The History of Psychology

Paragraphs
Outline

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PARAGRAPHS

• A paragraph is a series of sentences that are organized and coherent,

and are all related to a single topic. Almost every piece of writing you
do that is longer than a few sentences should be organized
into paragraphs.

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 Paragraphs & Topic Sentences
• Paragraphs can contain many different kinds of information. A paragraph could
contain a series of brief examples or a single long illustration of a general point.
It might describe a place, character, or process; narrate a series of events;
compare or contrast two or more things; classify items into categories; or
describe causes and effects. Regardless of the kind of information they contain,
all paragraphs share certain characteristics. One of the most important of these
is a topic sentence.

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 TOPIC SENTENCES
• A well-organized paragraph supports or develops a single controlling idea, which
is expressed in a sentence called the topic sentence.
• A topic sentence has several important functions: it substantiates or supports an
essay’s thesis statement; it unifies the content of a paragraph and directs the
order of the sentences; and it advises the reader of the subject to be discussed
and how the paragraph will discuss it

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• Readers generally look to the first few sentences in a paragraph to determine
the subject and perspective of the paragraph. That’s why it’s often best to put
the topic sentence at the very beginning of the paragraph.
• In some cases, however, it’s more effective to place another sentence before the
topic sentence—for example, a sentence linking the current paragraph to the
previous one, or one providing background information.

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 PARAGRAPH STRUCTURE
• Introduction: the first section of a paragraph; should include the topic sentence
and any other sentences at the beginning of the paragraph that give background
information or provide a transition.
• Body: follows the introduction; discusses the controlling idea, using facts,
arguments, analysis, examples, and other information.
• Conclusion: the final section; summarizes the connections between the
information discussed in the body of the paragraph and the paragraph’s
controlling idea.

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The following paragraph illustrates this pattern of
organization.
• SCIENTISTS HAVE LEARNED TO SUPPLEMENT THE SENSE OF SIGHT IN
NUMEROUS WAYS. In front of the tiny pupil of the eye they put, on Mount
Palomar, a great monocle 200 inches in diameter, and with it see 2000 times
farther into the depths of space. Or they look through a small pair of lenses
arranged as a microscope into a drop of water or blood, and magnify by as
much as 2000 diameters the living creatures there, many of which are
among man’s most dangerous enemies. Or, if we want to see distant
happenings on earth, they use some of the previously wasted
electromagnetic waves to carry television images which they re-create as
light by whipping tiny crystals on a screen with electrons in a vacuum. Or
they can bring happenings of long ago and far away as colored motion
pictures, by arranging silver atoms and color-absorbing molecules to force
light waves into the patterns of original reality. Or if we want to see into the
center of a steel casting or the chest of an injured child, they send the
information on a beam of penetrating short-wave X rays, and then convert it
back into images we can see on a screen or photograph. 

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THUS ALMOST EVERY TYPE OF
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION YET
DISCOVERED HAS BEEN USED TO EXTEND
OUR SENSE OF SIGHT IN SOME WAY.
George
•
Harrison, “Faith and the Scientist”
The following paragraph illustrates this pattern of organization. In
this paragraph the topic sentence and concluding sentence
(CAPITALIZED) both help the reader keep the paragraph’s main point
in mind.

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COHERENCE

• Repeat key words or phrases. Particularly in paragraphs in which you define

or identify an important idea or theory, be consistent in how you refer to it.
This consistency and repetition will bind the paragraph together and help
your reader understand your definition or description.
• Create parallel structures. Parallel structures are created by constructing
two or more phrases or sentences that have the same grammatical structure
and use the same parts of speech. By creating parallel structures you make
your sentences clearer and easier to read. In addition, repeating a pattern in
a series of consecutive sentences helps your reader see the connections
between ideas. In the paragraph above about scientists and the sense of
sight, several sentences in the body of the paragraph have been constructed
in a parallel way. The parallel structures (which have been emphasized) help
the reader see that the paragraph is organized as a set of examples of a
general statement.
•

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• Be consistent in point of view, verb tense, and number. Consistency in
point of view, verb tense, and number is a subtle but important aspect
of coherence. If you shift from the more personal "you" to the
impersonal “one,” from past to present tense, or from “a man” to
“they,” for example, you make your paragraph less coherent. Such
inconsistencies can also confuse your reader and make your argument
more difficult to follow.

