MODULE 2- Activity 1

THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY- Definition and Scope

Introduction

The word Psychology derives from the Greek word 'psyche' meaning breath, spirit, or soul "ology is the study of.

Modern, scientific psychology began in 1879 when the German psychologist Wilhelm Wundt established the first laboratory specifically devoted to experimental psychology. The first experimental psychology laboratory in the United States opened at Johns Hopkins University in 1883.

1. Originally, the focus was on the mind, including thoughts, feelings, sensations, all things inside

-psychology is the study of the mind, or cognitive content (structures) and processes (functions)

-people like Wundt, Titchener, and James searched for the ways to understand how the mind works

2. In the 1920s the behavioral revolution swept the field: Pavlov, Watson, and later Skinner

-argued that psychology is the study of behavior

3. Today, both these elements are combined, yielding the current definition: Psychology is the study of mind (cognitive processes) and behavior.

Task A Read the following article and discuss about the meaning and the origin of the term "psychology" by explaining who you think was the first author that used the word psychology.

"The results of all these investigations could be summarized as follows: According to the present state of terminological-historical studies the word "psychology", in its Greek form and in Greek letters, appeared for the first time in the work of Rudolf Göckel "yucologia, hoc est de hominis perfectione, anima, etc." in 1590." (Marko Marulic -- The Author of the Term "Psychology" K. Krstic, 1964)

Task B Background activation

The following terms refer to different schools and perspective in Psychology, think of at least one or two figures associated to each of them. Then find a definition in the linked glossaries below and complete the task in assignment 1 of module 2 :

 

Structuralism / Behaviorism / Functionalism / Psychoanalysis / Humanistic Psychology / Psychobiology / Cognitive psychology

 

Psychology terms and definitions in the psychology glossary. Psychology Dictionary at AllPsych Online