Psychology
Psychology – The systematic, scientific study of behavior,
experience, and mental life.
There are many misunderstandings and myths surrounding psychology. Some of these are tied to the history of
psychology.
Psychology is rooted in philosophy
Psychology is striving to “prove” itself as a science
Many on-going issues in psychology
Issues #1 – Free will vs. Determinism
Issues #2 – Mind – Body Problem (Dualism)
Issue #3 – Nature vs. Nurture
What do psychologists do?
Clinical (42.4%) & Counseling Psychology (10.1%) Research Psychology or Experimental Psychology (2.3%)
School Psychology (3.9%) Educational Psychology (2.3%)
Biopsychology (0.5%) Learning & Motivation (?) Cognitive Psychology (0.7%)
Developmental Psychology (roughly 4.0%) Gerontology (0.2%)
Child & Adolescent (1.5%)
Social Psychology (2.4%) & Personality Psychology (5.0%) Neuropsychology (?)
Health Psychology (0.9%) Environmental Psychology (?)
Industrial Organizations Psychology (3.6%) Mathematical Psychology (0.5%)
Who can practice psychology?
Clinical Psychologist (PhD., Ed.D, or Psy.D.) Psychotherapist (a very broad term)
Counseling Psychologist (Ph.D., Ed.D., or Psy.D.) Psychiatrist (M.D. or D.O.)
Psychoanalyst
Mental Health Therapists (M.A. or M.S.) Social Workers (L.C.S.W.)
Mental Health Technicians or counselors (B.A. or B.S.)
Nurses (A.A., B.A., M.A. or Ph.D.)
Certified Alcohol & Drug Counselor (CADC)
The History of Psychology
1. Antiquity
Aristotle (Free-will & mental activity) Socrates
Homer
Early Demonology
In other parts of the world, religious/spiritual beliefs dominated thinking about behavior
Examples are found in the records of the Chinese, Egyptians, Babylonians, Greeks, and Jews.
This belief suggests that abnormal behavior is the result of demonic possession.
Somatogenesis
– Suggests that abnormal behavior results from some physical cause.
– Hippocrates (460-377) rejected religious or spiritual explanations and located the
problems within the body and brain.
• Bodily dysfunction leads to dysfunction of thought and action
The three most common types of psychopathology were:
Mania, melancholy, phrenitis (brain fever)
Hippocrates believed that psychopathology wastheresultofthebody’shumors.
Blood (lead to moodiness)
Black bile (lead to melancholy)
Yellow bile (lead to irritability and anxiousness) Phlegm (lead to dullness)
The notions of Hippocrates stood for centuries.
Psychogenesis
Suggests that abnormal behavior results from some psychological cause.
Developed later in history but was an
interesting and controversial idea. More during the scientific revolution.
2. The Scientific Revolution & Dark Ages
– The influence of the scientific movement
throughout Europe had a profound influence on the development of the science of
psychology.
– Movement away from the influence of the church and religion toward a more secular society founded on scientific principles
– Organized religion was involved in some very “unscientific”pursuits.Forexample,
Dark ages and demonology
- With the decrease in the Roman and
Greekcivilizations,the“church”gained
influence and the papacy gained status as
an independent state. Monasteries
replaced physicians with monks as the
“healers”andauthoritiesonmental
disease. Monks and priests prayed for the
mentally ill.
Persecution of Witches
In the 13th century the fate of the mentally ill was considered to be caused by demons as well. In 1484, Pope Innocent VII exhorted the church to look for witches in the book Malleus Maleficarium (meaning“thewitcheshammer”)
and it became a legal and religious tool in the hunt for witches.
Ifaccusedwitchesdidn’tconfess….theywere
tortured until they did
If accused witches were convicted and penitent….theywereimprisonedforlife
If accused witches were convicted and unrepentant…theywereexecutedbythelaw
During this era over 100,000 “witches”were
victims of this purge!
Historically, however, most accused witches
were NOT mentally ill. Many confessions were obtained under torture. And, witchcraft was
typically not the primary cause of mental illness.
English law also allowed for a legally
dangerous, insane, or incorrigible to be
confined to hospitals and these individuals were not usually described as possessed.
In the 13th century trials were held all over
Europe to determine if the individual was sane. It was usually determined that the insanity was linked to physical illness!
The
Renaissance (
1300’s– 1600’s)
period covered several centuries and
tremendous changes in scientific
disciplines (a revolution) fueled the growth of
this new discipline. This movement carried
into the 19th century. Some notable
discoveries that have influenced
psychology include;
a. Astronomy & Mathematics (early influences)
– Newton (1669) – Laws of Mechanics
– Galileo (1610) – Planetary movement, the structure of the solar system, & structure of the universe
– Copernicus (1543) – The heliocentric solar system b. Biology
– Mendel (1853) – Genetics
– Pasteur (1885) – Germ Theory
– Darwin (1858) – Evolutionary Theory c. Chemistry
– Alchemy (Newton!)
– Mendeleyev & Meyer (1869) – The Periodic Law & Periodic Table
Early psychiatry
Keep in mind that all of these clinicians were working between the Renaissance and modern psychology, and between scientists and psychology.
Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) was a pioneer in American psychiatry. Used blood letting and water
immersion as treatments for mentally ill individuals. He also used fear as a tactic for change.
