History of Psychology

1. History of Psychology

2. Lecture Overview • What is Psychology? • History of Psychology • Early views of Mental Disorder • Origins of Psychological Science • Psychological Science Today • Levels of analysis

3. What is Psychology? • Psychology is the study of the • Mind -- mental activity such as thoughts, feelings, and subjective experiences • Brain – an organ in the skull that produces mental activity and behavior • Behavior – any observable action or response

4. History of Psychology • Interest in understanding human behavior and mental processes has existed for centuries • Written documents date back 25 Centuries to Greek Philosophers Socrates, Aristotle, & Plato • In Asia, evidence of interest in exploring consciousness and in controlling it with meditation and yoga • In Africa, personality and mental disorder explained based on traditional spiritual beliefs

5. History of Psychology • Over time, our understanding of behavior and mental processes has evolved • Current understanding of behavior and mental processes is derived from the science of psychology • What were the earliest conceptions of disordered mental processes (i.e., mental illness)? • How did psychology as a science evolve?

6. Early Views of Mental Disorder • Earliest conceptions of mental disorder – displeasure of the gods or demonic possession • E.g., Ancient Babylonians – insanity resulted from possession by the demon Idta

7. Early Views of Mental Disorder • Treatment developed out of conception of mental disorders • Flogging • Starvation • Drinking “unpalatable brews” • Trephining

8. Trephining

9. Trephining

10. Early Views of Mental Disorder • Other forms of treatment • Sleeping in the temple of the deity of healing • Artistic endeavors • Bathing in hot springs • Exercise • Those who were not cured, however, were chased from the temples and/or stoned

11. Early Views of Mental Disorder • Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.) • Earliest proponent of somatogensis • Mental disorder resulted from disturbances of the body NOT demonic possession • Stress can also damage the mind and body

12. Early Views of Mental Disorder • Hippocrates • Normal Functioning depended on delicate balance of four “humors” or body fluids • Mental Disorder resulted from an imbalance of these “humors” • Blood – changeable mood • Black Bile -- melancholia • Yellow Bile (choler) – irritable; anxious • Phlegm – sluggish or dull

13. Early Views of Mental Disorder • Treatment • Looked for natural remedies • E.G., For melancholia • Tranquility • Sobriety • Care in choosing food and drink • Abstinence from sexual activity

14. History of Psychology • Galen (1st Century AD) – autopsy of apes  lead to his belief in the role of the brain in mental function • 3rd Century AD -- Return to demonology; mentally ill as witches (?); Church had responsibility for care of mentally ill • 1700’s -- move toward Psychogenesis – mental disorders attributed to psychic malfunctions • 1850’s -- Return to Somatogenesis with publication of Kraeplin’s classification system

15. Origins of Psychological Science • Three major historical debates/theories influenced development of psychology as a science • Nature vs Nurture • Mind vs Body • Theory of Evolution

16. Origins of Psychological Science • Nature vs Nurture Debate • Ongoing debate since the time of the Greeks about causes of psychological characteristics • Psychological characteristics  thinking feeling, experiencing and behavior

17. Origins of Psychological Science • Nurture  psychological characteristics are acquired through learning, experience, or culture • John Locke  • Tabula Rasa – the mind is a blank slate which is written upon through experience – • View that psychological characteristics are entirely determined by experience • i.e., ENVIRONMENT IS KEY!

18. Origins of Psychological Science • Nature  psychological characteristics are biologically determined or innate; that is, we are born with it • i.e., IT’S ALL ABOUT OUR GENES

19. Origins of Psychological Science • Schizophrenia as an example • Higher rates of concordance for schizophrenia between identical than between fraternal twins  nature • Schizoprehnogenic mother  nurture • Rates higher when identical twins share a placenta than when they each have their own placenta  nurture

20. Origins of Psychological Science • Intelligence • Highly heritable but also influenced by • Education, nutrition, enrichment of environment • Nature  may limit potential to a certain range BUT Nurture can influence where individual can fall within that range • Current thinking  all behavior is some combination of Nature and Nurture

21. Origins of Psychological Science

22. Implications of the Nature/Nurture Debate • Thinking, feeling, experiencing, behavior have multiple causes • Biology is NOT destiny

23. Origins of Psychological Science • The Mind vs Body Debate • Earliest conceptions were driven by religious doctrine • The divine and immortal soul is what separated humans from animals • It controlled the mind and behavior • Thus, the mind was seen as distinct from the body

24. Origins of Psychological Science • DaVinci (1500 AD) – • Believed that all sensory experience (i.e., vision, touch, smell) was located in a single area of the brain which he believed to be the home of thought and judgment • He based his beliefs on autopsies he conducted on people • His method and views were seen as offensive to the church because they violated the presumed sanctity of the human body

25. Origins of Psychological Science • DesCartes(1600 AD) – • The first to promote the concept of dualism  the mind and the body were separate BUT related entities • The mind influenced the body • The body also influences the mind (considered his most radical view) • Some mental functions, such as memory and imagination, were the result of bodily functions • Volitional behavior, which was divine, was controlled by the rational mind, and therefore was independent of the body

26. Origins of Psychological Science • Current advances in biological and medical research now suggest that the mind is a function of the brain • Examples • Terry Schiavo • Specific brain regions have specific functions • Impact of imbalance of one neurotransmitter on ability to think and reason • Current conception – the mind is what the brain does!

