...Chapter 1 notes: What is Psychology? Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Some people might think that psychologists are interested only in problem or abnormal behaviors. In fact they are interested in every aspect of human thought and behavior. Perhaps the best way to introduce psychology is to look at what topics interest psychologists. The Fields of Psychology Two major organizations American Psychological Association (APA), founded over 100 years ago, and the American Psychological Society (APS), founded in 1988. Developmental Psychology Development psychologists study human mental and physical growth from the prenatal period through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and old age. Child psychologists focus on infants and children. Adolescent psychologists, who specialize in the teenage years. Life-span psychologists, who focus on the adult years. Physiological Psychology Physiological Psychologists investigate the biological basis of human behavior, thoughts, and emotions. Neuropsychologists are primarily interested n the brain and the nervous system. Psychobiologists specialize in the body’s biochemistry and in the way that hormones, psychoactive medications (such antidepressants), and “social drugs” (such as alcohol, marijuana, and cocaine) affect people. Behavioral geneticists investigate the impact of heredity on both normal and abnormal traits and behavior. Experimental Psychology Experimental psychologists conduct...
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...1908). Hermann Ebbinghaus was noted for his slogan, and the first person to study memory through experimenting. Which brings us to psychology in its infancy, and the development of this science can be contributed to many philosophers as far back as the 18th century, and forward into the 19th century. Featuring, German experialmentalist Gustav, and Fechner 1801-1807, and Hermann von Helmholtz 1821-1894 all were apart of the growing developments of what Philosophy would become (Garth Kemerling, 2002). The American Psychological Association was founded by G. Stanley Hall in 1892. The Principles of Psychology, one of the most important texts in Psychology was written by William James, who would later determine functionalism. Rene Descartes and John Locke are two of the greatest philosophers known for teaching many about psychology today (Wade Pickerin, 2009). Psychology is the study of mental behaviors and processes of individuals. Modern psychology has brought curiosity about human mental and behavioral processes into a developed scientific field of study. (Eisla Sebastian, 2005 p1) History made its début with psychology, which became an established separate discipline attributing to many laboratories inside universities all over North...
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...many schools of thoughts in psychology that has developed, that are in addition to the main eight which are structuralism, functionalism, rationalism, behaviorism, psychoanalysis, humanistic psychology, Gestalt psychology, and Cognitive Psychology. . The first school of thought, structuralism was endorsed by Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Bradford Titchner between 1890-1920 in Germany and the US. This school of thought analyzes the mental processes and broke in down into the most basic component. Techniques such as introspection was use to examine how the human mind processed information. Due to the concept of structuralism, John Dewey was credited as the founder of functionalism. Functionalism challenged structuralism because it was more focused on the role the process played instead of just focusing on the mental processes in reference to structuralism. John Dewey was responsible for “The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology. 1896; which explained that sensory process was followed by a response. (i.e. touching a hot stove and instantly removing your hand away)....
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...psychology and existentialism, phenomenology and humanistic psychology. I then chose to do the historical development and key principles of natural science otherwise known as behaviourism. Theoretical Thrust Natural sciences Natural science was about observing and experiencing. The way to understand experience was through colours, tastes, degrees of brightness, and contours but this was later on said to be wrong by Gestalt psychologists. Behaviourism was influenced by an article written by John. B. Watson. He stated that psychology must reject all reference to consciousness. Behaviourism...
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...however, seem to do both like the Psychoanalysis and Behaviorist perspectives, both of which ask the same questions but use very different methods to find the answers. Psychoanalysis was said to be the most influential system of psychology and was pioneered by Sigmund Freud, an Austrian psychologist in Vienna, during the 19th century. Freud was influenced by several significant individuals such as Josef Breuer, Jean-Martin Charcot and Rudolf Chrobak. All of these people shared similar views about behaviours which most people thought were absurd and unprovable. As a result behaviorism was born. The development of Behaviorism was largely influenced by the dissatisfaction of John B. Watson with a number of theories which were in place at the time, especially Psychoanalysis. Behaviorism was created in an attempt to make psychology a science like Biology or Physics which focused only on observable data. Behaviorism was developed from a utilitarian school of thought. It was designed to predict and control behavior and focused on the study of overt behavior. Both perspectives have differing theories about personality. Burrhus Frederick Skinner was an American psychologist who was influenced by the work of John B Watson. He proposed that our differences in our learning experiences are the main reason behind our individual differences in our behavior, and we learn these patterns of behavior either directly through reward as positive reinforcement of good behavior, or punishment as...
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...care and support, then as we become adults ourselves we turn around and take care of our own children. The cycle of life is repeated over and over. Some psychologist developed their own ideas or theories about life and two of the psychologist with big ideas or theories are Sigmund Freud and John B. Watson. Sigmund Freud’s Theory In the psychoanalytical theory Freud outlines that deep motives, inner drives, and unconscious needs are the foundation of behaviors. These forces influence our development and our behavior as human beings (Berger, 2011). He developed his theory by observing and listening to the thoughts and fantasies of people. He came up with three stages of development in the first six years of life. They are oral, anal, and phallic in the first stage the oral stage is being dependent on one parents for food and nourishment, anal stage is when a child learns to potty train and go to the bathroom on his/her own. The last stage is phallic stage in this stage a child learns to identify there self as either a boy or a girl, they also learn pride, fear, and envy. Freud claims that all behavior is linked back to these stages of development. John B. Watson’s Theory “Classical Conditioning is really simple, a stimulus causes a reaction and the reaction is rewarded. Therefore you train the person or animal to react and after some time even if the reward is no longer available the reaction is still triggered by the stimuli”...
