1-3: History of Psychology

Summary

In this lecture on the history of psychology, the speaker explores early psychological thought, starting with philosophers like Aristotle and Plato. It covers the influence of early pioneers like Wilhelm Wundt, who founded structuralism, and William James, who developed functionalism. Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis and its focus on unconscious motives is also discussed. The lecture then shifts to behaviorism, championed by Watson and Skinner, and concludes with Gestalt psychology, emphasizing that perception is more than just the sum of its parts. The talk highlights the evolution of psychology from philosophy to science.

Takeaways

• 📚 Psychology is a relatively new field, about 130-140 years old, but ideas about human behavior date back to ancient philosophers like Aristotle, Plato, and Descartes.
• 🧠 Socrates introduced the concept of introspection, which is the careful examination of one’s own thoughts and feelings.
• 🔗 Aristotle is known for the principle of associationism, which suggests that mental activities are based on past experiences.
• ⚔️ During the Middle Ages, many psychological issues were believed to be caused by demons, leading to practices like exorcisms and dangerous tests to determine possession.
• 🏛️ Wilhelm Wundt, the father of modern psychology, established the first psychological laboratory and developed the theory of structuralism, focusing on the elements of consciousness.
• 🔬 Wundt introduced objective introspection, where students analyzed their own thoughts and sensations in a structured way, often using simple objects like rocks.
• 🧩 William James developed functionalism, emphasizing the practical function of consciousness in daily life, and was influenced by Darwin’s theory of natural selection.
• 🧔 Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis theory focused on unconscious motives and the impact of early childhood experiences on personality development.
• 🐶 John Watson and B.F. Skinner contributed to behaviorism, which argued that psychology should focus on observable behavior, emphasizing conditioning and reinforcement.
• 🎶 Gestalt psychology emphasized that psychological phenomena like perception can only be understood as whole events, not by breaking them down into smaller parts, following the idea that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.'

Q & A

What are the main learning targets mentioned in the script?

The main learning targets are understanding early views of human behavior (from BCE times) and learning about the early pioneers of psychology, starting in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Who are some of the early thinkers mentioned in the script and their contributions to psychology?

Early thinkers include Aristotle, who wrote about the relationship between the soul and the body, and Plato, who believed the soul could exist separately from the body. Descartes believed the pineal gland was the seat of the soul. Socrates developed introspection, and Aristotle is also credited with associationism, the idea that mental activity comes from past experiences.

What was the common view of psychological problems during the Middle Ages?

During the Middle Ages, Europeans commonly believed psychological problems were caused by demons and possession. Exorcisms were performed, and tests, such as tying someone to rocks and throwing them into a lake, were used to determine if a person was possessed.

Who is considered the father of modern psychology, and what was his theory?

Wilhelm Wundt is considered the father of modern psychology. He established the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, and developed the theory of structuralism, which focuses on the structure of consciousness, made up of thoughts, experiences, and emotions.

What is objective introspection, and who developed this concept?

Objective introspection is the process of objectively examining and measuring one's own thoughts and mental activities. This concept was developed by Wilhelm Wundt, who used it as a method to study the elements of consciousness.

What is functionalism, and who is associated with this theory?

Functionalism is a theory developed by William James. Unlike structuralism, it focuses on how the mind helps people adapt to their environment and function in everyday life, influenced by Darwin’s theory of natural selection.

What is Freud's theory of psychoanalysis, and what does it emphasize?

Freud's theory of psychoanalysis emphasizes unconscious motives that conflict with societal rules and norms, causing psychological problems. He believed that repressed urges from early childhood could surface and lead to nervous disorders.

How did Watson and Skinner contribute to behaviorism?

John Watson introduced behaviorism, focusing on observable behavior rather than consciousness. B.F. Skinner expanded on this with the concept of reinforcement, which suggests that behavior is shaped by rewards or punishments.

What is Gestalt psychology, and how does it differ from other theories?

Gestalt psychology, an alternative to behaviorism and structuralism, argues that psychological events such as perception cannot be understood by breaking them down into smaller elements. It emphasizes that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,' meaning perception is understood as a complete experience.

