John T.
Cacioppo
University of Chicago
Laura A.
Freberg
California Polytechnic
State University,
San Luis Obispo
M
I
L
E
S
,
Discovering
Psychology
S
H
A
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O
N
The Science of Mind
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9
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Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
Discovering Psychology: The Science of Mind
John T. Cacioppo and Laura A. Freberg
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9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
Taste buds contained in the papillae of the tongue are far more
responsive to bitter tastes than to sweet tastes.
M
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9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
The
Science
of Mind
The
M Discipline of Psychology
I
L
Learning Objectives E
1 Explain the subject matterS
that psychologists study, addressing the meaning of mind and
psychology’ss role as a hub science.
psychology
,
2 Analyz
Analyze
yzee the
th respective
r sp
re
pecti
tivee contributions
con
ntr
trib
i utionss of ph
phil
philosophy
ilossop
ophy and
d the
the
h physical
physi
sica
call sciences
s ie
sc
iencees as the
th “roots” of
mode
derrn psychology.
psycholog
ogy.
y
modern
3 Comp
Compare
mpaare and cont
contrast
trast the S
earlyy m
movements
ovem
ov
men
nts iin
n ps
psychology—structuralism,
sycho
holo
logy
gy—
—str
trucctura
ralilism
m, Gestalt
Gestalt
Ge
l psychology,
functi
tion
onal
alis
ism
m, behaviorism,
beh
ehav
avio
iorism
m, psychodynamic
hod
dynami
micc theory,
theo
th
eoryy, and
an humanism—in
hu
umaniism
sm—i
—in
n terms
term
te
ms of lleading
e
functionalism,
Hpsycho
figures, core principles, and contributions to modern psychology.
A perspectives of modern
4 Differ
Differentiate
rentiate the seven major
modern psychology in terms of typi
typical research
© Argosy Publishing,
blishing,
g, Inc.
quest
tio
ons, research
res
esea
earc
rch methods,
meth
me
thod
oN
s,, and
and focal
foc
ocal
al causes
caausees off behavior.
beh
ehav
avior.
r.
questions,
5 Analy
Analyze
yzee thee ways
ways iin
n wh
whic
which
ich the seve
seven
en ma
major
ajo
or pe
perspe
perspectives
pectivves can
can be
be integrated to add
address a single
N
O as a “hub science” allows ps
Explain why psychology’s role
psyc
psychologists
ycho
holo
logists to pursue a wide range
of career paths with respect
to
professional
specialties
and
research
areas.
N
psychological
problem
psycho
holo
logi
gica
call pr
prob
obleem or ttopic.
op
pic
ic.
6
1
Studying9 the science of psychology can
lead you to see yourself and other people in completely new
0
ways. A lifetime of observation teaches us many things
9 our own behavior and about the behavior of others,
about
butTpsychological science can uncover new and exciting
explanations
for behavior that we otherwise might miss.
S
Let’s begin with a seemingly simple and familiar
example: our ability to taste. We all know a lot about
taste—what we like or dislike, the different qualities of
taste, and so on. You might even be aware that some
types of taste seem stronger than others. Most of us
can taste sweetness in a solution of one part sugar in 200
parts water; this ability shows an impressive taste
© Masterfile/Radius Images
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
3
Introspection
n is the personal
observation off o
our
own
ur o
w thoughts,
wn
s,,
feelings, and behaviors.
b haaviors. Because
be
we are not perfect
observers
erfe
f ct o
bser
bs
e vers
of the operations
ions off our own
n
minds, psychologists
ologistss developed
devvel
e oped
d
other methods
ds that provide
truly scientificc insight into the
mind. In this functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) scan,
areas of the brain that were
activated when the participant
was hungry are highlighted.
Through technology, researchers
can better understand how the
brain regulates hunger. From D.
Fuhrer, S. Zysset, & M. Stumvoll, “Brain
Activity in Hunger and Satiety: An
Exploratory Visually Stimulated fMRI
Study,” in Obesity (2008) 16: 945–950.
© NASA/kutay tanir/iStockphoto
© Nature Publishing Group.
sensitivity, to be sure. As remarkable as this sensitivity appears to be,
however, people can detect one part bitter substance (like quinine) in
2 million parts water. This contrast in taste sensitivity between sweet and
bitter does not reflect the actual difference between sweet and bitter substances—that is, bitter tastes are not 10,000 times stronger than sweet
tastes, but that is how we experience them. Why would we have such a
vast difference in sensitivity between these tastes?
Our observations of taste do not help us out much in answering this
question, but psychology can. As it turns out, our greater sensitivity to bitter tastes is highly adaptive: Most poisons or toxins taste bitter, and if you
want to stay alive, it is more important to avoid swallowing poison than
to enjoy something sweet. Being far more sensitive to tastes that are bitter
is a trait that has served our species well, because it helps us avoid eating
things that could potentially kill us. Psychology helps us understand why
we do the thingsM
we do by providing a context for understanding
I
behavior.
To gain that understanding,
psychology has to act like the zoom
L
feature in Google Earth. In some parts of this textbook, we will be
E behaviors, like looking at the highly magnified
zooming in on human
S of the chapter of the tongue, which allows us
image at the beginning
to taste, and tracing
tong
, the messages about taste sent from the tongue
back
to the
the brain.
brrain
in.. At
A other
oth
ther
e times,
tim
mes, we’ll
we’l’lll zoom
we
zo
bac
ack out again
agai
ag
ain
n to
t take
tak
akee in the
why
on
page
largerr picture,
picture, to
o better
bet
ette
t r understand
unde
un
ders
r taand w
hy the boyy o
n th
tthee pr
previous pag
agee is givS
look.
ing his
hiis bitter-tasting
bitter-tasstiing broccoli
brocc
ccolii a skeptical
skep
sk
pti
ticcall lo
look
k.
Psychologists
zoom
the
study
of
mind
using
Psyc
ycho
holo
logi
g stts zo
zoo
om iin
n
to
t
he
stu
u
dy
o
f
the
th
em
ind
du
sing
ng in-depth
inn-de
deptth perperr
pe
H
we
spectives, which we will be describing in this chapter. For example, w
A
boy’s
his
can look
ok at the little boy
y ’s reaction to h
is broccoli from a developmental
developmen
Ns th
perspective,
which
us
taste
sensitivity
decreases
lifeperspe
ecttive,, w
hich
hi
ch ttells
ells
el
ls u
that tas
aste
te sen
ensittivi
vity
ty d
ecre
ec
reas
ases
es over the life
using
social
span. Or
Or, usin
ingg the
h so
soci
ciaaN
l perspective,
perspec
ectivve, we can
can
n think
thi
hinkk about
abo
bout social influences
influe
culture
food
preferences.
Cottage
cheese,
enjoyed
Amerilike cul
ultu
ture
re on
n fo
od
dp
reffere
re
ott
ttag
agee ch
cheese
se, en
njo
joye
yed by many Am
Orenncess. Co
cans, is viewed with disgust in some other parts off the
cans
the world.
world Fruit bat
ba
N not be a popular item for a campus dining
pie, a delicacy in Palau, might
facility in the United States.
Although single perspectives can tell us a lot about a phenomenon
1
like our sensitivity to bitter tastes, no one perspective can give us a com9 of all comes from zooming back out again by
plete answer. The best view
putting multiple perspectives
0 together into a whole. You can learn a lot
about your house from Google Earth by zooming in, but when you see
9
how your home fits into the larger scene of city, state, country, and planet,
T
that viewpoint adds something
special to your understanding.
We’ll start by learning
S more about psychology’s main perspectives, along with
a little background about their origins.
At that point, we’ll be in a better
position to understand how these
perspectives come together to give
us the big picture. E
4
Chapter 1
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
What Is Psychology?
The study of the mind is as fascinating as it is complex. Psychological scientists view the mind as a way of talking about the brain and its activities,
including thought, emotion, and behavior. A quick look at this textbook’s
table of contents will show you the variety of approaches to mind that you
will encounter along this voyage, such as the thinking mind (cognitive psychology) and the troubled mind (abnormal psychology).
The word psychology is a combination of two Greek words: psyche (or
psuche), or “soul,” and logos, “the study of.” For the ancient Greeks, the use
of the word “soul” was closer to our modern view of a spirit or mind. Logos
is the source of all our “ologies,” such as biology, anthropology, and so on.
Literally translated, therefore, psychology means “the study of the mind.”
Contemporary definitions of psychology refine
M this basic meaning.
Most psychologists today define their field as the scientific study of behavior
I
and mental processes—that is, the scientific study of the mind.
The phrase behavior and mental processes L
has undergone several
changes over the history of psychology. Behavior refers
E to any action that
we can observe. As we will see in our chapter on research methods, obserS
vation has been an important tool for psychologists from the very early
,
days of the discipline.
specify
discciplin
ne. Notice, too,, that our definition
does not spe
p cifyy
whose
behavior
se be
eha
havi
v or iiss to be
be examined.
examined
d. Although
Alth
Al
tho
ough
gh the
the bulk
bu
ulk
k of
o psychology
psy
sychol
olog
ogy focuses
focusees
fo
on human
behavior,
behavior
been
part
disuman
an b
ehavvio
ior,
r, aanimal
nima
m l beha
havvior has b
een an eessential
ssen
ss
enti
t al par
art of tthe
h dis
he
is-S
cipline,
human
ne,, both
both for its own
ow sake
saake and
nd ffor
or tthe
h ssake
he
ake of ccomparison
ompaari
r son
n wi
with h
uman
um
an
H
behavior.
vior.
vi
The study
on the
dy of mental
m ntal processess has
me
has been highly dependent
th methA
ods availa
available
abl
b e to
t psychologists.
psychol
ologists. Early
Eaarlly efforts
effor
orts
ts to study
stud
st
udyy mental
ment
me
ntal
al processes
pro
roceess
ssess were
wer
eree
N
generally
unsatisfactory,
on
the
off introspection,
rally u
nsaatisffac
acto
tory, as theyy rrelied
elied
ed o
n th
he us
use o
in
ntrospe
pecttio
on, or
the personal observation of you
your
own
ur o
wn tthoughts,
houg
ho
ught
hts,
s, feelings,
fN
eeelingss, and
nd behaviors.
beh
hav
aviorrs..
Because
introspections,
use it is difficult for others to confirm an individual’s
O
this subjective approach does not lend itself well to the scientific method. If
N
you say that you are feeling hungry, how can anyone else really know if your
observation is accurate or not? In the last 30 years, however, revolutions in
the methods used to observe brain activity have allowed
psychologists to
1
revisit the question of mental processes with much9greater objectivity and
success.
0
As you learn more about psychology, some conclusions
will seem obvious to you. After all, we already know a great deal about
the
mind from our
9
own experiences. In other cases, the conclusions ofTpsychological research
might challenge your firmly held beliefs. You may be surprised to learn
S
that having a “good cry” can make you feel worse instead
of better, or that
people are less likely to come to another person’s aid when they are part
of a crowd of observers than when they are the only ones available to help.
