1.2 Psychology Then and Now

The earliest scientific psychologists were not much interested in why we behave as we do. Instead, these pioneers typically focused their efforts on understanding the operation of perception (the ways in which we interpret information from our eyes, ears, and other sensory organs), memory, and problem solving.

Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), a Viennese physician who specialized in neurology (the study and treatment of diseases of the brain and the nervous system more generally), developed a theory that reached into all corners of human thought, feeling, and behavior (Freud, 2009).

Freud stressed the notion that the mind is not a single thing but, in fact, has separate components. Moreover, some of these components are unconscious Outside conscious awareness and not able to be brought into consciousness at will. ; that is, they are outside our awareness and beyond our ability to bring into awareness at will. Freud believed that sexual—and sometimes aggressive—urges arise from unconscious mental contents and mental processes. Moreover, Freud also believed that a child absorbs his or her parents’ and culture’s moral standards, which then shape the child’s (and, later, the adult’s) goals and motivations. Thus, he argued, we often find our urges unacceptable and so keep them in check, hidden in the unconscious. According to Freud, these unconscious urges build up until, eventually and inevitably, they demand release as thoughts, feelings, or behaviors. This theory focuses on the level of the person but also relies on the level of the group (for example, when considering the effects of the parents’ and culture’s morals standards).

Freud’s theory has since been called psychodynamic theory A theory of mental events that specifies the continual push-and-pull interaction among conscious and unconscious thoughts and feelings and specifies how such interactions affect behavior. . From the Greek words psyche, or “mind,” and dynamo, meaning “power,” the term refers to the continual push-and-pull interaction among conscious and unconscious forces and specifies how such interactions affect behavior. Freud also believed that these interactions sometimes produce abnormal behaviors. For example, according to Freud, some people obsessively wash their hands until they crack and bleed as a way to ward off strong but unacceptable unconscious sexual or aggressive impulses (the “dirt” perceived on the hands) and that washing symbolically serves to remove the “dirt.” To understand the reasons for Tiger Woods’s multiple extramarital affairs, a Freudian would probably ask Woods about his earliest memories and experiences—perhaps of his father’s numerous affairs—and try to analyze the unconscious urges that led to his behavior.

However, as intriguing as this theory is, the guiding principles of psychodynamic theory do not rely on results from objective scientific studies but instead rest primarily on subjective interpretations of what people say and do (and what they don’t say and don’t do). Moreover, over time psychodynamic theory became so intricate and complicated that it could usually explain any given observation or research result as easily as the opposite observation or result and thus became impossible to test—which is obviously a serious drawback in any science.

Nevertheless, a key idea of psychodynamic theory—that complex behavior is driven by mental processes operating on mental contents—had a crucial influence on later theories. In addition, the idea that some mental contents and processes are hidden from awareness has proven invaluable. Furthermore, psychodynamic theory focused attention on analyzing and interpreting previously ignored types of behavior and experiences, such as slips of the tongue and dreams. Attention to such behavior and experiences sparked subsequent research. We also note that psychodynamic theory led to entirely new approaches to treating psychological problems—approaches directed toward discovering underlying causes and not simply treating symptoms. These approaches have since been modified and refined.

By the early part of the 20th century, a new generation of psychologists calling themselves behaviorists began to question a key assumption shared by their predecessors, namely that psychologists should study the mind. These researchers found theories of the nature of unconscious mental contents and processes difficult to pin down, and they argued that the methods used to study such topics lacked rigor—and hence they rejected the idea that psychology should focus on such unseen phenomena. Instead, American psychologists such as Edward Lee Thorndike (1874–1949), John B. Watson (1878–1958), Clark L. Hull (1884–1952), and B. F. Skinner (1904–1990) concluded that psychology should concentrate on understanding directly observable behavior.

