knowversePsychology studies outward behavior and internal mental processes using empirical methods. Test your understanding of how psychology evolved from philosophy to modern science.
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Psychology combines systematic observation of outward behavior with scientific inference about internal mental processes.
Psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
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Describing provides an accurate account of observable actions before seeking causes or predictions.
Notice how the first goal, describe, simply answers the question: 'What is happening?'
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Dualism treats mind and body as distinct. This is a philosophical position, rather than an established experimental finding.
One major solution they proposed was Dualism, the idea that the mind and the body are two completely separate entities.
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Empiricism emphasizes experience and observation as the basis of knowledge.
Empiricism is the belief that all knowledge originates in experience and that we should rely on what we can see and touch.
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Wundt used controlled introspective reports. Introspection means looking inward at conscious experience.
He developed a technique called introspection, which literally means 'looking inward'.
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Functionalist William James argued that thoughts flow continuously and cannot be frozen into static parts.
James famously called this the Stream of Consciousness to describe how our thoughts blend into one another.
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Freud used free association to explore what he interpreted as unconscious associations. This describes his historical approach.
He developed a method called free association, where a person relaxes and says whatever comes to mind
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Early behaviorists favoured observable, measurable behaviour over private introspective reports.
Behaviorism is the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes.
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Cognitive psychology studies information processing, including perception, learning, memory and thought.
Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of how people perceive, learn, remember, and think about information.
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Humanistic approaches emphasized human potential and growth.
Humanistic psychology emphasizes the growth potential of healthy people and the individual's drive for personal development.
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Psychology studies behavior and mental processes scientifically. Its familiar goals are to describe what happens, explain it, predict behavior and help bring about change. Earlier philosophical debates asked how mind and body relate. Dualism treated them as distinct, while empiricism emphasized experience and observation as sources of knowledge.
In 1879, Wilhelm Wundt established a psychology laboratory and studied conscious experience under controlled conditions. Introspection involved reporting one's own sensations. William James approached consciousness as a changing stream and asked what mental activities help people do. These approaches differed in both their questions and the methods they favored.
Wilhelm Wundt is often called the father of psychology because he insisted on using scientific methods.
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Freud's psychoanalytic approach emphasized unconscious processes and used free association, asking people to say what came to mind. Behaviorists shifted attention toward observable behavior. Watson argued that psychology should focus on what could be measured directly, while Skinner investigated how consequences and reinforcement shape actions over time.
Humanistic psychologists emphasized personal growth and people's capacity to make choices. Cognitive psychology brought processes such as perception, learning, memory and thinking back into experimental study. These approaches overlap in the history of psychology. Learning their different questions helps explain why researchers may examine the same behavior through different methods.
Behaviorism is the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes.
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Sources: Evolution of Psychological Thought. Each question or step includes an excerpt from the course.
