thoughts as well as physical objects
Structuralism - ✔✔Titchener -- expanded on Wundt's original ideas -- focus of the study was the
structure of the mind
William James - ✔✔• Functionalism:
Fuctionalism - ✔✔William James -- Study the function of consciousness‐how the mind allows people to
work, play, adapt to new circumstances
Max Wertheimer - ✔✔Gestalt Psychology, or how we experience the world
- "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts."
Gestalt Psychology - ✔✔Wertheimer -- How we experience the world as whole
Sigmund Freud - ✔✔Worked with patients whose complaints had no
identifiable physical cause
• Focused on the role of the unconscious
- Where unwanted urges and desires are pushed
towards
• *Psychoanalysis*: therapy based on Freud's ideas
- Focus on early childhood development; psychosexual
stages
- Dream interpretation: "The interpretation of dreams
is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious
activities of the mind."
, psychoanalysis - ✔✔Freud -- theory based on Freud's ideas that there is an unconscious (unaware) mind
into which we push/repress all threatening urges or desires, which cause nervous disorders [focuses on
early childhood experiences]
John Watson - ✔✔*Behaviorism* or study of the observable behavior
-- performed the "Little Albert" study trying to create a phobia using the classic conditioning, a
technique discovered by Pavlov
Behaviorism - ✔✔Watson -- focused on the study of observable behavior
Pavlov - ✔✔Interested in reflexes
• Discovered that reflexes could be learned/conditioned aka *conditioning*
EX: observing dogs & metronome
- At first, Pavlov turned metronome on, feed dogs, caused saliva (natural response)
- Then, metronome caused saliva before being feed, a learned reflexive response (aka conditioning)
conditioning - ✔✔Pavlov -- the idea that reflexive responses can be learned or "conditioned"
John Watson: Little Albert study - ✔✔Freud: phobias are the result of unconscious conflicts
-- Watson believed he could create a phobia using the conditioning technique discovered by Pavlov
-- Took baby, "Little Albert," and taught him to fear a rat by making loud, scary noises every time a rat
appeared until just seeing the rat made the baby cry/fearful
7 Modern Perspectives of Pyschology - ✔✔• Psychodynamic
• Behavioral
• Humanistic
• Cognitive
• Sociocultural
• Bio-psychological Perspective
• Evolutionary Perspective
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller Brainboost. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £6.72. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
