AP Psychology: History and Approaches

AP Psychology: History and Approaches

1. Wave 1: Introspection

   • Wilhelm Wundt
     • set up 1st psychological lab
     • trained subjects in introspection-asked them to record accurately their cognitive reactions to simple stimuli
     • structuralism-mind operates by combining subjective emotions & objective sensations
   • William James
     • published psychology's 1st textbook
     • functionalism
   • Mary Whiton Calkins
     • became president of the APA
     • studied under James
   • Margaret Floy Washburn
     • 1st woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology
   • G. Stanley Hall
     • studied child development
     • 1st president of the APA

2. Wave 2: Gestalt Psychology

   • Max Wertheimer
   • examined a person's total experience

3. Wave 3: Psychoanalysis

   • Sigmund Freud
     • unconscious mind & repression
     • dream analysis, word association, etc.
     • criticized for being unscientific & creating unverifiable theories

4. Wave 4: Behaviorism

   • John Watson
     • psychology should be limited to observable phenomena
   • look solely at behavior and its causes
   • B.F. Skinner
     • reinforcement-stimuli that can encourage/discourage certain responses

5. Wave 5: Multiple Perspectives

   • most psychologists fall in this category
   • eclectic-drawing from multiple perspectives

6. Additional Psychological Perspectives

   • Humanist
     • Abraham Maslow & Carl Rogers
     • individual choice & free will
   • Biopsychology (Neuroscience)
     • explain human thought & behavior in terms of biological processes
   • Evolutionary
     • Charles Darwin & natural selection
   • Cognitive
     • study how we interpret, process, & remember events
     • Jean Piaget
   • Social-Cultural
     • study the influence of culture on how we think & act
   • Biopsychosocial
     • combo of biological, psychological, & social factors