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History of psychology
The document provides an overview of the history and foundational theories of psychology, tracing its origins from philosophy and physiology to its development as a scientific discipline. Notable figures, such as René Descartes, John Locke, and Sigmund Freud, are highlighted for their contributions to understanding human behavior and mental processes. Additionally, it outlines key milestones in psychology, including the establishment of laboratories and advancements in various psychological theories.
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Explains psychology's definition, roots in philosophy, observatory methods, and early beliefs about human behavior. Key figures include Descartes, Locke, and early animistic views.
Discusses theories from Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, and Galen on the nature of the mind and soul, including humors and faculties of the soul with a blend of philosophy and early psychology.
Chronicles significant milestones in psychology from the 19th century onward, such as Wundt's lab, Freud's theories, and the emergence of socio-cultural psychology and cognitive perspectives.
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History of psychology
- 2. Psychology– A scientificstudy of human behavior and mental processes. Etymologically, it came from the Greek words, Psyche which means “soul” or “mind”, and Logos which means “the study of.” Psychology has its roots in Philosophy and Physiology.
- 3. Predict what willhappen Systematically observe events Do events support predictions René Descartes (1596-1650) Philosophy asks questions about the mind: Does perception accurately reflect reality? How is sensation turned into perception? Problem - No “scientific” way of studying problems Physiology asks similar questions about the mind SCIENTIFIC METHOD
- 4. human beings enterthe world with an inborn store of knowledge and understanding of reality Rene Descartes Are human capability inborn or acquired through experience? Nativist view- holds that Empiricist View – holds that knowledge is acquired through experience and interactions with the world. John Locke -tabula rasa “blank slate”
- 5. Traditionally, psychology issaid to have began with man’s earliest speculation regarding human nature. Since the dawn of recorded thought, man has had a curiosity about his own behavior and its relationship to causal events. The earliest attempts were essentially animistic – wherein the Gods or the spirits were attributed the power to direct or cause events and activities of men.
- 6. DEMOCRITUS – believed thatthe human mind is composed of atoms which could circulate freely, and which enabled it to penetrate the whole body. • According to him atoms from our environment enter through our sense organs enabling us to perceive the world around us.
- 7. PLATO – the mindor soul is distinct in its own right and is God given . It enters the body with its reflected perfection of God and rules the body which it inhabits as knower, thinker and determiner of actions. The soul is composed of three parts: 1. Head – exerts reason. It is called rational soul. 2. Heart – responsible for our noble impulses.It is called emotional soul. 3. Diaphragm or abdomen – seat of our own passions. It is called irrational soul.
- 8. ARISTOTLE – a studentof Plato, distinguished three functions of the soul. The brain merely performs minor mechanical processes as a gland. 1. vegetative soul – concerned with basic maintenance of life. 2. appetitive soul – concerned with motives and desires. 3. rational soul– the governing function located in the heart.
- 9. GALEN – contributed histheory of the dependence of human temperament on physiological factors. Differences in behavior is attributed to the “humors” or vital juices of the body namely blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile. He correspondingly named temperaments: 1. sanguine – cheerful (blood) 2. phlegmatic – sluggish, slow, unresponsive (phlegm) 3. melancholic – sad (black bile) 4. choleric – irascible, easily angered, hot- tempered (yellow bile)
- 10. ST. AGUSTINE – combinedPlatonic Psychology with Christian thinking. He introduced and use the method of introspection and manifested his interest in distinguishing several faculties of the soul as Will, Memory, Imagination and others, producing the first definite development of what later was called Faculty Psychology. ST. THOMAS AQUINAS – combined Aristotelian notions to the theologically imperative idea of immortality.
- 11. RENE DESCARTES – formulateda theory of mind-body interaction. JOHN LOCKE – in his “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” introduced the idea as the unit into which all experiences may be analyzed.
- 12. GEORGE BERKELEY – inhis theory of knowledge (solipsistic philosophy) said that ideas become the only reality. Solipsism - the theory that the only possible true knowledge is of self-existence. DAVID HUME – like Berkeley, wrestled with the problem between impression and ideas, between images and direct sensations.
- 13. 1879 – WilhelmWundt founded the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany Wundt – Father of Scientific Psychology
- 14. 1888 – FrancisGalton develops correlations 1890 – William James published his Principles of Psychology
- 15. 1892 - G.Stanley Hall established the American Psychological Association 1900 – Sigmund Freud “The Interpretation of Dreams”` 1900- Ivan Pavlov begun studying conditioning 1913 – John Watson “Psychology as the
- 16. • 1928 –Hans Berger discovers the method of recording EEG. EEG (electroencephalogram) – recording of electrical brain waves made by placing disc-shaped electrodes on the surface of the skull.
- 17. 1938 – B.F. Skinner “The Behavior of Organisms” 1951 – Carl Rogers “Client-centered Therapy”
- 18. 1954 – AbrahamMaslow “Motivation and Personality” 1967 – Neisser “Cognitive Psychology” 1981 – Roger Sperry wins Nobel Prize on his work on the SPLIT BRAIN. 1983 – Centennial celebration of the founding of G. Stanley Hall’s laboratory
- 19. 1990 - Socio-culturalpsychology • Examines how cultural and political (religious) experience effect our everyday life. • Gender influences of behavior.