The
word psychology comes from two Greek words: «Psyche»
meaning «mind» or «soul» and «Logos»
meaning «study
of. Therefore,
psychology means «study of the mind». There are many
modern definitions of
the term. One
of them belongs to
Atkinson, who defined psychology
as «the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes».
However, psychologists always disagreed not only about the definition
of psychology, but also about what they should study and how
they should do it.
The
year 1879 is considered to be the start of psychology as
a separate discipline.
It was the date when Wilhelm Wundt created the first psychology
laboratory in Leipzig, Germany.
Americans disagree and think that William James was the «founding
father of
psychology» because in 1875 he started teaching a course on
the relationship between physiology and psychology
at Harvard University.
In 1890 he wrote a book «Principles of psychology» which
was a very important step in the history of psychology.
Structuralism
was the first approach in psychology. It was described by Wundt who
thought that the object of psychological investigation should be the
conscious mind. According to Wundt, the mind should be studied by
introspection (looking at one’s own mental experience) in
order to break down into its components such as
images, sensations and
feelings.
Functionalism
was developed by William James who thought that the workings of the
mind are functional. The mind works to
survive and adapt. So
we should investigate what behaviour and thoughts are for.
At
the turn of the 19th century two powerful approaches appeared. One of
them is psychoanalysis
developed
by Sigmund Freud in Austria.
Freud wrote that the proper object of psychological investigation
should be the unconscious mind
and that our behaviour is
determined by
processes that we are
not aware of.
Behaviourism,
introduced by John Watson, was the most important of all approaches
that investigated «minds» and proposed that psychology
should investigate only observable behaviour
if it wanted to be an objective
science. This
approach dominated experimental psychology until 1950’s when a strong
interest in the ‘mind’ developed in the form of the cognitive and
humanistic approaches. Representatives of these approaches argued
that behaviourism ignored all
the most important and interesting things that go on in our heads.
Cognitive
psychology investigates the mind by using computer information
processing ideas
to arrive at models of how our brain works and then apply scientific
methods to confirm these
models. The cognitive approach was successful and is a
very dominant one
in psychology today.
The
Humanistic approach has had less of an impact on psychology because
it adapted less scientific view of the human mind. Humanistic
psychologists argued that psychology should focus on each
individual’s conscious experience and aims in
life.
The
biological approach has advanced evolutionary, physiological
and genetic explanation
for human behaviour throughout the history of psychology.
|
Учение Определение Термин Принадлежать Отдельный Отец-основатель Опыт Ощущение Выживать Приспосабливаться, Психоанализ Бессознательный Определять Осознавать Подлежащий Объективная Игнорировать Обработка Подтверждать Доминирующий Цели Эволюционный генетический |
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Text 1. WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?
The word psychology comes from two Greek words:
«Psyche» meaning «mind» or «soul» and
«Logos» meaning «study of. Therefore, psychology means
«study of the mind». There are many modern definitions of the term.
One of them belongs to Atkinson, who defined psychology as
«the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes». However,
psychologists always disagreed not only about the definition of psychology,
but also about what they should study and how they should do it.
The year 1879 is considered to be the start of
psychology as a separate discipline. It was the date when Wilhelm Wundt
created the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany.
Americans disagree and think that William James was the «founding
father of psychology» because in 1875 he started teaching a course on
the relationship between physiology and psychology at Harvard University.
In 1890 he wrote a book «Principles of psychology» which was a very
important step in the history of psychology.
Structuralism was the first approach in psychology. It
was described by Wundt who thought that the object of psychological
investigation should be the conscious mind. According to Wundt, the mind should
be studied by introspection (looking at one’s own mental experience) in
order to break down into its components such as images, sensations and
feelings.
Functionalism was developed by William James who
thought that the workings of the mind are functional. The mind works to
survive and adapt. So we should investigate what behaviour and thoughts are
for.
At
the turn of the 19th century two powerful approaches appeared. One of them is psychoanalysis
developed by Sigmund Freud in Austria. Freud wrote that the
proper object of psychological investigation should be the unconscious mind
and that our behaviour is determined by processes that we are not
aware of.