Philippe Pinel (1745-1826) encouraged humane treatment for the mentally ill in Paris. Conditions changed considerably! The use of compassion, understanding, and encouraging individual dignity replaced confinement and isolation.
Very often these treatments were only for the upper class individual.
Asylums
In the 15th century only a few mental hospitals existed in Europe. More hospitals for lepers existed. In the ensuing century, lepersy
decreased and the hospitals were then used for the mentally ill. In the 15th century, these
asylums were used, primarily, to confine the mentally ill.
Bethlehem
St.Mary’sofBethlehemwasfoundedin1243 and
housed the mentally ill by the thousands! Today the chaos and conditions are revealed to tourists only as it is a popular attraction for visitors.
Moral treatment soon replaces the
isolation of individuals. William Tuke
(1732-1822) a Quaker, established the
York Retreat in England. These retreats
were peaceful, emphasized recovery,
work, and aesthetics.
Hartford Retreat was established in
Connecticut in 1824.
Outcome at these retreats was poor with
only about 1/3 actually improving.
Dorothea Dix (1802-1877) helped in the
Early Classification Systems
Wilhelm Griesinger was instrumental in helping to develop the Medical Model.
Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926) published a classification system in 1893.
Developed the concept of Syndromes.
Recognized two major groups of severe mental illness
Dementia Praecox
Manic-Depression
In 1825, Griesinger determined that general paresis, from syphilis, had a biological cause!
In 1860, Louis Pasteur developed the Germ Theory of Disease.
In 1905, the microorganism for general paresis was identified.
Psychogenesis
A re-emergence of the notion of a psychic cause of abnormal behavior occurred in the early 19th century.
Franz Anton Mesmer (1743-1815) suggested that hysteria was caused by a disturbance in the magnetic fluids in the body.
He had bizarre treatments and was seen as a charlatan.
Jean Charcot (1825-1893) studied hysteria as well and, when fooled by a normal individual posing as an
hysterical patient while under hypnosis, he was convinced that the cause of her malady was psychological in origin.
Josef Breuer developed the cathartic method in which the person simply talks about their problem/feelings and they improve. Relief through catharsis was the basis of hisfriend,SigmundFreud’s,newtheory,
3. The Early Era of Psychology
– Wilhelm Wundt (1879) at the University of Leipzig developed the first laboratory of psychology.
• Introspection – Tolookwithinone’sself.
– Titchner (Cornell University) & Structuralism (1920’s)
• Structuralism is the attempt to describe the structures that compose the mind. Consciousness can be analyzed in terms of sensations and feelings that form the structures of the
mind.
• To get their data, the structuralist used introspection to examinewhatwashappeninginone’smindandwhatone was thinking and feeling. Any problems with this?
• Reflects the early influence of sensory biologists
– James (Harvard University) & Functionalism (1890’s)
• Functionalism looks at how the mind produces useful (functional) behaviors.
• The brain engages in a dynamic adaptation to the environment
• James had profound things to say about philosophy and neuroscience.
• Unfortunately, his close ties to the field of
philosophy kept much of his work out of the main field of psychology.
• Developed the first American Psychological Laboratory
In addition, the fields of psychophysics,
comparative psychology and ethology made
significant contributions to the understanding of human and non-human behavior.
4. Modern Psychology
A. Psychoanalysis and Sigmund Freud
(1920’s)
– Psychoanalysis is the first modern school of psychology to emerge and it emphasized the importance of unconscious forces in the behavior of humans
– Psychoanalysis is a deterministic model and has significant problems with regard to observation and whether or not the theory can betested,i.e.,“Isthetheoryfalsifiable?”
– Freud has had a profound influence on the entire field of psychology, sociology, criminal justice, and modern life in general!
B. Behaviorism
Founded in the last 19th Century hitting its peak in the 1920's through the 1950's.
- Based on the idea that all behavior is
learned and that humans are a product of the learning environment.
- Important contributors include Ivan Pavlov (1905), John Watson (1920's), and B.F.
Skinner (1950's).
- Quite a different theory than psychoanalysis rejecting mentalism, yet still a deterministic model.
C. Humanistic Psychology
– Humanistic Psychology is a very broad field that encompasses many
psychological theories. They all, however, emphasize the importance of
free will and the human condition. – One major contribution is the
development of psychological techniques. – These theories are in stark contrast to both
– Some of the important humanistic psychologies include;
• Gestalt Psychology (Kohler, Wertheimer, & Perl's)
– Gestalt psychologists discount structure and focus on the totality of perceptions. One cannot understand something by breaking it up into pieces…itmustthereforebetakenintotal!
• Existential Psychology (Sartre, Frankl, Kierkegaard, & Yalom)
• Humanistic Psychology (Sullivan, Rogers, & Maslow)
– Carl Rogers may have had the most significant impact developing what he called client-centered therapy in the 1950’s.
Recent trends in psychology
– D. Cognitive Psychology, the fourth school of
psychology emphasizes the importance of mental activities, symbolic processing, learning, memory, thinking, and perception in normal and abnormal states.
– E. Neuroscience is the most recent school of psychology and suggests that all behavior is rooted, in some way, to the functioning of the nervous system.
• If we understand the nervous system then we can understand how all behavior emerges!
• This field is growing so quickly that it is difficult to keep up with the literature
• Neuroscience departments appear to be replacing traditional psychology programs!
