Foundations of Psychology

Unit title 1
CHAPTER 1 - Foundations of Psychology
What is Psychology?
• Psyche (soul) + logos (to study).
• Psychology became popular during the 1800 ’s.
The Birth of Psychology:

‣ Wilhelm Wundt proposed that we should study the mind independently of philosophy and physiology.
‣ He also proposed that this new field of study (psychology) should be rooted in science.
‣ This new science would concern itself with the study of conscious and immediate experience.
The First Psychology Laboratory:

Wundt established the first psychology laboratory in 1879 at the University of Leipzig, Germany.
Thus, 1879 is usually considered the "birth" of modern psychology.
Psychology becomes popular:

- G. Stanley Hall established an additional psychology laboratory in the United States.
- G. Stanley Hall established the first psychology laboratory in the United States in 1883 at Johns Hopkins University.
G. Stanley Hall:
G. Stanley Hall launched the first journal in America dedicated to psychology.
G. Stanley Hall also helped to establish the American Psychological Association (APA) and served as its first president.
The APA is the largest organisation devoted to the study and advancement of psychology today.
Two main viewpoints emerged early on: Structuralism and Functionalism

1. Structuralism:
Psychology should analyse consciousness by breaking it down into its component parts and investigate these parts
individually, and also how these parts are related.
• Structuralists believed that all of our complex experiences (consciousness) can be broken into smaller building blocks
which ultimately link back to our senses.
• The best way to break consciousness up into it's basic building blocks, is via a process known as introspection.
Introspection = is a process of systematic and objective self-observation.
How do we experience anything?
Step 1: Your senses (touch, smell, taste, sight and feel) send neural information to your brain.
Step 2: Your brain takes these electrical signals and then stitches them together to form a coherent sensation.
2. Functionalism:
• William James proposed that the structure of consciousness is not as important as what it does.
• Functionalist were inspired by the work of Charles Darwin.
• Psychology should investigate the function or purpose of consciousness.
What does consciousness do?

= Taking snapshots of consciousness misses the important bits. You need to analyse the "stream of consciousness" in
order to obtain meaningful descriptions of the mind.
It's not so much what something is made of, but how and why it "functions" the way it functions that is important.
Psychoanalysis:
• Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939)
• Freud noticed that many of his patient suffered from irrational fears and anxieties.
Psychoanalytic Theory:
‣ Freud was convinced that people's conscious experience was only the tip of the iceberg.
‣ Freud proposed that, in addition to our conscious experience, there is also an unconscious
element to our minds.
This unconscious part of our mind contains thoughts, memories, and desires that are well below the surface of
conscious awareness but influences our behaviour nonetheless.
‣ According to psychoanalytic theory, who you are is largely determined by what goes on in your unconscious mind.
‣ Unfortunately, you don't have much control (or even awareness) of what goes on down there.
‣ Freud's method sought to deal directly with this unconscious part of our mind, was called psychoanalysis.
Behaviourism:
• During late 1920's a new school of thought became dominant in psychology, founded by J.B Watson.
• Behaviourism = is the idea that psychology should only study observable behaviour.
• Watson declared that true science is based on verifiability
• Veri ability = means something can be proved (or disproved) by anyone willing to make the observations.
• Behaviour, on the other hand, is something everyone can observe and agree on.
• According to behaviourist then, psychology should be the "science of behaviour".
• Behaviour = any overt (publicly observable) response or activity by an organism.
• Behaviourism = Stimulus-Response Psychology
• Stimulus (input) produces a response (output).
• Behaviour is caused by environmental factors (input).
Skinner (Behaviourism in a nutshell):

Organisms tend to repeat behaviour that leads to a positive outcome and they tend to not repeat behaviour that leads
to a negative outcome.
Nature vs Nurture:
- Are we a product of our genes or how we were raised?
- People realised that behaviourism was cool, but it was too simplistic
The Humanist Revolt:

• One of the problems with all of the previous approaches is that they "dehumanise" human beings.
• We have hopes and dreams and feelings and we constantly try to create meaning in our lives.
• Some argued that we have "free will" and we aren't just subject to the whims of our environment.
Humanism:
- Humanism is a theoretical orientation that emphasises the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and
their potential for personal growth.

- Humanists are more optimistic about human nature.
- Two most important figures in Humanistic psychology was Maslow and Rogers.
Cognitive psychology:
• Psychologist started thinking "Mmmm. What if the human mind is actually like a computer? You give it input and then
it produces output based on the rules it is following".
• Cognition = refers to mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge (Scientists were interested in the processing
rules of the mind).
Evolutionary Psychology:
- These "rules" that cognitive psychologists talk about were shaped by natural selection.
- Humans evolved mentally to be better adapted to their environment.
- Many behaviours have been linked to genes including schizophrenia, depression and anxiety.
There are many different types of psychologists:

1. Clinical psychology
2. Neuropsychology
3. Counselling psychology
4. Educational psychology
5. Research psychologist
6. Industrial psychology
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Unit title 1

CHAPTER 1 - Foundations of Psychology

The Birth of Psychology:

The First Psychology Laboratory:

Psychology becomes popular:

Two main viewpoints emerged early on: Structuralism and Functionalism

What does consciousness do?

Skinner (Behaviourism in a nutshell):

The Humanist Revolt:

their potential for personal growth.

There are many different types of psychologists:

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