Psychology is the science of mental processes and behavior. It analyzes behavior at multiple levels including the brain, person, and group. The field has evolved over time from early structuralism to modern approaches like cognitive psychology, evolutionary psychology, and more. Today, psychology remains a diverse science that studies conscious experience, unconscious influences, information processing, and behavior.

2. Psychology: Yesterday and Today

3. What Is Psychology? Psychology is the science1 of mental processes and behavior. 1Systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and experimentation.

4. Levels of Analysis The brain The person The group

5. Is psychology all common sense? Take the Psychology Quiz and see for yourself

6. The Evolution of a Science Structuralism Wilhelm Wundt & Edward Titchener (student of Wundt) Focused on identifying the “building blocks” of consciousness Introspection: Looking within Not objectively verifiable

7. The Evolution of a Science Functionalism William James Influenced by Charles Darwin Studied how consciousness helped an individual survive and adapt to an environment Animal observations provide clues for human behavior Focused on pragmatic issues such as improving education

8. The Evolution of a Science Gestalt Psychology Max Wertheimer Focused on consciousness and principles of perceptual organization The whole is greater than the sum of its parts

9. The Evolution of a Science Psychodynamic Theory Sigmund Freud The mind has separate components Conscious and unconscious components Much of behavior in influenced by the unconscious Psychoanalysis

10. The Evolution of a Science Behaviorism John Watson & B. F. Skinner The mind cannot be observed Behavior can be observed Science should study the observable Reinforcement Stimulus-response

11. His Head is a Triangle?!

12. The Evolution of a Science Humanistic Psychology Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow Client-centered therapy We strive for self-actualization

13. The Evolution of a Science The Cognitive Revolution Alan Newell & Herbert Simon Focus on mental processes (information processing) Computer metaphor Cognitive neuroscience

14. The Evolution of a Science Evolutionary psychology Lida Cosmides, John Tooby, David Buss, & Steven Pinker Evolutionarily successful cognitive strategies and goals survived Cultural universality