Behaviourism, introduced by John Watson, was the most
important of all approaches that investigated «minds» and proposed
that psychology should investigate only observable behaviour if it
wanted to be an objective science. This approach dominated experimental
psychology until 1950’s when a strong interest in the ‘mind’ developed in the
form of the cognitive and humanistic approaches. Representatives of these
approaches argued that behaviourism ignored all the most important and
interesting things that go on in our heads.
Cognitive psychology investigates the mind by using
computer information processing ideas to arrive at models of how our
brain works and then apply scientific methods to confirm these models.
The cognitive approach was successful and is a very dominant one in
psychology today.
The Humanistic approach has had less of an impact on
psychology because it adapted less scientific view of the human mind.
Humanistic psychologists argued that psychology should focus on each
individual’s conscious experience and aims in life.
The biological
approach has advanced evolutionary, physiological and genetic explanation
for human behaviour throughout the history of psychology.
|
study definition term to belong to separate founding father experience sensation to survive to adapt psychoanalysis unconscious to determine to be aware of observable objective science to ignore information processing to confirm dominant aims evolutionary genetic |
Учение Определение Термин Принадлежать Отдельный Отец-основатель Опыт Ощущение Выживать Приспосабливаться, Психоанализ Бессознательный Определять Осознавать Подлежащий наблюдению Объективная наука Игнорировать Обработка информации Подтверждать Доминирующий Цели Эволюционный генетический |
Questions to the text.
1. Where does
the word psychology come from?
2. How did
Atkinson define psychology?
3. What year is
considered to be the start of psychology?
4. Who created
the first psychology laboratory?
5. Who is
considered to be the «founding father» of psychology in the USA?
6. What was the
first approach in psychology?
7. What is the
object of investigation from the structuralist point of view?
8. Who
developed the functional approach in psychology?
9. What are the
functions of brain from the functional point of view?
10. What approaches appeared at the turn of the 19th
century?
11. What is the proper object of investigation in
psychoanalysis?
12. What should psychology investigate from the
behaviorist point of view?
13. What
did cognitivist and
humanistic psychologists criticize
in behaviorism?
14. What does cognitive psychology aim to investigate?
15. What did the humanistic psychologists argue for?
16. What did the
biological approach contribute to the study of human behaviour?
Ex.1. Translate the following sentences into Russian.
1. In 1879 Wilhelm Wundt created the first psychology laboratory.
2. In 1875 William James started teaching a course on the relationship between physiology and psychology.
3. Atkinson defined psychology as the study of behaviour and mental processes.
4. Many scientists disagree about the definition of psychology.
5. Structuralism was the first approach in psychology.
6. Functionalists investigated functions of thoughts and behaviour.
7. Psychoanalysis was developed by Sigmund Freud in Austria. Psychoanalysis is aimed to study the unconscious mind.
8. Behaviourists investigated observable behaviour.
9. Cognitive psychologists are interested in information processing.
10. Humanistic psychologists focus on the conscious experience and aims in life.
11. The biological approach gives evolutionary and genetic explanation for human behaviour.
Jokes. Read and translate the following jokes. What do these jokes imply?
Psychology is actually biology.
Biology is actually chemistry.
Chemistry is actually physics.
And physics is actually math.
***
Two psychologists meet at their twentieth college reunion (встреча выпускников). One of them looks like he just graduated, while the other psychologist looks old, worried and stressed. The older looking psychologist asks the other, «What’s your secret? Listening to other people’s problems every day, all day long, for years has made an old man of me». The younger looking psychologist replies, » Who listens?»
Ex.2. Write a short essey on these topics (10-12 sentences).
1. «Psyche» means «mind» or «soul». Do you think psychologists should focus more on human mind or on human soul?
2. What approach seems to be most interesting to you?
@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@
WHAT
IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PSYCHOLOGIST AND A PSYCHIATRIST?