Sometimes, we even believe ideas that contradict each other. Everyone
knows that opposites attract and that birds of a feather flock together. It
takes the science of psychology to determine when and under what conditions these beliefs are actually correct.
mind The brain and its activities,
including thought, emotion, and behavior.
psychology The scientific study of
behavior and mental processes.
introspection Personal observation of
your own thoughts, feelings, and behavior.
WHAT IS PSYCHOLOGY?
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
5
What Are Psychology’s Roots?
Psychology is a relatively young discipline, dating back only to the 1870s.
However, topics that interest modern psychologists go back much farther in
the history of human thought. People living as long ago as 6000–5000 bce
in Assyria described their dreams (Restak, 1988). Among these accounts
are descriptions of being chased, which are still among the most common
dreams experienced by people (Nielsen et al., 2003). See ● Figure 1.1 for
common dream themes that many people experience.
The psychology family tree includes two major roots: philosophy and
the physical sciences. Psychologists answer questions traditionally posed
by philosophers by borrowing the methods of the physical sciences. We
examine scientific methods in detail in our next chapter.
Philosophers and psychologists
share an interest in questions regarding
M
the nature of the self, the effects of early experience, the existence of free
I
will, and the origin of knowledge. Both disciplines consider the relative balL (nature) and environmental factors (nurture) in
ance of biological factors
the resulting human behavior.
Both attempt to determine the relationships
E
between self-interest and the welfare of the community, between body and
S
mind, and between humans and the other species with whom we share the
planet. Although we typically
typi
p, cally consider questions
questions of the unconscious mind
m
philosophy The discipline that
systematically examines basic concepts,
including the source of knowledge.
physical science Any science that
studies nonliving matter, including physics,
onomy, and geology.
geollogy.
chemistry, astronomy,
S
H
A
N
N
O
N
ased or pu
p
rsued, not injured
inju
n red
d
Being chased
pursued,
Being
ng phy
physicall
physically
ly attacked
atta
ttacke
ck d
Being frozen with frightt
Eating delicious food
Arriving too late, e.g., for a train
1
9
0
9
T
S
Swimming
Being locked up
Seeing snakes
Finding money
0
10
20
30
© Cengage Learning 2013
Themes in dreams
Try
ying again
ag
and
d ag
a
gain
n
Trying
again
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Percentage of participants reporting theme
Figure 1.1
Many People Report Dreams With the Same Themes. Although we don’t understand why we dream about certain things, many people
report similar themes in their dreams. Source: Adapted from Nielsen et al. (2003).
6
Chapter 1
|
THE SCIENCE OF MIND: THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
and abnormal behavior to be the realm of the psychologist, philosophers
investigated these issues thousands of years before the first psychologist
was born.
y/Ala
Libra
r
Arts
Photo
and
cht M
usic
© Le
bre
© SuperStock
SuperSttock
ck
introductory textbook like this one, but we can
provide you with a small sample of this heritage. The point we would
like you to take away from this discussion is that many of the questions you will read about in this textbook are not unique to psychology, but have fascinated thinkers for thousands of years. What is
the mind? What is the relationship between the body and mind?
Is the mind inborn or is it formed through experience?
The ancient Greek philosopher Plato (427–347 bce) was
one of the earliest thinkers to tackle the question M
“What is the
mind?” Plato’s version of the mind featured threeI parts that
must be in balance: reason, spirit, and appetite. HeLcompared
these parts to a team of horses (spirit and appetite) guided
by a driver (reason). Plato’s division of the mind isE
echoed in the
SFreud also divided the
more modern work of Sigmund Freud (1856–1939).
mind
parts:
d into threee part
ts: the id (inborn aggressive and
, sexual impulses), the
ego (the
and
(conscience).
Later
the self ), an
nd thee superego (co
cons
nsci
cieence).
). L
a er iin
at
n this textbook,
teextb
boo
ook,
k, we
we will
ll
see that
hat Freud’s
Freud
d’s concept
conceept of the ego
eggo serves the
thee role
rol
o e of Plato’s
Pla
lato
o’s driver,
dri
rivver,, overseeoverseeeing and
nd balancing the
th two
tw horses:
h rsess: the
ho
t e impulses
th
impu
ulsses of the
th
hS
e id
d and
and the
he restrictions
restr
tricction
onss
imposed
superego.
might
driver
ose
sed by
b the sup
perego.
o. You m
ight
ig
ht rrelate
elat
atee to theeHdilemma
dilem
mma of
of the
the dr
driv
iver
(reason/ego)
on/
n/eego) when you
u aare
re faced with an opportunity to indulge an impulse
A
(id) whilee hearing
(superego)
heaaring
ng that
tha
hatt little
l ttle voicee in
li
in the back of yo
yyour
ur head (sup
perrego) tellN
ing you
that
this
ou th
hat th
his really
re ly isn’t a veryy good
good
d idea.
ide
deaa.
ancient
about
the
Another question with anc
cieent roots
root
ro
ots asks
asks N
abo
bout th
he rrelationship
ellattio
onshiip
between
een body and mind, a topic that
tha
hatt we will
wil
illl explore
exxpl
plor
ore further
furthe
herr in
n our
our chapter
cha
hapter
er
Ofu
on biological
iological psychology.
psychology On one side of the question were thinkers who
Nare quite different and
believed in dualism, or the idea that body and mind
separate. To the dualist, our bodies are physical, but our minds are something nonphysical and somewhat more mysterious. Arguing against this
1
point of view were the proponents of monism, the idea that mind and body
9
are not separate. Another way of thinking about monism
is to assume that
the mind is the result of activity in the brain. Does0 one of these positions
seem closer to your own way of thinking than the other?
9
The ancient Greek philosophers were nearly evenly split between monism
T
and dualism. Democritus (460–370 bce) and Aristotle
(384–322 bce)
argued in favor of monism, while Pythagoras (580–500
bce), Socrates
S
(469–399 bce), and Plato believed in dualism. As the classical world of
Greece and Rome gave way, monism moved to the background while medieval Christian thinkers wrote about a dualism between body and soul. Dualism continued to dominate discussion during the Renaissance. The French
philosopher René Descartes (1596–1650) was a vocal proponent of dualism.
He saw the body as mechanical but the mind as a nonphysical entity not suitable for scientific inquiry.
my
The Philosophers’ A comprehensive survey of the philosophical
roots of psychology is beyond the scope of an
Questions
Plato
P
latto vviewed
iewed the mind as a charioteer
(reason)
horses (spirit and
(r
rea
easo
s n) driving two horse
aappetite).
ap
peetitte).
WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGY’S ROOTS?
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
7
©
Be
au
xA
rts
/A
lam
y
René Descartes (1596–1650) believed
in mind-body dualism, or the
separation of the physical body from
the nonphysical mind.
Contemporary scientists studying the brain support monism, but they
agree with Descartes’ belief that the mind and body influence one another.
In our biological psychology chapter, we emphasize the reciprocal relationships between biology and behavior. Our biology clearly impacts our
behavior, as when hormones released during times of stress increase our
heart rate and make our palms sweaty, but our behavior also affects
our biology, as the situations we choose to enter (e.g., skydiving) influence
the release of stress hormones. This reciprocal influence between biology
and behavior can be seen in social situations, too. We know that among
primates, males’ testosterone levels predict their amount of sexual activity.
At the same time, however, the males’ testosterone levels increase in the
presence of larger numbers of available and receptive females (Cacioppo
& Berntson, 1992). That is, the social context affects the physiology of the
male primates.
M
Just as philosophers disagreed
about the relationship of mind and body,
I the mind’s knowledge was inborn or the product
they argued about whether
Psychology
L
E
S
,
as a Hub Science
S
H
A
N ine
Psychology
olog
gy C
Connects
onnects to Other
Oth
her Disciplines
Discipli
es
N
considering how people
sychology is all about peoO respond to
crowding. An attorney cannot crossple, and there are very few
N
examine a witness without an underoccupations that do not
P
require an understanding of people
and their behavior. An architect cannot design a functional space without
Psychology
Political
Science
Law
International
Relations
History
Sociology
SOCIAL
SOCIAL Geography
SCIENCES
SCIENCES
Communications
Psychiat
PSYCHOLOGYY
PSYCHOLOGY
Ophthalmology
Computer
Science
Management
Library and
Information Sciences
Statistics
Psychology
Education
Public Health
Economics
MATHEMATICS
MATHEMATICS
Robotics
Electrical
Engineering
Astronomy and
Astrophysics
Biomedical
Engineering
Neurology
Radiology
Emergency
Medicine
Cardiology
Applied
Mathematics
Construction
Neuroscience
Nuclear
Anthropology
Mechanical
Engineering
Geoscience
Meteorology
Toxocology
Paleontology
Condensed
Otorhinolaryngology
Matter
Material
General
Gastroenterology
Genetics
Fuels
Marine
Surgery Medicine
Sciences
Zoology
Biology Geoscience
Physical
Pharmacology Obstetrics/
Chemistry
Gynocology
Fish
Ecology Environmental
Polymers
Pediatrics
Respiratory
Soil
Endocrinology
Chemical
Analytical
Hematology
Agriculture
Urology
Engineering
Chemistry
Rheumatology
Physical
Plant
Biochemistry
Chemistry
Sciences
Oncology
Dairy
Urology
Nutrition
Biochemistry
Immunology
Entomology
General/
Organic
Dermatology
Sports
Sciences
MEDICINE
MEDICINE
Pathology
PHYSICS
PHYSICS
EARTH
EARTH
SCIENCES
SCIENCES
CHEMISTRY
CHEMISTRY
Virology
Microbiology
Dentistry
Veterinary
Medicine
Plant
Food Sciences
Biotechnology
standing of memory, motivation,
emotion, and stress. A teacher can1
not encourage students to reach their
9
potential without an understanding
of child development. The study of
0
psychology, then, provides you with
better insight into and9understanding
of many different occupations and
T
fields of study.
You have probablySseen applications that allow you to map your
friendship networks on social media,
with shorter links indicating greater
connectivity than longer links and
with larger bubbles indicating more
overlapping friendships with another
person. Kevin Boyack and his colleagues generated a similar map of
the sciences (see ● Figure 1.2), but
used reference lists in journal articles
instead of friendship networks (Boyack, Klavans, & Börner, 2005). The
resulting analysis shows that psychology is one of the major “hub” sciences, with strong connections to the
medical sciences, the social sciences,
and education. In our upcoming
chapters, we will highlight these connections with examples that are relevant to each particular chapter. E
Pharmacology
Parasitology
8
Chapter 1
|
THE SCIENCE OF MIND: THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
© www.BibleLandPictures.com/Alamy
of experience. Some philosophers, including Descartes, argued that ideas
and emotions were innate or inborn. More commonly, philosophers beginning with Aristotle believed that all knowledge is gained through sensory
experience. Beginning in the 17th century, this idea flourished in the British philosophical school of empiricism. The empiricists viewed the mind as
a “blank slate” at birth that was filled with ideas gained by observing the
world. As one of the major empiricists, John Locke (1632–1704), wrote in
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding:
Let us then suppose the mind to be, as we say, white paper void of all
characters, without any ideas. How comes it to be furnished? . . . To
this I answer, in one word, from EXPERIENCE. (Locke, 1690, II.1.2)
© National Trust Photo Library/
Art Resource, NY
Empiricism contributed two important ideas
that continue to influence contemporary psyM
chologists. First, empiricism
is the foundation for science itself, Iwhich allows us to gain
knowledge through careful and systematic
L
observation, resulting in “empirical” results.