How does the script illustrate Gestalt principles using visual examples?

The script provides examples like two identical circles that appear different in size depending on their surroundings, and a symbol that looks like the letter 'B' in one context but appears as the number '13' in another. This demonstrates how perception can change based on the overall pattern or context.

Outlines

00:00

📜 Introduction to Psychology and History

The speaker welcomes the audience and introduces the topic: the history of psychology. They mention that psychology is relatively new, only around 130-140 years old. Prior to psychology, philosophers, medical doctors, and physiologists contributed ideas about the mind and behavior, including figures like Aristotle, Plato, Descartes, and Socrates. These thinkers debated topics such as the soul's relationship to the body and introspection.

05:01

🔮 Ancient Beliefs and Early Psychological Thought

The speaker discusses ancient views on mental health and behavior, particularly how during the Middle Ages, people believed psychological problems were caused by demonic possession, leading to practices like exorcisms and harsh 'tests' for witches. Moving forward to the late 1800s, pioneers like Wilhelm Wundt began formalizing psychology as a science, starting with structuralism, focusing on the structure of consciousness through methods like objective introspection.

10:02

🧠 Structuralism and Functionalism: Foundations of Psychology

Wundt's structuralism, which studied the basic elements of consciousness, was contrasted with William James' functionalism. James believed it was more important to understand how consciousness allows people to function in daily life, drawing from Darwin’s theory of natural selection. Functionalism emphasized adaptation and survival in social environments, examining behavior as a product of evolution and practical needs.

🧍 Freud and Psychoanalysis: The Unconscious Mind

The speaker introduces Sigmund Freud and his psychoanalytic theory, which focuses on the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior. Freud proposed that repressed desires and early childhood experiences shape personality and lead to psychological problems. His ideas, including the significance of repression, are foundational to psychoanalysis and remain influential in modern psychology.

🔬 Behaviorism: Psychology as a Science of Observable Behavior

The speaker explains John Watson's behaviorism, which rejected introspection and focused on observable behavior as the key to understanding psychology. Behaviorists, like Watson and Skinner, believed that behavior could be conditioned by external events, and concepts like free will were considered illusions. Skinner introduced reinforcement as a mechanism for learning, linking human behavior to animal training principles.

🎨 Gestalt Psychology: The Whole is Greater than the Sum of Its Parts

Gestalt psychology, introduced as an alternative to behaviorism and structuralism, emphasizes that psychological phenomena cannot be broken down into smaller elements. The speaker provides examples showing how perception depends on the whole context rather than individual components, highlighting the idea that perception is greater than the sum of its parts. Gestalt theory illustrates how humans naturally seek patterns and wholes in their sensory experiences.

Keywords

💡Structuralism

Structuralism is a psychological theory founded by Wilhelm Wundt, focusing on understanding the structure of the human mind through the analysis of its basic components like thoughts, emotions, and sensations. In the video, it is explained how Wundt used 'objective introspection' to have students analyze their own thoughts and sensations to study the structure of consciousness.

💡Functionalism

Functionalism, developed by William James, is a psychological theory focused on understanding how the mind enables people to adapt, work, and function in the real world. In contrast to structuralism, James believed in studying consciousness as a flowing process rather than isolating its components. The script highlights how functionalism was influenced by Darwin's theory of natural selection, connecting mental processes to survival and adaptation.

💡Introspection

Introspection is the process of self-examination of one's own thoughts and feelings. Socrates is credited with developing this method, which is later adapted by Wundt as 'objective introspection' for studying psychological experiences. In the video, this method is foundational for early psychological studies, allowing researchers to analyze subjective feelings and mental activities in a structured manner.

💡Psychoanalysis

Psychoanalysis, introduced by Sigmund Freud, is a psychological theory and therapeutic method that emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind in shaping behavior. Freud believed that repressed urges and desires, hidden in the unconscious, cause psychological disorders. In the video, this theory is central to explaining how early childhood experiences and unconscious conflicts influence mental health.

