Premium Essay

Psy 300 Foundation of Psychology

In:

Submitted By fudge669
Words 998
Pages 4
Foundations of Psychology
Larry Eckel
PSY 300
December 5, 2011
Liz West

Foundations of Psychology

According to “Foundations of Psychology” (1948), “psychology is the study of human nature. It is the study of man, man as a living being, acting in an ever-changing world, responding to things and events and other people. If you know what man is, if you know the full answer to the question about the nature of man, then you know what human nature is and what psychology comprises” (Chapter 1, Para. 1). Many varying thoughts have changed over time to the study of psychology. These thoughts include functionalism, behaviorism, structuralism, psychoanalysis, and humanistic.
According to Kowalski, R., & Westen, D. (2009), structuralism was introduced by Edward Titchener because of his interest in the study of structure in consciousness. He believed that with experimenting in psychology to be the best attempt for science to understand psychology. Titchener states that “attention implied too much free will” to be an accurate and useful. Later, psychologists continued to study the consciousness with feelings and sensations that could only be told by only the person reporting them. This was one of the thoughts that were most prominent in the early years of psychology.
The other thought that was also prominent was functionalism. Unlike structuralism that focused on the mind, the work of functionalism looked at the function, or role, that psychological actions can help people adjust to the environment. A functionalist would react to what is learned, but not to say the idea of an action. They would tend to focus on the behavior and purpose of their reactions. One of the initial founders is William James, who wrote a textbook of psychology in 1890. The work of Charles Darwin was also instrumental a century later, to this psychological thought. The works of

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Nothing

...Axia College Course Syllabus PSY/201 Foundations of Psychology Course Start Date: 2/21/11 Course End Date: 4/24/11 Please print a copy of this syllabus for handy reference. Whenever there is a question about what assignments are due, please remember this syllabus is considered the ruling document. Copyright Copyright © 2010, 2009 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved. University of Phoenix® is a registered trademark of Apollo Group, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries. Microsoft®, Windows®, and Windows NT® are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Use of these marks is not intended to imply endorsement, sponsorship, or affiliation. Edited in accordance with University of Phoenix® editorial standards and practices. Course Syllabus PSY/201 Foundations of Psychology 2 Facilitator Information Janie Lacy JanieLacy@email.phoenix.edu (University of Phoenix) Janie@JanieLacy.com (Personal) 407-924-7533 (EST) Facilitator Availability I am available from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on most days, but I attempt to reserve Sundays as my rest day. During the week, I am available most of the time during that 9 a.m.-12 p.m. time frame. On Saturdays, I tend to be available in the morning only. If these times are not convenient for you, please let me know. I will be happy to accommodate your schedule,...

Words: 5583 - Pages: 23

Premium Essay

Foundations of Psychology

...Foundations of Psychology Erica McLeod PSY 300 September 25, 2012 Betsy Ferronato Foundations of Psychology When psychology first emerged as a science, the process of explaining the human mind and human behavior began. In this writing we will present a brief synopsis of what psychology is and introduce the reader to the primary biological foundations of psychology that are linked to behavior as well as introducing the reader to the major schools of thought in psychology. In Kowalski and Westen Sixth Edition of Psychology, psychology is defined as “the scientific investigation of mental processes such as; thinking, remembering, feeling, and behavior. Understanding a person requires attention to the individual’s biology, psychological experience, and cultural context.”(Kowalski & Weston, 2011). Each component is necessary in formulating who the individual is. As we delve into history, we must be cautious in our analyzation of human behavior and the human mind that we do not contribute our analyzation to a single thought or process as many times it may be a conglomeration of events or items that contribute to the overall picture of a person’s psychological process. Furthermore, Kowalski specifies in his writing that “humans are complex creatures whose psychological experience lies at the intersection of biology and culture.”(Kowalski & Weston, 2011). He expounds upon this fact by stating that “all psychological processes occur through the interaction of cells in the...