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...Life Span Perspective Babette Marcia Harwell- Taylor PSY/375 January 14, 2013 Shaun-Katherine Robles Life Span Perspective Life span development is the physical and cognitive changes that occur throughout a person’s life. A life span perspective is an approach to the study of human development that takes into account all phases of life, not just childhood or adulthood (Berger, 2011). This paper will discuss the life span perspective of development, summarize two theories of life span development and give explanation to how heredity (nature) and the environment (nurture) interact to produce individual differences in development. The life span perspective encircles the length of a person’s span of life. It then considers the wide range of conditions while making observations along the way. It is depended upon observing and experimenting. The life span perspective views human development in five characteristics: multidirectional, multi-contextual, multicultural, multidisciplinary, and plastic (Berger, 2011). The multidirectional characteristic is the multiple ways in which human characteristics change over time – increasing, decreasing, or holding steady; in a line (linear), a curve (curvilinear), or up and down (zigzag) (Berger, 2011). The multidirectional characteristic enables researchers to recognize that gains and losses often occur simultaneously. According to Berger, every change – going to college, getting married or divorced, moving to another location,...
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..."Scientific study of behavior and mental or cognitive process". The field seeks scientific interpretation of how the human mind works. Different theorists attempted to describe the human mind by observing behavior, cognitive events, physiological events, social behavior etc. In the field of psychology, the systematic movements begun during the first quarter of 19th century. These movements were of greatest significance for the development of psychology as a science. These movements have been mainly in the form of "schools". Within psychology, a school is a group of individual who share certain fundamental methodological of theoretical points of view. The following are some important schools of psychology: (a) Structuralism (b) Functionalism (c) Psychoanalysis (d) Gestalt Psychology (e) Behaviorism (f) Humanistic Psychology 1. Structuralism: Study of the elements of mind Wilhelm Wundt (1832 - 1920), a professor of philosophy, found the first formal laboratory of psychology at the University of Leipzig, in Germany, in 1879. He wrote more than 50,000 pages of books and articles, despite being blind in his right eye during the second half of his life. According to Wundt, the subject matter of psychology is immediate conscious experience, one's experience of awareness of the content of one's own conscious mind. Psychology should thus seek to understand the structure of the mind. Wundt argued that the fundamental approach of science, namely...
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...of psychology. Each of these perspectives takes on a different theory of the causes and various psychological disorders with unique approaches to treatment. Freud started the psychodynamic approach, he theorized that people have “powerful motives that underlie their conscious intentions” (Kowalski & Western, 2005, p. 8). The psychodynamic approach includes all the theories in psychology that see human functioning based upon the interaction of drives and forces within the person, particularly unconscious, and between the different structures of the personality. According to The Interpretation of Dreams, “It inaugurated the new practice of psychoanalysis, and impacted society and culture in the interpretation of literature and art.” Freud’s belief that dreams are highly symbolic, containing both secret and unhidden meanings as well as underlying, unconscious thoughts. Dreams he suggested are our unconscious wishes in disguise. As stated in Psychopathology of Everyday Life, “By discarding the old methods of treatment and strictly applying himself to a study of the patient’s life he discovered that the interpretation of dreams, Psychoanalysis, and the Ego all have definite meanings. There was nothing arbitrary in suggesting unhealthy mental attitudes exist. While tracing back the abnormal to the normal state Freud found how faint the line of demarcation was between the...
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...scientific approach to psychology was one that studied behaviors, not internal mental processes. He denied the existence of a mind as a thing separate from the body, but he did not deny the existence of thoughts, which he regarded simply as private behaviors to be analyzed according to the same principle as publicly observed behaviors. B. F. Skinner was one of the most influential of American psychologists. A radical behaviorist, he developed the conditioning idea that behavior is determined by its consequences, be they reinforcements or punishments, which make it more or less likely that the behavior will occur again. Jean Piaget- Jean Piaget's work had a profound influence on psychology, especially our understanding children's intellectual development. His research contributed to the growth of developmental psychology, cognitive psychology, genetic epistemology, and education reform. Albert Einstein once described Piaget's observations on children's intellectual growth and thought processes as a discovery "so simple that only a genius could have thought of it." Sigmund Freud- When people think of psychology, many tend to think of Freud. His work supported the belief that not all mental illnesses have physiological causes and he also offered evidence that cultural differences have an impact on psychology and behavior. His work and writings contributed to our understanding of personality, clinical psychology, human development, and abnormal psychology. Albert Bandura-...