💡Behaviorism

Behaviorism is a psychological theory that focuses on observable behavior rather than internal mental processes. Founded by John Watson and later expanded by B.F. Skinner, behaviorism argues that behavior is shaped through conditioning and reinforcement. The video mentions Watson’s desire to make psychology more scientific by focusing on what can be seen and measured, moving away from introspective methods.

💡Reinforcement

Reinforcement, a concept from behaviorism developed by B.F. Skinner, is the process of encouraging certain behaviors through rewards. It plays a key role in shaping behavior, both in humans and animals. The video gives the example of dog training, where rewarding a dog for a correct action increases the likelihood of the behavior being repeated, illustrating the principle of reinforcement.

💡Unconscious Mind

The unconscious mind, as discussed by Freud, is a part of the mind that stores thoughts, memories, and desires that are not accessible to the conscious mind. These repressed elements influence behavior without the individual being aware of them. The video uses Freud's theory to explain how repressed urges in the unconscious mind create psychological issues when they attempt to surface.

💡Associationism

Associationism, introduced by Aristotle, is the idea that mental processes operate by linking experiences and ideas from past events. This theory suggests that human behavior is shaped by previous experiences. In the video, this concept is presented as one of the early foundational ideas in psychology, emphasizing how mental activity is connected to past experiences, forming a basis for modern cognitive theories.

💡Gestalt Psychology

Gestalt psychology is an approach that emphasizes the idea that psychological phenomena, like perception, should be viewed as a whole rather than as individual parts. The video uses the example of how a melody or an image's perception changes depending on context, reinforcing the Gestalt belief that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.' It challenges earlier theories like structuralism and behaviorism.

💡Natural Selection

Natural selection, a theory from Charles Darwin, is the process by which traits that help an organism survive are passed on to future generations. In the video, it influences functionalism as William James relates mental processes to survival, explaining behaviors like avoiding eye contact in an elevator as a form of territorial protection, which may have roots in ancient survival instincts.

Highlights

The early views of psychology date back to BCE, with philosophers like Aristotle, Plato, and Descartes discussing the mind-body relationship.

Socrates developed introspection, a concept where individuals examine their own thoughts and feelings.

Aristotle is known for 'associationism,' suggesting that mental activity stems from past experiences.

During the Middle Ages, psychological issues were often attributed to demonic possession, leading to practices like exorcism and 'witch' trials.

Wilhelm Wundt is considered the father of modern psychology, establishing the first psychology laboratory and developing the theory of structuralism.

Wundt's concept of 'objective introspection' involved examining one’s own thoughts and mental activities, and was an early attempt to make psychology scientific.

William James introduced functionalism, focusing on how consciousness helps individuals adapt to their environment.

James was influenced by Darwin’s theory of natural selection, emphasizing how behaviors that help survival are passed on to future generations.

Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis theory focuses on unconscious motives and early childhood experiences as key to human behavior.

Freud introduced the idea of 'repression,' where unconscious urges are pushed into the mind, leading to psychological disorders.

Behaviorism, led by Watson, shifted psychology’s focus to observable behaviors and argued against the study of consciousness.

Skinner expanded on behaviorism with the concept of reinforcement, suggesting that behavior is shaped by rewards and punishments.

Gestalt psychology emerged as an alternative, arguing that psychological events should be understood as whole perceptions rather than broken down into smaller elements.

Gestalt theory is summarized by the phrase, 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts,' emphasizing the importance of context in perception.

Freud, Watson, and Skinner’s contributions continue to heavily influence modern psychology, particularly in understanding behavior and mental health.