Words: 811 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Sports Management

...credit hours which count toward the degree program. * a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA. * a minimum 2.0 cumulative GPA in a combination of ANAT-A 215 and courses with the following department code-prefixes: HPER-A, HPER-D, HPER-K, and HPER-P. * No Pass/Fail except for free electives. General Education (20 – 39 credits) All undergraduate students must complete the IU Bloomington campus-wide general education common ground requirements. Such students must visit the 2012-2013 General Education Bulletin to view these requirements. Major (85-90 cr.) Sport Marketing and Management Foundation Requirement (15 cr.)
Complete each of the following courses: ▪ HPER-P 211 Introduction to Sport Management (3 cr.) – FALL 2013 ▪ HPER-P 333 Sport in America: Historical Perspective (3 cr.) – SPRING 2014 ▪ HPER-P 392 Sport in American Society (3 cr.) ▪ HPER-P 405 Introduction to Sport Psychology (3 cr.) ▪ HPER-P 418 Sport Marketing (3 cr.) Sport Marketing and Management Professional Requirement (21 cr.)
Complete each of the following courses: ▪ HPER-P 318 Management of the Sport Enterprise (3 cr.) ▪ HPER-P 304 Sport Industry Studies (3 cr.) or HPER-P 328 Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics (3 cr.) ▪ HPER-P 404 Colloquium in Sport Management (3 cr.) or HPER-R 425 Sport Governance in the Global Community (3 cr.) ▪...

Words: 1477 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Foundations of Psychology

...Foundations of Psychology Paper PSY/300 November 7, 2009 Foundations of Psychology Paper This paper will discuss the major schools of thought in psychology and examine their major underlying assumptions. The paper will also identify the primary biological foundations of psychology linked to behavior. According to our reading in psychology is the scientific investigation of mental processes and behavior. Mental processes include how a person thinks, feels, remembers as well as a person’s behavior. When a doctor needs to understand a person they need to know the person’s biology, psychological experience, and cultural context. What people experience during their life from birth to adulthood is what shapes how they feel and think. Early psychologists established several approaches and schools of thoughts of psychology. They came up with these by research and study which will be discussed throughout this paper. * Biopsychology perspective: Is a school of thought in psychology. Biopsychology is the field that examines the physical basis of psychological phenomena such as motivation, emotion, and stress; also called behavioral neuroscience, (Kowalski & Westen, 2009). In other words, Biopsychology is a form or branch of psychology that analyzes how the brain and neurotransmitters influence how we are motivated, what our emotions are, and how we handle stress or feelings. In this field of psychology it can be considered a...

Words: 279 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Foundations of Psychology

...Foundations of Psychology Melisa Kimmerling PSY/300 January 25, 2014 Ashley Dolecki Foundations of Psychology The major schools of thought in psychology are: Behaviorism, Gestalt, Humanistic, Psychoanalytic, Cognitive, Structuralism and Functionalism. The early schools of thought are Structuralism and Functionalism which were developed by Edward Titchener. Edward Titchener was a student of Wilhelm Wundt who was known as the father of psychology. (Westen, 2011) Structuralism uses a method called introspection to uncover elements of the consciousness and how they form ideas. Structuralism is both a science and ideaology. As a science Structuralism tells about the fundamental nature of the World. (calstatela.edu) One of the founders of functioalism was William James, he wrote the first textbook in psychology. Functionalism focuses on the function of psychological processes and how individuals adapt to their enviroment. (Westen, 2011) An assumption of Functionalism is that human beings are caring and coorperative toward each other. (wmich.edu) Behaviorism, also refered to as behavioral perspective or behaviorist, focuses on how enviroment controls learning behavior. The most well know experiment of Behaviorism is Pavlov’s dog. Russian psychologist Ivan Pavlov did an experiment with his dogs and found out by accident that when he rang a bell his dogs would salavate thinking it was time to eat. Some behaviorist believe that everything we do is by behavior not mind...

