Pack: A3

Module 1 – History of Psychology

Dr. Olivia Galea Seychell

Dott. Mireille Vila
Dr. Miriam Geraldi Gauci
Ms. Stephanie Bugeja

Year: 2020-2021

IMPORTANT:

Additional recommended reading

Chapter title: The Story of Psychology

Book: Psychology (9th ed.)
Author: D. G. Myers

Cohort 2020-2021 1
 Pack: A3

Why do we study the history of Psychology?

• By exploring its origins and studying its development we can see clearly
the nature of psychology today.

• Knowledge of history brings order to disorder and meaning to what

appears to be chaos, putting the past into perspective to explain the
present (Schultz, 2008).

The origins of Psychology

• Psychology evolved out of philosophy and

biology/physiology. Discussions of these two subjects date
as far back as the early Greek thinkers including Aristotle
and Socrates.
• The word psychology is derived from the Greek word
psyche, meaning 'soul' or 'mind.'

Cohort 2020-2021 2
 Pack: A3

Dominant schools of thought in

psychology
• The establishment of psychology as a discipline was born out of the
debate over how to describe and explain the human mind and
behaviour.
• There are different schools or models of psychology which represent
the major theories within psychology today.
• These schools offer different perspectives of ideas and concepts used
to understand different phenomena
• Some of these schools have been discarded whilst others have
evolved and are still used nowadays (Feldman,1996).

Major perspectives in the History of Psychology

Structuralism • Focuses on: Conscious Mental Processes

1880s-1920s • Key People: Wilhelm Wundt & Edward B. Titchener

Functionalism • Focuses on: Conscious Mental Processes

1890s-1920s • Key Person: William James

Psychoanalysis • Focuses on: Unconscious Mental Processes

1890s-Present • Key Person: Sigmund Freud

Behaviourism • Focuses on: Observable behaviour

1900s-Present • Key People: Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, B.F. Skinner

Humanism • Focuses on: Conscious Mental Processes

1950s-Present • Key People: Abraham Maslow & Carl Rogers

Cohort 2020-2021 3
 Pack: A3

Structuralism
The building blocks of the mind

The focus of STRUCTURALISM

• Structuralism supported the idea that psychology was the science of
conscious experience and that trained observers could accurately
describe thoughts, feelings, and emotions.
• ‘Its main focus was the fundamental elements that form the foundation of
thinking, consciousness, emotions and other kinds of mental states or
activities’ (Feldman, 1996, p. 17)

• Stressed the importance of basic sensory and perceptual processes

• To study conscious experience, psychologists started measuring how long

people take to react and how long they take to be conscious of their
awareness.

Cohort 2020-2021 4
 Pack: A3

Key people in Structuralism

• Wilhelm Wundt is regarded as the father of Psychology/Experimental
Psychology
• He was interested in the measuring ‘atoms of the mind’ by applying
laboratory techniques
• He established the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, in 1879
• In his experiment, Wundt concentrated on three areas of mental
functioning:
- thoughts,
- images, &
- feelings.
• One of his students was Edward B. Titchener

Key people in Structuralism cont…

Edward B. Titchener, who is considered the father of Structuralism, was
one of Wundt’s students in the US. He tried to focus on the structure of
the mind
• Titchener and the structuralists advocated the use of a technique called
introspection (looking inward):
‘training people to report elements of their experience as they looked at a rose[…],
smelled a scent or tasted a substance. What were their immediate sensations,
their images, their feelings? And how did these relate to one another?’ (Myers,
2013; p. 3)

• Introspection, however, proved unreliable

Cohort 2020-2021 5
 Pack: A3

Structuralism: Legacy & Limitations

The importance of Structuralism

• First school of thought;
• Paved the way for experimental and cognitive psychology.

Limitation
• Subjective ‘it required smart, verbal people and its results varied
from person to person’ (Myers 2013; p.3);

Functionalism
How consciousness functions in adapting to the environment…

Cohort 2020-2021 6
 Pack: A3

The focus of Functionalism

• Functionalism moved away from structuralism
• Its principal interest was in studying how the mind worked so that an
organism could adapt to its environment: the functions of mental
activity
• The main focus: how does behaviour allow people to satisfy their
needs?
• Similar to structuralists however, functionalists still regarded psychology
as the study of conscious experience
• Functionalism was influenced by Darwin’s Theory of Evolution which
focuses on how mental processes and behaviour have helped our
ancestors to survive and reproduce > natural selection.

