Psyc 1009a - The History and Scope of Psychology notes

The History and Scope of Psychology
A. What is Psychology?
 Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior
o Psychology is more than common sense
o Why is psychology scientific?
 because it is based on empiricism
 the notion that all knowledge can be acquired through
observation, not on reasoning, tradition or common sense


 Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior
o mind
 the contents of subjective experience
 sensations, thoughts, and emotions
o behavior
 observable actions
 thought and feelings
 activities of cells
B. Roots of Modern Psychology
 in the late 1800's both physiologists and philosophers were
investigating the mind
o philosophy - "why"
o physiology - "how"
 philosophy - ideas of about the acquisition of knowledge
 physiology - progress in understanding the nervous system, senses,
etc
o both came together to create the idea of applying the methods
of science to the study of human behavior
C. The First Schools: Psychology Emerges as a Science
 Wilhelm Wundt
o established psychology as an independent science
o first psychology lab, in Germany (1879)
o defined psychology as the study of conscious experience
o typical questions
 how are sensations turned into mental awareness of the
outside world?
 what are the basic elements of thought?


 Psychology comes to America
o Wundt's students start labs across USA (1880 - 1900)
 Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Cornell, Stanford
 UW-Madison Psychology department formed 1888


 Structuralism
o Edward Titchner
o analyze consciousness into basic elements and study how they
are related