AP PSYCHOLOGY History and Approaches: Background

Psychology: the scientific study of the mind, behavior, and the relationship between them o Natural science involves the study of the laws of nature o Social science involves the study of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of people Psychology is derived from the Greek word psyche, meaning the soul or breath of life Philosophy: the study of seeking knowledge and wisdom in understanding the nature of the universe through self-examination and experiences Physiology: the scientific study of living organisms primarily through observations Hippocrates: the father of medicine; sought to discover the source of the mind o Mind-body dualism: the philosophical belief that the mind is different from the body o Body is composed of physical substances o Mind is ethereal and not composed of physical substances Plato: asserted that knowledge is most effectively acquired through rational methods by using philosophical analysis to understand the world and the people in it (rationalism) Aristotle: Platos student; believed that we acquire knowledge through empirical methods, obtaining evidence through experience, observation and experimentation (empiricism) o Scientific method: a systematic approach to conducting research in an orderly, standardized way Rene Descartes: French philosopher who developed interactionsism o Interactionsism: the mind affects the body and the body affects the mind o Believed that this interaction occurred in the pineal gland o The dualistic nature of humans is what separates humans from animals Thomas Hobbes: seventeenth-century English philosopher who furthered the idea of monism o Monism: human experiences are physical processes emanating from the brain o The mind does not exist in its own right; instead, our thoughts are by-products of anatomical and physiological activity o We can understand the mind only by understanding the body John Locke: British empiricist and philosopher who believed that the interaction between the mind and body is a symmetrical relationship o Rejected Descartess notion that physical and mental phenomena are distinct o Tabula rasa: blank slate; humans are born without any knowledge, and have to seek knowledge through empirical observation Immanuel Kant: asked how the mind and body are related instead of asking which is in control o A set of mental powers provides a link between mind and body, integrating the two o These faculties were believed to work together, and Kant used both rationalism and empiricism in his quest for understanding the relationship between mind and body Charles Darwin: introduced the ideas of natural selection and evolution o Darwins work became essential to the evolutionary approach Wilhelm Wundt: the first psychologist o Founded the first psychological laboratory in 1879 at the University of Leipzig in Germany o Focused on perception and conscientiousness o Evaluated the contents of consciousness to find the most fundamental elements of thoughts o Structuralism: emphasizes the analysis of consciousness into its basic components through introspection o Objective introspection: the process of recording ones thoughts, feelings, and sensory experiences in great detail (used by the Structuralists) Edward Titchener: broke consciousness into three basic elements physical sensations, feelings, and images o Believed that even the most complex thoughts can be reduced to simple elements o Also a structuralist William James: the first American-born psychologist; father of functionalism o Believed that consciousness flows in a continuous stream o Functionalism: goes beyond sensation and perception in an attempt to explore how an individual learns to function in an environment

Logic, Philosophy and History of Science

Modern Psychological Perspectives

Biological psychology: attempts to understand behavior through the study of anatomy and physiology, especially of the brain o Assumes that the mind and body are interrelated o Both nature and nurture can influence personality traits and disorders o Helped shed light on possible treatments of psychological disorders and the neural activity related to normal functioning o Also helped researchers discover links between genetic factors and mental disorders Behaviorism: the idea that psychology should be completely objective, focusing only on observable behavior and corresponding stimuli o John B. Watson: the founder of behaviorism; believed that any behavior could be shaped and control o Ivan Pavlov: performed experiments with dogs; discovered classical conditioning o B.F. Skinner: work was built around operant conditioning Cognitive psychology: emphasizes the importance of cognition (thinking) as the basis for understanding human behavior o Serial processing: step-by-step processing; emphasized by early cognitivists o Parallel processing: multiple mental processes occur all at once; more modern approach Humanistic approach: dates back to the ancient Greeks; holistic perspective that emphasizes the potential for individual growth and change o Carl rogers: known for person-centered approach that focuses on how an individual defines reality and personality rather than an external, objective view of these things o An individual strives to realize self-actualization (fulfillment of their human potential) o Abraham Maslow: best known for his hierarchy of needs Psychodynamic (psychoanalytical) psychology: based on the idea that unconscious thought is often in conflict with conscious behavior o Sigmund Freud: the founder of the psychodynamic approach; proposed two levels of reality (conscious and unconscious) o Psychoanalysis: takes place when an experienced analyst uses techniques such as free association and dream analysis to probe a patients true motivations o C.G. Jung: contributed to the idea that the unconscious is made up of various layers, such as the personal unconscious and collective unconscious o Alfred Adler: originated the idea of the inferiority complex o Karen Horney: focused on the importance of basic anxiety in creating a feeling of isolation o Largely criticized for lack of empirical support Sociocultural: based on the concept that human activities take place in cultural contexts o L.S. Vygotsky: attempted to explain consciousness as the end product of socialization; had a large impact on psychologists and educators Evolutionary psychology: focuses on the evolutionary origins of behavior patterns and mental processes o Seeks to apply natural selection to the mind o Evolutionary psychologists have recently applied Darwins theory to explain how the human mind evolved to benefit the individual

Research Methods: Background

Four primary goals of all scientific research: o Description what happens? o Explanation why does it happen? o Prediction what will happen next? o Control how can behavior be influenced? Experimental: research that involves the deliberate manipulation of selected isolated variables and the measurement of the effects of those manipulations Correlational: research that involves the measurement of the naturally occurring relationship between two or more variables Descriptive research: involves a variety of approaches designed to describe behavior including observational approaches, the use of surveys, and intensive case studies of individuals

Experimental Research
Experiments: designed to test a specific theory o Theory: used to predict behavior o Hypothesis: a generalization derived or deduced from a theory; provides a tentative and testable explanation of the relationship between two or more specific variables o To test a hypothesis, an experiment is designed and conducted to identify cause-and-effect relationships through the manipulation of variables in a controlled environment Variable: an attribute or characteristic of a specific situation, person, or phenomenon o Independent variables: those that are manipulated by the experimenter; the variables of interest during an experiment o Dependent variables: those that are measured to see how they have changed because of the independent variable during the experiment; dependent on the independent variable Subjects / participants: the individuals whose reactions or responses are observed during an experiment Sample: a small group selected from a larger population that is the focus of the study o Random sample: all members of the population have an equal and independent chance of being included o Representative sample: a subset of the population is carefully chosen to represent the proportionate diversity of the population as a whole o Samples of convenience: portions of the population that are more readily available than others; often selected because they are immediately available to the experimenter Samples are divided into two groups after selection: o Control group: participants who are not subjected to a change in the independent variable; used for comparison with the experimental group; provide a baseline against which the experimental groups results can be compared o Experimental group: participants who are subjected to a change in the independent variable Blind studies help to avoid bias o Single blind: subjects do not know which group they are in o Double blind: subjects do not know which group they are in, and neither do