Aristotle (384–322 BCE) argued
in favor of monism and believed
that we gain knowledge through
our senses.
E
S
,
John Locke (1632–1704)
and other empiricist
emp
piricist
philosophers
that
mind
“blank
p
hilo
osop
ophe
hers believed
believe
ved tha
at the m
ind
in
d wa
wass a “bla
ank
slate”” aatt bi
birt
birth
r h an
and
nd th
that
at kn
knowledge
nowled
edg
ge w
was
as g
gained
a ned
ai
d
through
throu
ugh
h experience.
experieencce.
S
H
A
N
N
O
N
Law
International
Inter
Internatio
nternatioonal
nal
Relations
R
Relat
e ionss
History
oryy
Sociology
SOCIAL
SOC
SO
OCIA
AL
AL
SCIENCES
Psychiatry
Gerontology
EEconomics
Computer
C
Science
Geography
Communications
Education
Nursing
Ophthalmology
Sports
Sciences
Urology
Astronomy and
Astrophysics
Neuroscience
Anthropology
Geoscience
Meteorology
Toxocology
Paleontology
Otorhinolaryngology
General
Genetics
Medicine
Pharmacology Obstetrics/
Gynocology
Pediatrics
Respiratory
Endocrinology
Hematology
Rheumatology
Robotics
Surgery
Fish
Marine
Biology
Ecology
EARTH
SCIENCES
MEDICINE
Biochemistry
Oncology
Urology
Zoology
Nutrition
Entomology
Virology
Microbiology
Dentistry
Veterinary
Medicine
Chemical
Engineering
CHEMISTRY
Biochemistry
Plant
Food Sciences
Material
Sciences
Polymers
Analytical
Chemistry
General/
Organic
Dermatology
Pathology
Condensed
Matter
Physical
Chemistry
Environmental
Dairy
Immunology
Mechanical
Engineering
Geoscience
Plant
Sciences
Construction
Nuclear
Fuels
Soil
Agriculture
Applied
Mathematics
1
9
PHYSICS0
9
T
S
Electrical
Engineering
Public Health
Biomedical
Engineering
Neurology
Radiology
Emergency
Medicine
Cardiology
Gastroenterology
MATHEMATICS
Management
Library and
Information Sciences
Statistics
Psychology
PSYCHOLOGY
Figure 1.2
Biotechnology
Pharmacology
Physical
Chemistry
Psychology
Psyc
Ps
ycho
hology as a Hub
S ie
Sc
ienc
nce. This map of scie
Science.
science
was generated by comparing
citations from over 1 million
papers published in more than
7,000 journals since 2000.
Psychology appears among the
seven major areas of science,
indicated in the map by large
fonts. The other six major areas
are social sciences, mathematics,
physics, chemistry, earth
sciences, and medicine. Source:
Adapted from “Mapping the Backbone
of Science,” by Kevin W. Boyack
et al., 2005, Scientometrics, 64(3).
With kind permission from Springer
Science+Business Media.
Parasitology
WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGY’S ROOTS?
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
9
Second, empiricism guided the 20th-century behaviorists, psychologists who examined behaviors that were the result of experience and that could be directly observed. The behaviorists’
contributions to psychology will be discussed in detail in our
chapter on learning.
The philosophical debate about the source of knowledge is
echoed in psychology as researchers consider the relative contributions of inborn or innate factors (nature) and experience
(nurture) to particular behaviors. You might have heard people
debate the importance of genes (nature) or good schools (nurture) on shaping the intelligence of children, a topic we discuss
in a later chapter on cognition and intelligence. Contemporary
psychology no longer views the question of
nature and nurture as either/or. Instead, we see
M the mind as a result of complex interactions
I between inborn characteristics and experiences.
L We might have a genetic predisposition for
intelligent behavior, but intelligence depends on
E experience, too. During the 1970s, children in
S Romanian orphanages experienced extremely
f
, deprived social conditions due to a lack of fundfew
opporing for
fo their
th
hei
eirr care.
carre. The children
ca
childre
ren
n ha
had
d fe
ew op
tunities
tuniti
tu
ties to
to interact with
wit
ith
h other
otther people
p oplle or
pe
or with
S th
the
environment.
most
their
he en
envi
iro
ronmen
ent. Th
They
ey sspent
p nt mos
pe
ost of the
heir days
cots
surrounded
by
sheets,
preventing
in
c
ots
ot
su
u
rrou
rr
ound
nded
ed
sheets
sh
ts,
,
prev
pr
even
n
ting
ti
ng tthem
H
from even seeing other children. Children who
A were adopted
orphanages
ed from these orph
p anages at young
ph
y
N ag
ages were
wer
ere able
ab
blee to
to recover,
recove
re
verr, but
butt the
the children who
years
off d
deprivation
ad endured
endu
ured
d ye
ears o
epri
ep
rivation experienced
experie
N hhad
permanent
perman
nen
entt cognitive
co
ogn
gnit
itivee deficits
defi
de
ficit
(A
Ames,
s 1997).
199
997)
7). In
In our
our chapters
cha
hapt
pters on genetics and
Oits (Ames,
development, we will revisit these debates in dept
depth.
development
th
N
If philosophers and psychologists
ask the same questions, what makes
these two fields different from each other? As we noted earlier, the structure and operations of the mind are not always obvious, even to the most
1
brilliant philosopher, and the scientific methods of the psychologist helped
9 of the mind and behavior. The branching of
develop additional theories
psychology from philosophy
was gradual. Nineteenth-century philoso0
phers began to argue for the experimental study of human behavior, and
9
some, like Alexander Bain (1818–1903), wrote psychology textbooks and
T
founded psychology journals.
As philosophical ideas were tested scientifically, new explanations for
S the mind and behavior began to emerge, and the
march toward psychological science as an independent discipline became
irreversible.
©C
Cynthia
ynthia Jo
Johns
Johnson/Getty
hnson/
on/Get
Getty
ty Ima
IImages
g
The empiricists had a profound influence
on the foundations of American political
thought—All of us are created equal. For
generations, Europe had been ruled by
people who were born into positions of
power instead of earning the privilege
of leading through hard work and
education. If knowledge is not innate or
inborn, any of us can learn enough to
grow up to be President.
Desperate conditions
nditions in Romanian
n the 1970s left many
orphanages in
children without the experiences they
needed for optimum cognitive or
social development.
Running along a parallel track to the early philosophers, ancient physicians were laying the foundation of our biological knowledge of the brain and
nervous system, discussed in greater detail in our
chapter on biological psychology. During this pursuit, physicians helped
The Physical
Scientists’
Methods
10
Chapter 1
|
THE SCIENCE OF MIND: THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
© San Diego Museum of Man
develop the scientific methods that would become central to contemporary psychology and previewed the
application of the knowledge they gained to the
improvement of individual well-being.
Although some confusion occurred along the way,
as in Aristotle’s belief that the mind was located in the
heart, ancient people had a rudimentary understanding that the head and later the brain were important
for mental life. As long as 7,000 years ago, healers
using a technique known as trepanation drilled holes
in a person’s skull to cure some unspecified conditions,
possibly headache or hallucination. Subsequent growth
of the skull bones indicates that some patients actually
survived this procedure. The early Egyptians correctly
understood that paralysis of a part of the body wasM
due
I
to brain damage and that such damage was permanent
(Breasted, 1930).
L
As early as 500 bce, Greek physicians began to systematically dissect
E that the brain was the
human bodies. Not only did they correctly conclude
S they noticed the conorgan of memory, thinking, and understanding, but
nection
on of the brain
brain to the sense organs, such as the
, eyes, and recognized
that the brain is the source
source of many
ny emotional
emo
motion
onal
al problems.
probl
blem
e s. Later
Laterr Greek
Gre
reek
ek phyphyysicians
popular
ns offered
offered
ed a rudimentary
rudim
mentary theory
the
heo
ory of personality
peerso
sona
n lityy that
tha
hat rremained
emaain
ned p
opular
ar
S
until the 19th
19
9th century.
centuryy. According
Accordin
Ac
ng to this approach,
ap
pproacch, personality
pers
pe
rso
onal
alitty would
wou
wo
uld be
affected
relative
different
body
fluids:
bile
ted
te
d by the relat
tiv
ive amounts
am
mounts of ffour
ourr diffe
ou
ffere
rent
n bo
oHdy flu
uid
ids: yellow
yel
ello
low
wb
ile
le (a
type o
off gastric
gastric fluid), black
bla
lack bile, blood, and phlegm. For example, a person
A
with a sad
disposition
ad d
ispo
osi
siti
tion
on suffered from
fro
om excess black bile, whereas a person
person
with a lot o
off bl
blood
would
cheerful.
Medical
practices
such
“bleeding”
bloo
od wou
uld be chee
erfful. M
edic
ed
icall p
raccN
tices
es suc
uch
h as “bl
bleeedi
ding
ng””
a patient
ient were applications of this theory.
theo
ory
ry.
N
For
whole
medicine
primitive
busior many centuries, the whol
le of med
edic
iciinee remained
rema
re
main
rimi
miti
tive b
ussiOined a pri
ness. Beginning in the 17th and 18th centuries,
centuries scientists armed with new
● Figure 1.3), began to
technologies, including the light microscope (seeN
make a series of important new discoveries about the human body and
mind. For example, they demonstrated that a single sensory nerve carried
1
one type of information, instead of multiple types. You might have already
9 sleepy eyes—you see
duplicated this research yourself while rubbing your
a flash of light. The nerves serving the retina of the
0 eye do not know how
to process information about touch or pressure. When stimulated, they
9
are capable of one and only one type of message—light. These types of
T convinced scientists
discoveries about the physical aspects of the mind
that, contrary to Descartes’ conclusions, the mindSreally could be studied
scientifically.
The work of Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1894) on the speed of
nerve signaling provided further evidence that the mind had a physical
basis. Von Helmholtz asked his participants to push a button when they felt
a touch. If a thigh were touched, participants reacted faster than when the
toe was touched. Because the toe is farther from the brain than the thigh,
signals from the toe required more time to reach the brain. Von Helmholtz
used these differences in reaction time to show that voluntary behavior did
© Photos.com
Ancient people might have attempted
to cure headaches, seizures, or
psychological disorders by drilling
holes in the skull. Bone growth around
the hole indicates that some of these
procedure.
patients survived the proc
The traditional red-and-white barber’s
pole has its roots in the practice of
bloodletting to treat diseases, which
was often carried out in barber shops.