The school of behaviorism The school of psychology that focuses on how a specific stimulus (object, person, or event) evokes a specific response (behavior in reaction to the stimulus).  focuses on how a specific stimulus (object, person, or event) evokes a specific response (a behavior in reaction to the stimulus); together these are sometimes referred to as stimulus–response associations. For instance, rather than trying to study the nature of “affection” in order to understand why someone treats dogs well (“affection” being an unobservable mental state), these behaviorists would observe when and how a person approaches dogs, protects them from harm, pets them, and otherwise treats them well. The goal of such studies would be to discover how particular responses characteristic of “affection” came to be associated with the stimulus of a dog. The later behaviorists acknowledged that mental events probably exist but argued that it was not useful for psychology to focus on them. Because of their concern with the content of stimulus–response associations, the behaviorists focus on events at the level of the person.

How might the behaviorists explain Tiger Woods’s golfing success? A key idea in behaviorism is reinforcement, which is a desirable consequence that occurs after an individual (human or nonhuman) responds to a stimulus in a particular way. A reward, such as payment for a job, is a common type of reinforcement. If the consequence of a response is reinforcing, we are likely to repeat the response when we encounter the stimulus. Conversely, if a response produces an undesirable consequence (“punishment”), we are less likely to do it again. Behaviorists would probably argue that reinforcement is at the root of Tiger Woods’s success in golf. Consider the fact that, from his earliest days, Tiger Woods received an extraordinary amount of reinforcement for playing well, at first from his father and then from an increasingly larger affirming public. Such reinforcement would have spurred him to repeat those specific acts (behaviors) that brought desirable consequences (such as hitting the ball so that it went into the cup). Reinforcement was probably also at the root of his extramarital affairs until his wife found out, at which point the consequence changed to punishment.

The behaviorists have developed many important principles that describe the conditions in which particular responses are likely to occur or not occur. Moreover, the behaviorists’ emphasis on controlled, objective observation has had a deep and lasting impact on psychology. Today, even studies of mental events must conform to the level of rigor established by the behaviorists. Behaviorist insights also have improved psychotherapy and education. However, many of the behaviorists’ objections to the study of mental contents and processes have not stood the test of time; much subsequent research has shown that we can rigorously study mental contents (such as mental images) and mental processes (such as those used in reasoning). Moreover, consequences alone cannot account for all behavior: Children may receive positive consequences for golfing well, but most of them will not go on to become another Tiger Woods.

Partly as a reaction to the theories of the Freudians and behaviorists, which viewed people as driven either by mental events or by external stimuli, a new school of psychological thought—humanistic psychology—emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s; among the influential theorists was Abraham Maslow (1908–1970). According to humanistic psychology The school of psychology that assumes people have positive values, free will, and deep inner creativity, the combination of which allows them to choose life-fulfilling paths to personal growth. , people have positive values, free will, and deep inner creativity, which in combination can allow them to choose life-fulfilling paths to personal growth. The humanistic approach (focused on the level of the person) rests on the idea that all individuals—and their unique experiences—should be respected.

Psychologist Carl Rogers (1902–1987) developed a therapy based on the humanistic approach; Rogers used the term client rather than patient, and he called his therapy client-centered therapy. This form of therapy grew out of the idea that human nature leads each of us to want to develop to our fullest potential, and the therapist’s job is to help us do so. (This view emerged from Maslow’s theory that people have an urge to self-actualize—that is, to develop to their fullest potentials.) Rather than serving as an expert in a position of authority, the client-centered therapist provides an unconditionally supportive and positive environment to help the client overcome obstacles and develop to his or her full potential.

How might humanistic psychologists explain Tiger Woods’s golf success? No doubt they would point to him as someone who is striving to reach his full potential. They might also suggest that his intense focus on golf did not prove entirely satisfying, which led to his subsequent personal problems as Woods sought fulfillment in other ways.

