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Chapter 1 - Essay 1. While humans have wondered about thought and behavior since the beginning of time, many link the origins of psychology to the work of ancient Greek philosophers. In the last several hundred years, the field of physiology emerged and further contributed to people's understanding of behavior. Taking those two fields as the origins of psychological science, discuss the roles that philosophy and physiology played in the development of psychology as an independent science. ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: The earliest origins of psychology can be traced back several centuries to the writings of the great philosophers. More than 2,000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle wrote extensively about topics like sleep, dreams, the senses, and memory. Many of Aristotle's ideas remained influential until the seventeenth century, when René Descartes, a French philosopher, came on the scene and proposed interactive dualism—the notion that the mind and body were separate, but interacting entities that produced sensations, emotions, and other conscious experiences. Philosophers also laid the groundwork for the nature–nurture issue. Philosophers had debated which was more important: inborn traits of the individual or environmental influences (that nurture the individual). These philosophical discussions influenced the topics that would be considered in psychology. However, philosophy could advance the understanding of human behavior only up to a point because of the limitation of their methods. The emergence of psychology as a science hinged on advances in physiology. Physiology studies the biology of living organisms, including humans. Initial interest was in damaged brains, which were noted to produce a loss of function in the opposite side of the body. In the 1800s, scientists began to suggest that different brain areas were related to different behavioral functions. Taken together, the early work of physiologists established the foundation for the scientific methods that were subsequently applied to better understand behavior and mental processes. 2. Two of the early giants in the field of psychology were Edward Titchener and William James. How were their approaches to psychology shaped, and how did they differ in their views of what psychology should study and how to go about answering questions? ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Edward Titchener was one of Wilhelm Wundt's most devoted students. Wundt defined psychology as the study of consciousness and emphasized the use of experimental methods to study and measure consciousness. Titchener championed Wundt's ideas about the nature of psychology and created the concept of structuralism, which acknowledges that even people's most complex conscious experiences can be broken down into elemental structures, or component parts, of sensations and feelings. Titchener developed his own approach, which he called "structuralism," the first major school of thought in psychology. To identify these structures of conscious thought, participants engaged in introspection. However, structuralism was criticized for relying too heavily on this approach, and it disappeared after Titchener's death. In contrast, William James was heavily influenced by Charles Darwin and took a more evolutionary approach to understanding psychology and behavior. James's ideas became the basis for a school of psychology, referred to as "functionalism," which stressed studying the purpose, or function, of behavior and mental experiences. In contrast to the structuralists, functionalists did not limit their methods of data collection to just introspection. They expanded the scope of psychological research methods to include direct observation of individuals in natural settings, including education, child rearing, and the work environment. Both structuralists and functionalists believed that psychology should focus on the study of conscious experiences. However, functionalists had very different ideas about the nature of consciousness and how it should be studied. Copyright Macmillan Learning. Powered by Cognero.
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Chapter 1 - Essay 3. Discuss Charles Darwin's influence on William James and explain how Darwin's theory of evolution contributed to psychology. ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: In 1859, Charles Darwin's groundbreaking work, On the Origin of Species, was published. The book came to have a profound impact on William James's thinking about the developing field of psychology. James stressed the importance of adaptation to environmental challenges. He wrote his own textbook on psychology that discussed brain function, habit, memory, sensation, perception, and emotion. James's ideas became the basis for a new school of psychology, called "functionalism," which stressed the importance of how behavior functions to allow people and animals to adapt to their environments. Rather than trying to identify the essential structures of consciousness at a given moment, James saw consciousness as an ongoing stream of mental activity that shifts and changes. Functionalism's themes regarding the importance of the adaptive role of behavior and the application of psychology to enhance human behavior continue to be evident in modern psychology. 4. Two of the first women in the field of psychology were Mary Whiton Calkins and Margaret Floy Washburn. Who did they work with and what contributions did they make to psychology? ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Mary Calkins studied with William James. She completed all the requirements for a Ph.D. in psychology. However, Harvard refused to grant her the Ph.D. degree because she was a woman, and at the time Harvard was not a coeducational institution. Nonetheless, Calkins made many contributions to psychology. She conducted research in dreams, memory, and personality. In 1891, she established a psychology laboratory at Wellesley College and wrote a well-received textbook, titled Introduction to Psychology. In 1905, she was elected president of the American Psychological Association—the first woman, but not the last, to hold that position. Margaret Floy Washburn was the first U.S. woman to earn an official Ph.D. in psychology. She was Edward Titchener's first doctoral student at Cornell University. She strongly advocated the scientific study of the mental processes of different animal species, and she published an influential textbook in 1908, titled The Animal Mind. She was the second woman elected president of the American Psychological Association and taught at Vassar College. 5. What contributions did pioneer Black psychologists Francis C. Sumner, Kenneth Bancroft, and Mamie Phipps Clark make to psychology? ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Francis C. Sumner was one of G. Stanley Hall's notable students. He was the first Black American psychologist to receive a Ph.D. in psychology in 1920 from Clark University. At Howard University, Sumner was the chair of the psychology department when it produced more Black psychologists than all other U.S. colleges and universities combined. Kenneth Bancroft Clark was a student of Sumner's. Clark and his wife, Mamie Phipps Clark, researched the negative effects of racial discrimination. Their work was paramount in the U.S. Supreme Court's 1954 decision to end segregation in schools. Together, Kenneth and Mamie Clark founded the Northside Center for Childhood Development in Harlem, New York. Mamie Phipps Clark also contributed to the founding of the Head Start program, a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which focuses on early childhood education and health in lower income communities. In 1970, Kenneth Clark became the first Black president of the American Psychological Association (APA). Sadly, Mamie Clark's contributions were long overlooked, including the fact that segregation was initially her project, rather than her husband's. Thankfully, Kenneth at least acknowledged her work when speaking about their research to the Supreme Court. Copyright Macmillan Learning. Powered by Cognero.
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Chapter 1 - Essay 6. What impact did Sigmund Freud have on the field of psychology and on the treatment of psychological disorders? ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Sigmund Freud had a profound influence on the field of psychology, an influence that continues to be felt to this very day. Freud was a physician in Vienna, Austria, who developed a theory of personality based on uncovering causes of behavior that were unconscious, or hidden from the person's conscious awareness. Freud's school of thought, called "psychoanalysis," emphasized the role of unconscious conflicts in determining behavior and personality. Freud was trained as a neurologist, but his thinking was strongly influenced by developments in psychology. Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality and behavior was based largely on his work with his patients and on insights derived from self-analysis. Freud believed that human behavior was motivated by unconscious conflicts that were almost always sexual or aggressive in nature. Past experiences, especially childhood experiences, were thought to be critical in the formation of adult personality and behavior. According to Freud, glimpses of these unconscious impulses are revealed in everyday life in dreams, memory blocks, slips of the tongue, and spontaneous humor. Freud believed that when unconscious conflicts became overwhelming, psychological disorders could result. Freud's psychoanalytic theory of personality also provided the basis for psychotherapy. Many of the fundamental ideas that Freud proposed in his theory of psychoanalysis continue to influence psychologists and other professionals in the mental health field today. These are ideas such as the importance of unconscious influences on behavior and the role of early childhood experiences on later adult development and psychopathology. 7. Compare and contrast psychoanalysis and behaviorism, two of the early schools of psychology. ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Psychoanalysis had a strong influence on psychological thinking in the early 1900s, as did behaviorism, which emerged as a dominating force in early psychology. Psychoanalysis emphasized the role of unconscious conflicts in determining behavior and personality. The psychoanalytic theory of personality and behavior was based largely on Freud's work with patients and on insights derived from self-analysis. Freud believed that human behavior was motivated by unconscious conflicts that were almost always sexual or aggressive in nature. Past experiences, especially childhood experiences, were thought to be critical in the formation of adult personality and behavior. Freud believed that unconscious impulses were revealed in everyday life in dreams, memory blocks, slips of the tongue, and spontaneous humor. Contrarily, behaviorism rejected the emphasis on consciousness promoted by structuralism and functionalism as well as Freud's ideas about unconscious influences on behavior, since they are difficult to test. For the behaviorist, consciousness and unconscious variables were not usable concepts. Instead, behaviorism believed that psychology should focus its scientific investigations strictly on overt, observable behaviors that could be objectively measured and verified. 8. What roles did Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, and B.F. Skinner play in the founding of behaviorism? ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Behaviorism grew out of the pioneering work of Russian physiologist, Ivan Pavlov. Pavlov showed that dogs could learn to associate a neutral stimulus, such as the sound of a ticking metronome, with an automatic behavior, such as reflexively salivating at the sight of food. Once an association between the sound of the metronome and the food was formed, the sound of the metronome alone would trigger the salivation reflex in the dog. Pavlov believed he had discovered the mechanism by which all Copyright Macmillan Learning. Powered by Cognero.
