Lecture 2: Psychology History and Methods

History of Psychology
There is a timeline in the front and back covers of your textbook. If you have a chance, look at it, but dont
worry about memorizing all those dates. This isnt a history course. However, there are a few key dates and
players youll need to remember. (These are here in the notes.)

I Pre-scientific Psychology (enlightenment philosophy) (nature vs. nurture)

A Plato (387 B.C.)
i. Believed knowledge was innate (born within us)
ii. Suggested that the brain was the seat of mental processes
iii. The mind is separable from the body and continues after the body dies.
B Aristotle (335 B.C.)
i. Denied the idea that knowledge is innate; Rather, it grows from the experiences stored in our
memory.
ii. Believed that the heart was the seat of mental processes.
C Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
i. Viewed mind as body as interactive machines, responsible for both voluntary and involuntary
behaviors.
ii. Ruled out organs other than the brain as locations of mental functioning.
iii. Innate ideas and personality traits.
iv. Published A Discourse on Method.
D John Locke (1632-1704)
i. Opposed notion of innate ideas - all ideas and knowledge comes from experience and reflec-
tions.
ii. Mind and personality are a blank slate at birth (tabula rasa)
iii. Published An Essay Concerning Human Understanding which stressed empiricism over spec-
ulation.
E Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)
i. Knowledge and personality are a product of both inborn dispositions and experience.
F Franz Joseph Gall (1808)
i. phrenology - the belief that the shape of a person’s skull reveals mental faculties and character
traits.
G Phineas Gage (1848)
i. Suffers massive brain damage when a large iron rod accidentally pierces his brain leaving his
intellect and memory intact but altering his personality.
H Paul Broca (1861)
i. Discovers area in the left frontal lobe of the brain that is critical to the production of spoken
language (now called Broca’s area).

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 I Carl Wernicke (1874)
i. Shows that damage to a specific area in the left temporal lobe disrupts ability to comprehend
or produce spoken or written language (now called Wernicke’s area).
II Founders of Scientific Psychology

A Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

i. Founded first psychology research lab (Leipzig, Germany in 1879). Founder of modern scien-
tific psychology (using scientific methods)
ii. New research methods - introspection, psychophysical measurements (test sence) and reaction
times.
B Stanley Hall
i. First psychology lab in the U.S. (Johns Hopkins University 1883)
ii. First American Psychology Journal (American Journal of Psychology - 1887)
iii. First president of the American Psychological Association (1892)
C William James
i. Published Principles of Psychology, the most influential textbook in the history of psychology
(1890).
ii. Harvard University philosopher and psychologist.
D Sigmund Freud
i. Founder of psychoanalysis.
ii. First to study the role of childhood in adult personality.
iii. Wrote The Interpretation of Dreams(1900), which was the first psychology book that was
geared toward the layman.
iv. Developed concept of the unconscious mind.
E John B. Watson
i. Founder of Behaviorism
ii. Said psychology should focus on behavior, not the mind or the unconscious.
F Charles Darwin (1895 - Origin of Species)
i. Theory of evolution influenced study of human behavior - evolution of human brain.
ii. Led to the belief that we can learn about humans by studying animals - there are biological
connections between species.
G Margaret Flay Washburn
i. First woman to receive a PhD in psychology (1894).
H Mary Whiton Calkins
i. Finished all the requirements for PhD from Harvard, but the school denied her the degree.
ii. First woman elected president of APA (1905).
I Ivan Pavlov
i. Published many studies on conditioned reflexes (1906)
ii. “Salivating dog experiment”
J Jean Piaget
i. Developmental psychologist who studied his own children.
ii. Published The Language and Thought of the Child (1923).

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Early Approaches to Psychology
I Structuralism
A Founders: Wilhelm Wundt, Edward Bradford Titchener, G. Stanley Hall
B Summary: attempted to define makeup of conscious experience by breaking it down into objective
sensations, subjective feelings, and mental images. The mind functions by creatively combining
these elements.

II Functionalism
A Founders: William James, John Dewey, influenced by Darwin
B Summary: address way in which experience lets us function more adaptively in our environments,
supplements introspection with behavioral observation in lab. Says adaptive behavior patterns
are learned and maintained (habits), maladaptive ones drop out.
III Behaviorism
A Founders: John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner, influenced by Pavlov
B Summary: says speculation about stream of consciousness (esp. of lower animals) is inaccurate,
to be a real science psychology most focus on only observable behavior. Studies responses to
stimuli, conditioning, and effects of reinforcement.
IV Gesalt Psychology
A Founders: Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler
B Summary: says human nature cant be understood by behavior alone, and perception cant be
broken down into units. Perceptions are wholes that give meaning to parts, and we tend to observe
separate pieces of information as integrate wholes (integrate separate stimuli into meaningful
patterns). Learning is not only responsive and mechanical, but can be active and purposeful -
especially when trying to solve a problem, which is accomplished by sudden flashes of insight.
V Psychoanalysis

A Founders: Sigmund Freud

B Summary: people are driven by deeply hidden impulses, unconscious processes (especially prim-
itive sexual and aggressive impulses) are more influential than conscious thought in determining
human behavior. Since impulses and desire to be good are in conflict, the underlying forces of
personality are psychodynamic. Did research by interviewing patients (psychoanalysis) rather
than in a lab.

