History of Psychology

1. History of
Psychology

2. NATIVISM VS. EMPIRICISM
Nativist view- holds thatNativist view- holds that
human beings enterhuman beings enter
the world with anthe world with an
inborn store ofinborn store of
knowledge andknowledge and
understanding ofunderstanding of
realityreality
Rene DescartesRene Descartes
Are human capability inborn or acquired through experience?Are human capability inborn or acquired through experience?
Empiricist View – holds thatEmpiricist View – holds that
knowledge is acquiredknowledge is acquired
through experience andthrough experience and
interactions with theinteractions with the
world.world.
John Locke -tabula rasaJohn Locke -tabula rasa
“blank slate”“blank slate”

3. • Psychology has its roots in
philosophy and physiology.

4. A. Traditionally, psychology is said to have began with
man’s earliest speculation regarding human nature.
Since the dawn of recorded thought, man hasSince the dawn of recorded thought, man has
had a curiosity about his own behavior and itshad a curiosity about his own behavior and its
relationship to causal events. The earliestrelationship to causal events. The earliest
attempts were essentiallyattempts were essentially animisticanimistic – wherein– wherein
the Gods or the spirits were attributed thethe Gods or the spirits were attributed the
power to direct or cause events and activitiespower to direct or cause events and activities
of men.of men.

5. B. The Greek Influence
Democritus – believed that the human mind
is composed of atoms which could circulate
freely and which enabled it to penetrate the
whole body. According to him atoms from
our environment enter through our sense
organs enabling us to perceive the world
around us.

6. B. The Greek Influence
Plato – the mind or soul is distinct in its own right and is
God-given. It enters the body with its reflected
perfection of God and rules the body which it inhabits
as knower, thinker and determiner of actions.
The soul is composed of three parts:
1. head – exerts reason. It is called rational soul.
2. heart – responsible for our noble impulses. It is called
emotional soul.
3. diaphragm or abdomen – seat of our own passions.
It is called irrational soul.

7. B. The Greek Influence
Aristotle – a student of Plato, distinguished three
functions of the soul.
1. vegetative soul – concerned with basic maintenance
of life.
2. appetitive soul – concerned with motives and desires.
3. rational soul– the governing function located in the
heart.
 The brain merely performs minor mechanical
processes as a gland.

8. B. The Greek Influence
Galen – contributed his theory of the dependence of human
temperament on physiological factors. Differences in
behavior is attributed to the “humors” or vital juices of the
body namely blood, phlegm, black bile and yellow bile.
He correspondingly named temperaments:
1. sanguine – cheerful (blood)
2. phlegmatic – sluggish, slow, unresponsive (phlegm)
3. melancholic – sad (black bile)
4. choleric – irascible, easily angered, hot-tempered
(yellow bile)

9. C. Medieval Period
St. Agustine – combined Platonic Psychology with
Christian thinking. He introduced and use the
method of introspection and manifested his
interest in distinguishing several faculties of the
soul as Will, Memory, Imagination and others,
producing the first definite development of what
later was called Faculty Psychology.
St. Thomas Aquinas – combined
Aristotelian notions to the
theologically imperative idea of
immortality.

10. D. Pre-Modern Period
Rene Descartes – formulated a theory of
mind-body interaction.
John Locke – in his “An Essay Concerning
Human Understanding” introduced the idea
as the unit into which all experiences may
be analyzed.

11. D. Pre-Modern Period
George Berkeley – in his theory of knowledge
(solipsistic philosophy) said that ideas become
the only reality.
Solipsism - the theory that the only possible
true knowledge is of self-existence.
David Hume – like Berkeley, wrestled with
the problem between impression and
ideas, between images and direct
sensations.

12. E. Scientific Psychology
18791879 – Wilhelm Wundt founded the first– Wilhelm Wundt founded the first
psychological laboratory in Leipzig,psychological laboratory in Leipzig,
GermanyGermany
WundtWundt – Father of Scientific Psychology– Father of Scientific Psychology

13. 1888 – Francis Galton develops correlations
1890 – William James published his
Principles of Psychology
E. Scientific Psychology

14. E. Scientific Psychology
1892 - G. Stanley Hall established the American
Psychological Association
1900 – Sigmund Freud “The Interpretation of
Dreams”`
- Ivan Pavlov begun studying conditioning
1913 – John Watson “Psychology as the
Behaviorist Views It”

15. E. Scientific Psychology
1928 – Hans Berger discovers the method of recording
EEG.
EEG (electroencephalogram) – recording of
electrical brain waves made by placing disc-shaped
electrodes on the surface of the skull.

