This document provides an overview of the history and foundations of psychology. It discusses how psychology emerged from philosophy and physiology to become an empirical science. Key developments included Wundt establishing the first psychology laboratory in 1879, Watson founding the behaviorist approach, and the cognitive revolution bringing attention back to internal mental processes. Modern psychology uses various methods across biological, cognitive, and social levels of analysis to develop and test theories about human behavior and mental functioning.

1. Principles of Psychology
Dr. Cervantes

2.  Psychology is the scientific study of the mind,
brain, and behavior.
What is Psychology?

3.  It spans multiple levels of analysis
What is Psychology?

4.  All actions are determined by many
factors, the factors are rarely
independent.
 Individual differences can also help
explain how two people react differently
to the same situation.
 People influence one another.

5. Perception isn’t everything

6. Foundations of Psychology
 Influenced by trends, issues, &
values
 Interacting factors
 Heredity & environment – reciprocal
impact of nature/nurture

7. Philosophy
 “contemplation” of the human mind
 1649: Descartes
 Father of modern philosophy
 The human body is an “animal machine”
 Cogito ergo sum
 Dualism
 Mind-Body

8. Empiricism vs Rationalism
 Aristotle’s tabula rasa
 John Locke
 Plato and nativism
 Rationalist
 People begin life with mental
structures that provide constraints on
how we experience the world

9. Rationalism and Empiricism raise two
philosophical issues that are critical
for psychology

10. NATURE vs. NURTURE

11. MATERIALISM vs. DUALISM

12. Franz Josef Gall (1758-1828)
 Phrenology

13. Franz Josef Gall (1758-1828)
 Phrenology
 Discredited when a scientist, Pierre
Flourens, lesioned animal brains
 Popularized the idea of cerebral
localization of function

14. Paul Broca
 Tan (1861)
 Lost ability to speak
 Intact intelligence
 Left hemisphere lesion

15. Psychophysics
 Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894)
 Visual & auditory perception
 Advocated unity of mind and body
 The Mechanistic Oath

16. Origin of Modern Psychology
 Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
University of Leipzig, Germany
 Established the first laboratory for the
study of psychology in 1879
 Main focus: using reaction time, self-
report, etc for measurement of
immediate conscious experience

17.  Structuralism – Edward Titchener
 Analyze consciousness into basic
elements
 e.g. taste
 Introspection – careful, systematic
observations of one’s own conscious
experience
The Battle of the “Schools” in the
U.S.: Structuralism vs. Functionalism

18. Gestalt Psychologists
 In line with structuralism, but this school
thought that the subjective experience
should NOT be broken into parts.

19.  Functionalism – William James
(1842-1910)
 Investigate function of consciousness
 Adaptive purposes – greatly
influenced by Darwin
The Battle of the “Schools” in the
U.S.: Structuralism vs. Functionalism

20. Behaviorism: Redefining
Psychology
 John B. Watson (1878-1958): United
States
 Founder of Behaviorism
 Behavior = overt or observable
responses or activities
 Rejected introspection and mental states
 Emphasis on animal behavior
 Stimulus-Response

21. Sigmund Freud and the Concept
of the Unconscious Mind
 Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): Austria
 Founded Psychoanalytic school of
thought
 Emphasis on unconscious processes
influencing behavior
 Unconscious = outside awareness

22. The 1950’s: Opposition to
Psychoanalytic Theory and Behaviorism
 Charges that both were de-humanizing
 A new school of thought emerged -
Humanism
 Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) &
 Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
 Emphasis on the unique qualities of
humans: freedom and personal growth

23. The Cognitive Revolution
 1950’s and 60’s – Part of the shift back
towards the internal mental processing
 Piaget, Chomsky, and Simon
 Application of scientific methods to
studying internal mental events
 Cognition = mental processes involved
in acquiring knowledge

24. Biological Psychology:
The Biological Basis of Behavior
 Biological Perspective - Behavior explained
in terms of physiological processes
 James Olds (1956)
 Electrical stimulation of the brain evokes
emotional responses in animals
 Roger Sperry (1981)
 Left and right brain specialization

25.  Synthesized approaches & Convergent
methods
 Modern experimental psychologists break
psychological phenomena (incl subjective
states) into their component processes
 Study function
 Observe relationships between stimuli,
mental processes AND behavior
 We also link these mental processes to the
nervous system (e.g. cognitive
neuroscience).

26.  How does the way we look at a
question impact the answers we
get?
 What does it mean to empirically
study a question? How does this
differ from Introspection like that
done by Philosophers?

27. Scientific vs Non-scientific
Approaches
 Science isn’t a body of knowledge.
 Its’ a systematic approach to evidence.
 Empiricism = knowledge should be acquired
through observation
 But then subjected to strict tests & revised
as needed = the scientific method!

28. What is scientific theory?
 An explanation for a large number of findings
in the natural world, including the
psychological world.
 Accounts for existing data AND
 Generates predictions
 A testable prediction is called a hypothesis.

29. Types of Research
 Basic Research
 Theoretical
 Applied Research
 Practical application

30. Major research areas in contemporary psychology
Psychology Today:
A Thriving Science and Profession

31. Principal professional specialties in contemporary psychology
Psychology Today:
A Thriving Science and Profession

32. Summary
 Before psychological science we had to rely on
intuitions and life observations to tell us about the
mind.
 Intuitions are fallible because brains get selective
information. Also, even with “good” information,
brains can cause mental errors and illusions.
 Historical pioneers in philosophy, physiology, and
physics paved the way for psychological science to
emerge.
 Psychology does more than just aim to describe
behavior, but also explain, determine cause, and
predict future behavior