The red-and-white stripes represent
bloody bandages wrapped around a
pole.
WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGY’S ROOTS?
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
11
Figure 1.3
© bilwissedition Ltd. & Co. KG/Alamy
S
HA
D
C
B
A
N
Ny as ppreviously
not oc
occur
ccu
ur in
inst
instantaneously
stan
anta
tane
neo
ously
reviiousslyy th
thou
thought.
ught.
t. The
Th fact that behavior
beh
system
physical
is not instantaneous, butOrequires time for the sys
ysttem
m tto
o process phy
signals,
mystical
i
l contributed
ib d to a more scientific,
i ifi less
l
i l view
i off the
h nervous
N
system.
The work of Hermann von Helmholtz
(1821–1894) on reaction time helped
establish the mind as something that
could be studied scientifically.
12
M
I
L
E
S
,
A = A screw for adjusting the height
of the object being examined
B = A metal plate serving as the body
C = A skewer to impale the object
and rotate it
D = The lens itself, which was spherical
World
History/Topham/The
Image Works
©W
orld
orl
d Hist
History
ory/To
/Topha
© Mary Evans Picture Library/The Image Works
Microscopes Changed the
World of Science. This
light microscope was used
by Anton von Leeuwenhoek
to discover red blood
cells in 1676. Microscopes
opened a whole new world
to scientists interested in
living things.
Chapter 1
|
At the same time that the philosophers began to incorporate physiological and psychological
1 concepts into their work, the physical scientists
began to explore the questions asked by the philosophers. The gradual
9
merger of these approaches resulted in a series of experiments that looked
0
more and more like contemporary
psychology. Scientists began to ask
questions about the relationships
between
physical stimulation and its
9
resulting sensations. For example, Gustav Fechner (1801–1889) was able
T
to identify the softest sound a person could hear by randomly presenting
S
sounds of different intensities,
to which a participant would respond “yes”
or “no.” When the “yes” responses reached 50%, Fechner concluded that the
sound was within the range that the human ear could detect. The stage was
set for a modern science of psychology.
THE SCIENCE OF MIND: THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
Summary 1.1
© www.BibleLandPictures.com/Alamy
© San Diego Museum
of Man
Highlights in the Philosophical and Scientific Roots of Psychology
Person or group
Things to remember
Ancient physicians
The brain is the source of the mind.
Ancient Greek philosophers
Provided natural, not supernatural,
explanations for their observations.
B
C
D
© bilwissedition Ltd. &
Co. KG/Alamy
A
© Mary Evans Picture
Library/The Image
Works; inset: © World
History/Topham/The
Image Works
© Nationa
al TTrust
rust
National
Photo Library/Art
Librar
ra y/Art
r
Resource, NY
Y
© Beaux
Beau
e x Arts/Alamy
Arts/Ala
Descartes
M
I
L
E
S
,
S
H
British empiricists
A
N
N
O
N physical
17th- and 18th-century
scientists
1
9
0
Von Helmholtz
9
T
S
Mind-body dualism.
Knowledge is the result of experience.
expe
Discoveries about sensation and
movement showed that the mind was
physical.
Studies of reaction time reinforced the
idea of the mind as physical.
WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGY’S ROOTS?
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
13
How Did the Science
of Psychology Begin?
As psychology developed from the gradual merger of philosophical questions and scientific reasoning, the young discipline struggled to determine
which questions and methods were best suited to its goals. Lively debates
arose among psychologists who helped to shape the field.
The credit for being the first psychologist goes to
Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920), who conducted the
first documented psychological experiment in his
laboratory at the University of Leipzig in 1879. This
Ma simple test of reaction time. How quickly after
landmark experiment was
hearing a ball drop ontoI a platform could a person respond by striking a
telegraph key?
L
Wundt, trained in medicine and physiology, was one of the physical
scientists who became E
interested in the mind. Wundt believed that the
goalSof a new science of psychology was to understand
consciousness,
which we discuss in a later chapter.
chapte
,
Wundt
W nd
Wu
dt saw
w mental
ment
me
n al experience
exp
xperienc
ncee as a hierarchy.
hie
iera
ra
Thee mind
min
ind
d constructs
cons
nsttructs an overall
over
ov
erall perception
percep
pe
ption (the
(th
thee food
I’m
out
mSeating
eati
ting
ng tastes
tasstees good)
go
ou
ut of building
bui
uildin
i g blocks
blo
ocks
ks made
m
up H
of
of separate
sepa
paratee sensations
sen
nsa
satiion
ons (such
(ssuc
uch as taste
tas
astte or
or vision)
vi
and emotional responses.
resp
ponses. One of Wundt’s students,
stud
A
Edward Titchenerr (1867–1923),
(1867–1923)), expanded
exxpa
p nded on WunW
dt’s
dt sNviews
vieews to
to establish
establ
b ish
h a theory
th
heo
eory
ry of
of structuralism,
structural
in which
mind
w
hich tthe
he m
in
nd co
could
d bee broken
bro
roken down into the
Nhi
smallest
smaalle
sm
lest elements
ele
lemeentss off mental
men
nta
tall experience.
expe
ex
perience. Titchener’s
Titche
O
approach to psychology paral
paralleled
trends
alle
l lleed the general tr
in N
the physical sciences of his day, such as efforts
in chemistry to break molecules into elements and
attempts by physicists to describe matter at the level
1
of the atom.
9Both Wundt and Titchener employed introspection0 as an experimental technique, but they meant
somewhat different things when they used the term.
9
Recall that we earlier defined introspection as observing your own thoughts,T feelings, and behaviors. Wundt’s approach to
introspection is illustrated
S by his reaction time experiment with the falling
ball. This experiment is introspective in the sense that pressing a telegraph
key indicates an internal state—I heard the ball fall. Titchener’s approach
to introspection was more consistent with the building block approach
to experience. He would instruct his research participants to describe an
object, perhaps a cup, in great detail (size, color, shape, and so on), hoping
that these details would serve as the building blocks for the mind’s overall
perception of the cup.
© INTERFOTO/Alamy
Wilhelm
Wundt and
Structuralism
Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920), seated in
this photo, is considered to be the first
experimental psychologist.
structuralism An approach in which the
mind is broken into the smallest elements
of mental experience.
14
Chapter 1
|
THE SCIENCE OF MIND: THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
The structuralists’ effort to break behavior down
into its essential elements was rejected by a group of
early 20th-century German psychologists, including
Kurt Koffka, Max Wertheimer, and Wolfgang Köhler, who founded Gestalt
psychology. Gestalt, although lacking a clear translation into English,
means “form” or “whole.” The Gestalt psychologists believed that breaking
a “whole” perception into its building blocks, as advocated by the structuralists, would result in the loss of some important psychological information. For example, take a look at the middle image in ● Figure 1.4. It is the
same in both the top and bottom rows, yet in the context of the first row,
most people would interpret the image as the letter B. In the context of the
bottom row, however, the image looks like the number 13. The structuralists would have a difficult time explaining why the same visual building
blocks could lead to such different conclusions.
M the Gestalt psycholoWhile largely known for their work in perception,
I
gists also had wide-ranging interests in learning, memory,
motivation, and
group dynamics. The influence of Gestalt psychologists
will resurface in
L
our later discussions of perception and cognitive psychology, the study of
E
thinking and information processing.
William
liam
James
and
mes a
nd
nctio
onalism
Functionalism
© Bettmann/CORBIS
Gestalt
Psychology
Max Wertheimer (1880–1943) was one
of the founders of Gestalt psychology.
S
While the structuralists and
, Gestalt psychologists
continued their
thei
th
eirr debate,
deba
bate
te,, a new
new type
pe off psychology
psyc
ps
ycho
h logyy
emerged,, p
partly
artly in response
res
espo
p nsse to the
he publication
pub
ublication of
of
Charles
The Origin
Char
Ch
a les Darwin’s
Da
nSoff Species
Spe
p ciess in
in 1859
185
8 9 and
and
The D
Descent
esceent
n of Man
n in 1871.
187
871. Functionalism
Func
ncti
tion
onal
a issm viewed
vi ed
beh
hav
avior as purposepur
urpo
posseH behavior
ful, since
ince
in
ce it led to survival.
survi
vivval. Nineteenth-century United States politics and
A
culture,
individuality,
ure, which
whicch vvalued
allue
ued
d individual
ality, practicality,
practicality,
y and frontier survival,
survival,
N elvess to exploring
embraced
functionalism.
raced
d fun
nctio
ona
nalism
sm. Instead of
of restricting
resstr
tric
icti
ting
ng themselves
the
h ms
msel
explloring
ng the
the
© Cengage Learning 2013
N
O
N
1
9
0
9
T
S
Figure 1.4
Gestalt psychology An approach
Gestalt Psychologists Challenged Structuralism. Participants usually see the middle figure
as a B when instructed to look at the first row, but see a 13 when instructed to read the second
row. The structuralists, who believed that experiences could be reduced to small building
blocks, would have difficulty explaining these results. In contrast, Gestalt psychologists, who
emphasized the role of context or the “whole” in perception, would have no difficulties at all.
to psychology that saw experience as
different than the sum of its elements.
functionalism An approach to
psychology that saw behavior as
purposeful and contributing to survival.
HOW DID THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY BEGIN?
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
15
© Mary Evans Picture Library/The Image Works
William James (1842–1910) proposed
functionalism, an approach to the
mind that viewed behavior
as purposeful.
structure of the mind, functionalists were more interested in why behavior
and mental processes worked in a particular way. To answer these questions, functionalists broadened their research techniques beyond the introspection used by Wundt and Titchener.
Functionalism’s chief proponent was William James (1842–1910),
whose textbook, Principles of Psychology (1890), dominated the field of
psychology for 50 years. At Harvard University, James offered a course in
psychology and established a laboratory in 1875, four years before Wundt’s
first lab. However, James’s lab served primarily as a demonstration lab for
his course rather than a research lab like Wundt’s. Because of psychology’s
emphasis on research contributions, Wundt is still given credit for being
the first psychologist.
There are few topics in psychology that James did not address in his
Principles, and many of his ideas sound thoroughly modern. For example,
M of consciousness to describe the flow of ideas
James coined the term stream
people experience whileIawake. Throughout his discussions of mental processes and behavior, James
L emphasized the role of evolution. For the functionalist, the value of an activity depended on its consequences. Behaviors
E repeated, and those that are either irrelevant
that enhance survival are
S
,
Connecting
to Research
The Experiment
xperiment That Launched
Gestalt Psychology
T
he Gestalt movement
traces its origin to a single
experiment conducted by
Max Wertheimer in 1912 that demonstrated the apparent movement of
objects (Wertheimer, 1912).
According to historians, Wertheimer was inspired to conduct his
study after playing with a toy stroboscope, which he bought from a vendor at a train station (Boring, 1942).
