AP Daily: AP Psychology (1.1)

Summary

In this introductory AP Daily video, Dr. Swope from Northwest High School in Maryland explores the complexities of defining psychology as the study of the mind or soul. He delves into the philosophical questions surrounding the nature of the mind, challenging students to consider whether the mind is a possession or an essence. The video introduces early psychological approaches like structuralism and functionalism, represented by Wilhelm Wundt and William James, contrasting their methods of studying the mind—through its structures or functions. The engaging narrative sets the stage for a deeper dive into the rich history and modern approaches of psychological study.

Takeaways

• 🧠 Psychology is often defined as the study of the mind or soul, but this definition can be unhelpful as it doesn't clarify what the mind is.
• 🤔 The nature of the mind has been a subject of philosophical inquiry for centuries, even among the earliest humans.
• 🧐 Questions like 'Do you have a mind?' and 'Where is the mind?' are fundamental to understanding psychology.
• 🧬 Some suggest the mind is what the brain does, but this phrase doesn't provide a comprehensive answer to the mind's nature.
• 🔍 Psychology's challenge includes the fact that the mind cannot be easily dissected or observed like physical entities.
• 🧬 The mind's complexity is heightened by the fact that it is not uniform; each person's mind is unique and changes over time.
• 📚 Wilhelm Wundt is considered the father of psychology, establishing the first psychology lab in 1879, marking psychology's emergence as a science.
• 🔬 Edward Titchener, a student of Wundt, introduced structuralism, which focuses on analyzing the mind's components through introspection.
• 📘 William James, who authored the first psychology textbook, proposed functionalism, studying the mind's functions and how they serve a purpose.
• 🔍 Structuralism and functionalism represent two early approaches to psychology, with Wundt and James being key figures and rivals in the field's early history.
• 🚗 A metaphor for structuralism and functionalism is a computer: structuralists would dissect it to see what it's made of, while functionalists would use it to see what it can do.

Q & A

What is the translation of the word 'psychology' and how does it relate to the study of the mind?

The word 'psychology' is translated as the study of the soul or the mind. It relates to the study of the mind as it encompasses the understanding of mental processes and behaviors, which have historically been associated with the soul or the essence of a person.

Why is defining the mind challenging according to the script?

Defining the mind is challenging because it is not a tangible object like a laptop that can be possessed or dissected. The mind is a complex entity that has perplexed philosophers and early thinkers, and even with modern technology, it's difficult to pinpoint its exact location or nature.

What is the significance of Wilhelm Wundt in the history of psychology?

Wilhelm Wundt is significant in the history of psychology because he is known as the father of psychology. He founded the first psychological research laboratory in 1879, marking the beginning of psychology as a scientific discipline separate from philosophy.

What is structuralism in psychology, and how does it relate to the study of the mind?

Structuralism is an early approach to psychology that focuses on studying the mind by trying to understand what it's made of. It relates to the study of the mind by attempting to break down mental processes into their basic elements, much like taking apart a computer to see its components.

How does functionalism differ from structuralism in the study of the mind?

Functionalism differs from structuralism by focusing on what the mind does or its functions, rather than what it is made of. It looks at the purpose and adaptive role of mental processes, similar to how an elephant's trunk or a giraffe's neck serves a specific function.

What is introspection and why was it problematic for structuralism?

Introspection is a research method used in structuralism where a person is asked to observe their own mental processes, such as thinking. It was problematic because it was found that a person cannot actively pay attention to more than one thing at a time, making it difficult to accurately study the mind using this method.

Who is Edward Titchener and what is his contribution to psychology?

Edward Titchener was one of Wilhelm Wundt's students. His contribution to psychology was coining the term 'structuralism' and bringing Wundt's ideas to the United States, where he further developed and promoted this approach to studying the mind.

Why is it difficult to study the mind, as mentioned in the script?

It is difficult to study the mind because it cannot be dissected or observed directly like physical objects. Additionally, the mind is not uniform across individuals, and it changes over time, making it a complex and dynamic subject for scientific study.

What is the role of the scientific method in psychology, as discussed in the script?

The scientific method plays a crucial role in psychology as it provides a systematic approach to studying the mind and behavior. However, the script notes that the subject of psychology—human minds—is more complex and variable than the subjects studied in other sciences, such as cells or molecules.