27. Origins of Psychological Science • The relation between the mind, brain, and behavior is bidirectional Brain Behavior Mind

29. Origins of Psychological Science • The Theory of Natural Selection • Species evolve through a process known as natural selection • Characteristics that were adaptive in specific environments had a selective advantage • In Darwin’s words “ … favourable variations would tend to be preserved and unfavourable ones to be destroyed. The result of this would be the formation of a new species.”

30. Origins of Psychological Science • Genetic variation produces variations in traits or characteristics. • Traits that increased the likelihood of survival of the species were preserved and passed along to the next generation • These are known as adaptations • Maladaptive traits (i.e., decreased the likelihood of survival) become extinct, because the animal did not survive or did not procreate.

31. Origins of Psychological Science • Sir Francis Galton (Darwin’s cousin)– some of the traits that evolved were psychological in nature

32. Origins of Psychological Science • SO • The brain has evolved over millions of years to solve adaptive problems – such as “how does one survive during periods of famine or deprivation” • Then • “How does this survival mechanism, that evolved millions of years ago, affect us in modern society?”

33. Survival Mechanisms: Famine • Taste-specific satiety – become satiated more quickly when exposed to a single flavor than to a variety of flavors • Adaptive because  we see out a variety of foods to ensure we meet our nutritional needs • E.g., We eat more at buffets that at regular restaurants • Current Implications – high rate of obesity

34. Survival Mechanisms: Learning • Specific area of the brain that recognizes reward • This area of the brain “lights up” when a behavior is followed by a biologically relevant consequence • i.e., consequence that increases our likelihood of survival • Leads to repetition of the behavior • Current Implications  brain mechanisms that set us up for addiction or obesity

35. Survival Mechanisms: Sex • Gender differences in tendency toward promiscuity develops from need to ensure survival of offspring • Males  more sexual partners means greater number of offspring survive • Females  better sexual partners means greater likelihood of offspring survival • Remember: Biology is NOT destiny

36. Implications of Evolutionary Theory • Pioneering research in animals could be used to explain human behavior • Pavlov’s dogs – implications for human learning • Helmholtz’ research on nerve impulses in frogs could be used to understand nerve impulses in humans • Animal models of addiction, ADHD and other mental disorders allow us to determine brain areas involved in these disorders and novel compounds for treatment

37. Origins of Psychological Science • Wundt and Structuralism • Structuralism – conscious experience can be broken down into its most basic components or elements • Introspection – the process of reporting on one’s own mental experiences of a stimulus • Identified major areas of interest to psychologists

38. Origins of Psychological Science • James and Functionalism • Argued that structuralism was too narrow • Functionalism – Influenced by Darwinian Theory; i.e., that the mind evolved to serve adaptive functions • These adaptive functions should be evident in behavior and in daily life; thus interested in studying the functions of the mind

39. Origins of Psychological Science • Freud and Psychoanalysis • Freud was a physician • Had patients with neurological symptoms that had no physical explanation • Freud believed that much of mental activity occurred outside of the individual’s conscious awareness  first to be interested in the Unconscious mind • Mental disorder – unconscious mental forces in conflict

40. Origins of Psychological Science • Gestalt Theory • We perceive information as uniform and whole not as separate elements • The whole is greater than the sum of its elements

41. Origins of Psychology as a Science

42. Origins of Psychological Science • Watson, Skinner, & Behaviorism – Studying the mind is unscientific • Observable behavior, not the mind, should be the focus of scientific inquiry • All behavior is a function of environmental influences

43. 7 Levels of Analysis Genetic Neurochemical Brain Systems Behavioral Perceptual/Cognitive Individual Social/Cultural 7 Disciplines Biological Developmental Behavioral Cognitive Trait Clinical Sociocultural How do we Understand Behavior?

44. Depression Genetics Neurochemistry Developmental Perceptual/Cognitive Academic Performance Genetics Behavioral Developmental Perceptual/cognitive Social/Cultural Understanding Behavior using a Levels of Analysis Approach