If you look through the slits in the
rotating disk of a stroboscope, like
the one in ● Figure 1.5, It looks like
the images behind the disk are moving, somewhat like an old cartoon.
Most of us would probably just enjoy
16
Chapter 1
|
S
H
A
N
N
O
N
the toy, but Wertheimer immediately
1
saw a deeper meaning, which he
9
tested in his experiment.
0
The Question: Can the perceived
9stimuli be
movement between two
explained in structuralist
T terms? If
Wundt and the structuralists were
S could be
correct and all perceptions
broken down into their elements, then
we would not “see” movement when
viewing stationary stimuli.
METHODS
Wertheimer used a stroboscope to
control the timing of the appearance
of two black lines (one vertical and
the other horizontal) against a white
background. The first line would
appear and then disappear, followed
some time later by the appearance
and disappearance of the second line.
The amount of time between the
disappearance of the first line and
the appearance of the second, which
depended on the speed with which
the wheel on the stroboscope was
turned, varied from trial to trial, and
the observers noted whether they
perceived movement or not.
RESULTS
When the interval between the
appearance of the two lines was
THE SCIENCE OF MIND: THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
Courtesy
Courtesyy of the
he Wellesley
W llesle College Archives
We
© SSPL/Science Museum/
The Image Works
With intervals longer than 60 milliseconds, observers
1 reported seeing
one line that moved from a vertical
9
to horizontal orientation.
0
Figure 1.5
A Toy Stroboscope Helped Launch Gestalt
Psychology. Studying a toy stroboscope,
which produces a perception of movement,
inspired Wertheimer to question Wundt and
the structuralists. How could the perception
of movement in the image be explained
by basic sensations if there were no real
sensations to see in the first place?
CONCLUSIONS
9 that his parWertheimer realized
ticipants were “seeing”
T something—
movement—that could not be
explained by the S
sensations of lines
appearing and disappearing. Wundt
and the structuralists must be wrong—
there is more to perception than just
sensing elements, like lines. An application of Wertheimer’s work can be
seen in the “moving” words in scrolling electric signs, which are really just
groups of lights flashing on and off. E
Mary Whiton Calkins (1863–1930)
(186
was a student
sttud
uden
entt of
o W
ililliliam
am JJames at
William
Harva
ard,
d, although she
she could
cou not
Harvard,
o
offi
cially register
ci
reg
egiiste
ter du
ue to h
officially
due
her gender.
memory
She studied
Sh
stud
st
udied m
emorry and tthe self and
ser
se
rved aass pr
pres
esid
identt of tthe
he American
served
president
Psychological Association in 1905.
© A. Vossberg/Visum/The Image Works
A
N
Nnds (a millisecond
about
abou
ab
outt 30 milliseconds
milillilise
seccond
millise
seco
ond
O of a second),
is one one-thousandth
the observers reported that the lines
N
appeared and disappeared together.
© Corbis
Bridge/Alamy
or damaging to survival are abandoned. If we dream, it must be because
dreaming improves our chances of survival. If we enjoy ice cream, it must
be because eating sweet, high-fat foods enhances survival—at least it did
for our ancestors, for whom famine was a much more likely problem than
obesity.
It is difficult to overestimate the impact of William James on psychology. Although he really didn’t establish a particular “school” or train large
numbers of students as did Wundt or other early psychologists, James’s
ideas have become so dominant in psychology that we no longer refer
to any separate “functionalist” approach. Structuralism came and went,
but all contemporary psychologists are generally functionalists at heart.
As described by psychology historians, “As a systematic point of view,
functionalism was an overwhelming success, but largely because of this
success it is no longer a distinct school of psychology. It was absorbed into
the mainstream psychology. No happier fate could M
await any psychological
point of view” (Chaplin & Krawiec, 1979, p. 53). I
James, like the Gestalt psychologists, L
rejected the notion that you can study the
mind by breaking it into elements or building E
blocks, as this division would result in a loss of S
understanding.
psychology
rstanding. As ps
sychology entered the 20th ,
century,
off Wi
William
ury, this “big
ig picture”
picctu
t re” approach
approaach o
Will
llia
iam
m
Jamess eventually
evventu
ual
a lyy broke
brok
ke up
p into a vvariety
ariety off se
sepp
arate perspectives, as p
psychologists
syych
c ologgis
ists attempted
attem
mpted
d S
to gain
in understanding
un
nde
d rstandin
ng by limiting
lim
imiting their
thei
th
eirr research
reseear
arch
ch H
to particular
rtiicular aspects of the
the mind and behavior.
Scrolling signs take advantage of
the apparent movement observed
by Wertheimer. Nothing in the sign
is moving at all, but perception of
movement results when the lights flash
on and off in sequence.
HOW DID THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY BEGIN?
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17
Beginning at the dawn of the 20th century, the
“mental processes” in our definition of psychology
took a backseat to observable behavior for the better part of the next 50 years, as psychologists following the perspective of behaviorism concentrated on
observable, measurable behaviors. As part of their effort to measure behavior carefully, many behaviorists restricted their research to studies using
animals. Armed with Darwin’s evidence linking humans to animals, the
behaviorists comfortably drew parallels between their observations of animals and their assumptions about human behavior. In particular, behaviorists were fascinated by learning, which we define as any persistent change
in behavior due to experience. We will examine the
behaviorists’ contributions to this area in depth in a
later chapter on learning.
M
Ivan Petrovitch Pavlov (1849–1936) had a parI
ticularly
significant impact on the course of behaviorism
L and psychology. While studying digestion in
dogs, he realized that the dogs’ salivation in response
E
to the arrival of the handler or to being harnessed for
an Sexperiment indicated that the dogs had associated,
f
, or linked, these signals with the arrival of food.
dogs’
The d
ogs’
s’ ability
abili
lity
ty tto
o use th
this
i learned
learn
rned
ed aassociation
s ocia
ss
iati
tio
o to
anticipate
ant
tici
cipa
patee important
imp
mpo
ortant future
futur
uree events
even
nts was a remarkable
rem
emar
ark
S tag
advantage
terms
off su
survival.
Thiss type
adva
vant
agee in te
erms o
surv
rviv
ivaal. Thi
Th
type of
of learning
lear
is now
nH
ow referred
ref
efeerred
d to as
as classical
clas
assical or
or Pavlovian
Pav
avlo
lovi
viaan conditioncon
ondi
di
ing, which we will discuss in detail in our chapter
chapte on
A g.
learning.
learning
NPsychology
Psyycho
holo
logy
gy textbooks
teextb
tboo
oks would
wou
ould
ld not
not spend too much
m
time
his
tim
ti
mN
e on
on Pavlov
Pa ov iiff hi
is research
rese
searrch aapplied
pplied only to salivating
occurs
vat
ting dogs. Although
Altho
h ugh
h classical
cllassi
sica
call conditioning
co
oc
O
organisms,
in rather primitive organism
ms including
including fruit flies,
N and slugs, it also occurs quite frequently in
snails,
humans. Many of our emotional responses associated with environmental cues are the result of this
1
type of learning. If you feel especially anxious prior
9 thank classical conditioning. If you are repulsed
to taking an exam, you can
by the idea of eating a food
0 that you once consumed just before becoming
ill, this is again a likely result
9 of classical conditioning. A war veteran who
experiences distress while filling a pickup truck with diesel fuel (a common
battlefield smell) is alsoTlikely to be experiencing the results of classical
conditioning.
S
John B. Watson (1878–1958) began experimenting with learning in rats,
and independently came to many of the same conclusions as Pavlov. Watson
also echoed the “blank slate” approach of the British empiricist philosophers
in his emphasis on the role of experience in forming human behavior. In a
famous speech given in 1926, Watson made the following claim:
The Behaviorists
and the
Cognitive
Revolution
© Mark Stivers
The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of The Johns
Hopkins Medical Institutions
While studying digestion, Ivan Pavlov
(1849–1936), seated second from left,
realized that his dogs could learn that
certain signals meant food was on the
way.
behaviorism An approach to psychology
that features the study and careful
measurement of observable behaviors.
18
Chapter 1
|
Give me a dozen healthy infants, well-formed, and my own specified
world to bring them up in and I’ll guarantee to take any one at
THE SCIENCE OF MIND: THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
© AP Photo/Noor Khan
random and train him to become any type of specialist
I might select—a doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief,
and yes, even into beggarman and thief, regardless of his
talents, penchants, tendencies, abilities, vocations and
race of his ancestors. (Watson, 1925, p. 10)
© Daniel Tanner/WENN.com/Newscom
Ferdinand Hamburger Archives, Sheridan
Libraries, John Hopkins University
Later in Watson’s career, he applied his understanding of
behavior to the budding American advertising industry. By
1930, Watson was earning $70,000 per year as an advertising executive, an astronomical salary for the time and quite
different from the $3,000 per year he earned as a professor.
After discovering that blindfolded participants couldn’t tell
the difference between brands of cigarettes, Watson con- Classical conditioning helps us understand the links we
cluded that to be successful, a product must be associated make between environmental cues and our emotions.
with an appealing image. The advertising industryMwas never If a soldier associated the smell of diesel fuel with
the same, and today’s advertisers continue to apply Watson’s traumatic experiences, smelling diesel fuel at a gas
I
principles. Old Spice aftershave achieved great success with its station back home can trigger distress.
L
ads featuring NFL wide receiver Isaiah Mustafa, implying
that
using Old Spice would make a man more “manly.” E
Watson’s legacy in psychology was enormous. He changed the goal
S
of the discipline from Wundt’s desire to understand consciousness to the
,
prediction
control
psychology
iction and contr
rol of behavior. He also restricted
psyychologgy to the
studyy of observable
obs
bser
e vaable behavior.
b havior. As we
be
we will
will see in our
our section
secctiion
n on research
res
esearch
h
methods
throughout
hodss an
and
d thro
oug
ugh
hout
ut this text,
teext
xt, even those
tho
hose
se psychologists
psych
chol
ogissts who
who are
are interinter
erSolog
ested
events,
object,
related
d in
n iinternal
n ernal even
nt
nts
ts, like
ke the vvisual
isua
is
u l re
rrecognition
co
ogn
nition of an ob
object
t, se
seek re
elat
ated
ed
H time, or othe
observable
behaviors,
such
other
similar
r vab
ble behaviors
rs,, su
uch as brain im
images, reaction
herr simi
ilar
measures.
sur
ures.
A
Like
Pavlov’s,
Watson’s
approach
psychology
ike P
a lo
av
ov’s,, Watso
on’s approa
ach
h to ps
psyc
ycho
holo
logy
gy
N
focused
relationships
between
environsed on
n the
he rel
lat
atio
ionships betwe
ween env
nviiron
onN
John
(1878–1958) was a
Jo
ohn B. Watson (1878–1958
mental
behaviorists
tal cues and behavior. Otherr be
beha
havi
vior
oris
istss
strong
s
trong
ng
believer
in
the “blank
“bla slate”
were much more interested in the effects of
O
approach
empiricist
appr
proach of the earlier em
consequences on behavior, an idea that was
N
philosophers. After working as a
derived from basic functionalism. Edward
psychology professor, he applied his
Thorndike (1874–1949) proposed a law of
knowledge of human behavior to
effect, which suggested that behaviors followed
advertising.