The focus of Functionalism cont…/1

• Functionalist wanted psychology to be a practical science, not a pure

science. They wanted to apply it to different fields.
• They wanted psychology to be broadened to include research on
animals, children, and atypical humans.
• They emphasized individual differences (not similarities), e.g., John
Dewey’s belief that children should learn at the level for which they are
developmentally prepared.

Cohort 2020-2021 7
 Pack: A3

Key person in Functionalism

• William James (1842-1910)- American philosopher-psychologist, working
at Harvard University.
• ‘Under the influence of evolutionary theorist Charles Darwin, James
assumed that thinking, like smelling developed because it was adaptive
– it contributed to our ancestors’ survival’ (Myers, 2013; p. 3)
• He thought it would be more helpful to think about the purpose of our
thoughts and feelings (Myers, 2013).

Functionalism: Legacy & Limitations

The importance of Functionalism
• Functionalists helped expand the focus of psychological research. They moved away
from the structuralists' attempt to look only at the structure of the mind and
focused more on the function of behaviour.
• Functionalism made it possible for psychologists to consider research with animals,
children and people with mental health problems as worthwhile and significant.
• By considering the importance of the function of behavior, emotions, thoughts and
other mental activity, functionalism paved the way for Evolutionary Psychology.

Limitation
• Some of the conclusions and predictions concerning mental phenomena are
difficult to test.

Cohort 2020-2021 8
 Pack: A3

A word about…
Determinism and free will

Determinsim vs Free will

• One of the oldest debates in psychology
• Determinism is based on the idea that our behaviors are determined
by other forces operating on us, e.g., genetics, past experiences, etc.
– we are pre-determined to act in specific ways
• Free will is based on the idea that we are free and that we can decide
from a number of options which life presents to us without
restrictions

Cohort 2020-2021 9
 Pack: A3

Psychoanalysis
Understanding the inner person

The focus of Psychoanalysis

• Psychoanalysis ‘emphasized the ways our unconscious thought
processes and our emotional response to childhood experiences
affect our behaviour’ (Myers, 2013; p. 5)

• For psychoanalysts our behaviour is motivated by inner forces and

conflicts which the individual has limited ability to control > psychic
determinism

Cohort 2020-2021 10
 Pack: A3

Sigmund Freud: The father of Psychoanalysis

• Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) is considered the father of Psychoanalysis

• Freud received a medical degree in 1881 and specialised in Neurology.
• His experience of working with patients complaining of ‘nervous’
difficulties (neurotic patients) led him to develop his theory of the
unconscious mind
• He started seeing patients’ difficulties as a result of mental rather than
physical problems

Freud: Childhood & the Unconscious

The work he conducted with patients diagnosed with hysteria led
Freud to believe that early childhood experiences and unconscious
impulses contributed to the development of adult personality and
behaviour.

Cohort 2020-2021 11
 Pack: A3

Psychoanalysis: The view of psychological illness?

• According to Freud, psychological disorders:

• are caused by psychological rather than physical factors
• are the result of:
ounconscious desires
ounconscious conflicts becoming extreme or unbalanced
ochildhood experiences

• If unresolved conflicts occur in childhood, they will cause ‘fixations’ later on

in life: the conflict between the impulse and the prohibition.

Psychoanalysis: The Goal of Psychology

• According to Freud, the goal of psychology was to understand the

unconscious factors that lead to problematic feelings, thoughts
and behaviours and learn to work through them to improve daily
function.
• He believed that unconscious thoughts and impulses are
expressed through:
- Slips of the tongue (also called Freudian slips)
- Dreams

Cohort 2020-2021 12
 Pack: A3

Psychoanalysis: Helping people through

therapy

Freud believed that one of the therapeutic ways in which one

could discover what is ‘locked’ in the unconscious was
through the method of free association.