The work of psychologists and psychiatrists has much
in common. Both psychologists and psychiatrists can provide psychotherapy
and counseling
services. Both psychologists and psychiatrists are trained to
diagnose neuropsychological disorders and dysfunctions plus
psychotic, neurotic and personality disorders and dysfunctions. Both
professionals are granted the right to make such diagnoses by law while
other doctors cannot. Both psychologists and psychiatrists help people maintain
and enhance their physical, intellectual, emotional, social and
interpersonal functioning.
However, there are some important differences in
training and special skills. Psychiatrists, as medical doctors, can prescribe
medications for psychological distress. Psychologists do not prescribe
medications, instead focusing their treatment on psychotherapy. In
addition, psychologists are the only mental health professionals who are fully
trained and qualified to use psychological tests.
The education of psychologists provides knowledge of
psychological and emotional problems, personality, and human development,
integrated with specialized training in how to apply this knowledge to
helping people with emotional distress and other problems in living. The
psychologist’s training in research allows them to evaluate the best
ways to help people and to make decisions on what helps and what doesn’t help
different people with various situations.
Psychologists also specialize in psychological
testing. Psychological tests are used in situations where there are questions
about what a person’s particular problem is. For example, a psychologist may
use psychological tests to determine whether a child has a learning disorder.
Psychologists also use psychological tests in legal cases or any time there is
uncertainty about what is troubling an individual. Psychological tests can
include assessments of personality styles, tests of emotional well-being,
intellectual (or «IQ») tests, tests of academic achievement and
tests for possible brain damage. The use of psychological tests requires
years of training that involves not only learning how to give the tests,
but also how to integrate all the information from a variety of tests,
background information, interviews, and knowledge of theories, research,
psychological problems, personalities, and human development. Psychologists are
the only mental health professionals who are fully trained and qualified to use
psychological tests.
It is important to be aware that there can be broad
differences in training and philosophy among psychologists, psychiatrists,
social Workers, and other therapists which can often lead to widely differing treatment approaches and understandings of
psychological or emotional problems.
|
to provide counselling services to diagnose disorder dysfunction » personality disorder to be granted the right to maintain to enhance to prescribe treatment qualified to apply knowledge to evaluate assessment academic achievements well-being brain damage |
Представлять Консутьтационные услуги Ставить диагноз Нарушение Дисфункция Расстройство личности Быть наделённым правом Поддерживать Расширять, улучшать Прописывать Лечение Квалифицированы Применять знания Оценивать Оценка Академическая успеваемость состояние Повреждения мозга |
Questions to the text. •
1. What
services can psychologists and psychiatrists provide to people?
2. What
professionals are granted the right to diagnose neuropsycho-logical disorders
and dysfunctions?
3. What
professionals are granted the right to prescribe medications?
4. What do
psychologists focus their treatment on?
5. What does
the education of psychologists include?
6. What does
psychologist’s training allows them to do?
7. What
professionals specialize in psychological training?
8. When do
psychologists use psychological tests?
9. What do
psychological tests assess?
Translate the sentences into
Russian.
- The work of
psychologists and psychiatrists has much in common.
2.
Psychologists and psychiatrists can provide psychotherapy and diagnose
psychotic and neurotic disorders.
3. Both psychologists and psychiatrists help
people maintain and enhance their physical, intellectual, emotional and social
functioning.
4. Psychiatrists, as medical doctors, can
prescribe medications for psychological dysfunctions.
5. The education of psychologists allows them to
make decisions about what helps and what doesn’t help different people with
various situations.
6. Psychologists are allowed to use
psychological tests. Psychological tests include assessments of personality
styles, intellectual (or «IQ») tests, tests of academic achievement,
tests for possible brain damage and tests for specific psychological disturbances.
7. There are important differences
understandings of psychological or emotional problems among psychologists and
psychiatrists.
Share your opinion and experience
with the group.
Have you ever taken a psychological test? What was
evaluated? Do you think the test was reliable? Do you think that psychologists
can use tests to diagnose disorders?
INTERESTING FACTS
* * *
Scientists say that between 50 and 70
percent of all visits to doctors are
by people who have no physical illness but
whose complaints are
related to psychological factors.
