PSYC 1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Central Nervous System, Autonomic Nervous System, Somatic Nervous System
Document Summary
Scientific psychology began in germany in 1879 when wilhelm wundt opened the first psychology laboratory. People"s self-reports varied, depending on the experience and the person"s intelligence and verbal ability. Structuralism used introspection to define the mind"s makeup; functionalism focused on how mental processes enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish. From the 1920s through the 1960s, the two major forces in psychology were behaviorism and. It recaptured the field"s early interest in mental processes and made them legitimate topics for scientific study. This is the process by which nature selects from chance variations the traits that best enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment. Psychological events often stem from the interaction of nature and nurture, rather than from either of them acting alone. By incorporating different levels of analysis, the biopsychosocial approach can provide a more complete view than any one perspective could offer.