Free association is a method ‘in which a patient is instructed

to say everything that comes to mind, regardless of how trivial
or embarrassing it may seem’ (Atkinson et.al., 1996; p.448).

Psychoanalysis: Helping people through

therapy cont…

Another way was: dream analysis

• Freud believed that dreams represented unconscious desires or

fears in disguised form.
• By analysing the content of dreams, the therapist can try to
understand the unconscious meaning.

Cohort 2020-2021 13
 Pack: A3

Psychoanalysis: View of human nature

• Negative and pessimistic view of human nature: Nearly all of our

impulses are sexual and aggressive in nature.
• Because we cannot accept them in our conscious, thoughts find their
expression in dreams, slips of the tongue that appear as accidents,
and even jokes.

Psychoanalysis: Legacy & Limitations

The importance of Psychoanalysis Limitations

• Influence on “pop culture”:
§ Freudian slips
§ Anal-retentive
• Was the first approach to
recognise childhood as a critical
period of development.
• Focused mainly on the
individual
• Influence on psychology
§ Psychodynamic theory
§ Recognised the role of the
unconscious
• Does not focus on observable
behaviour.
• Negative perspective of
human beings because actions
are provoked by aggressive
and sexual impulses.
• Cannot be scientifically proven
or disproven.
• Ignores political and social
explanations of people’s
problems.
• It implies that people have
very little free will -
deterministic

Cohort 2020-2021 14
 Pack: A3

Behaviorism
Observing the outer person

The focus of Behaviorism

• Behaviorism focuses on the study of the human being through
behaviors which can be visibly observed:
Only by studying what people do – their behavior - is an objective science of
psychology possible (Atkinson et al., 1996; p. 12)

• It rejects the emphasis on the inner workings of the mind: what goes
on in one’s mind can never really be known or measured (the mind is
a “black box”).

Cohort 2020-2021 15
 Pack: A3

The focus of behaviorism cont…

• Behaviourism emphasises the learning process.

• It attempts to explain how we learn and retain new forms of

behaviour through experience.

• It assumes that permanent change in knowledge or behaviour is the

result of experience.

Key people in Behaviorism: Ivan Pavlov

• Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), a Russian physiologist discovered classical

conditioning - also called Stimulus-Response (S-R) theory - in dogs.
• Whilst carrying out experiments about the secretion of salivation in dogs,
he noticed that sometimes these secretions would begin even when no
food had actually been eaten.
• He realised that dogs were responding to what they had learnt to associate
with food, e.g., the sight of the bowl in which food was usually presented or
the sight of the person who usually brought the food:
Dogs had learnt to associate the stimuli in the form of the person/bowl with the
actual food and responded by salivating

Cohort 2020-2021 16
 Pack: A3

Key people in Behaviorism: John B. Watson

• John B. Watson (1878-1958) is considered the father of Behaviorism.
• He was the first to apply the principles of classical conditioning to human
beings: he conducted the ‘Little Albert Experiment’ where he ‘demonstrated
conditioned responses on a baby’ (Myers, 2013; p. 5)
• Watson supported the idea that psychology ought to be based on pure
empirical studies and experiments.
• He defined behaviorism as ‘the scientific study of human behavior. Its real goal
is to provide the basis for prediction and control of human beings: Given the
situation, to tell what the human being will do; given the man in action, to be
able to say why he is reacting in that way’. (p. 2) (as cited in Weibell, 2011).

Key people in Behaviorism: B. F. Skinner

• B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) was also a behaviorist.

• He is associated with another branch of behaviorism: Operant Conditioning.
• Operant conditioning focuses on the kind of learning in which a voluntary
response is strengthened or weakened as a result of consequences
(reinforcement or punishment) received from the environment.
• Used a particular apparatus called the ‘Skinner box’ to conduct experiments
with pigeons and rats where they would learn to press a lever to obtain food.