Depression is among the six most
common conditions seen in family practice.
* * *
Forty-seven percent of Americans do not
know when it would be appropriate to seek psychological services, and 68
percent do know how to go about seeking help when they do need it.
* * *
Seventy
percent of Americans consider
access to psychological
services to be very important, but only 35
percent believe they have an
access.
Asked by: Brock Fay
Score: 4.2/5
(66 votes)
The word ‘psychology’ is derived from two Greek words, ‘psyche’, meaning the mind, soul or spirit and ‘logos’, meaning discourse or to. study. These words combined produce the ‘Study of the mind’.
What does etymological mean?
Something etymological relates to the way a word originated. You can look up a word’s roots and the history of how it came to get its meaning in an etymological dictionary. … The etymological origin of etymological, in fact, is Greek: the root word etymologia means «study of the true sense of a word.»
What is the real meaning of psychology?
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behavior, according to the American Psychological Association. Psychology is a multifaceted discipline and includes many sub-fields of study such areas as human development, sports, health, clinical, social behavior and cognitive processes.
What is the main meaning of psychology?
Psychology is the study of mind and behavior. It encompasses the biological influences, social pressures, and environmental factors that affect how people think, act, and feel.
What are the 7 types of psychology?
What are the 7 types of psychology?
- Learning/ (Behavioral) psychology. …
- Child psychology.
- Psychodynamic psychology.
- Humanistic psychology.
- Evolutionary psychology.
- Biological psychology.
- Abnormal Psychology.
15 related questions found
What are the 4 types of psychology?
There are different types of psychology, such as cognitive, forensic, social, and developmental psychology. A person with a condition that affects their mental health may benefit from assessment and treatment with a psychologist.
Is psychology a good career?
If you want to take up psychology as a career, check out how you can study it, various specialisations, and the job opportunities and scope in this field. Psychology is a vital field now because of the increasing focus on mental health and wellbeing. … Needless to say, the scopes of psychology, as a career, are huge.
What is the aim of psychology?
Psychology aims to change, influence, or control behavior to make positive, constructive, meaningful, and lasting changes in people’s lives and to influence their behavior for the better. This is the final and most important goal of psychology.
Can I learn psychology by myself?
Learning psychology on your own won’t be easy, but it’s possible. First, you’ll want to be able to define psychology, as well as the different subtopics of psychology. After that, you can begin consuming any information you can on the matter, from free online courses to textbooks.
What is the old meaning of disaster?
«Disaster» has its roots in the belief that the positions of stars influence the fate of humans, often in destructive ways; its original meaning in English was «an unfavorable aspect of a planet or star.» The word comes to us through Middle French and the Old Italian word «disastro,» from the Latin prefix «dis-» and …
What is the definition of most common?
: belonging to or shared by two or more people or groups. : done by many people. : occurring or appearing frequently : not rare.
What is the etymological root?
From Hull AWE. In etymology, a root (sometimes named an etymon) is the original form from which a word, or a group of words, has been derived.
How can I start psychology?
To start a psychology career, you’ll need to get at least a master’s degree (for school psychology) or a doctorate to practice in other specialties. To get licensed to practice psychology, you’ll need to earn the required degree, pass a state and/or national exam, and fulfill other licensing requirements.
How can I learn human psychology?
Learn academic approaches to psychology by listening to lectures. You can also listen to lectures recorded by psychology professors. Lectures are usually more methodical and academic than podcasts. Some universities record a wide variety of lectures and make them available to the public.
How can I be good at psychology?
Tips for Succeeding in Psychology 101
- Start With the Basics. Before you begin studying any topic in great depth, it is important to make sure that you have a strong grasp of the basics. …
- Focus on Developing Effective Study Habits. …
- Sharpen Your Writing Skills. …
- Participate in Psychology Research. …
- Delve Deeper Into the Subject.
Who is called the father of psychology?