Transcripts

okay and welcome back to psychology with

Mr Snider uh you may be wondering

where's Mr Snider I don't see him on the

screen today well sometimes I'll be uh

viewable other times if I have a lot of

notes to look over or such I will not be

because it'll just be distracting to you

so this is one of those days but today

we're going to combine two of my

favorite things history and psychology

to go over the history of

psychology and let's go ahead and and

get

started here are your learning targets

for the day we're going to talk about

some early early views being BC

times uh or BCE the politically correct

way of saying it the Before Common Era

views and beliefs about human behavior

and then we'll talk about the early

pioneers of psychology starting in the

late 1800s early

1900s uh and we'll talk about ways that

they

thought so early

views uh psychology is relatively new

it's only been around for about 130 140

years um but before that I mean we had

philosophers we had medical doctors and

physiologists or people who study the

physical workings of the body uh we had

people like Aristotle who wrote about

the relationship of the soul to the body

uh we had Plato who felt that the soul

could exist separately from the body

uh we had decart a French philosopher

and math mathematician who agreed with

Plato and believed that the pineal

gland um which we'll talk about when we

get to the brain was the seat of the

soul but it's been around for quite a

while people have thought about how the

mind works what makes people behave the

way they do uh

Socrates developed introspection

something that we will build upon which

is carefully examining your own thoughts

and

feelings and Aristotle as mentioned

before is known for

associationism or basically our mental

activity comes from past experiences and

you would say duh of course but that

wasn't common knowledge at that time and

somebody actually had to come up with

that

principle uh during the Middle

Ages um a lot of the Greek knowledge was

lost

um and that's why it's called the Dark

Ages because we didn't have a lot of

original thought going on most Europeans

thought that the psychological

problems uh were caused by demons and

somebody being possessed and they

performed exorcisms to try to uh keep

these people from being possessed they

also used certain tests to determine

whether a person was possessed or not

one of my favorites being um tying a

person

to rocks and throwing ing them in a lake

because witches could float they could

use their magic to float and so if they

float they are a witch but unfortunately

if they don't float okay the good news

is they're not a witch bad news is

they're dead so it didn't make a lot of

sense it was basically a death sentence

to have that test carried out on

you um getting to learning Target 2 some

early pioneers of psychology the father

of modern psychology is vilhelm

v vilhelm v he establishes the first

what is considered the first

psychological laboratory in litig

Germany and he comes up with the

psychological view or theory of

structuralism and structuralism

basically focuses on the

main elements of consciousness

and Consciousness being different than

human thought but this is how it began

in his laboratory students from around

the world were taught to study the

structure of the human mind V believed

that the mind was made up of thoughts

experiences emotions and other basic

elements of this Consciousness in order

to inspect these non-physical elements

students had to learn to think

objectively about their own thoughts

after all they could hardly read someone

else's mind so V called this process

objective introspection or the process

of objectively examining and measuring

one's own thoughts and mental activities

for

example V might take an object like a

rock or something into a Student's Hand

and have the student tell him everything

that he was

feeling as a result of having that rock

in his hand all the sensations that he

felt with the rock so it's heavy it's

rough it's hard

all of those things that he was feeling

these are really the first attempts ever

this may seem stupid to you but these

are really the first attempts ever to

bring um objectivity and measurements to

the concept of psychology and that's why

he's known as the father of

psychology so basically how to remember

structuralism they believe the human

mind functions by combining objective

Sensations and subjective

feelings all right the other one of the

other early views of Psychology was

known as

functionalism and William James comes up

with functionalism so unlike V James was

more interested in studying the

importance of Consciousness to everyday

life than he was in actually analyzing

Consciousness he thought that the study

the scientific study of Consciousness

itself was not yet

possible conscious ideas are constantly

flowing in an everchanging stream and

once you start thinking about what you

were just thinking about what you were

thinking about is no longer what you

were thinking about it's what you are

thinking about and excuse me think you

get the

picture uh J so James focuses on how the

mind allows people to function root word

of functionalism in the real world how

do people work play and adapt to their

surroundings he's really influenced by

Darwin's uh theory of Natural

Selections or natural selection in which

physical traits that help an animal

adapt to its environment and survive are

passed on to its Offspring becoming a

part of the animals

traits animal and people whose Behavior

helped them to survive would pass those