Humanistic psychology is important in part because of its emphasis on humans as active agents who can formulate plans and make decisions. This school continues to attract followers today and played a role in the emergence of positive psychology—the area of psychology that focuses on “the strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive” (Compton, 2005; Peterson, 2006; Seligman, 2011). Researchers in this field focus on psychological strengths and virtues and the factors associated with psychological health, resilience, and fulfillment; they don’t focus on psychological weaknesses and the factors associated with mental illness and psychological problems (Martínez-Martí & Ruch, 2017). This field is just now starting to produce a body of solid research findings and may develop into a major force in psychology.

The tension between approaches—on the one hand, studying unobservable mental events (structuralism, functionalism, and psychodynamic psychology) and, on the other hand, studying only directly observable behavior (behaviorism)—was resolved by a new arrival on the scene: the computer. The cognitive revolution of the late 1950s and early 1960s hinged on using the computer as a model for the way the human mind works. This movement came into full flower in the mid-1970s, led by, among others, psychologists/computer scientists Herbert A. Simon and Allen Newell (Simon went on to win a Nobel Prize, in part for this work) and linguist Noam Chomsky (Gardner, 1985).

The cognitive revolution gave birth to cognitive psychology The approach in psychology that attempts to characterize the mental events that allow information to be stored and operated on internally., which attempts to characterize the nature of human information processing, that is, the mental events that allow information to be stored and processed (Neisser, 1967). In this view, the mind is like the software (with stored data) on a computer, and the brain is like the hardware (the machine itself). A cognitive psychologist might analyze the way information is processed when Tiger Woods plans his shots and might even program computers to mimic the sort of information processing involved in such a complex activity (such “computer simulation models” can help generate testable predictions from a theory).

Computers showed, once and for all, why it is important that there be a science of the unobservable events that take place in the head, not just a science of directly observable behavior. Consider, for example, how a computer programmer might react if her new word-processing program produced italics whenever she entered the command for boldface. Noticing the software’s “behavior” would be only the first step in fixing this error: She would need to dig deeper in order to find out where the program had gone wrong. This would involve seeing what internal events are triggered by the command and how those events affect what the machine does. So, too, for people. If somebody is acting oddly, we must go beyond the essential step of noticing the unusual behavior; we also need to think about what is happening inside and consider what is causing the problem.

Indeed, the cognitive revolution led to new ways of conceptualizing and treating mental disorders, such as depression. For example, researchers had long believed that depression led people to have negative thoughts, but psychologist Albert Ellis and psychiatrist Aaron Beck argued the reverse—namely, that negative thoughts (mental contents) caused depression. And research findings have supported this theory (for example, Abela & D’Alessandro, 2002). Once negative thoughts were identified as the cause (not the effect), therapies then were developed to help people modify such thoughts.

The theories and research methods developed by cognitive psychologists have also proven crucial in the development of cognitive neuroscience The approach in psychology that blends cognitive psychology and neuroscience (the study of the brain) when attempting to specify how the brain gives rise to mental processes that store and process information., which blends cognitive psychology and neuroscience (the study of the brain) when attempting to specify how the brain gives rise to mental processes that store and process information. Cognitive neuroscientists hope to discover the nature, organization, and operation of mental events by studying the brain (Gazzaniga, 2009; Ochsner & Kosslyn, 2014). One of the goals of cognitive neuroscience is to distinguish among different sorts of mental processes, in part by showing that different brain areas give rise to those processes. For example, researchers have found that there is more than one way to produce lies, documented by the fact that separate brain areas come into play when lies are based on previously memorized stories versus making up new stories on the spot (Ganis et al., 2003). Cognitive neuroscience is one of the most exciting areas of psychology today, in part because brain-scanning technologies have allowed researchers to observe human brains at work (Karnath et al., 2017; LeVan et al., 2017).

The cognitive neuroscience approach considers events at the three levels of analysis but with a primary focus on the brain. Cognitive neuroscientists seeking to explain Tiger Woods’s golfing achievements would probably investigate how different parts of his brain function while he plays golf, looking specifically to discover the ways his mind processes information. For example, they might study how his brain responds to visual input when he judges the distance to the hole.