How does the script suggest approaching the study of the mind if direct definitions are elusive?

The script suggests approaching the study of the mind by exploring what it is not, since direct definitions and observations are challenging. It encourages thinking about aspects that are not connected to the mind and realizing that everything thought of is, by definition, connected to the mind.

Outlines

00:00

🧠 Introduction to Psychology

Dr. Swope introduces the topic of psychology, emphasizing the importance of understanding what psychology is. He discusses the common first-day exercise of defining psychology as the study of the soul or mind, which he finds unhelpful due to the complexity of defining the mind. He poses philosophical questions about the nature of the mind, such as whether it is a possession or an essence of a person. Dr. Swope also addresses the challenges in studying the mind, like the inability to physically locate or define it. He introduces the idea that psychology is the study of the mind but acknowledges the difficulty in pinning down a clear definition, setting the stage for exploring what the mind is not. The paragraph ends with a nod to the complexity of psychology as a science, contrasting it with other sciences that study more consistent subjects like cells and molecules.

05:01

📚 Early Approaches to Psychology

This paragraph delves into the early approaches to studying psychology, focusing on structuralism and functionalism. Structuralism, associated with Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener, aimed to understand the mind by breaking it down into its constituent elements, using introspection as a method. However, this approach faced criticism due to the inherent difficulty of self-observation. Functionalism, on the other hand, was championed by William James and sought to understand the purpose or function of the mind and its various processes. The paragraph contrasts these two approaches, illustrating them with a metaphor of a computer, where structuralists would dissect it to see what it's made of, while functionalists would use it to understand its functions. The summary ends with a teaser for upcoming videos that will explore modern approaches to psychology.

Keywords

💡Psychology

Psychology is defined in the video as the study of the soul or the mind. It is the central theme of the video, as the script delves into understanding what psychology is and how it is studied. The video mentions that psychology is often introduced by defining it as the study of the mind, but this definition is critiqued for being too vague, as the mind itself is a complex and perplexing concept.

💡Mind

The 'mind' is a recurring concept throughout the script, representing the subject matter of psychology. The video questions whether the mind is something one possesses, like a laptop, or if it is what one is. It explores the difficulty in studying the mind due to its intangible nature and the challenge of defining it, which is central to the study of psychology.

💡Wilhelm Wundt

Wilhelm Wundt is identified as the father of psychology in the video. He is noted for founding the first psychological laboratory in 1879, marking the beginning of psychology as a distinct scientific discipline. His work and the establishment of his lab are foundational to the study of psychology, as it transitioned from a philosophical inquiry to an empirical science.

💡Structuralism

Structuralism is one of the earliest approaches to psychology mentioned in the script. It involves studying the mind by examining its components or structure. The video discusses the limitations of this approach, particularly the use of introspection as a research method, which is problematic because one cannot actively observe and perform a mental task simultaneously.

💡Edward Titchener

Edward Titchener, a student of Wilhelm Wundt, is credited with coining the term 'structuralism' and bringing Wundt's ideas to the United States. His work is significant as it represents an early attempt to understand the mind by breaking it down into its constituent elements, aligning with the structuralist approach.

💡William James

William James is highlighted as another key figure in the history of psychology. He authored the first psychology textbook and is associated with functionalism, an approach that focuses on the functions of the mind. The video contrasts his ideas with those of Wundt, emphasizing the debate over the best method to study the mind.

💡Functionalism

Functionalism is presented as an approach to psychology that seeks to understand the purpose or function of mental processes. It is contrasted with structuralism in the video, with the example of studying a computer (as a metaphor for the mind) where functionalists would be interested in what the computer can do, rather than what it is made of.

💡Introspection

Introspection is a research method discussed in the context of structuralism. It involves observing one's own mental processes, which the video points out as being inherently flawed due to the inability to actively attend to more than one mental process at a time. This method is critiqued for its limitations in providing a comprehensive understanding of the mind.

💡Evolutionary Approach

The evolutionary approach to studying the mind is briefly mentioned in the video as a way to understand how the mind and its functions have evolved. This approach is connected to functionalism by considering the adaptive purposes that mental processes might serve, drawing parallels to how physical traits have evolved for specific functions.

💡Scientific Method

The scientific method is alluded to as the common tool used across all sciences, including psychology. The video emphasizes the unique challenges psychologists face in studying the mind compared to other sciences that may focus on more consistent and predictable subjects like cells or molecules.