1
by pleasant or helpful outcomes would be
9
more likely to occur in the future, whereas
0
behaviors followed by unpleasant or harmful outcomes would
9
be less likely to occur. ThornT
dike based his law on obserS
vations of cats’ behavior in a
puzzle box he had constructed
(see ● Figure 1.6). To escape
Watson applied his
the box, a cat was required
understanding of behaviorism to
to complete a sequence of
advertising with great success.
behaviors. Through trial-andHe believed that a product
error learning, the cat would
would sell better if it were
escape faster and faster on
paired with an appealing image.
HOW DID THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY BEGIN?
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
19
Figure 1.6
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
10
M
I
L
E
20
S
,
30
40
50
60
70
Trials
© Nina Leen/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
S
H
successive trials. In other words, the cat repeated effective behaviors and
A
abandoned
abando
oned ineffective ones.
Like
Thorndike,
F.N
was
Lik
ke Thor
ornd
ndik
ike, B.
B. F
. Skinner
Skiinne
Sk
nerr ((1904–1990)
1904
04–199
990)
0) w
as vvery
eryy interested in the
er
off co
consequences
on
how
performed.
effects o
onseq
que
uenc
nces
esNo
n ho
ow frequently
freq
equ
uent
ntlly behaviors
beh
hav
avio
iorrs were perfor
Skinner
Watson’s
psychology
did
not
Skinne
er shared
shaared
sh
ed W
atso
at
son’
n’s be
hatt ps
sycho
hology
g d
id n
ot benefit from any
Obelieff tthat
consideration of consciousness or internal mentall states.
s at
st
a es Skinner believed
beli
that inner, private states N
such as thinking and feeling existed, but he viewed
B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) was
interested in the effects of reward and
punishment on future behavior.
20
© Cengage Learning 2013
Time required to escape (sec)
Thorndike’s Law of Effect
Emerged From Observations
of Cats. If you own a cat, you
probably know that cats don’t
like to be enclosed in boxes.
Edward Thorndike (1874–1949)
studied the escape strategies
of a cat to build his Law of
Effect.
Chapter 1
|
them as behaviors that followed the same rules as public behaviors, like
driving a car (Jensen & Burgess, 1997). He not only reduced his study of
1
behavior to the actions of rats and pigeons in adapted cages that came to be
known as Skinner boxes,9but he was very comfortable generalizing from the
behavior of rats and pigeons
0 to complex human behaviors. In spite of its
strong focus on a limited set of animals and situations, Skinner’s behavior9
ism has provided a wealth of beneficial applications. Smokers attempting
T engaged in self-paced continuing education
to quit, doctors and nurses
courses, and children receiving
treatment for autism are all likely to be
S
benefiting from Skinner’s efforts.
By the 1950s, the behaviorists’ disinterest in mental states and activity
was challenged by scientists from diverse fields, including linguistics and
computer science, leading to a cognitive revolution. Cognition covers the
very private and internal mental processes the behaviorists avoided studying—information processing, thinking, reasoning, and problem solving.
Ulric Neisser (1928– ) gave the new field its name in his 1967 book, Cognitive Psychology (Neisser, 1967).
THE SCIENCE OF MIND: THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
to this view, psychological disorders resulted from the actions of evil spirits
or other external, magical forces. Although improvements in science and
medicine led to more natural than supernatural explanations of psychological disorders, effective treatments were not rapidly forthcoming.
Patients in the 17th and 18th centuries were often subjected to bizarre
treatments, including being spun around in a chair. As recently as the
1940s, patients with schizophrenia were regularly experimented on. They
were subjected to questionable techniques such as “insulin shock therapy,”
Ulric Neisser (1928– ) contributed the
term cognition to the emerging field
that studied information processing,
thinking, reasoning, and problem
solving.
Science Source/Photo Researchers, Inc.
1
9
With the excepClinical Roots:
tion of occasional
0
Freud and the
bursts
of
insight
Humanists
9
from the ancient
Egyptians and Greeks, the most common view of T
psychological disorders
over the course of history has been the supernatural
S approach. According
Courtesy of Cornell University
Breakthroughs in computer technology allowed these new cognitive
psychologists to use mathematical and computer models to illuminate the
mental processes leading to observable behaviors. Alan Newell (1927–
1992) and Herbert Simon (1916–2001) wrote groundbreaking artificial
intelligence programs using human information processing as their model.
The hardware of the computer was viewed as a metaphor for the brain,
and its software mirrored the brain’s activity. By the 1980s, most university
psychology departments were offering courses in cognition. By the 1990s,
collaborations between cognitive and biological psychologists led to the
new field of cognitive neuroscience, which seeks to identify brain structures and functions involved in processing information. In a later chapter
on cognition, language, and intelligence, we will explore more detail about
the contributions of cognitive psychologists in more detail.
To illustrate how the behaviorist and cognitive approaches differ, we
M by children. Behavcan take a look at how each explains language learning
I language in response
iorists like Skinner believed that children acquired
to feedback, such as parental approval or being understood.
In contrast,
L
linguist Noam Chomsky proposed that human beings are born with innate
mechanisms for learning language, which is exactlyEthe type of specialized
internal mental processing Skinner rejected. As weSwill see in our chapters
on development
evelopment
nt and
d cognition, the cognitive approach
to language learn,
ing dominates
understanding.
ominates our
our current
cu
urrent unders
sta
tand
ndin
ing.
In
behaviorist
n contemporary
co
ontem
mpo
oraryy departments
depa
p rtment
ntss of psychology,
psych
chol
olog
o y, b
ehav
eh
a io
iorist
st approaches
app
pproachees
S
are represented
professors
and
researchers
specializing
epresentted by
b pro
ofe
fesssor
o s an
nd research
herrs spec
ciaalizi
zing
ng in
in learning,
leaarniing
le
ng, who
who
continue
nuances
in
nue tto
o exploree the n
uancess of the
the
h
H
effects
off experience on
ts o
on behavior. Many
A
of thee bigg que
questions
estio
onss ttackled
ackled by behaviorac
beehaviorN
ists are now
no
ow examined
exaami
mined
d through the
th lens
leens
of thee cogni
cognitive
itive
i or biological perspective.
persp
spective
ve.
N
Behavioral
important
vioral approaches make imp
mpor
orta
tant
nt
O
contributions
ributions to real-world
real world problems,
problems
N
including how best to pay employees and
the treatment of psychological disorders
and addiction.
Computers were named after the
job title of the women who did
most computation tasks before the
machines were invented and who
continued to operate them. Although
these early computers were less
powerful than your cell phone (not
to mention much more expensive),
their operation gave psychologists
new ideas about how the mind might
process information.
HOW DID THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY BEGIN?
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
21
© Jerry Cooke/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Until about 60 years ago, no effective
treatments for psychological disorders
existed. The application of scientific
principles to treatment has finally led
to real help.
in which insulin injections led to comas, and were restrained in lukewarm
baths. We discuss schizophrenia and its treatment in more detail in our
chapters on psychological disorders and therapies.
Between the 17th and 19th centuries, supernatural explanations for
psychological disorders began to give way to two scientific approaches:
a medical model and a psychological model. The medical model of psychological disorder emphasized physical causes of abnormal behavior and
medical treatments, such as medication. The psychological model suggested that abnormal behavior can result from life experiences, leading
to fear, anxiety, and other counterproductive emotional responses. Psychological treatments take many forms, from offering support to applying
cognitive and behavioral methods to help people think and problem solve
in new ways. As we will see in our chapters on psychological disorders and
therapies, contemporary psychologists typically combine these approaches
to understand disorders M
and develop effective treatments. For example, we
First psychology
ology laboratory
laboratory:
y:
undt a
the Uni
U
ve
ersity
Wilhelm Wundt
att the
University
p g, Germany.
German
many.
y
of Leipzig,
First
st Doctorate
Do
ate in Psychology:
Psycholo
olog
gy:
Joseph Jastrow,
Ja
astrow, a student
studen
nt of
of
Hall’s at Johns Hopkins.
Ho
1879
1883
1886
I
L
E
S
Mary Calkins, a student of William James,
becomes the, first female president of the
Ame
A
rican
an Psycho
hology
ology A
ssociatio
ssocia
c tio
tion.
on.
American
Psychology
Association.
S
H
First
F
irst Professor of Psychology:
A
Cattell,
James McKeen
nC
attell, a student
of Wundt’s, at the University
Unive
ersi
rsity
ty of
o
N
Pennsylvania and
and
d Columbia
Colu
umbi
mbia
a University.
Un
nivers
ersity
ity.
Founding
Foundi
Fou
nding
g of th
the
hN
e Am
America
American
an
Psychology
Association.
Psycho
Psy
cholog
logy
y Asso
A
ssoci
ciation.
O
1892
1896
1898
1888
1890
N
Alfred Binet and Theodore
Theod
Simon
p the
develop
test.
dev
velo
elop
the IQ tes
test
t.
IIvan
va
an P. P
Pavlov publishes
his
h
iss fifirst
rst research on
classical
conditioning.
classica
cla
assical
a
ssica condition
1904
1905
1906
1908
Edward Thorndike describes
William James publishes
Principles of Psychology.
First American psychology
laboratory established by
G. Stanley Hall, a student
of Wundt’s, at Johns
Hopkins University.
his Law of Effect.
1
9
0
9
T
Functionalism and
S
Psychoanalysis are
Publication of Clifford Beers’s
A Mind That Found Itself leads
to improved treatment of people
with psychological disorders.
introduced; First Psychology
Clinic is opened by Lightner Witmer.
Figure 1.7
Milestones in the History of Psychology.
Photos, left to right: © INTERFOTO/Alamy; Library of Congress/Photo Researchers, Inc.; The APA logo is a trademark of the American Psychological Association. Reproduced with
permission. No further reproduction or distribution is permitted without written permission from the American Psychological Association; © Mary Evans Picture Library/The Image
Works; © Elias Goldensky, University Archives/University of Pennsylvania. Reproduced with permission; Courtesy of the Wellesley College Archives; Courtesy Special Collections &
Archives, Truman State University; The Alan Mason Chesney Medical Archives of The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions; Reproduced with permission of Mental Health America
22
Chapter 1
|
THE SCIENCE OF MIND: THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) built a bridge from his medical training as a physician to his belief in the impact of life experiences on
behavior. His psychodynamic theory and its applications to the treatment
of psychological disorders dominated much of psychological thinking for
the first half of the 20th century. Freud managed to combine and communicate ideas about the existence of the unconscious mind, the development
of sexuality, dream analysis, and psychological roots of abnormal behavior
in such a way that his theories influenced not just psychology but culture.
