1.1 Psychological Foundations
• Why It Matters
o Understanding experiences, how the human brain
works, making connections between internal brain
processes and behavior
• The History of Psychology
o Introduction
§ Psyche (Greek): soul
§ Psychology: the study of the mind and behavior
• The mind isn’t directly observable and why it
also includes behavior
§ Tested through the scientific method
§ As we can’t measure feeling, we measure the brain
state
§ Psychological studies are limited because thoughts
§ Empirical method: a way of acquiring knowledge
based on observation and experimentation
§ 1800s: psychology became its own discipline
• Before were considered philosophy
o Wundt and Structuralism
§ Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
• Referred to as the first psychologist
• Principles of Physiological Psychology (1873)
• Viewed psychology as a scientific study of
conscious experience and the goal was to
identify components of consciousness and how
they combine together to create our conscious
experience
, • Introspection: process which someone
examines their own conscious experiences
objectively
o This made the human mind observable
o Used external stimulus designed to
produce a scientifically observable
(repeatable) experience of the mind
o Requirement 1: Use practiced observers
to observe and report
o Requirement 2: use of repeatable stimuli
that always produced the same
experience and allowed subject to expect
and be fully attentive to reaction
o Requirements eliminated interpretation
• Structuralism: attempt to understand the
structure or characteristics of the mind,
understanding the conscious experience
through introspection
• Structuralism fell out of favor due to it being
highly subjective and little agreement
between individuals
o James and Functionalism
§ William James (1842-1910) first American
psychologist
• Introduced to Darwin’s theory of evolution by
natural selection and accepted it as an
explanation of an organism's characteristics
• Natural selection leads organisms that are
adapted to their environment, including their
behavior
• Adaption means that a trait has a function for
survival and reproduction of an individual
2
• Why It Matters
o Understanding experiences, how the human brain
works, making connections between internal brain
processes and behavior
• The History of Psychology
o Introduction
§ Psyche (Greek): soul
§ Psychology: the study of the mind and behavior
• The mind isn’t directly observable and why it
also includes behavior
§ Tested through the scientific method
§ As we can’t measure feeling, we measure the brain
state
§ Psychological studies are limited because thoughts
§ Empirical method: a way of acquiring knowledge
based on observation and experimentation
§ 1800s: psychology became its own discipline
• Before were considered philosophy
o Wundt and Structuralism
§ Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
• Referred to as the first psychologist
• Principles of Physiological Psychology (1873)
• Viewed psychology as a scientific study of
conscious experience and the goal was to
identify components of consciousness and how
they combine together to create our conscious
experience
, • Introspection: process which someone
examines their own conscious experiences
objectively
o This made the human mind observable
o Used external stimulus designed to
produce a scientifically observable
(repeatable) experience of the mind
o Requirement 1: Use practiced observers
to observe and report
o Requirement 2: use of repeatable stimuli
that always produced the same
experience and allowed subject to expect
and be fully attentive to reaction
o Requirements eliminated interpretation
• Structuralism: attempt to understand the
structure or characteristics of the mind,
understanding the conscious experience
through introspection
• Structuralism fell out of favor due to it being
highly subjective and little agreement
between individuals
o James and Functionalism
§ William James (1842-1910) first American
psychologist
• Introduced to Darwin’s theory of evolution by
natural selection and accepted it as an
explanation of an organism's characteristics
• Natural selection leads organisms that are
adapted to their environment, including their
behavior
• Adaption means that a trait has a function for
survival and reproduction of an individual
2