The Father of Modern Psychology
Wilhelm Wundt is the man most commonly identified as the father of psychology. … By establishing a lab that utilized scientific methods to study the human mind and behavior, Wundt took psychology from a mixture of philosophy and biology and made it a unique field of study.
Why is psychology so important?
Essentially, psychology helps people in large part because it can explain why people act the way they do. With this kind of professional insight, a psychologist can help people improve their decision making, stress management and behavior based on understanding past behavior to better predict future behavior.
What are the five goals of psychology?
Terms in this set (6)
- Five Goals. Describe, improve, predict, control.
- Describe. Observe behavior and describe, often in minute detail, what was observed as objectively as possible.
- Explain. Psychologists must go beyond what is obvious and explain their observations. …
- Predict. …
- Control. …
- Improve.
Can psychologists be rich?
However, if you go into private practice and have some business sense about you, you can do quite well. Even a psychologist working heavily with insurance and managed care can net 125K annually if they work full time and at least 48 weeks a year. If you do cash and carry, your net income can easily be >200k.
Does psychology have math?
What Math Classes Would I Take as a Psychology Undergraduate? Most psychology undergraduate programs have a math requirement — but don’t let this deter you from pursuing an online psychology degree. … This is why statistics is a common requirement in accredited psychology undergraduate programs.
What are the most useless degrees?
20 Most Useless College Degrees
- Featured Colleges With Useful Degrees. Advertisement. …
- Advertising. If you’re an advertising major, you may hope to get into digital marketing, e-commerce, or sports marketing. …
- Anthropology And Archeology. …
- Art history. …
- Communications. …
- Computer Science. …
- Creative Writing. …
- Criminal Justice.
Which psychology course is best?
10 Psychology Courses Psych Majors Should Take
- Statistics. …
- Experimental Psychology. …
- Physiological Psychology. …
- Cognitive Psychology. …
- Abnormal Psychology. …
- Developmental Psychology. …
- Social Psychology. …
- Personality Psychology.
Which branch of psychology is the best?
Psychiatrists are physicians who specialize in mental health. Like any medical doctor, they diagnose and treat illness through different strategies. Psychiatrists prescribe medications for patients with a mental illness. Psychiatry is by far the best-paying psychology career.
Which branch of psychology is most directly?
Which branch of psychology is most directly concerned with the study of how people think about, influence, and relate to one another? Social psychology.
Table of Contents
- What is the root word of psychology?
- What does the Greek root word psyche mean in terms of psychology?
- Is Psych a Greek or Latin root?
- What words contain the root psych?
- What does psych mean in Greek?
- Who is the goddess Psyche?
- What does the root auto mean?
- Which root means life?
- What root means disease?
- What words have the root path?
- What is the Greek root for Chron?
- What does the root port mean?
- What does the root bene mean?
- What is the root of important?
- What does the root miss mean?
- What is the root of permit?
The word “psychology” comes from two specific Greek words—psyche, which means “soul,” “life,” or “mind,” and logia, which means “the study of.” Simply put, psychology is the study of the mind.
What is the root word of psychology?
The word ‘psychology‘ is derived from two Greek words, ‘psyche’, meaning the mind, soul or spirit and ‘logos’, meaning discourse or to. study. These words combined produce the ‘Study of the mind’.
What does the Greek root word psyche mean in terms of psychology?
the mind, soul
Is Psych a Greek or Latin root?
Get psyched for these words that derive from the Greek word psyche, meaning “mind.”
What words contain the root psych?
” This meaning is found in such words as: parapsychology, psychedelic, psychiatry, psychic, psychological, psychology, psychopath, psychosis, psychotic.
What does psych mean in Greek?
Psyche comes from the Greek psykhe, which means “the soul, mind, spirit, or invisible animating entity which occupies the physical body.” That about sums the way we understand the word today.
Who is the goddess Psyche?
Psyche (/ˈsaɪkiː/; Greek: Ψυχή, romanized: Psukhḗ) is the Greek goddess of the soul. She was born a mortal woman, with beauty that rivaled Aphrodite. Psyche is known from the story called The Golden Ass, written by Lucius Apuleius in the 2nd century.