M
He nearly single-handedly founded the study of personality
in psychology,
I
L
E
B.F. Skinner’s The Behavior
of OrganismsS
contributes to
the dominance of b
, behaviorism.
John B. Watson publishes
Psychology as the Behaviorist
Views It.
First African
African-American
an-American
an-A
Ameri
merican
ican Doctorat
D
Doctora
Doctorate
octora
oct
orate
orat
t in
Psychology:
Francis
ology: Fra
F
ncis
i Cecil Sumner, a student
of G. Stanley Hall’s, at Clark University.
1913
1920
1921
1928
The first Gestalt jjournal is
ished in Germany.
published
Jean Piaget publishes
Judgment and Reasoning
in the Child.
1929
1938
S
H
A
The Bo
B
Boulder
er Con
Confer
Conference
ferenc
ence
Nuldlder
establishes
establ
est
ablishes
s the scientistscie
sc
ienttisttpractioner
off
p
racti
ctioner model o
N
cclinical
linic
nical psy
ycholo
ogy
y.
psychology.
O
1942
1949
N
© Paul Van Scott/Final Score Products
know that feeling depressed has both physical components (changes in the
activity of chemical messengers in the brain) and experiential components
(exposure to stressful situations). Treatment for depression often combines
medication with efforts to change the way a person thinks about his or her
situation.
The work of Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)
on consciousness, sexuality, abnormal
behavior, and psychotherapy played a
dominant role in psychology during the
first half of the 20th century.
Gordon Allport, a social
psychologist,, p
publishes
The Nature of
of Prejudice.
Prejudice.
Penfield
Wilder
Wil
d Penfi
nfield
publi hes
eld
e
ld publishes
the resultss of
of his
his
observations
observati
tions
ons off patients
pa ient
patie
nts
undergoing
undergoin
und
oing
gs
surgery
urg
gery
for
epilepsy.
fo
or e
pile
lep
psy.
1
9
0
9
T Carl Rogers introduces
Hans Berger invents
the electroencephalogram Humanist approaches
(EEG), still used today to Sto therapy.
1954
54
George
Miller’s
Geo
Mill
iller’
er’ss “The
Numb
umbe Seven, Plus
Magical Number
or Minus
Minuss Two”
Two” stimulates
s
work
or
Co
ognitivve Psychology.
Ps
in C
Cognitive
1956
1959
1976
Noam Chomsky’s criticism of
Skinner’s Verbal Behavior
also contributes to the
cognitive revolution.
study brain activity.
Richard Dawkins’s
The Selfish Gene popularizes
Evolutionary Psychology.
Photos, left to right: Ferdinand Hamburger Archives, Sheridan Libraries, John Hopkins University; Courtesy of the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center,
Howard University Archives; © Farrell Grehan/CORBIS; © VEM/Photo Researchers, Inc.; © Nina Leen/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images; © Michael
Rougier/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images; © Jon Roemer; Miller, George A. The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity
for processing information. Psychological Review, 63(2), 81–97. doi: 10.1037/h0043158; © Dennis Van Tine/Retna Ltd./Corbis
HOW DID THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY BEGIN?
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
23
Courtesy of the Moorland-Spingarn Research
Center, Howard University Archives
In 1920, Francis Cecil Sumner
(1895–1954) became the first
African American to receive a
PhD in psychology for his work on
psychoanalysis. Sumner’s later work
focused on religion and racism.
and we will explore his theories more fully within that context. He developed the techniques of psychoanalysis for treating mental disorders, which
we discuss in our chapter on therapies. He popularized the use of psychological principles for explaining everyday behavior, and his theories are just
as likely to be discussed in your English literature course as they are in a
psychology course.
Our enthusiasm for Freud is tempered by a number of valid concerns.
As you read and hear about Freud throughout the remainder of this course,
keep in mind that he did no real experimentation. His theories are based
primarily on his own introspections along with those of his patients, who as
primarily upper-class Viennese housewives were not typical of the general
population. Freud’s theories do not lend themselves to experimentation, an
essential requirement for any scientific theory, as we discuss further in our
chapter on research methods. For example, how could you possibly design
M
an experiment to demonstrate
that dreaming about water indicates you
I about sex? Finally, although psychoanalysis is
have unconscious concerns
still used as a therapy technique,
it is rarely conducted in the strict Freudian
L
manner. Other techniques, discussed in our chapter on therapies, exceed
E
psychoanalysis in effectiveness
and popularity among therapists.
© Ann Kaplan/CORBIS
S
pri
Humanistic Psychology, By the 1960s, American psychology was primar-
Abraham Maslow (1908–1970)
contributed a theory of motivation
to the growing humanism
movement.
humanistic psychology An approach
to psychology that saw people as
inherently good and motivated to learn and
improve.
24
Chapter 1
|
characterized
behaviorism
ily char
arac
acte
teri
rized
d by beh
havviorism
sm on
n on
onee side
s de aand
si
nd Freud’s
Freud
ud’s
’s theories
the
heorie
iess on the
Structuralism
into
disfavor,
other.
r. S
tructuralism
sm had
d ffallen
alle
al
len in
nto
od
isfa
favo
vor, and
nd ffunctionalism
uncttio
ionaali
lism
sm and
nd Gestalt
Ge
S di
psychology
no
longer
distinct
schools
p
ps
ycho
holo
logy weree n
o longe
ger
dist
stin
inct sc
chools
l off thought.
th
hou
ough
ght. Just
Ju
ust ass other
oth
herr aspects
asp
American
culture
began
against
of Ame
eri
rica
can
n cu
ult
ltur
uree bega
gan
eature
re rrebelliousness
ebeelli
eb
lio
ousnes
esss agai
ains
nstt ccurrent
urr
rren
entt ways
H to ffeature
began to
of thinking, some psychologists
t push against the restrictions
restrictio of
A
behaviorism
behavi
ior
orism and
an psychoanalysis.
p yc
ps
ycho
h anal
alys
ysis. Many
M ny of these
Ma
thes
th
e e disenchanted
dise
di
senc
nccha
h nted psycholopsych
N
had
been
psychoanalysis,
gists h
ad
d be
een ttrained
raained
ed iin
n ps
psycho
hoan
nalyysiis, but
but were
were not
not seeing
seeing the results
re
desired.
they des
esired
d. Thi
Thiss dissatisfaction
diss
di
ssaatiiN
sffacction with
wiith
h prevailing
preva
vailin
ng views
view
vi
ewss led these humanishuma
new
ways
of
thinking
about
the
human
mind.
tic psychologists
psych
hollogiists
t to propose
thinki
h
king
ng
abo
bou
u
t
m
O
Humanistic
H
i ti psychologists
h l gi t rejected
j t d the
th idea
id that
th t people
l are innately
i
uncivilized and must beNtaught to be good. Freud, James, and Skinner all
believed that human behavior was on a continuum with animal behavior,
which led to their assumption
that humans naturally shared the aggressive
1
impulses of animals. For Freud in particular, society had a civilizing func9 and aggressive human being. In contrast, the
tion on the otherwise selfish
humanists extended the0philosophy of Jean Jacques Rousseau and other
18th-century Romantic 9
philosophers into a belief that people are innately
good, are motivated to improve themselves, and only behave badly when
corrupted by society. T
Instead of focusing S
on what went wrong in people’s lives, humanist
Abraham Maslow (1908–1970) asked interesting questions about what
made a person “good.” Maslow introduced a major theory of motivation,
which we describe in more detail in our chapter on motivation. According
to Maslow, the pinnacle of motivation is the goal of self-actualization. The
1990s U.S. Army slogan, “Be all you can be,” captures much of the flavor of
self-actualization. We will see Maslow’s emphasis on what is good about
THE SCIENCE OF MIND: THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
© Michael Rougier/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
© Bill Fritsch/Getty Images
people, as opposed to Freud’s focus on what goes wrong
with people, reemerge in the form of contemporary
positive psychology.
Humanist therapists rebelled against Freudian
approaches to treatment. One humanist therapist, Carl
Rogers (1902–1987), developed a new approach to therapy, client-centered therapy. In this type of therapy, the
people receiving treatment are referred to as clients
rather than patients, reflecting their more equal standing with the therapist and their more active role in the
therapy process. Humanistic approaches to therapy have
also influenced communication, group process, parenting, and politics. The emphasis on active listening and
the use of “I hear what you’re saying” reflections have
M
become nearly cliché in courses of leadership training
I
and interpersonal communication. Advice to parents
to provide “unconditional” love to their childrenLis a
direct application of humanist beliefs, which we discuss
E
in more detail in our chapter on development. Finally,
S
humanistic psychology continues to flavor our political
and social domains.
domaains. When
When issues such as capital punish,
mentt arise, the humanistic
humaanistic contention
content
ntio
ion
n that
t at there
th
the
herre are
aree no
bad peop
people,
ople, ju
just bad societies,
societies, typically
typ
ty
pically appears
ap
ppe
pear
ars ass part
par
art
S
of thee debate.
debatte.
The Freudians and humanists had conflicting views on
human nature, with the Freudians believing that we are
naturally selfish and aggressive and the humanists believing
we are naturally ggood.
ood. These p
hilosophical diffe
philosophical
differences
continue
our
discussions
cont
co
ntin
inuee tto
o colorr ou
ur discus
ussi
sion
onss of topics.. Is
Is the
th criminal
jjust
usst a “bad”
“ba
bad”
d person
perrso
son who
wh was
wass never
neve
verr pr
prope
erlyy ssocialized
oc
properly
or a
““good”
“g
ood”” person
peersson who
wh
ho was
was corrupted?
co
orrup
u ted?
d?
H
A
N
N
O
N
When
Wh
hen
en a case of capital
capi
puni
pu
nishment occurs, we often
ni
punishment
readd aabout
read
bout the priso
prisoner’s
tterrible
ibl childhood
hildh d from
f
one
side and the need to protect
society from further misdeeds
by this person from the
other side. Where would the
Freudians and humanists line
up in this debate?
1
9
0
9
T
S
Humanist therapists, like Carl Rogers (1902–1987), often rebelled against Freudian approaches to
therapy. For example, Rogers (in the white shirt leading a group therapy session) referred to people
as “clients” rather than “patients” as Freud did.
HOW DID THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY BEGIN?
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
25
Summary 1.2
© INTERFOTO/
Alamy
Pioneering Approaches to Psychology
Foundation of psychology
Things to remember
Structuralism
Behavior can be broken down into its
components.
Gestalt psychology
Breaking behavior into components
loses meaning.
© Bettmann/
CORBIS
Wilhelm Wundt (1832–1920)
© Mary
Evans
M
Pict
Picture
Library/
The Image
Wo
Works
Max Wertheimer (1880–1943)
Functionalism
M
I
L
E
S
,
Behavior is purposeful and contributes
to survival.
