01.+History+and+Approaches

I. History and Approaches (2–4%)


 * 1) Psychology has evolved markedly since its inception as a discipline in 1879. There

have been significant changes in the theories that psychologists use to explain behavior and mental processes. In addition, the methodology of psychological research has expanded to include a diversity of approaches to data gathering. AP students in psychology should be able to do the following:


 * 1) Recognize how philosophical perspectives shaped the development of

psychological thought.2. Describe and compare different theoretical approaches in explaining behavior:

— structuralism, functionalism, and behaviorism in the early years; — Gestalt, psychoanalytic/psychodynamic, and humanism emerging later; — evolutionary, biological, and cognitive as more contemporary approaches.

• Recognize the strengths and limitations of applying theories to explain behavior. • Distinguish the different domains of psychology:
 * Biological
 * The field of psychology that seeks to understand the interactions between anatomy and physiology.
 * Behavioral Genetics
 * The field of psychology that emphasizes that particular behaviors are attributed to particular, geneticall

based psychologycal characteristics.
 * Behavioral
 * Behaviorism posits that psychology is the study of observable behavior
 * The mind or mental events are unimportant to the behaviorists, as they can not be observed.
 * Cognitive
 * An approach rooted in the idea that to understand people's behavior, we must first understand how they construe their environment--in other words, how they think.
 * This approach combines both the stucturalist approach and the functionalist approach.
 * Humanistic
 * Rooted in the philosophical tradition of studying the roles of consiousness, free will, and awareness of the human condition.
 * Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic
 * Freud developed a theory of human behavior known as the psychoanalytic theory.
 * Psychoanalytic theory stresses the importance of childhood experiences to the development of personality.
 * Sociocultural
 * Those subscribing to the sociocultural approach believethat the environment a person lives in has a great deal to do with how the person behaves and how others perceive that behavior.
 * Cultural psychology
 * Field of psychology which assumes the idea that culture and mind are inseparable
 * Psychological theories grounded in one culture are likely to be limited in applicability when applied to a different culture.
 * Evolutionary
 * Evolutionary approach focuses on the theories of Charles Darwin.

<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: #ffffff; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-top-color: #ff3300; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 3px; display: block; font-family: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: inherit; margin-bottom: 0.75em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 15px; padding-right: 15px; padding-top: 0px; position: relative; text-align: left; text-decoration: inherit; width: 930px;"> Gender schema theory refers to the theory that children learn about what it means to be male and female from the culture in which they live. According to this theory, children adjust their behavior to fit in with the gender norms and expectations of their culture.

• Identify the major historical figures in psychology
 * Rene Descartes (1596-1650):
 * He believed that the physical world is not under devine influence but rather follows a set of observable laws or rules.
 * Hypothesized that the mind and body interact, and that the mind controls the body while the body provides the mind with sensory input for it to decipher.
 * He believed that this interaction occurs in the pineal gland.
 * John Locke (1632-1704):
 * Extended Descartes' application of natural laws to all things, believing that even the mind is under the control of such laws.
 * His school of thought is known as **empiricism**, the aquisition of truth through observations and experiences.
 * Believed that all knowledge must be learned; nothing is innate
 * Thomas Hobbes (1588-1697):
 * Believed that the idea of soul or spirit, or even of a mind, is meaningless.
 * His philosophy is known as **materialism**, which is the belief that the only things that exist are matter and energy.
 * Charles Darwin (1809-1882):
 * Proposed a theory of **natural selection**, which said that all creatures have evolved into their present state over long periods of time, and the ones that evolve exhibit the most desirable traits.
 * His evolutionary theory set the stage for psychology by establishing behavior as important and observable.
 * Wilhelm Wundt
 * Many credit him as the founder of the science of psychology.
 * Opened a laboratory in Germany to study consciousness.
 * William James (1842- 1910):
 * American psychologist who was opposed to the structuralist approach. Instead, he argued what is important is the function of the mind.
 * This functionalist oriented approach is called **functionalism**.
 * Abraham Maslow
 * Created Maslow's heirarchy of needs
 * Highest level of the pyramid is "self actualization"
 * Carl R. Rogers
 * Known as the father of client-centered therapy.
 * Throughout his career he dedicated himself to humanistic psychology and is well known for his theory of personality development.
 * Immanuel Kant
 * all knowledge comes through experience

__**ID, EGO, SUPEREGO**__

According to Freud, we are born with our id. The id is an important part of our personality because as newborns, it allows us to get our basic needs met. Freud believed that the id is based on our pleasure principle. In other words, the id wants whatever feels good at the time, with no consideration for the reality of the situation. When a child is hungry, the id wants food, and therefore the child cries. When the child needs to be changed, the id cries. When the child is uncomfortable, in pain, too hot, too cold, or just wants attention, the id speaks up until his or her needs are met. The id doesn't care about reality, about the needs of anyone else, only its own satisfaction. If you think about it, babies are not real considerate of their parents' wishes. They have no care for time, whether their parents are sleeping, relaxing, eating dinner, or bathing. When the id wants something, nothing else is important. Within the next three years, as the child interacts more and more with the world, the second part of the personality begins to develop. Freud called this part the ego. The ego is based on the reality principle. The ego understands that other people have needs and desires and that sometimes being impulsive or selfish can hurt us in the long run. Its the ego's job to meet the needs of the id, while taking into consideration the reality of the situation. By the age of five, or the end of the phallic stage of development, the superego develops. The Superego is the moral part of us and develops due to the moral and ethical restraints placed on us by our caregivers. Many equate the superego with the conscience as it dictates our belief of right and wrong. In a healthy person, according to Freud, the ego is the strongest so that it can satisfy the needs of the id, not upset the superego, and still take into consideration the reality of every situation. Not an easy job by any means, but if the id gets too strong, impulses and self gratification take over the person's life. If the superego becomes to strong, the person would be driven by rigid morals, would be judgmental and unbending in hi s or her interactions with the world. You'll learn how the ego maintains control as you continue to read.