In the late 1980s, a new field of psychology arose, which owes a lot to the work of the functionalists and their emphasis on Darwin’s theory of natural selection. According to evolutionary psychology The approach in psychology that assumes that certain cognitive strategies and goals are so important that natural selection has built them into our brains., certain cognitive strategies and goals are so important that natural selection has built them into our brains. However—and this is the key innovation—instead of proposing that evolution has selected specific behaviors (as earlier evolutionary theorists, including Charles Darwin himself, believed), these theorists believe that evolution has given us certain goals (such as finding attractive mates) and cognitive strategies (such as deceiving others in order to achieve one’s goals). This approach addresses events at all three levels of analysis.  

For example, consider the claim that we have the ability to lie because our ancestors who could lie successfully had an advantage: They could trick their naïve companions into giving up valuable resources. According to evolutionary psychologists, more devious ancestors had more children who survived than did their nonlying contemporaries, and their lying children who inherited this ability in turn had more children and so on, until the ability to lie was inborn in all members of our species. Notice that lying is not a specific behavior; it is a strategy that can be expressed by many behaviors, all of them deceitful.

Evolutionary psychologists also compare human abilities with those of other animals, particularly nonhuman primates (Whiten, 2017). By studying other animals, researchers hope to infer what abilities our common ancestors had, and aim to develop theories about the ways our abilities emerged over the course of evolution. For example, by studying the way animals communicate, researchers try to infer which abilities may have been shared by our common ancestors—and hence may have formed the basis of human language. When asked about what might underlie Tiger Woods’s golfing achievements, an evolutionary psychologist might note that the abilities that arose via natural selection for hunting game and avoiding predators can also be used in other ways—in playing sports, for instance. And an evolutionary psychologist might suggest that males are biologically predisposed to want to have sex with attractive women (but might also note that we are not simply slaves to such predispositions).

However, evolutionary theories are notoriously difficult to test because we don’t know what our ancestors were like and how they evolved. Just because we are born with certain tendencies and characteristics does not mean that these are evolutionarily selected adaptations. As Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Lewontin (1979) pointed out, at least some of our modern characteristics are simply by-products of other characteristics that were, in fact, selected. For instance, your nose evolved to warm air and detect odors, and once you have a nose, you can use it to hold up your eyeglasses. And just as nobody would claim that the nose evolved to hold up glasses, nobody should claim that all the current functions of the brain resulted from natural selection.

The various schools of psychological thought are summarized in Table 1.1.

Although new schools of psychology emerged over time, the earlier approaches did not simply fade away. Rather than being replaced by their descendants, the earlier schools often continued to develop and produce new and important discoveries. Moreover, the different approaches began to influence each other. Today, we have a rich mix of different sorts of psychology. Here are some examples:

As evident in these brief glimpses into current research, the varied approaches to psychology not only coexist but also feed off one another. The result is that we are learning about the mind and behavior at an ever-increasing clip. If you are interested in psychology, these are truly exciting times in which to live!

A clinical psychologist  The type of psychologist who is trained to provide psychotherapy and to administer and interpret tests.is trained to provide psychotherapy and to administer and interpret psychological tests. Consider Andrea, a clinical psychologist who specializes in treating people with eating disorders. Many of Andrea’s clients have a disorder called anorexia nervosa; these patients are underweight and refuse to eat enough to maintain a healthy weight. Some of Andrea’s other patients have a disorder called bulimia nervosa; they eat and then force themselves to vomit or take laxatives immediately afterward. Andrea sees a patient once or twice a week, for 50 minutes per session. During these sessions, part of Andrea’s job is to identify the factors that lead patients to engage in these behaviors that are so destructive in the long run but seem so desirable to them in the short run. She then helps her patients phase out the destructive behaviors and replace them with more adaptive ones—for instance, taking a quick walk around the block to decrease the anxiety that arises with keeping food down instead of vomiting after eating (Rosenberg & Kosslyn, 2014).