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Major Contemporary Theoretical Approaches to Psychology
I Psychodynamic (Freudian)
A Major theorists: Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Erik Erikson, Alfred Adler
B Stresses the role of internal drives, desires, and urges, which affect behavior in ways individuals
are not even aware of. Psychodynamic theories are interested in the conflicts between animalistic
urges and desires and the norms of behavior expected by society.
C Important Concepts: Unconscious mind, id-ego-superego, the importance of early childhood de-
velopment, defense mechanisms, inferiority complex, collective unconscious.
II Behaviorism and Social Learning
A Major Theorists: John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, B.F. Skinner, Albert Bandura
B Stresses the role of the environment, experience, and learning on behavior (nurture view). De-
scribes observable behavior through the environmental influences that shape them.
C Important Concepts: Stimulus-response relations, classical conditioning, operant conditioning,
observational learning, modeling.
III Cognitive

A Major Theorists: Jean Piaget, Lawrence Kohlberg, Wolfgang Kohler, Noam Chomsky
B Stresses the role of mental processing, language, and memory on behavior. Studies the way infor-
mation is received, processed, and stored by organisms. Important Concepts: theory of cognitive
development, language acquisition device, insight learning, gestalt principles of organization
C Important Concepts: theory of cognitive development, language acquisition device, insight learn-
ing, gestalt principles of organization
IV Biological
A Stresses the role of genetic and biological factors in personality and behavior. Focuses on the
structure and function of the nervous system and endocrine system, role of neurotransmitters,
and function of chromosomes.
B Important Concepts: drug therapies, psychosurgery, psychogenetics
V Humanism
A Major Theorists: Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers
B Stresses the human capacity for free will and self-actualization. It describes the need of the
individual to become more self aware and make conscious decisions about their lives. Stresses the
need for positive self esteem and societal acceptance.
C Important Concepts: self-actualization, unconditional positive regard, hierarchy of needs, client
centered therapy, self concept

VI Sociocultural
A Stresses the role of the cultural environment in the shaping of personality. Focuses on how cultural
values, beliefs, and behaviors vary from society to society and must be taken into consideration
when trying to understand, control, or predict behavior.
B Important Concepts: cross-cultural psychology, multi-cultural psychology

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Research Designs in Psychology
I Descriptive Research - researcher systematically records what he/she observes without directly manip-
ulating the variables. **Descriptive research can never prove cause and effect. It can only indicate a
correlation**
A Naturalistic Observation
i. Subjects are observed in their natural environment
ii. Research does not interfere or influence the subjects in any way.
B Case Studies (Freud)
i. In depth studies of an individual or a group based on interviews, tests, and observation.
ii. Data is usually collected over a long period of time.
C Surveys
i. Questionnaires that ask people about their behaviors, opinions, or attitudes.
ii. Questions must be unbiased; Results are dependent on the honesty of the respondent (which
is helped by making the survey anonymous.)
iii. Framing Effect - One can get difference answers depending on how a question is asked.
D Psychological Testing
i. Formal sample of a persons behavior, attitudes, or abilities. Can be written or performed,
administered primarily by psychologists (ex. IQ tests, SATS)
ii. Requirements
A. Standardization (test administered and scored in a consistent manner, have norms with
which to evaluate results)
B. Reliability (extent to which test produces consistent results)
C. Validity (test measures what it claims to measure.)
II Experimental Research - method where the researcher controls the variables and manipulates one
variable to examine its effect on another variable. **This is the only type of research that can indicate
cause and effect.** Prefer this method of research when possible.

III Correlational Research - method where the researcher detects naturally occurring relationships and
assesses how well one variable predicts another. **Does not specify cause and effect.**

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Important Terms in Psychology Research
Hypothesis: a testable prediction about the relationship between two or more events or characteristics.
Variable: an event, behavior, or characteristic that is measure and controlled in a scientific manner.
Experimental Method: research that manipulates one or more variables, while controlling others, to
determine the effects of these variables.
Independent variable: the variable manipulated by the experimenter to determine its effect on another,
dependent variable.
Dependent variable: the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of
the independent variable; the variable whose effect is being studied.
Confounding variable: a variable whose unwanted effect on the dependent variable might be confused
with that of the independent variable. (A common confounding variable is order effects. To avoid this, one
can use random sampling of subjects.)
Experimental condition: the condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment, that
is, to one version of the independent variable.
Control condition: the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition and
serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.
Subjects: participants in a scientific study.
Random Sampling: the assignment of subjects to experimental and control conditions so that each subject
is likely to be assigned to one condition as to another. Random Sampling roughly equalizes the two groups
in age, attitudes, and other characteristics.
Subject Bias: the tendency of people who know they are subjects in a study to behave in a different manner
than they normally would.
Experimenter Bias: the tendency of those conducting a study to let their expectations alter the way they
treat their subjects or analyze their data.
Double Blind Study: a study in which neither the subjects nor the persons measuring results know who
has received the treatment.
Single Blind study: a study in which the subject doesnt know whether or not they have received the real
treatment but the researcher does.
Placebo: an inert substance or condition administered as “treatment” that has the appearance of being
genuine and is administered to the control group.
Placebo Effect: experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the
administration of the placebo, which is assumed to be an active agent by the participant. (Just believing you
are getting a treatment can boost your spirits, relax your body, and in some cases, relieve your symptoms.)