What does the root auto mean?
self
Which root means life?
root word bio
What root means disease?
Quick Summary. The Greek root word path can mean either “feeling” or “disease.” This word root is the word origin of a number of English vocabulary words, including sympathy, apathy, pathological, and sociopath.
What words have the root path?
–path– comes from Greek, where it has the meaning “suffering; disease; feeling. ” This meaning is found in such words as: antipathy, apathetic, apathy, empathy, homeopathy, pathetic, pathology, pathos, psychopath, sympathetic, sympathize, sympathy, telepathy.
What is the Greek root for Chron?
–chron– comes from Greek, where it has the meaning “time. ” This meaning is found in such words as: anachronism, chronic, chronicle, chronology, synchronize.
What does the root port mean?
carry
What does the root bene mean?
a combining form occurring in loanwords from Latin, where it meant “well”: benediction.
What is the root of important?
mid-15c., “significant, of much import, bearing weight or consequence,” from Medieval Latin importantem (nominative importans) “important, momentous,” present-participle adjective from importare “be significant in,” from Latin importare “bring in, convey, bring in from abroad,” from assimilated form of in- “into, in” ( …
What does the root miss mean?
to send
What is the root of permit?
Permit means to allow. … To permit means to let someone do something. It comes from the Latin permittere which means “give up, allow to pass through.” You might feel like you “gave up” when you permitted your brother to enter your room.
Psychology was not always its own discipline. When it comes to the origin of psychology, it helps to dig deeper to see how it has evolved and become the modern scientific discipline it is today. Psychology has gone through multiple stages and notable developments both in its approaches and measuring techniques to establish itself as an esteemed scientific discipline. Let’s explore the origin of psychology.
- We are going to explore the origin of psychology by examining its history.
- First, we will establish the history of psychology, working our way through the ages to see how it developed as a discipline.
- Then, we will highlight the father of modern psychology before exploring the various views in the early days of psychology, including structuralism and functionalism.
- We will also discuss psychoanalysis and humanism in an attempt to understand the origin and development of psychology.
- We will, throughout our discussion, establish the founders of psychology and explore what we need to know for the origins of psychology at A Level.
History and Origin of Psychology
The word ‘psychology’ comes from two Greek words, psyche (meaning breath, soul, life, or spirit) and logos (meaning the study of). Wilhelm Wundt was the first to establish himself as a psychologist and opened a laboratory dedicated to the scientific study of psychology. Previously, psychology was more a subdivision of philosophy.
Fig. 1 — Depiction of the psyche.
The word psychology appeared in literature as early as the 16th and 17th centuries. In the sixteenth century, a theologian named Philip Melanchthon, whom many believe, was the first to mention psychology through Latinised forms of the original Greek words.
Later psychology began to take on a new meaning, as popularised by Christian Wolff in his Psychologia Empirica. His work acknowledged that psychology is the science that examines mental phenomena, which is psychology’s early attempt to disconnect from philosophy and religion. However, many scholars still attach philosophy to their study of the mind during this time. But what does the origin of psychology have to do with philosophy?
Psychology originated in the ancient study of philosophy, the discipline of great historical minds such as Hippocrates, Plato, and Aristotle. Early philosophers spent their time theorising about how the world works, why we are here, and why people behave as they do.
Renowned French philosopher René Descartes (1596-1650) laid the foundation for studying the mind with his proposed dualism.
The idea of dualism is that the mind and body are separate entities that can explain how we experience human life.
Descartes suggested that the mind was non-physical, a state of consciousness and self-awareness that is not purely biological. In contrast, the body is a mechanical system that requires research and investigation. Separating the concepts of mind and body clarified that a study of the mind was needed.
Another important antecedent to psychology is Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828), who introduced phrenology, the study of bumps and indentations in the skull. He believed that feeling the skull can reveal certain traits associated with a specific function and region in the brain.
It wasn’t until around the 19th century that psychology became more widely embraced, which developed into its modern meaning it is now as the study of mind and behaviour. In the next section, we will see psychology’s development and how it became a scientific discipline.