• Use transition words or phrases between sentences and between

paragraphs. Transitional expressions emphasize the relationships
between ideas, so they help readers follow your train of thought or see
connections that they might otherwise miss or misunderstand. The
following paragraph shows how carefully chosen transitions
(CAPITALIZED) lead the reader smoothly from the introduction to the
conclusion of the paragraph.

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• I don’t wish to deny that the flattened, minuscule head of the large-bodied
"stegosaurus" houses little brain from our subjective, top-heavy perspective,
BUT I do wish to assert that we should not expect more of the beast. FIRST
OF ALL, large animals have relatively smaller brains than related, small
animals. The correlation of brain size with body size among kindred animals
(all reptiles, all mammals, FOR EXAMPLE) is remarkably regular. AS we move
from small to large animals, from mice to elephants or small lizards to
Komodo dragons, brain size increases, BUT not so fast as body size. IN
OTHER WORDS, bodies grow faster than brains, AND large animals have low
ratios of brain weight to body weight. IN FACT, brains grow only about two-
thirds as fast as bodies. SINCE we have no reason to believe that large
animals are consistently stupider than their smaller relatives, we must
conclude that large animals require relatively less brain to do as well as
smaller animals. IF we do not recognize this relationship, we are likely to
underestimate the mental power of very large animals, dinosaurs in
particular.
• Stephen Jay Gould, “Were Dinosaurs Dumb?”

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 SOME USEFUL TRANSITIONS
• To show addition: again, and, also, besides, equally important, first (second,
etc.), further, furthermore, in addition, in the first place, moreover, next, too
• To give examples: for example, for instance, in fact, specifically, that is, to
illustrate
• To compare: also, in the same manner, likewise, similarly
• To contrast: although, and yet, at the same time, but, despite, even though,
however, in contrast, in spite of, nevertheless, on the contrary, on the other
hand, still, though, yet
• To summarize or conclude: all in all, in conclusion, in other words, in short,
in summary, on the whole, that is, therefore, to sum up
• To show time: after, afterward, as, as long as, as soon as, at last, before,
during, earlier, finally, formerly, immediately, later, meanwhile, next, since,
shortly, subsequently, then, thereafter, until, when, while
• To show place or direction: above, below, beyond, close, elsewhere, farther
on, here, nearby, opposite, to the left (north, etc.)
• To indicate logical relationship: accordingly, as a result, because,
consequently, for this reason, hence, if, otherwise, since, so, then, therefore,
thus

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The earliest known writings in psychology

• Aristotle was born in 384

BC in an area of Northern
Greece.
• He was the first known
writer in the field of
psychology.
• Pursuit of knowledge.
• Life.

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The term “psyche”

• Aristotle used the term “psyche” to refer to the essence of life.

• This term is translated to mean “soul” or “mind”, but it is closely
linked in meaning to the word “breath”
• Psychology – comes from the word psyche + logos – the Greek word
meaning “the study of”.

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The modern definition of psychology
• Today’s modern definition of psychology incorporates:
• behavior and mental processes.
• controlled observation.

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Defining Psychology

• The term “behavior” refers to all of a person’s overt actions that

others can directly observe.
• The term “mental processes” refers to the private thoughts,
emotions, feelings, and motives that others cannot directly observe.

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Goals of Psychology

• Psychologists study people by using scientific method.

• The goals of this scientific method include:
• Describe
• Predict
• Understand
• Influence

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Aristotle versus Plato

• Aristotle believed that

one must also observe
the thing being studied –
look at it, listen to it,
touch it.
• Plato: discovery can
occur by just thinking
about it.

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Wilhelm Wundt

• Wilhelm Wundt
established the first
Laboratory of psychology
in Germany in 1879.

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What about William James?

• Others argue that

William James deserves
the honor for a less
publicized laboratory at
Harvard University which
opened in 1875.

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Wundt and Tichener

• Edward Titchener was a

student of Wundt. He
taught at Cornell
University. Titchener
sought to identify the
basic elements of
conscious experience.