Highlights

Introduction to the study of psychology and its challenges.

Definition of psychology as the study of the soul or mind and its limitations.

The philosophical question of the nature of the mind and its perplexity.

The mind as a possession and the existential question of the self.

The mind's location and the difficulty of its physical identification.

The idea that the mind is what the brain does and its implications.

The challenge of defining the mind and its components like thoughts.

The complexity of studying the mind due to individual variability.

The philosophical question of when one is the most 'themselves'.

The historical beginnings of psychology as a science.

Wilhelm Wundt, the father of psychology, and his contributions.

Edward Titchener and the concept of structuralism in psychology.

The limitations of introspection as a method in structuralism.

William James and the first psychology textbook, introducing functionalism.

Functionalism's focus on the mind's functions and evolutionary perspective.

Comparing structuralism and functionalism through the metaphor of a computer.

The importance of understanding different approaches to studying the mind.

The impact of early psychologists on modern psychology.

Looking forward to modern approaches in the next video.

Transcripts

hello and welcome to ap daily i'm dr

swope and i teach at northwest high

school in germantown maryland

as you can see from the screen we're

going to start introducing psychology

and so when we look at what are we going

to do in this video

and what are we going to learn it's

important to know that we got to know

what psychology is

and you can imagine on the first day of

school whether it's a college class high

school

class online in person some kind of

hybrid on the first day of class

almost every teacher or professor writes

on the board what is psychology

and then they're going to quickly define

it and they're going to say

psychology is translated as the study of

the soul or the mind

and you can imagine students are

diligently writing notes and they get

that

but when you think about it that's not

really that helpful

because what is the mind and you know

that that's something that has perplexed

philosophers and even the first

cave people sitting around the first

cave fire saying what is the mind what

am i what am i doing

and so when we look at what is the mind

we got a couple questions

so let me pose it this way do you have a

mind and of course everyone's going to

nod

but then if you really think about it if

you have a mind that means the mind's a

possession

right like a laptop but then who is the

you

that holds it so now we're getting a

little bit deeper right

what if we said this are you a mind

is the mind what you are or is the mind

what you have

where is the mind now that's an

interesting approach and we're going to

use that word in the upcoming videos

it's an interesting approach to study

psychology where is the mind

because you could look at it in mri or

other scanning technologies or you could

do a dissection and say well where is

this thing called the mind

and so these are really interesting

questions that help us get at

what is this thing we're going to be

studying now

some people say that the mind is what

the brain does

um and that's you know that's a pretty

clever phrase but that doesn't really

answer the question i mean it's nice to

throw around but it still doesn't

advance you know advance the cause here

okay what if we ask the question

differently can the mind be reduced like

matter

can it be reduced to its basic elements

and what if we say

the mind the mind is made of thoughts

that sounds great the mind is made of

thoughts well that's not really helpful

because we don't know what thoughts are

we can't define thoughts so notice that

psychology is a study of the mind but

we're not even sure what the mind is so

you know we've got our work cut out for

us going forward in this course called

ap

psychology let's try something different

okay

let's try to find out what the mind is

not so we can't

really find out what the mind is we

can't find out where the mind is so

let's find out what the mind is not

i want you to think of something that's

not connected to the mind

and i don't think you can because if you

could think of it well then by

definition it's connected to the mind

okay if psychology were easy we'd call

it

any other science and why is that

well while every science uses the same

scientific method

the subject of what psychologists study

is so much more difficult than

cells and molecules and atoms consider

that an element

is going to react to another element in

the same way every time

a molecule of oxygen is the same as any

other molecule of oxygen

but people are messy we're very

different from each other

and we're different from ourselves when

are you

the most you that's another one of those

philosophical questions

are you the most you in the morning well

if you're a teenager probably not

um are you with friends are you with

family so if you were a psychologist

when would be the best time to study

your mind

let's jump into some early psychology um

and that's important kind of on our

first video to see our roots and then

we're going to kind of progress

throughout the rest of the course

psychology has a rich and interesting

history full of like soap opera-like

drama amazing discoveries and even some

really

really dark experiments and you'll

you'll get to those as the course

progresses

two of the earliest approaches to study

in psychology are structuralism

and functionalism but to study them we

got to know the names of a few of kind

of the early psychologists

first let's talk about wilhelm vunt and