Father of Modern Psychology
Many consider Sigmund Freud to be the father of modern psychology. Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) was the first to establish a psychology laboratory in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany, later earning him the title “father of psychology” alongside his work entitled, Principles of Physiological Psychology, published in 1873.
Wundt attempted to study the mind objectively through a process that he called introspection.
Introspection is a technique in psychology involving observing one’s thoughts and feelings objectively.
Fig. 2 — Wilhelm Wundt
Although many credit Wundt for founding psychology in 1879, some researchers believe that Gustav Fechner was as qualified for the title given the important connection he made in 1850 between the mind and the body, later creating Fechner’s law.
Fechner’s law states that stimulus perception is related to stimulus intensity. His techniques opened doors for measuring behaviours in psychology.
Wundt’s attempts at the objective study of the mind involved training individuals in introspection and repeating tests to produce similar results. In this way, Wundt believed that he could identify the components that make up our mind and how these lead to a conscious experience, later forming one of psychology’s early approaches, structuralism.
Origin and Development of Psychology: Structuralism
With the need to study the mind came new ideas, methods, and practices that helped shape psychology into what it is today.
The very first psychological approach was called structuralism. Structuralism created a foundation on which early psychologists based their work. Edward Titchener (a student of Wundt) was a structuralist psychologist who assumed that human consciousness could be broken down into smaller parts and used Wundt’s process of introspection to understand these parts.
Aside from Wundt and Titchener, Granville Stanley Hall also contributed to the growth of psychology through their expansion of structuralism. G. Stanley Hall also set up a psychology laboratory at Johns Hopkins University, applying introspection, and was elected the American Psychological Association’s first president.
Origin and Development of Psychology: Functionalism
With the rise of structuralism in psychology came an opposing view: Functionalism.
Functionalism emphasises the function of thoughts and presents the mind as an entity to be examined holistically rather than broken into smaller components.
William James (1842-1910) looked at how humans are actively involved in their behaviour by studying the relationship between body processes (e.g., sensations) and psychology (e.g., behaviour).
James Cattell and John Dewey were functionalists who focused on mental tests and assessments of human abilities. Functionalism emphasises practical applications of psychology and how the mind adapts to the environment.
The approach laid the groundwork for more modern approaches such as behaviourism and impacted how we approach education and applied psychology today.
Origin and Development of Psychology: Behaviourism
While structuralism and functionalism focused on mental processes, behaviourism rejected studying the mind because of the belief that consciousness is unobservable. Instead, behaviourism emphasises observable behaviour in which the environment determines one’s actions. A person learns certain behaviours in response to a stimulus in the environment.
Important figures in Behaviourism included Edward Thorndike, Ivan Pavlov, Burrhus Frederic Skinner and John Watson. Edward Thorndike’s experiment on cats using puzzle boxes showed that one could learn behaviour in response to a stimulus if a reward follows it. Ivan Pavlov further expanded this idea by teaching dogs to salivate with the sound of a bell using his technique, classical conditioning.
Later, Skinner introduced his version of conditioning using rewards and punishment called operant conditioning. He experimented on mice and pigeons using the Skinner box. The experiment demonstrated that behaviour can be modified using positive and negative reinforcements.
John Watson, the father of behaviourism, mentioned that behaviour should be the subject of psychology. To Watson, psychology is about understanding how the environment shapes behaviour.
Origin and Development of Psychology: Psychoanalysis
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) rejected behaviourism and developed psychoanalysis to understand and treat mental disorders. Freud’s approach assumes that we all have an unconscious ‘layer’ to our minds that controls most of our thoughts and behaviours. He also emphasised the role of early childhood experiences in shaping personality.
To Freud, allowing his clients to speak freely about their lives and feelings could help uncover unconscious ‘repressed’ memories from early childhood trauma causing behavioural symptoms.
Other researchers questioned its scientific validity, as it is hard to prove or disprove the existence of an unconscious part of the brain.