Depending on the setting in which Andrea works (probably a private office, clinic, or hospital), she will spend varying portions of her day: with patients; meeting with other psychologists to discuss how to be more helpful to patients; supervising psychotherapists in training; going out into the community, perhaps lecturing about eating disorders at high school assemblies; and doing paperwork, including writing notes on each patient, submitting forms to insurance companies for payment, and reading professional publications to keep up with new findings and techniques.

Andrea has been trained to provide psychotherapy The process of helping people learn to change so they can cope with troublesome thoughts, feelings, and behaviors., which involves helping people learn to change so that they can cope with troublesome thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. She also administers and interprets psychological tests, which can help to diagnose a person’s problem and to plan appropriate treatment for him or her. Some clinical psychologists work specifically with tests designed to diagnose the effects of brain damage on thoughts, feelings, and behavior and to indicate which parts of the brain are impaired following trauma. Such clinical neuropsychologists receive additional training, some of which involves learning about the field of neurology. Other clinical psychologists work with organizations, such as corporations, to help groups function more effectively; for example, a psychologist might teach relaxation techniques to all employees, or help remote workers manage the unique work stressors during the COVID-19 pandemic. These psychologists generally do not administer tests or deliver psychotherapy.

Some clinical psychologists have a PhD (doctor of philosophy) degree, awarded by a university after a person has completed all the requirements of a graduate program in a psychology department (graduate programs are so named because students enrolled in them must have already graduated from college). Graduate programs in psychology departments teach students not only how to do psychotherapy and psychological testing but also how to conduct and interpret psychological research. Other clinical psychologists have a PsyD (doctor of psychology) degree, awarded by a program that typically is housed in a private, stand-alone institution. These programs place less emphasis on research, and more emphasis on the delivery of psychotherapy. In some states, clinical psychologists with either type of degree can obtain additional training and be granted the right to prescribe medication for psychological disorders (the first state to grant this privilege was New Mexico, in 2002).

In contrast, a counseling psychologist  The type of psychologist who is trained to help people with issues that naturally arise during the course of life.is trained to help people deal with issues that arise during the course of everyday life, such as choosing a career, marrying, raising a family, and performing at work. If Andrea had been trained as a counseling psychologist, she might have provided career counseling and vocational testing to help people decide which occupations best suit their interests and abilities.  These professionals  sometimes provide psychotherapy, but they may have a more limited knowledge of therapeutic techniques than do clinical psychologists. They may have a PhD degree (from a university-based graduate program that specifically trains people in this area) or an EdD (doctor of education) degree, awarded from a school of education.

Alternatively, Andrea could have become a psychiatrist A physician with special training in treating mental disorders., a physician with special training in treating mental disorders. If she had gone this route, her training and area of competence would have differed from those of the other mental health professionals. A psychiatrist has an M.D. (doctor of medicine) and extensive medical training, and can prescribe drugs, whereas, typically, psychologists cannot. Unlike a clinical psychologist, however, psychiatrists have not been trained to interpret and administer psychological tests nor to conduct and understand psychological research.

Three other types of clinical mental health professionals are not psychologists: social workers, psychiatric nurses, and master’s degree-level counselors. If Andrea had become a social worker A mental health professional who may use psychotherapy to help families (and individuals) or help clients to use the social service systems in their communities., she might use psychotherapy to help families and individuals or would help clients use the social service systems in their communities. In order to become a social worker who uses psychotherapy, Andrea would need to earn an MSW (master of social work) degree. A psychiatric nurse  A nurse with a master’s degree and a clinical specialization in psychiatric nursing who provides psychotherapy and works with medical doctors to monitor and administer medications. holds a master’s degree (MSN, master of science in nursing) as well as a certificate of clinical specialization (CS) in psychiatric nursing. As a psychiatric nurse, Andrea would provide psychotherapy, usually in a hospital, clinic, or in private practice, and work closely with medical doctors to monitor and administer medications; in some cases, a psychiatric nurse can prescribe medications. Master’s degree-level counselors include marriage, family, and child counselors (MFCC) and marriage and family therapists (MFT). These degrees generally require two years of graduate school, compared to four or more in doctoral programs. Not surprisingly, then, counselors with master’s degrees graduate with less knowledge about assessment, therapy, and research.