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Chapter 1 - Essay behaviors were learned. John B. Watson shared Pavlov's enthusiasm and championed behaviorism as a new school of thought for psychology. He believed that how behavior is acquired and modified in response to environmental influences is essential to the understanding of psychology. B.F. Skinner extended the ideas of Watson, believing that psychology should restrict itself to studying overt, observable behaviors that could be measured and verified. Skinner systematically worked with rats and pigeons to demonstrate the principles of reinforcement or punishment and how they shape behavior. 9. What is humanistic psychology, who advocated this approach, and how is it different from psychoanalysis and behaviorism? ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Humanistic psychology was primarily advocated by the U.S. psychologists Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Rogers, like Freud, was influenced by his experiences with patients. Because this approach was so different from psychoanalysis and behaviorism, humanistic psychology is sometimes referred to as the "third force" in psychology. In contrast to behaviorism which believed that human behavior was shaped and maintained by external causes, the humanistic approach emphasized self-determination, free will, and choice in human behavior. Rogers emphasized the conscious experiences of his patients, rather than the unconscious forces that were the focus of psychoanalysis. Abraham Maslow developed a theory of motivation that emphasized psychological growth. Humanistic psychology focused on each person's unique potential for psychological growth and self-direction. Similar to psychoanalysis, the humanistic approach included not only influential theories of personality but also a form of psychotherapy. 10. One's textbook describes nine major perspectives in contemporary psychology. Describe four of those approaches and discuss how each approach might address one of the following topics: parent–child attachment or the psychological disorder of anxiety. ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: The biological perspective emphasizes the examination of the physical bases of human and animal behavior, including the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems as well as genetics. More specifically within biological psychology, neuroscience involves the study of the nervous system, particularly the brain. In addressing parent–child attachment or a psychological disorder, the biological perspective might investigate the neurochemicals that play a role in these behaviors or investigate the genetics underlying those behaviors. The psychodynamic perspective which comes from Freud's landmark theory of psychoanalysis continues to be relevant today. The emphasis in this perspective is on unconscious influences, early life experiences, and interpersonal relationships in explaining the underlying dynamics of behavior or in treating people with psychological problems. In addressing parent–child attachment or a psychological disorder, the psychodynamic perspective might investigate how the parent–child relationship impacts later development or how unconscious influences give rise to feelings of anxiety. The behavioral perspective, championed by Watson and Skinner, involves a focus on observable behaviors and the fundamental laws of learning. Psychologists interested in this perspective continue to study how behavior is acquired or modified by environmental causes. In trying to understand behavior like the bond between a parent and their child, behaviorists might try and identify the rewards that strengthen those emotional bonds. In trying to understand anxiety, a behaviorist might look to see how certain stimuli came to be associated with an anxiety response. The humanistic perspective was influenced by the work of Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. This Copyright Macmillan Learning. Powered by Cognero.
