Psychologists

Psychologists

Rene Descartes
1. "I think, therefore I am."
  1. "The simple meaning of the phrase is that if one is skeptical of existence, that is in and of itself proof that he exists."
2. Posed the mind-body problem in the 17th Century
  1. Dualism
    1. Argues that the mind interacts with the body at the pineal gland
      1. This form of duality proposes that the mind controls the body, but the body can also influence the otherwise rational mind, such as when people act out of passion
Sigmund Freud
1. Behaviourism
  1. Subconscious
    1. Unconscious conflict related to sexuality plays a central role on behaviour
2. "The unconsciousness is the true psychical reality; in its innermost nature it is as much unknown to us as the reality of the external world"
  1. Unconscious
    1. Contains thoughts, memories and desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but that nonetheless exert great influence on behaviour
3. Psychoanalytic Theory
  1. Attempts to explain personality, motivation and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behaviour
John B. Watson
1. (Founder of) Behaviourism
  1. Only observable behaviour should be analyzed
    1. Behaviour
      1. Refers to any overt (observable) response or activity by an organism
  2. Shaped solely be the environment
2. Believes nurture, not nature
  1. Argues that people become what they are because each was made that way, not born that way
3. "The time seems to have come when psychology must discard all references to consciousness."
B. F. Skinner
1. Opposite of Freud
  1. Emphasized how environmental factors mould behaviour
2. "I submit that what we call the behaviour of the human organism is no more free than its digestion."
  1. Believes that free will is an illusion
Wilhelm Wundt
1. Father of Psychology
  1. Believed that psychology should be modelled after fields such as physics and chemistry
2. Believed that consciousness is the basis of psychology
  1. Consciousness
    1. The awareness of immediate experience
3. "Physiology informs us about those life phenomena that we perceive by our external senses. In psychology, the person looks upon himself as from within and tries to explain the interrelations of those processes that this internal observation discloses."
Carl Rogers
1. Humanism
2. Argued that human behaviour is governed primarily by each individual's sense of self which animals presumably lack
  1. "Self Concept"
  2. Rogers and Maslow believed that to fully understand people's behaviour, psychologists must take into account the fundamental human drive toward personal growth
Abraham Maslow
1. Humanism
  1. A theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth
    1. People are not pawns of either their animal heritage or environmental circumstances
      1. Says that since humans are fundamentally different from other animals, research on animals has little relevance to the understanding of human behaviour
  2. Optimistic view of human nature
Edward Tichtener
1. Structuralism
  1. Analyzing experience
    1. Sensations
    2. Feelings
    3. Images
  2. Introspection
    1. Careful, systematic self-observation of one's own conscious experience
  3. Based on the notion that the task of psychology is to analyze consciousness into its basic elements and investigate how these elements are related
William James
1. Functionalism
  1. Function and purpose of consciousness
  2. Based on the belief that psychology should investigate the function or purpose of consciousness rather than its structure
  3. Interested in how people adapt their behaviour to the demands of the real world around them
2. We believe that reality is stable
3. "It is just this free water of consciousness that psychologists resolutely overlook."
4. Influenced by Darwin's principle of "natural selection"
5. Stream of Consciousness
  1. Flow of conscious thoughts
Charles Darwin
1. Natural Selection
  1. "Survival of the Fittest"
    1. Survival is only important to the extent that it is linked to reproductive success
    2. "Fitness"
      1. Reproductive Success
  2. Heritable characteristics that provide a survival or reproductive advantage are more likely than alternative characteristics to be passed on to subsequent generations and thus come to be "selected" over time

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