Cohort 2020-2021 17

Behaviorism: Legacy & Limitations
The importance of Behaviorism
• Influence on Education
• A focus on how humans learn and how
we learn to associate different stimuli
together
• Understanding how we can control and
predict behaviour: practical applications
(e.g., dog training)
• Is research oriented – can be tested.
• Led to the development of social
learning theory – adding the dimension
of cognition to pure behaviourism
Humanism
The unique qualities of human beings
Cohort 2020-2021
Pack: A3
Limitations
• Mechanistic and reductionist (complex
behaviours are explained in terms of S-R
links) view of human nature
• Does not explain differences in human
learning/acquisition of knowledge
• It is deterministic in its explanation of
behaviour – behaviour is the result of the
environment not of free will
• Does not account for
altruistic/disinterested behaviour
18
 Pack: A3

The focus of Humanism

• Whereas psychoanalysts look at unconscious impulses and
behaviorists focus purely on environmental causes, humanists
believe strongly in the power of free will and self-determination.
• It emphasizes the role of individuals in deciding their state of
mental health: each individual is naturally able to make decisions
about his/her life and to control his/her behaviour.
• According to humanists, the role of psychology is to help people
reach self-fulfillment.

Key people in Humanism:

Carl Rogers

• Carl Rogers (1902-1987) believed that all people strive for

perfection; some are interrupted by a bad environment.
• He is very famous for his method of psychotherapy
• He believed that people who are controlled by other people/things
in their life cannot and will not take responsibility for their
behaviour so they cannot change it.

Cohort 2020-2021 19
 Pack: A3

Key people in Humanism:

Abraham Maslow

• Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) suggested that human beings are

basically good
• He proposed that human beings have needs: from the most basic
biological ones to the more complex psychological ones – the hierarchy
of needs
• For people to feel higher level needs, they need to have satisfied more
basic ones
• The highest, most complex need is self-actualization

Humanism:
Legacy & Limitations
The importance of Humanism
• Positive view of human nature
• Power to change lies within the
individual
• It influences many areas of
human life: education, therapy,
healthcare etc.
• It helped lessen some of the
stigma attached to therapy
Limitations
• It is mostly subjective and vague
and therefore difficult to test via
research.
• Concepts such as ‘self-
actualization’ are very subjective.
It is difficult to tell if people
reach this state.
• Concepts used are also culturally
sensitive

Cohort 2020-2021 20
 Pack: A3

Cognitive Psychology
Comprehending the roots of understanding

The focus of Cognitive Psychology

• The cognitive approach focuses on mental processes (e.g., perception, attention,

memory, decision making, problem solving).

• ‘Cognitive psychologists seek to explain how we process information and how our
ways of thinking about the world influences our behaviour’ (Feldman, 1996; p. 19).
• Greatly influenced by the computer revolution (1950s): focusing on specific
behaviours (output) by understanding them in terms of mental processes
(processing of information). For example, models of memory focus on:
o The input of information,
o The processing of information: selection, comparison to what is already stored in
memory, and the
o Output of information

Cohort 2020-2021 21
 Pack: A3

Taken from: http://www.careerprofiles.info/cognitive-psychologist.html

Cognitive Psychology:
Legacy & Limitations
The importance of Cognitive Limitations
Psychology
• Mechanistic view of human
• We can use scientific research nature: similar to a computer
to explore and examine this • Gives little importance to free
field
will
• Many practical applications, • Most studies are taking place in
e.g., improving memory and laboratories and therefore may
attention span, validity of eye not be applicable in the real
witnessing testimony, etc. world.

Cohort 2020-2021 22
 Pack: A3

Biological Psychology
Behaviour as the result of biological functioning

The focus of Biological Psychology

• According to this approach, behaviour is to be considered in

terms of biological functioning:
§ Genetic inheritance
§ Hormones & chemicals in the brain
§ Communication between nerve cells and in the nervous
system
• Heavily influenced by the theory of evolution.

Cohort 2020-2021 23

Biological Psychology:
Legacy & Limitations
The importance of Biological
Psychology
• Biological explanations have
been found in relation to
various mental disorders
• An understanding of hormones
and chemicals in the nervous
systems has led to various
successful drug treatments for
a variety of psychological
problems
Cohort 2020-2021
Pack: A3
Limitations
• Deterministic view of human
behaviour: behaviour is heavily
dependent on genetics
• A belief that behaviours could be
controlled through genetic
engineering.
• Medication based on chemical
understanding is only helpful to
treat the symptoms not the
original problem
24