Words: 468 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Foundations of Psychology

...Foundations of Psychology Celestina Maurer Psy/300 Thursday, October 04, 2012 Elaine Parks Foundations of Psychology The first boundary of psychology is biology. The domain of biology is biopsychology which is the field that examines the physical basis of psychological phenomena such as motivation, emotion, and stress, also called behavioral neuroscience. During the nineteenth century, physicians began monitoring patients with severe head injuries, which lead to the clarification of the brain and behavior being connected. Scientists realized that psychological functions do not happen in a single part of the brain. The second boundary of psychology is culture. According to Mead and Benedict, “individual psychology is shaped by cultural values, ideals, and ways of thinking.” Culture demands a society to work long hours and spend less time in the day with loved ones. Punctuality is necessary in everyday life and is considered an aspect of character or personality. Some cultures did not recognize punctuality as an extension of personality. Within psychology, a group of researchers developed cross-cultural psychology. Cross-cultural psychology is the field that attempts to test psychological hypotheses in different cultures. Psychology branched from philosophy. Philosophers had many unanswered questions relating to the nature of thought, feeling, and behavior. In the late nineteenth century, they realized that they can answer these questions...

Words: 524 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Foundations of Psychology

...Foundations of Psychology Allison Stump PSY/300 September 29, 2013 The debate on describing psychology has come up over and over again throughout the years. The way the human mind works and the way an environment can change the way it works has confused many for years, until the schools of thought were put into play. The major theories within psychology can be explained in three different schools of psychology; structuralism, functionalism, and behaviorism. The first school of thought is structuralism. The founder of structuralism was Edward Titchener. He believed that when working with someone or something that the mind, body, and soul were examined and not the external self. Titchener believed that the content of the mind was what psychology was all about. Unlike his teacher Wilhelm Wundt, “father of psychology”, Wundt believed that there were many different things that could affect the outcome of an experiment such as myth religion and language. His attempt to understand the human mind through the structure of consciousness is what has led into the first school of thought, structuralism. The second school of thought is functionalism. The founder of functionalism was William James. He believed that the mind had a role or function in the environment. After the thought of structuralism was founded, James began to think that the theories of structuralism led him to the idea that the mind worked in the role instead of the processes of the mind. James sees it as if someone...

Words: 529 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Foundation of Psychology

...Foundation of Psychology Name PSY/300 Date Instructor Foundation of Psychology There are many ideas regarding why humans think, have the feelings, or behave in the way that they do. According to Kowalski and Westen (2009), psychology is “the scientific investigation of mental processes (thinking, remembering, feeling, ect.) and behavior” (Chapter 1). This paper will work to identify the major schools of thought in psychology and examine their major underlying assumptions. This paper will also work to identify the primary biological foundations of psychology linked to behavior. Psychology first came to be in the 1800’s. Doctors found it interesting that people suffering from severe head trauma were affected by memory and language difficulty. This showed there is a connection between one’s brain and his or her behavior. According to Kowalski and Westen (2009), William Wundt, often described as the "father of psychology" opened the first psychological laboratory in 1879, in Leipzig, Germany (Chapter 1). One of Wundt’s most common methods was introspection. Introspection is “the method in which trained subjects verbally reported everything that went through their minds when presented with a stimulus or task” (Kowalski & Westen, 2009, Chapter 1). Edward Titchener, a student of Wundt, began the first school of thought known as structuralism. Structuralism “attempted to use introspection as a method for uncovering the basic elements of consciousness and the way they combine...