Origin and Development of Psychology: Humanism
Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers disagreed with Behaviourism and psychoanalysis. To them, actions and thoughts are governed by the individual’s free will and capacity for development.
Humanists value emotion and think people are basically good. The premise of this approach is that humans have an innate desire to reach self-actualisation, the best version of themself. According to humanists reaching this level is quite difficult, and there are several other factors that the individual must achieve before reaching self-actualisation, such as physiological needs.
Indeed, the origin of psychology and its development showed how the need to study the mind led to an objective study from the early to late approaches of psychology, making it truly a scientific discipline.
Origin of Social Psychology
Being the social beings that we are, psychology also began investigating individual behaviour in the presence of others.
Social psychology is the scientific discipline that looks at how people interact with and are influenced by those in their social environments.
In 1924, Floyd Allport proposed in his text that social groups are one of the many stimuli an individual responds to in their environment. He also highlighted experimental research in this new psychology subfield.
Following the Great Depression in the 1930s and the impact of the First and Second World Wars, social psychologists aimed at social issues, which brought about ethics and values into social research. This opened doors for expanding social psychology and included areas such as intergroup relations, propaganda, voting, and organisational behaviour.
The 1940s to 1960s showed a rapid expansion of social psychology as evidenced by new research on authoritarian personality, obedience, persuasion, cognitive dissonance, aggression, prejudice and interpersonal attraction. By the 1970s and 1980s, social psychology faced a crisis, such as accusations of racial and gender biases, that made psychologists in this field reassess their methods.
Additionally, during this time, the cognitive revolution renewed interest in understanding the self among social psychologists. New ideas also arose from multicultural research, where there was an exchange of ideas among researchers.
With the dominance of social cognitive influences in the 1990s, some social psychologists considered emotions and motives to balance out both social and cognitive perspectives in social psychology. Until now, social psychology continues expanding as social psychologists innovate ways of measuring social behaviours.
Origin of Cognitive Psychology
With some psychologists rejecting behaviourism came another subfield of psychology, cognitive psychology, which aims to study higher mental processes.
Cognitive psychology investigates how the mind processes and influences behaviour.
In 1925, a German psychologist, Wolfgang Kohler, published his findings on The Mentality of Apes, showing that chimpanzees can learn insights and solve problems. In this experiment, the chimpanzee reached for the banana using a bamboo stick. Come 1948, Norbert Weiner, a mathematician, introduced the terms input, output, and feedback in his work Cybernetics: or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine.
Around the same time, Edward Tolman proposed the term cognitive maps, which are mental representations formed from environmental cues. He demonstrated cognitive maps by training rats to navigate a maze. Between the 1950s and 1960s, George Miller and Jerome Bruner established the Center for Cognitive Studies at Harvard University. Additionally, Miller popularised the concept that the mind can store up to seven objects in its short-term memory.
At this time, Ulric Neisser, the father of cognitive psychology, published Cognitive Psychology, signifying the beginning of the cognitive approach.
These concepts have shaped the popular cognitive psychology we know today.
Origin of Psychology — Key takeaways
- Psychology is the scientific discipline of understanding the mind, its functions and behaviour.
- The field originated in philosophy, with roots going back to the sixteenth century, beginning with René Descartes’ dualism, which created the need to study the mind and body separately.
- Wilhelm Wundt is considered the father of psychology and established the first psychology laboratory in 1879.
- Early psychological approaches focused on breaking down consciousness into smaller parts and understanding its relation to each other (structuralism) and holistic view of the mind and understanding of its functions (functionalism).
- Later psychological approaches highlighted stimulus-response in behaviourism, the unconscious mind in psychoanalysis, personal development in humanism, and social behaviour and higher mental processes in social and cognitive approaches, respectively.
References
- Fig. 2 – Wilhelm Wundt (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wilhelm_Wundt._Photogravure_by_Synnberg_Photo-gravure_Co.,_1_Wellcome_L0023076.jpg) by Wellcome Library (https://wellcomecollection.org/works/a3eqvhj9?wellcomeImagesUrl=/indexplus/image/L0023076.html) is licensed by CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.en)