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Chapter 1 - Essay approach focuses on the motivation of people to grow psychologically, the influence of interpersonal relationships on a person's self-concept, and the importance of choice and selfdirection in striving to reach one's potential. In trying to understand anxiety, the humanistic perspective might wonder if anxiety arises because of thwarted growth efforts or not being able to make choices in one's life. In studying parent–child interactions, a humanistic psychologist might be interested in how a parent encourages or nurtures that drive for growth in their child. The positive psychology perspective focuses on the study of positive emotions and psychological states, positive individual traits, and the social institutions that foster those qualities in individuals and communities. In trying to understand anxiety, the positive perspective might analyze a person's emotions and psychological states focusing on personal well-being. In parent–child attachment, positive psychologists identify emotions shared between the parent and child and how the strength of that bond contributes to personal well-being. The cognitive perspective involves examining the role of mental processes in how people process and remember information, develop language, solve problems, and think. Cognitive psychologist might investigate how the strength of the parent–child relationship influences how a child comes to think about the world, while the cognitive focus on anxiety might explore the beliefs and expectations that some with anxiety might have about the dangerousness of certain environments or stimuli. The cross-cultural perspective involves studying how cultural factors influence behavior and how psychological processes and behaviors are different in different cultures. Within the context of cross-cultural psychology, researchers might explore how the parent–child bond varies across different cultures or how the expression of anxiety differs in various cultures. In contrast to the cross-cultural perspective, which focuses on differences between cultures, the multicultural perspective takes a broader approach and emphasizes the role of diverse cultural and social factors in the understanding of experience, thinking, and behavior. A multicultural approach to parent–child interactions would include a consideration of factors like family structure, income, race, ethnicity, and education on this behavior. Likewise, a multicultural perspective on anxiety disorders would consider how the combination of these different factors plays a role in the development of anxiety. The evolutionary perspective involves the application of the principles of evolution to explain psychological processes and phenomena. Such an approach focuses on how behaviors play a role in species survival or adaptation. In studying parent–child interactions from an evolutionary perspective, the psychologist would be interested in how the length and strength of that parent–child relationship helps to ensure their survival of the child and increases the likelihood that the child will pass along their genetic material to the next generation. In considering the issue of anxiety disorders, an evolutionary psychologist would wonder about how anxiety serves to increase the likelihood of survival and decrease the likelihood of premature death. 11. Explain the concept of cross-cultural psychology and how the idea of ethnocentrism can influence the research endeavor. ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Cross-cultural psychology has as its goal the understanding of the differences between cultures and the influences of culture on behavior. When people talk about culture, they are referring to the attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people and which are communicated from one generation to another. Cultural identity is influenced by many factors including geographic region, nationality, language, age, race and ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation. As people grow up within a given culture, they learn the norms of their culture, the unwritten rules that define Copyright Macmillan Learning. Powered by Cognero.
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Chapter 1 - Essay acceptable and unacceptable behavior. A problem that can arise when one grows up in a particular culture is ethnocentrism, the belief that one's own culture or ethnic group is superior to all others and along with that a tendency to use one's own culture as a standard by which to judge other cultures. Ethnocentrism may be a natural tendency, but it can prevent people from understanding the behavior of others. Ethnocentrism also gets in the way of people being able to see how their own behavior has been shaped by the culture that they have grown up in. Ethnocentrism can be a problem for psychological research when researchers only consider questions about behavior from their own cultural vantage point. It can also result in researchers only collecting data from people who look like them, what are known as WEIRD samples. These are samples of research participants who come from Western, Educated, Industrialist, Rich, and Democratic societies. If psychology has as its goal the understanding of human behavior, it is important that the data that psychologists collect come from participants who are representative of the population that people wish to draw conclusions about. 12. Evolutionary theory is based on the principle of natural selection. How does the evolutionary perspective relate to people's understanding of human thought and behavior? What must be assumed in the evolutionary perspective in psychology to apply the principles of evolution to the investigation of human thought and behavior? ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: The evolutionary perspective within psychology refers to the application of the principles of evolution to explain psychological processes. This approach proposes that the individual members of a species compete for survival. Because of inherited differences, some members of a species are better adapted to their environment than are others. These individuals inherit more useful characteristics and are more likely to survive, reproduce, and pass on their characteristics. This process reflects the principle of natural selection. In the context of psychology, psychologists assume that psychological processes are similarly subject to the principle of natural selection. Those psychological processes that help individuals adapt to their environments also help them survive, reproduce, and pass those abilities on to their offspring. 13. How do individualistic cultures differ from collectivistic cultures? ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Culture is a term that is used to describe the attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people; these values/beliefs are subsequently shared between generations. People learn to adopt patterns of behavior consistent with the culture they live in. These cultural norms of behavior, once internalized, influence behavior without much thought. In individualistic cultures, social behavior is strongly influenced by individual preferences and attitudes rather than by cultural norms and values. In these cultures, the self is seen as independent, autonomous, and distinctive. Personal identity is defined by individual achievements, abilities, and accomplishments. However, in collectivistic cultures, the needs and goals of the group are emphasized over individual needs and goals. Further, the self is seen as being much more interdependent with the group. That said, the majority of cultures are neither completely individualistic nor completely collectivistic, falling somewhere between these two extremes. 14. How do clinical psychologists differ from psychiatrists, and how are they similar? ANSWER: Answers will vary. A complete answer may include the following information: Both clinical psychologists and psychiatrists work with people with psychological disorders. Many people think Copyright Macmillan Learning. Powered by Cognero.
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