Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Systematic methods
William James
• Emphasized how a mental process operates as
opposed to the structure of a mental process.
• James’ perspective on psychology became known as
functionalism.
• Functionalism’s focus on the adaptive value of behavior
as influenced by Charles Darwin’s Theory of evolution.
Darwin’s theory speculated that certain behaviors or
traits that enhance survival are naturally selected.
Psychodynamic Approach
• Freud
• Psychoanalysis
– unconscious thought
– conflict between
biological drives and
demands of society
– early childhood family
experiences
Early Approaches
Behaviorism: A True Science of Psychology
• In the 1920s, functionalism was slowly being
replaced by a school of thought referred to as
behaviorism.
• A growing number of psychologists believed that
in order for psychology to be taken seriously as a
true science, it must focus on observable
behavior and not on the mind.
• Behaviorists believed that only overt, observable
behaviors could truly be measured consistently
form person to person.
Early Approaches
John B. Watson’s Behaviorism
• Watson first presented “Little Albert” with the
stimulus of a white rat.
• Watson conditioned Little Albert to fear a
white rat, a rat that Albert had played with
earlier without fear.
• This demonstrated for Watson that
observable stimuli and responses should be
the focus of psychology.
Early Approaches
B.F. Skinner and Behavioral Consequences
• Free Will
• Notable Humanistic
Theorists
– Carl Rogers
– Abraham Maslow
Cognitive Approach
• Mental Processes
Involved in Knowing
• Information
Processing
how humans interpret
incoming info, weigh it,
store it, and apply it
Early Approaches
The Birth of Positive Psychology
• Notable Evolutionary
Psychologist
– David Buss
Biological Approach
Neuroscience
nervous system
• structure
• function
• development
• genetics
• biochemistry
• Differences
– between ethnic and cultural
groups
– within and across countries
Behavioral Approach
• Environmental Determinants of
Observable Behavior
• Reject Explanations
Referencing Thought
• Notable Behaviorists
– Ivan Pavlov
– John Watson
– B.F. Skinner
Modern Perspectives and the Eclectic Approach
Industrial / Organizational
Psychology Areas Learning
Of
Social Psychology Specialization Cognitive Psychology
Developmental
Personality Psychology
Psychology