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...psychological findings be used to change or enhance human behavior? These debates helped set the tone of the new science, define its scope, and set its limits. Over the past century, the shifting focus of these debates has influenced the topics studied and the research methods used. Wundt used scientific methods to study fundamental psychological processes, such as mental reaction times in response to visual or auditory stimuli. For example, Wundt tried to measure precisely how long it took a person to consciously detect the sight and sound of a bell being struck. He also promoted his belief that psychology should be established as a separate scientific discipline that would use experimental methods to study mental processes. Edward B. Titchener Structuralism Structuralism held that even our most...
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...thyself” in psychology is to understand psychologies beginnings, strengths, weaknesses, achievement, down falls, disciplines and so much more. This essay will take a look at four key milestones in the development of cognitive psychology. The four key milestones that will be viewed are behaviorism, psychoanalysis, humanism and cognitive psychology. Along with the four key milestones this document will also go over the major importance of behavioral observation. Behaviorism Behavior is defined as a way in which on functions in “response to stimulation” (Merriam-Webster, 2012). Founder of behaviorism John B. Watson is well known for his statement “Give me a dozen healthy infants well-formed, and my own specified world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select” (Cherry, 2012). John Watson was an American psychologist, who believed that psychology was not just the study of the human mind and but also behavior and its functions. Behaviorism is known as behavioral psychology based on a method of learning called conditioning. Conditioning is a form of...
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...PSY 4012 *New outline* Top of Form Group 1: how philosophy lead to psych- greek myths-Sigmund Freud- Rationalism vs. empiricism (science)- evolutionary theories Group 2: Behaviorism-Lab setup/ experiments- political- social economic aspects-1890- 1913 John B. Watson - neo- behaviorism Group 3: Cognitive Revolution- political - social -economic aspects-"mind back in psych"- 50s, 60s, 70s Group 4: Modern Psych; applied practice/science - how psych maintains to be a science - applying psych to life settings - do we still follow same premise psychology was founded on? Economics and Psychology: From Imperialistic to Inspired Economics, by Bruno S. Frey and Alois Stutzer http://www.bsfrey.ch/articles/362_01.pdf The Psyche as Behavior ARTURO, C. A. (2013). The Psyche as Behavior. Revista Colombiana De Psicología, 22(2), 377-387. http://remote.baruch.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=93598506&site=ehost-live Behaviorism Moore, J. J. (2011). BEHAVIORISM. Psychological Record, 61(3), 449-465. http://remote.baruch.cuny.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=65033133&site=ehost-live Topics: * Behaviorism * Lab setup/ experiments * Political – social - economic aspects * 1890- 1913 * John B. Watson * Neo- behaviorism Section 1: Brief Discussion on the history of behaviorism. What is behaviorism? How was it seen as a stepping...
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...com/q/psy-490-week-4-quiz/27203 http://workbank247.com/q/psy-490-week-4-quiz/27203 1) Ivan Pavlov pioneered the theory of | A. Social Learning Theory | | B. classical conditioning | | C. operant conditioning | | D. Cognitive Psychology | | | | 2) Philosophers who believe that truth can emerge from the careful use of reason are known as | A. Rationalists | | B. Nativists | | C. Dualists | | D. Empiricists | | | | 3) The most commonly used statistic in Psychology is | A. mean | | B. criteria | | C. mode | | D. range | | | | 4) In a topographical representation of the motor cortex, the homunculus is the largest area devoted to | A. the face | | B. the hands | | C. arms and legs | | D. the tongue | | | | 5) What theorist presents a hierarchy of needs and motivations? | A. Carl Jung | | B. Sigmund Freud | | C. Abraham Maslow | | D. B.F. Skinner | | | | 6) Consider the biological theories of aging. Which of the following best represent components of that theory? | A. Attachment Theory | | B. The Nun Theory | | C. Cellular Dial Theory | | D. Hormonal Stress Theory | | | | 7) In operant conditioning, which of the following is accurate? | A. Any response that is followed by reward tends to become extinct. | | B. Any response that is followed by punishment is likely to not be repeated. | | C. Any response that is followed by a reinforcing stimulus tends to be repeated...
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...must be a foundation for researchers to build their own studies from. Psychology is no different with its major schools being: behaviorist, psychodynamic, cognitive, and evolutionary. The behaviorist perspective is based off the information created by John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner around the early 1950s. This theory is of the belief that there is a “relation between observable behaviors and environmental events or stimuli” (Kowalski and Westen, 2009). Classic conditioning was a method created due to the research of one Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov conditioned his dogs to begin salivating at the sound of a bell. Classic conditioning generally speaking is where the subject has been trained to give certain responses due to certain stimuli (Heffner, 2011). Exhibit A would be Pavlov’s dogs. Skinner later discovered that an individual’s behavior can also be controlled by stimuli from the environment that could either reinforce the response or deal out a punishment. The primary method to researching this perspective has been experimental. It allows researchers to make educated guesses before creating a situation to test their theory. The theory of psychodynamics was created by Sigmund Freud during the late nineteenth century. “Freud believed that the human mind was composed of three elements: the id, the ego and the superego” (Cherry, N.A.). The id was the side of a personality that controlled an individual’s basic instincts. The superego is the persona that holds the individuals...
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