Words: 759 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Foundations of Psychology

...Foundations of Psychology Denise Silven PSY/300 General Psychology April 8, 2013 Kaisa Freeman Foundations of Psychology “Psychology is the scientific investigation of mental processes (thinking, remembering, feeling, etc.) and behavior” (Kowalski & Westen, 2011, p. 3). In order to understand a person, his or her biology, psychological experiences, and cultural context must be deciphered (Kowalski & Westen, 2011). This paper will include a discussion of the major schools of thought in psychology and the major underlying assumptions of these schools of thoughts, or perspectives. In addition, the primary biological foundations of psychology that are linked to behavior are identified. Major schools of thought in psychology According to Kowalski and Westen (2011), psychology has several schools of thought “that can be used to understand psychological events” (p. 13). The earliest schools of thought were structuralism and functionalism. Structuralism used introspection to reveal the structure of consciousness and functionalism searched for reasons for the psychological processes that helped people adapt to their environment. Other perspectives in psychology are psychodynamic, behaviorist, cognitive, and evolutionary. These perspectives were developed independently of one another; however, they have all made considerable contributions to the psychology arena. There are phenomena at the center of each of these perspectives that the other perspectives do not...

Words: 683 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Foundations of Psychology

...| The foundations of psychology | | | Blaine Waddell | 5/29/2011 | PSY/300 Katherine Bowen | Psychology is a science of behavior and mental functioning that uses both quantitative and qualitative research studies to develop and test hypotheses and put forward theories and models that explain human behavior.” (Kowalski & Westen, 2005) When psychology was first founded there were only a few foundations of psychology. The most popularly used in the 1800’s were called, structuralism and functionalism. Structuralism focuses on identifying and analysis basic elements of experiences. These experiences even include mental events like perception. Research for this form of approach to psychology comes from verbal accounts of experiences. Functionalism focuses on the belief that optimal learning conditions can be created by knowing how the brain uses and processes information; thereby it is considered perceptional also. As time went on and the science of psychology progresses more approaches to present day psychology emerged. Behavioral, psychoanalytic, cognitive, social/cultural, humanism, physiological, and clinical are all popular approaches to modern day psychology. The physiological approach is the learning how the brain effects behavior and how behavior can affect the brain. The behavioral approach...

Words: 811 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Foundations of Psychology

...Foundations of Psychology John Stafford University of Phoenix PSY/300 Abstract There are several major approaches to psychological study with several other disciplines falling under these primary approaches. Ranging from psychodynamic to evolutionary perspectives, and rarely sharing a unified paradigm, psychology has advanced since the late 1800s to be a wide-ranging field of human study. Foundations of Psychology The study of psychology found roots in philosophy. However, Wilhelm Wundt, who founded the first psychological laboratory, led the recognition of psychology as a science in 1879. In the mid-to-late 1940s standards were put into place for the doctoral programs designed to place emphasis on a general knowledge of psychology. This knowledge included the history of psychology, and modern disciplines of physiological, comparative, developmental, and social psychology. Students were also required to gain an understanding of research methods, advanced statistics, and psychological scaling (Zlotlow, Peterson, & Nelson, 2011). Behavioral Foundations of Psychology The major topics covered in behavioral psychology include evolution, heredity, and adaptation and learning, mating habits, parenting behaviors, and primate study. Behavioral psychology primarily focuses on the study of animal behavior to obtain a deeper understanding of human behavior. Studies like Ivan Pavlov’s (1849-1936) research on classical conditioning, also referred to as “Pavlov’s Dogs,” he...

Words: 912 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Foundations of Psychology

...Foundations of Psychology Foundations of Psychology Nathan Teggerdine PSY/300 GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY Instructor: Ashley Dolecki There seems to be seven major schools of thought in psychology, structuralism, functionalism, gestalt psychology, behaviorism, psychoanalysis, humanistic and cognitive. Each major school of thought has it’s own major underlying assumption’s. First structuralism was one of the first major schools of thought in what was modern psychology. The structuralism approach really focuses on breaking down the mental process into really basic components. Functionalism was first formed based on the theories of the structuralist school of thought and was heavily influenced by the work of William James. (Cherry, 2014) Gestalt psychology is the school opf thought that looks at the human mind and a persons behavior as a whole. (Cherry, What is Gestalt Psychology?, 2014) Behaviorism was one of the main school of thought in psychology in the ninteen twenties until about ninteen fifty. Behaviorism is made up of a number of underlying assumtions reguarding specific methodology and behavioral analysis. (Mcloud, 2007) Psychoanalysis school of thought is mostly based on the idea that most of the time, people are completley unaware of things that determine what emotions they are feeling and when. It is also said that because these factors are for the most part on an unconscious level, during times when someone is struggling, advice and help from family members...