Mason
The
e Alan Mas
M
on
Chesne
Che
s y Medi
call
Chesney
Medical
Archives of The
Johns Hopkins
Joh
Medical
d
Institutions
n
William James
Jame
es (1842–1910)
(184
42–19
910)
Behaviorism
m
Ivan Pavlov
vlov (1849–1936)
(184
49–
9 19
1936
36))
Courtesy of
Cornell
University
Cogn
Co
gnitiv
ive
e revolution
revvolu
re
lutition
on
Cognitive
© Paul Van
Scott/Final
Score Products
Ulric Neisser (1928– )
1
Freud’s psychodynamic
9 theory
0
9
T
S
Humanism
© Ann
Kaplan/
CORBIS
Sigmund Freud (1856–1939)
S
H
A
N
N
O
N
Experience
Experiien
Ex
ence
e iss the
e primary
prim
mar
aryy source
sourrce
e of
of
beha
be
avio
or.
behavior.
Prriv
ivate mental
ment
ntal
al processing
pro
roce
c ssing can be
Private
scie
ent
ntifi
ifica
callllyy.
studied scientifically.
Ideas about the unconscious mind,
the role of experience in abnormal
behavior, and new approaches to
therapy laid a foundation for later study
in personality and therapy.
People are naturally good and are
motivated to improve.
Abraham Maslow (1908–1970)
26
Chapter 1
|
THE SCIENCE OF MIND: THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
The great question
that has never
been answered and
which I have not
been able to answer,
despite my thirty
years of research
into the feminine
soul, is “What does
a woman want?”
What Are Psychological
Perspectives?
Courtesy
urtesyy of Scott
Scott Grafton,
Gr fton, UCSB
Gra
SB Brain
B a n Imag
Brai
IImaging
maging Lab.
La
Photo
to © Roger
Roge
R
r Freberg
Freb
F berg
Like William James, the behaviorists and Freudians tried to answer the “big
questions” of psychology with one single approach. However, it is difficult
to build a big theory (which we discuss in our research methods chapter)
without a large body of experimental data, and psychology was still a young
science. To fill this gap, some psychologists began to pursue an understanding of behavior from more specific points of view, or perspectives.
By specializing in only one part of the discipline, as opposed to trying to
answer everything at once, these psychologists began to gain an in-depth
understanding of the mind.
By the second half of the 20th century, the majority
of psychologists
M
were pursuing the perspective approach. Examining
I psychological phe- —Sigmund Freud
nomena from different perspectives does not imply disagreement, conflict,
or a lack of awareness of alternate perspectives. In L
most cases, a psychologist’s perspective simply means that he or she is examining
behavior from
E
that point of view. For example, watching a child learn
a
new
vocabuS
lary word will have veryy different meanings
develg to the biological,
g
,
opmental,
evolutionary,
ental, evolu
utionaary, cognitive, ssocial,
ocia
oc
ial, or
or behavioral
beha
be
h viior
o al psychologist.
psy
sycholog
ogis
ist.
t.
Reflecting
the
traditional
divisions
field,
Refleect
ctin
ingg th
he tra
aditional divi
visi
sions of the
he fi
field
d, iitt is common
com
ommo
mon for
for
psychologists
social
hologi
gist
stss to rrefer
efer
ef
er to
o th
tthemselves
emseelvves as soci
cial
al psychologists,
psych
chol
ogis
istts, developdeeveelo
loppSolog
mental
psychologists,
their
area
specialization
tall p
sychologistss, and sso
sy
o on, iindicating
ndic
nd
icat
atingg th
thei
eir ar
rea off sp
spe
ecia
iali
liza
zati
tion
on
H often
and interest.
at universities
ntere
resst. Departments
Departtment
nts of psychology
psych
hology
l
offten continue
contiinue
A school in psythis organization,
to graduate
org
rgan
niz
izat
a ion,
n, and
and students applying
ap
psychology
might
like
choosing
ogy m
igh
ht apply
ap
pply to
o one particular
partiicu
cular area
area off expertise,
expe
ex
pertis
ise,
e,
lik
ike
e
choo
ch
oosi
sing
ng
N
an undergraduate
ndergrrad
adu
uate major.
maj
ajor. To illustrate
illustr
trate the
the distinctions
dist
di
stin
inct
ctio
ons among
amo
ong some
som
omee of
of
Nig
the main perspectives, we will consider
might
con
onsi
side
derr how
how each
each m
igh
ht approach
appro
oach
h th
thee
question
tion of human memory, discussed in detail inOa later chapter on
memory, as this topic is especially important to students
who wish to
N
perform well on their exams.
1 referred to as behavBiological psychology, also
ioral neuroscience, focuses9 on the relationships
between mind and behavior and their underlying
0 genetics, biochemisbiological processes, including
9
try, anatomy, and physiology. In other words, biological
psychologists are
interested in the physical mechanisms associated with
behavior.
As we will
T
see in our chapter on biological psychology, technological advances beginS
ning in the 1970s, especially new methods for observing brain activity,
initiated an explosion of knowledge about the connections between brain
and behavior. Using these new technologies, biological psychologists have
approached the question of storage and retrieval of memories in many different ways, ranging from observing changes in communication between
nerve cells in slugs to investigating the effects of stress hormones on the
ability to form memories. The focus of this perspective is on the mechanisms used to store and retrieve memories, such as changes in the structure
of nerve cells or in the biochemical environment of the nervous system.
Seven
Perspectives
of Psychology
Biological psychologists explore the
relationships between the mind,
behavior, and their underlying
biological processes, often using
technology like functional magnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI). Scott
Grafton of the University of California,
Santa Barbara is pointing out the
features of the brain of one of your
authors.
biological psychology The
psychological perspective that focuses on
the relationships between mind, behavior,
and their underlying biological processes,
including genetics, biochemistry, anatomy,
and physiology; also known as behavioral
neuroscience.
WHAT ARE PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES?
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
27
© Publiphoto/Photo Researchers, Inc.
© EPA/Newscom
M
I
L
Evolutionary psychologists are interested in how our modern behaviors were shaped by our species’ history.
E
S
A closely related perspective,
evolutionary psychology, attempts
attemp to
,
question
how
our
physical
answerr tthe
he q
ueest
stio
ion
n off h
ow o
ur p
hysi
hy
sica
cal structure
stru
ruct
c ure and
and behavior
behaavi
be
vior
or have
their
contributions
species’
survival.
been shaped
sh
haped byy the
heir
i con
ontr
trib
ibuttions
ns tto
o our spec
ecie
iess’ sur
urvvival. Thiss perspecper
ers
S
sound
familiar
you—it
tive sshould
hould
l soun
und
d fa
fami
milliaar tto
o yo
you—
—it iiss a modern
mo rn extension
exttensio of
Social psychology
ch
hol
olog
olog
og is important
ogy
imporrta
tant too our
William
wee di
discussed
W
Wi
llia
iam
m James’s
JameeH
Ja
s’s functionalism,
func
nction
nal
alis
ism,
m, which
whi
hich w
isc
scus
usse
sed
d previously.
prev
pr
evio
io
understanding
contemporary
din
ng of many cont
nttem
mporary
Earlier, we also saw evolutionary psychology at work in the
A
problems, includ
including
prejudice.
uddin
udi
ing prej
ing
ejud
ej
udic
ud
ice.
ic
e In one
shaping
bitter
basic
principle of
shap
ping of our sensitivityy to
ob
itter tastes. The ba
b
sic princip
evolutionary
psychology
that
current
behavior
exists in
evol
olut
utio
i na
narr y N
psy
sych
cho
olog
ogyy is
i tha
hat ou
our cu
urren
entt be
b
ehavior exis
experiment,
what
t, some
som
me people
peopl
ple de
ple
pl
ddescribing
scribing wha
sc
at ev
its
present
form
because
it
provided
some
advantage
in
survival
it
t
s
p
pr
esen
ent
t
f
fo
rm
becau
ause
e
t
prov
pr
ovid
d
ed
d
s
om
m
e
ad
sur
N
they heardd from other participants about
utt
aand
nd
d reproduction
reprod
re
oduc
uction
ourr ancestors.
anccest
an
sto
ors. An
An evolutionary
evol
ev
olutionary psycholopsych
a drawing of a White man threatening
Oon too our
gist might be interested in the fact that
tha
haat we
we have a very good
a Black man with a razor switched
N and particularly for faces of people who have
memory for faces,
the races of the two men (Allport &
cheated us in the past (Barclay & Lalumière, 2006). In the world
Postman, 1945). They now “remembered” of the hunter-gatherer, being cheated out of one’s fair share of
1
hearing about a Black man threatening
the hunt was likely to lead to starvation for you and your fam9 who could not keep track of the cheaters were
a White man. Given our judicial system’s ily, and people
unlikely to survive
0 and reproduce.
dependence on eyewitness testimony,
Cognitive
understanding these social tendencies
9 psychology focuses on the process of thinking,
or the processing of information. Because our ability to rememprovides important guidance.
ber plays an T
integral part in the processing of information, a
cognitive psychologist isSlikely to have a lot to say about the storage and
retrieval of memories. A cognitive psychologist might ask why processing
evolutionary psychology The
seems different when we are trying to remember names and dates while
psychological perspective that investigates
taking a history test compared to remembering how to ride a bicycle. What
how physical structure and behavior have
been shaped by their contributions to
processes lead to the frustrating experience of “tip of the tongue,” in which
survival and reproduction.
you remember the first letter or a part of the word you’re trying to retrieve
cognitive psychology The
but not the whole thing? What strategies can we use to make our memopsychological perspective that investigates
information processing, thinking,
ries more efficient? We address these and similar issues in our chapters on
reasoning, and problem solving.
memory and cognition.
28
Chapter 1
|
THE SCIENCE OF MIND: THE DISCIPLINE OF PSYCHOLOGY
9781305461994, Discovering Psychology: The Science of the Mind, Cacioppo/Freberg - © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. No distribution allowed without express authorization.
Courtesy of Dr. Narender Ramnani, Royal Holloway University of London, and
Dr. Joshua Balsters, Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, Dublin
Social psychology describes the effects of the social environment,
including culture, on the behavior of individuals. Social psychologists
recognize that we each construct our own realities and that the social
environment influences our thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Early psychologists were limited in their understanding of the mind by their exclusive focus on their own sociocultural contexts. More recently, social
psychologists have emphasized the need to explore the influences of
sociocultural context and biology on our behavior. Returning to our
memory example, the social psychologist might ask how being in
the presence of others influences the storage and retrieval of data.
When we sit comfortably in our own homes, the answers to Who
Wants to Be a Millionaire questions come quite easily. In front
of millions of viewers, however, we might be lucky to
remember our own names.
Developmental psychology explores the M
normal changes in behavior that occur across the I
lifespan. Using the developmental perspective, a L
psychologist might look at how memory functions in people of different ages. Three-month- E
old babies can retain the memory that kicking S
Cognitive psychologists investigate the ways the human mind processes
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owevver, most of us havee difficulty
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