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The Evolution of Psychology

Psychology: The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour in a given context
Influential People of Psychology
1. Ancient Greece: Classic greek philosopher's started the foundation of psychology, and brought fourth ideas including separation of mind and body, nativism, and empiricism
  1. Socrates (469-399 B.C.E)
  2. Plato (427-347 B.C.E.)
  3. Aristotle (385-322 B.C.E.)
    1. Aristotle also created a popular theory about memory. His conception of memory suggested that memories are the result of three principles, similarity, contrast and contiguity.
2. Renaissance (Europe) : The development of ideas about the mind, behaviour and human nature developed largely during this period
  1. Rene Descarters (1596-1650)
    1. Descarters famously argued the dualism of the mind and body. He believed they were fundamental different. Descarters strongly attached the idea of dreams, memory, perception, emotions to natural "properties" of the body and the "mind" or soul being immaterial.
  2. Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
  3. John Locke (1632-1704)
  4. David Hume ( 1711-1776)
  5. John Stuart Mill (1806-1873
3. The Science of Psychology (1700's-1900's) : This is when the focus turned to the experimentation of psychology and medicine. Biology was often refereed here.
  1. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
    1. Wundt set up the first research lab in 1879 Germany
      1. Wundt argued that psychology should be a scientific study of consciousness
        "psychology informs us about those life phenomena that we perceive by external senses. In psychology, the person looks upon himself as from within and tried to explain the interrelations of those processes that this internal observations discloses " - Wilhelm Wundt
    2. Considered founder of psychology
  2. Robert Whyte (1714-1766)
  3. Franz Gall (1758-1828)
  4. Paul Broca (1824-1880)
  5. Stanley Hall (1846-1924)
    1. launched Americas first psychology journal (1887)
      1. helped establish the American Psychology Association (1892)
4. Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
  1. Psychoanalytic theory : attempts to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behaviour
    1. Carl Jung
    2. Alfred Adler
  2. Freud believed that the unconscious contains thoughts, memories and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but that nonetheless exert great influence on behaviour
  3. he proposed that behaviour is greatly influenced by how people cope the "sexual urges"
Structuralism V.S Functionalism: as psychology developed to main schools of thought developed
1. Structuralism
  1. Edward Titchener (1867-1927) took leadership in the structuralist community
  2. Structuralism was based on the notion that the task of psychology is to analyze conciousness into its basic elements and investigate how these elements are related
    1. most of structuralists concerned their work with sensation and perception in vision, hearing and touch.
2. Functionalism
  1. William James (1842-1910) many functionalist beliefs were taken from James work
  2. functionalism was based on the belief that psychology should investigate the function or purpose of consciousness rather than its structure
  3. Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
    1. Darwin's natural selection theory proved that typical characteristics of a species serves a pourpose
Behaviourism Emerges (1900's) : was the third major school of thought that dramatically altered the cource of psychology
1. John B. Watson (1878-1958) founder of behaviourism
  1. "A time has come when psychology must discard all references to consciousness" - John Wastson
2. Behaviourism is a theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behaviour
  1. believed that behaviour is governed primary from environment rather than heredity
3. Radical Behaviourism (1950's)
  1. B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) :
    1. believed people are controlled by their environment and "free will is an illusion"
  2. emphasized on animal research, and kept a strict focus on observable behaviour
  3. discussed how organism behaviours ARE effected by their biological endowment
The Humanists Revolt (1950's) : At this point in time behaviourism and psychoanalytical theory had become the the most influential schools of thought.
1. many psychologists found these theoretical orientations "unappealing" and "dehumanizing". This lead to the birth of "Humanism" in psychology
  1. Humanism is a theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth. This theory has an "optimistic" view on human nature
2. Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
3. Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
4. humanists believe people are not pawns of either their animal heritage or environmental circumstance and are governed by an individual sense of "self"
Psychology In Canada
1. The first experimental laboratory in Canada was established in 1891 at the university of Toronto by James Mark Baldwin
2. The Canadian Psychological Association was formed in 1939
3. John Wallace Baird was the first Canadian President of APA
Psychology becomes a Profession (1950's) : Providing professional services to the public
1. Applied Psychology: the branch of psychology concerned with everyday, practical problems
2. Clinical Psychology: the branch of psychology concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and disorders
3. was used previously in screening military recruits and to treat soldiers suffering from trauma. (WII 1939-1945)
Interests In Cultural Factors Grow (1980's)
1. Western psychologists developed an increased interest in how cultural variables influence behaviour
  1. this trend was stimulated by the increased cultural diversity in western societies and by growing global interdependence
Evolutionary Psychology Gains Prominence (1990's)
1. its crucial premise is that the patterns of behaviour seen in species are the product of evolution, just like anatomical characteristics
  1. according to evolutionary psychologists, natural selection favours behaviours that enhance organisms reproductive success
2. David Buss
3. Martin Daly
4. Margo Wilson
5. Leda Cosmides
6. John Tooby
Cognitive Psychology (1950's)
1. Jean Piget
2. Noam Chomsky
3. Herbert Simon
4. thoughts: mental process
5. Human behaviour cannot be fully understood without examining how people acquire, store and process information
Biological Psychology
1. physiological basis of behaviour in humans and animals
2. an organisms functioning can be explained in terms of the bodily structures and biochemical processes that underline behaviour
3. James Olds
4. Roger Sperry
5. David Huble
6. Torsten Wiesel

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The Evolution of Psychology

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	Created by Brianna Carter over 8 years ago