Intro to Psychology
An exhilirating journey for all
The Origins - where did it all begin?
The History of Psychology - Important Figures
William Wundt: The true father of psychology. Established a small laboratory at the university of Leipzig in 1879. Wundt defined the task of psychology as the systematic study of the structure of the conscious adult mind. Conscious mental process such as emotions and reacting to stimuli are best understood when broken down to their simplest form. Wundt was a strong advocate for "introspection" which means to look inward for studying mental processes. He was also the mentor of Edward Titchener who brought Wundt's ideas of psychology to Cornell university in America.
William James: Most known for his study of understanding the mental processes that helped humans and animals adapt to their environments. This became known as functionalism. James published the text, Principles and Psychology. Functionalism was used to broaden Psychology into not only humans but animals.
Abraham Maslow: Inventor of humanistic psychology. Humanistic psychologists emphasize the role of free will and our ability to make conscious, rational choices about how we live our lives. They also believe humans have a natural inclination to fulfill their human potential, process called self actualization.
Scope of Psychology
Science
Behavior
Humans+Animals
Important Figures Continued
Sigmund Freud: Austrian physician who developed the theory of psychoanalysis. Psychoanalysis is a procedure employed to help treat patients who show neurotic symptoms. He used a method called catharsis where he would find the root of the emotional stress his patient is in and talk with them about it and it proves to relieve some of their symptoms. This method is still commonly used today. He emphasized the unconscious mind with its irrational urges and drives beyond the control of conscious rational processes. Freud's belief of this statement caused him to receive a lot of criticism.
John Watson: Founder of behaviorism. He opposed the use of introspection invented by William Wundt. Behaviorism's goal is to identify the processes by which stimuli and responses become connected or associated. Behaviorism is characterized by its insistency on an empirical, objective science of behavior that has no need for theories of mind or free will.
Wolfgang Köhler: Inventory of Gestalt psychology. Gestalt psychology means the whole (our perception) is more than the sum of its parts (sensory elements). For example putting together a bunch of simple musical notes and a melody emerges. This melody does not exist with just the individual notes.
Goals
Essentially all scientists, psychologists included, share the common goals of: understanding, predicting, controlling/influencing. However more specifically for psychology the goals are: