Introduction to Psychology
Unit 1: Scientific Foundations
Rebecca Matthews
Principles of Psychology
Psychology refers to the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Psychologists use the scientific
method to acquire knowledge. To apply the scientific method, a researcher with a question about
how or why something happens will propose a tentative explanation, called a hypothesis, to explain
a phenomenon. A hypothesis should fit into the context of a scientific theory, which is a broad
explanation or group of explanations for some aspect of the natural world that is consistently
supported by evidence over time. A theory is the best understanding we have of that part of the
natural world. The researcher then makes observations or carries out an experiment to test the
validity of the hypothesis. Those results are then published or presented at research conferences so
that others can replicate or build on the results. Scientists test that which is perceivable and
measurable. For example, the hypothesis that a bird sings because it is happy is not a hypothesis
that can be tested since we have no way to measure the happiness of a bird. We must ask a different
question, perhaps about the brain state of the bird, since this is measurable. However, we can ask
individuals about whether they sing because they are happy since they are able to tell us. Therefore,
psychological science is empirical, based on measurable data.
In general, science deals only with matter and energy, that is, those things can be measured, and it
cannot arrive at knowledge about values and morality. This is one reason why our scientific
understanding of the mind is so limited, since thoughts, at least as we experience them, are neither
matter nor energy. The scientific method is also a form of empiricism. An empirical method for
acquiring knowledge is one based on observation, including experimentation, rather than a method
based only on forms of logical argument or previous authorities. It was not until the 1800s that
psychology became accepted as its own academic discipline. Before this time, the workings of the
mind were considered under the auspices of philosophy. Given that any behavior is, at its roots,
biological, some areas of psychology take on aspects of a natural science like biology. No biological
1
,organism exists in isolation, and our behavior is influenced by our interactions with others,
Therefore, psychology is also a social science.
Why Study Psychology?
Often, students take their first psychology course because they are interested in helping others and
want to learn more about themselves and why they act the way they do. Sometimes, students take
a psychology course because it either satisfies a general education requirement or is required for a
program of study such as nursing or pre - med. Many of these students develop such an interest in
the area that they go on to declare psychology as their major. As a result, psychology is one of the
most popular majors on college campuses across the United States. A number of well - known
individuals were psychology majors. Just a few famous names on this list are Facebook’s creator
Mark Zuckerberg, television personality and political satirist Jon Stewart, actress Natalie Portman,
and filmmaker Wes Craven. About six percent of all bachelor degrees granted in the United States
are in the discipline of psychology.
An education in psychology is valuable for a number of reasons. Psychology students hone critical
thinking skills and are trained in the use of the scientific method. Critical thinking is the active
application of a set of skills to information for the understanding and evaluation of that information.
The evaluation of information - assessing its reliability and usefulness - is an important skill in a
world full of competing ‘facts,’ many of which are designed to be misleading. For example, critical
thinking involves maintaining an attitude of skepticism, recognizing internal biases, making use of
logical thinking, asking appropriate questions, and making observations. Psychology students also
can develop communication skills during the course of their undergraduate coursework. Together,
these factors increase students’ scientific literacy and prepare students to critically evaluate the
various sources of information they encounter.
In addition to these broad - based skills, psychology students come to understand the complex
factors that shape one’s behavior. They appreciate the interaction of our biology, our environment,
and our experiences in determining who we are and how we will behave. They learn about basic
principles that guide how we think and behave, and they come to recognize the tremendous
diversity that exists across individuals and across cultural boundaries.
History of Psychology
2
,Psychology is a relatively young science with its experimental roots in the 19th century, compared,
for example, to human physiology, which dates much earlier. As mentioned, anyone interested in
exploring issues related to the mind generally did so in a philosophical context prior to the 19th
century. Two 19th century scholars, Wilhelm Wundt and William James, are generally credited as
being the founders of psychology as a science and academic discipline that was distinct from
philosophy. This section will provide an overview of the shifts in paradigms that have influenced
psychology from Wundt and James through today.
Structuralism
Wilhelm Wundt (1832 - 1920) was a German scientist who was the first person to be referred to as a
psychologist. His famous book entitled Principles of Physiological Psychology was published in 1873.
Wundt viewed psychology as a scientific study of conscious experience, and he believed that the
goal of psychology was to identify components of consciousness and how those components
combined to result in our conscious experience. Wundt used introspection, which he called “internal
perception,” a process by which someone examines their own conscious experience as objectively as
possible, making the human mind like any other aspect of nature that a scientist observed. He
believed in the notion of voluntarism - that people have free will and should know the intentions of
a psychological experiment if they were participating. Wundt considered his version experimental
introspection; he used instruments such as those that measured reaction time. He also wrote
Volkerpsychologie in 1904 in which he suggested that psychology should include the study of
culture, as it involves the study of people.
Edward Titchener, one of his students, went on to develop structuralism. Its focus was on the
contents of mental processes rather than their function. Wundt established his psychology
laboratory at the University of Leipzig in 1879. In this laboratory, Wundt and his students conducted
experiments on, for example, reaction times. A subject, sometimes in a room isolated from the
scientist, would receive a stimulus such as a light, image, or sound. The subject’s reaction to the
stimulus would be to push a button, and an apparatus would record the time to reaction. Wundt
could measure reaction time to one - thousandth of a second. However, despite his efforts to train
individuals in the process of introspection, this process remained highly subjective, and there was
very little agreement between individuals.
Functionalism
3
, William James, John Dewey, and Charles Sanders Peirce helped establish functional psychology. They
accepted Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection and viewed this theory as an explanation
of an organism’s characteristics. Key to that theory is the idea that natural selection leads to
organisms that are adapted to their environment, including their behavior. Adaptation means that a
trait of an organism has a function for the survival and reproduction of the individuals, because it has
been naturally selected. As James saw it, psychology’s purpose was to study the function of behavior
in the world, and as such, his perspective was known as functionalism. Functionalism focused on
how mental activities helped an organism fit into its environment. It has a second, more subtle
meaning in that functionalists were more interested in the operation of the whole mind rather than
that of its individual parts, which were the focus of structuralism. Like Wundt, James believed that
introspection could serve as one means by which someone might study mental activities, but James
also relied on more objective measures, including the use of various recording devices, and
examinations of concrete products of mental activities and of anatomy and physiology.
Psychoanalytic Theory
Perhaps one of the most influential and well - known figures in psychology’s history was Sigmund
Freud. Freud (1856 - 1939) was an Austrian neurologist who was fascinated by patients suffering from
“hysteria” and neurosis. Hysteria was an ancient diagnosis for disorders, primarily of women with a
wide variety of symptoms, including physical symptoms and emotional disturbances, none of which
had an apparent physical cause. Freud theorized that many of his patients’ problems arose from the
unconscious mind. In Freud’s view, the unconscious mind was a repository of feelings and burgers of
which we have no awareness. Gaining access to the unconscious, then, was crucial to the successful
resolution of the patient’s problems. According to Freud, the unconscious mind could be accessed
through dream analysis, by examinations of the first words that came to people’s minds, and
through seemingly innocent slips of the tongue. Psychoanalytic theory focuses on the role of a
person’s unconscious, as well as early childhood experiences, and this particular perspective
dominated clinical psychology for several decades.
Freud’s ideas were influential. For instance, many therapists believe strongly in the unconscious and
the impact of early childhood experiences on the rest of a person’s life. The method of
psychoanalysis, which involves the patient talking about their experiences and selves, while not
invented by Freud, was certainly popularized by him and is still used today. Many o0f his other ideas,
however, are controversial. Drew Westen (1998) argues that many of the criticisms of Freud’s ideas
4