it's important to pronounce him that way

that these are printed out the w's are

pronounced with the v

he is known as the father of psychology

and he founded a laboratory in 1879 you

don't need to know the date but it just

kind of gives you an idea that

psychology is a relatively young science

this is important founding a lab is

important because that lab was the

starting line of psychology as a science

and not just as an offshoot of

philosophy

edward titchener was one of wundt

students and he took many of wundt's

ideas back to the united states and

coined the term

structuralism structuralism is studying

the mind by trying to look at what it's

made of

one of the problems with this approach

is that the research methods that were

used for instance

one of the ways to study what the mind

was made of was called

introspection and the gist of it was

asking a person to observe themselves

think it would be asking you to do a

complex math problem

and not just do it in your head but

watch yourself do it in your head and if

you're watching yourself you're not

doing it but if you're doing it you're

not watching

it so you can see the flaw with this is

how do you study the mind using

introspection

and and like i just said this was doomed

because one of the facts in psychology

is that a person cannot actively pay

attention to more than one thing at a

time and that's been proven over and

over in multiple experiments

now let's look at functionalism to do

that we need to talk about william james

while vuent created the first psychology

lab james wrote the first psychology

textbook

as james famously said the first

psychology lecture he ever heard

was the one he gave psychology is a

brand new science

functionalism is an attempt to study

what the mind does

or its function the mind like any trait

serves a function okay so let's look at

this elephant's trunks

elephants trunks giraffes necks and

polar bears fur

all serve a function i think you could

kind of argue that there they've evolved

for a certain reason

so did the human mind what function does

the mind serve and its many

characteristics

for instance what function does

forgetting serve

what function what about getting

distracted what function does that serve

it's not an accident

and you can see traces of the theory of

evolution in there

in fact the evolutionary approach is one

way to study

mind and behavior now let's look at

structuralism and functionalism

and i'm going to pause here and say it's

important we compare these and you're

going to see in the upcoming videos

it's important to be able to compare

analyze discuss

and digest those are going to be skills

you're going to see throughout the

course

of ap psychology that it's not just

enough to know the names of things

you've got to understand the ideas and

kind of cross-reference them with each

other

so let's compare the two ideas of

structuralism and functionalism

actually vuent and james were quite the

rivals and each one was convinced that

his approach to psychology was the best

um so let's compare it this way imagine

a structuralist and a functionalist were

walking on a cobblestone street in 1900

that's 20 years after vuent's lab and 10

years after james's textbook

they come across a modern day computer

and they both recognize the keyboard

and have a very very basic idea of what

it can do so they want to study it the

question is how to study this amazing

machine and we're going to use obviously

that's a metaphor for the mind

and so we're going to look at how these

two gentlemen would would take apart

look at a laptop ready

a structuralist want to take it apart to

see what it's made of what structures

are in there

and that's uh vuent's id and titchener's

idea of let's see what the mind is made

of

a function let's want to press the keys

and turn it on what functions it can do

and that's james's idea what can the

mind do

what should the mind do so what should

we take away from our time on this video

well we looked at what is the mind and

how we should study it

we examine the difficulty of you can't

dissect it

you can't observe it so how do we study

the mind particularly the idea that not

all minds are the same there's seven

billion different minds does that mean

we have to come up with seven different

definitions of what is psychology

each one of those minds changes every

minute now

we also looked at early psychologists

vlond

titschner and james and their ideas

and we scratched the surface that there

are many different approaches to

studying the mind

we looked at two of those approaches

structuralism and functionism

now while those approaches are still in

the are in the history of psychology

our next video is going to look at

modern approaches

let's take a look at let's do this again

well let's practice let's see what we've

learned here

who would do what james and vunt are

walking down the street and come across

a modern day sports car

who would want to drive it and who would

want to look under the hood

okay so when you we're going to take a

quick one second what name would you put

under drive it and what name would you

put

look under the hood don't worry i've

done all the work for you with a simple

click

we're going to find out that william

james is a functionalist he'd want to

hop

in turn on the car and let's see what it

can do and then

jane or wilhelm is going to look under

the hood take the car apart and said

what makes it a car what makes it do

and what makes it what it is thank you

for watching this is the first in a

series of ap

daily i hope you will watch all of the

videos to prepare you for doing well in

your ap

psychology class and your ap psychology

exam thank you