16. E. Scientific Psychology
1938 – B. F. Skinner “The Behavior of
Organisms”
1951 – Carl Rogers “Client-centered
Therapy”

17. E. Scientific Psychology
1954 – Abraham Maslow “Motivation and
Personality”
1967 – Neisser “Cognitive Psychology”
1981 – Roger Sperry wins Nobel Prize on his
work on the SPLIT BRAIN.
1983 – Centennial celebration of the founding of
G. Stanley Hall’s laboratory

18. Psychology in France
Phillippe Pinel and others began as early as the 19th century
the enlightened psychological interpretation of insanity.
Anton Mesmer – developed hypnosis or “animal magnetism”
Seguin – made use of testing in the teaching of mentally
retarded children.
Alfred Binet – Father of Intelligence Tests;
started the first intelligence tests

19. Psychology in England
Charles Darwin – published origin of the species in
1859
Sir Francis Galton studied individual differences and
evolved his ingenuous technique of measurement.
Karl Pearson and Spearman gave England a
leadership in the development of Statistical methods

20. Psychology in Germany
E. H. Weber’s work in 1830 on
sensation and stimulation was
modified by Fechner in 1860 into the
Weber-Fechner Law.
Helmholtz developed the theory of color
vision in 1852 and audition in 1863.

21. Classical Conditioning
• learning that results from the association of two
stimuli (a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus
that reflexively elicits that response.
• kind of learning in which a previously neutral
stimulus (one that does not originally elicit a
response) acquires the power to elicit the response
after the stimulus is repeatedly associated with
another stimulus that ordinarily elicit
the response.

22. Ivan Pavlov’s Classical Conditioning
Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist is well
known for his work in classical conditioning or
stimulus substitution. Pavlov’s most renowned
experiment involved meat, a dog and a bell.
Initially, Pavlov was measuring the dog’s
salivation in order to study digestion. This is
when he stumbled upon classical conditioning.

23. Pavlov’s Experiment
Before conditioning, ringing the bell (neutral
stimulus) caused no response to the dog.
Placing food (unconditioned stimulus) in front of
the dog initiated salivation (unconditioned
response). During conditioning, the bell was
rung a few seconds before the dog was
presented with food. After conditioning, the
ringing of the bell (conditioned stimulus) alone
produced salivation. This is
classical conditioning.

24. Pavlov’s Experiment
Before Conditioning
Unconditioned Stimulus
Ex. meat
bell
Neutral stimulus
bell
During the experiment
Bell meat
Unconditioned Response
salivates
no salivation
Unconditioned Stimulus
meat
salivates
After the experiment
Conditioned Stimulus
bell
Conditioned Response
salivates

25. B. F. Skinner’s Operant Conditioning
• learning that occurs when an organism learns to
associate its behavior with the consequences or
results of that behavior.
• kind of learning in which a person tends to
repeat a behavior that has been reinforced or to
cease a behavior that has been punished.

26. Reinforcement – a stimulus experienced
following a behavior, which increases the
probability that the behavior will be
repeated.
Punishment – a stimulus experienced
following a behavior, which decreases the
probability that the behavior will be
repeated.

27. Reinforcement can either be positive or negative.
• Positive consists of giving a reward, such as food, gold
stars, money, or praise.
• Negative reinforcement consists of taking away something
the individual does not like(known as an aversive event).
• Negative reinforcement is sometimes confused with
punishment. However they are different.

28. Positive reinforcement
- giving something one likes
- presenting a positive event
Negative reinforcement
- taking away something one
does not like
- removing an aversive event
Punishment
- giving something one does
not like or presenting an
aversive event
- taking away something one
likes or removing a positive
event

29. • Whether a consequence is reinforcing or
punishing depends on the person. What is
reinforcing for one person may be
punishing for another.