Words: 894 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Foundations of Psychology

...Foundations of Psychology Robert Irvine PSY/300 November 29, 2010 Robert J. Martinez Foundations of Psychology Psychology and all its complex schools of thoughts, developed by numerous individuals involved in breaking down the human mind and how it functions and operates, will be explained in this paper. Along with the schools of thought, and their underlying assumptions, this paper will also attempt to identify the primary foundations of psychology, and how they are linked to behavior. Edward Titchener initiated his own school of thought known as structuralism. A student of Wilhelm Wundt, often described as “the father of psychology,” Titchener adopted the use of Wundt’s introspection in experiments, with the hope of devising a periodic table of elements of human consciousness. He believed that his experimentation was the only appropriate method to achieve results scientifically, and that Wundt’s concepts of attention implied too much free will to be useful for scientific research. Structuralism was one school of thought that was dominant in the early years, the other was functionalism. Functionalism is the thought that emphasizes the role of psychological processes that help individuals adapt to their environment, rather than focusing on the contents of the mind. One of the founders of functionalism was William James. A psychologist from Harvard University, he penned the first textbook in 1890. He believed the knowledge of Human psychology could come from many sources...

Words: 827 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Foundations of Psychology

...Foundations of Psychology Jacob Wilkins PSY 300 July 29th 2013 Genevieve Molina Abstract A large part of psychology is devoted to discovering and treating mental health issues, but that's just the beginning when it comes to applications for psychology. As well as mental health, psychology can be used for a variety of issues that affect our health and daily life. Throughout the history of psychology it has branched into different thought. These schools of thought are used to explain different views on human thought and behavior. The different schools of thought in the field of psychology are; psychodynamic, behaviorism, cognitive, and the evolutionary perspective. While these schools of thought are sometimes seen to compete against each other, collectively each perspective has helped our understanding of psychology as a whole. The psychodynamic perspective is the approach that is considered the most popular with the discipline of psychology. Sigmund Freud, a Viennese physician. First developed this theory in the late 19th century. This approach was based on the fact that people's problems can not only be caused by physical pain or conscious thoughts, but by powerful unconscious motives. This way of thinking became popular due to its ability to explain human behavior. The psychodynamic perspective is based on three ideas. "First, people’s actions are determined by the way thoughts, feelings, and wishes are connected in their minds. Second, many of these mental events...

Words: 874 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Foundations of Psychology

...Foundations of Psychology Camille Sere' PSY/300 September 25, 2012 Shari Tumlin Foundations of Psychology In this paper I will identify and discuss the major school of thought in psychology and their underlying assumptions. I will also identify the primary foundations of psychology linked to behavior. After reading this it is my hope for readers to have a better understanding of these points. There are four schools of thought or perspectives that I am going to discuss. These are the psychodynamic perspective, behaviorist perspective, the cognitive perspective, and the evolutionary perspective. According to the text book Psychology, Sixth Edition, perspectives are broad ways of understanding psychological phenomena, including theoretical propositions, shared metaphors and accepted methods of observation. The first perspective or school of thought I am going to discuss is the psychodynamic perspective. According to the book the psychodynamic perspective rests on three key premises, the first being that people’s actions are determined by the way thoughts, wishes, and feelings are connected in their minds. Next, many of our mental events occur outside of conscious awareness. Third, our mental processes may conflict with one another, causing people to compromise among competing motives. This means that people most likely do not precisely know the chain of psychological events that leads to their conscious thoughts, intentions, feelings, or behaviors. In the...

Words: 805 - Pages: 4