traits on to their offspring perhaps by

teaching or even by some mechanism of

heredity so avoiding the eyes of others

in an elevator can be seen as a way of

protecting one's personal space a kind

of territorial protection that may have

its roots in the Primitive need to

protect one's home and source of food

and water from Intruders or as a way of

avoiding what might seem like a

challenge to another person you you know

you do it nobody just gets into an

elevator and stares at other people

that might be why now we're going to

move on to the granddaddy of them all

Sigman Freud and his

psychoanalysis Theory Freud you've all

heard of him uh Freud is in our common

vernacular such as fraudi and

slip um saying something that you were

thinking but that you didn't mean to say

Freud is one of the most famous of the

early psychologists and his theories

still have

heavy um influence on what we study

today in

Psychology but his pect his perspective

is called

psychoanalysis which emphasizes these

unconscious motives so things that

you're not even thinking about right now

and that aren't even accessible by your

conscious

mind those conflict with society's rules

and social norms in human behavior and

that's what causes problems so Freud was

a physician he's from

Austria and the structuralists are

arguing the functionalists are

specializing Freud basically is a

medical doctor and he sought to help his

patients so he wanted to apply this to

the problems of mental health his

patients suffered from nervous

disorders uh that had no physical cause

therefore he thought the cause must be

in the mind and that's where Freud began

to explore he said that there is the

unconscious mind into which we push all

of our threatening urges and desires and

that's called repression and we'll get

to more of that later that'll be a

common theme in our class he believed

that these repressed urges when they try

to surface into the conscious mind

create the nervous disorders uh that we

have he also stresses the importance of

early childhood experiences believing

that personality is formed in the first

six years years of a person's life if

there are significant problems those

problems had to have begun in the early

years finally we get into the 1900s

Freud worked into the 1900s but so did

Watson and Skinner they basically had

grown tired of the arguing among the

structuralists and the functionalist

viewpoints and psychoanalysis and he

basically turns Behavior into a science

he said we can't know what our conscious

mind is thinking truly and objectively

that's not possible so that all what

psychology needs to focus on is

observable behavior and that's why his

um theory is called

behaviorism Watson wants to bring

psychology to focus on scientific

inquiry and he felt that the only way to

do that was to ignore Consciousness and

focus on observable Behavior what can be

seen and measured for example he holds

that people can be totally conditioned

or made to act certain ways by external

events and that anything you belief in

individual choice or free will is Just

an Illusion everything you do is because

of things that have happened to you in

your past observable things and Skinner

adds to this with the idea of

reinforcement and we'll get to

reinforcement and punishment but you're

made to do things through being

reinforced or rewarded for certain

actions uh think of dog training if you

train a dog and they do something

correct you give them a treat they are

more likely to do that again and people

learn in the same ways that animals do

finally we have Gestalt psychology and

it's an alternative to the behaviorism

and structuralism and even the

functionalism

basically its Founders and you're not

going to need to know all their names

but the founders of G uh gestal

psychology basically say that

psychological events such as

perceiving uh or sensing could not be

broken down into any smaller elements

and still be properly understood and to

give you an analogy you can take apart a

computer but then you no longer have a

computer you have a pile of unconnected

parts and pieces and circuit boards that

don't do anything on their

own a melody in a song is made up of

individual notes that can only be

understood if the notes are in the

correct relationship to one another so

therefore perception can only be

understood as a whole entire of event

and come here in comes the slogan the

whole is greater than the sum of its

parts the gestal psychologists believe

that people naturally seek out patterns

or holes in the sensory information

available to

them for example here you see the

example from your book in drawing

a are the two dark blue circles the same

size and the answer is yes but do they

look the same size

in relation to the other parts of that

drawing on the

left the dark blue circle look smaller

in the one on the right in drawing a it

looks bigger in relation to the other

ones but they are actually the same size

and in drawing B what is the second

symbol in each

row right here it looks like a letter B

because it is surrounded by letters

right here it looks like

13 because it is surrounded by numbers

two images that are identical may appear

to be different if their surroundings

are

different and so just to review a little

bit here we have V and

James and I'll let you read that over

yourself these are also in your book but

they're nice little uh tabbed Files

about each

person and here are Freud Watson and

Skinner so I hope you enjoyed today's

assignment and I will be looking forward

to getting into the modern views of

psychology with you next time thanks and

goodbye