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Wundt and Titchener: The Structure
of the Mind
• He and Wundt studied consciousness using a method of looking
inward at one’s own experiences = called introspection.
• Structuralism

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The first psychology course & text

• William James taught the first course on psychology and in 1890,

published the first psychology text.
• William James was influenced by Charles Darwin.

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Functionalism

• Functionalism is a part of contemporary psychology today, even

though it is no longer viewed as a separate school of thought. It has
influenced the way psychologists emphasize the role played by
thinking and perception in human behavior.

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Ivan Pavlov

• In the 1890s, Russian

physiologist Ivan Pavlov
studied digestion in dogs.
• Classical conditioning
and the field of
Behaviorism was born.

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John B. Watson

• 1920s John B. Watson

trained in Functionalism.
But he rejected these
ideas based on Pavlov’s
work.
• Little Albert Studies.

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Herman Ebbinhaus & Memory

• 1885 Germany’s Hermann

Ebbinhaus published a book
entitled, “On Memory”.
• He described in his book a
series of experiments that he
conducted over 6 years
where he was both the
scientist and the only
subject!
• Development of the
nonsense syllable.

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Max Wertheimer: Gestalt Psychology
• Max Wertheimer, a
professor of psychology
at the U. of Frankfurt,
began developing their
own ideas on perception
about 25 years after the
pioneering work of
Wundt.

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Gestalt Psychologies

• The key concept: that human consciousness could not be

meaningfully broken down into raw elements as the structuralists
proposed to do.
• Instead, the mind must be studied in terms of large, meaningful
units.

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Alfred Binet & Intelligence

• 1890s – the Paris

Ministry of Education
asked Binet to help
provide education for all
“intelligent” children and
more practical, less
academic school for less
intelligent children.

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Sigmund Freud

• Freud was an Austrian

physician who practiced
neurology.
• Unlike other founders of
psychology, he was not a
professor doing research.
• He was working with
physical problems.

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Psychoanalysis

• The unconscious mind.

• Psychoanalysis.

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Women in Psychology

• Many of the founders in psychology were white males.

• This had a lot to do with sexual discrimination. For example, in 1900
Christine Ladd-Franklin completed the doctoral program at John
Hopkins, but was never give a degree b/c John Hopkins was an all-
male institution at the time.

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Christine Ladd-Franklin

• Christine Ladd-Franklin
went on to combine a
field of mathematics and
psychology to come up
with a theory of color
blindness.

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Women in Psychology

• In the early days most institutions refused qualified female

applicants. Even if they did receive their degree, they were rarely
offered teaching positions. Further, if they married, that was the end
of their career.

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Mary Whiton Calkins

• Mary Whiton Calkins was

a student of William
James at Harvard. She
completed the
requirements of her
Ph.D., but was not ever
allowed to graduate.

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Margaret Floy Washburn

• Margaret Floy Washburn

was the first woman to
actually receive her Ph.
D. in psychology – from
Cornell University.
• 1920 elected president
APA.

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Minorities in Psychology

• Similar prejudices affected the entry of African Americans, Latinos,

and other ethnic minorities in psychology.

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Famous African American
Psychologists
• Gilbert Haven Jones: first African American to receive his Ph. D. in
1901.
• J. Henry Alston – first research published in a journal. His study
provided the basis for understanding how skin receptors of warmth
and cold work together to create the sensation of intense heat.

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Famous African American
Psychologists
• Inez Prosser – first African American woman to receive her Ph. D. in
psychology in the US – University of Cincinnati. Tragically, she was
killed in an auto accident shortly after receiving her degree.

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Famous Hispanic Psychologists

• Santiago Ramon y Cajal – a Spanish scientist working around the turn

of the century played a significant role in the development of
psychology by identifying the neuron – cells that make up the brain
and nervous system. He was also a scholar in the areas of hypnosis
and culturally biased tests for minority school children.

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 Basic Areas of Modern Psychology

• Biological psychology
• Sensation and perception
• Learning and memory
• Developmental Psychology
• Motivation and Emotion
• Personality
• Social psychology
• Sociocultural psychology

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Applied Areas of Modern
Psychology
• Clinical
• Counseling
• Industrial – organizational
• Educational and school psychology
• Health Psychology

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