James is a professor of psychology at a large state university. Most mornings he prepares lectures, which he delivers three times a week. He also has morning office hours, when students can come by to ask a wide range of questions, from guidance about which courses they should take, to advice about future career plans, to questions about the material in James’s classes. Once a week he attends a committee meeting; for example, one week the committee on computational infrastructure may discuss how best to set up a new wireless network for the department, and the next week may discuss the best way to organize the Psychology Department Help Desk. James has several other meetings on a monthly basis, such as meetings of all the professors in his department (when they may discuss new courses that need to be taught, among many other topics). His afternoons are taken up mostly with research. If James worked at a smaller college, he might spend more time teaching and less time on research; alternatively, if he worked at a hospital, he might spend the lion’s share of his time doing research and very little time teaching. In fact, if James worked in a research institute (perhaps affiliated with a medical school), he might not teach at all but instead would make discoveries that might be discussed in other people’s classes or textbooks.

James also must find time to write papers for publication in professional journals, and he regularly writes grant proposals requesting funding for his research (so that he can buy research materials and pay assistants—including students—to help him test the children in his studies). He also writes letters of recommendation, grades papers and tests, and reads journal articles to keep up with current research in his and related fields. James tries to eat lunch with colleagues at least twice a week to keep up to date on departmental events and the work going on at the university in other areas of psychology and related fields.

Although the activities of most academic psychologists  Psychologists who focus on teaching and conducting research.are similar in that most teach and many also conduct research, the kinds of teaching and research vary widely. Different types of academic psychologists focus on different types of research questions. For example, James chose to specialize in developmental psychology, the study of how thinking, feeling, and behaving develop with age and experience. His research work takes place at a laboratory preschool at the university, where he and his assistants are investigating the ways that children become attached to objects such as dolls and blankets. If James had become a cognitive psychologist (one who studies thinking, memory, and related topics), he might ask, “How is Tiger Woods able to figure out how to hit the ball with the appropriate force in the correct direction?” but not, “When does the audience help Woods’s golfing?” If James had become a social psychologist (one who studies how people think and feel about themselves and other people and how groups function), he might ask the second question but not the first. And in neither case would he ask, “What aspects of Tiger Woods’s character led him to have so many extramarital affairs?” That question would interest a personality psychologist (one who studies individual differences in preferences and inclinations).

Because psychology is a science, researchers evaluate theories on their objective merits. Theories about the mind and behavior can come from anywhere, but there is no way to know whether an idea is right or wrong except by testing it scientifically, through research. It is through research that psychologists learn how to diagnose people’s problems and how to treat them; it is through research that they determine what kind of career will make good use of a particular person’s talents; it is through research that they discover how to present material so that students can understand and remember it most effectively.

There are at least as many different types of academic psychologists as there are separate sections in this book. In fact, this book represents a harvest of their research. Thousands of researchers are working on the topics covered in each chapter, and it is their efforts that allow a book like this one to be written.

Applied psychologists  Psychologists who use the principles, findings, and theories of psychology to improve products and procedures and who conduct research to help solve specific practical problems.use the findings and theories of psychology to improve products and procedures, and they conduct research to help solve specific practical problems in areas such as education, industry, and marketing. Maria is an applied psychologist; more specifically, she is a human factors psychologist, a professional who works to improve products so that people can use them more intuitively and effectively. An applied psychologist may have a PhD or, sometimes, only a master’s degree in an area of psychology (in North America, a master’s degree typically requires two years of study in graduate school instead of the four to six required for a PhD).

Many specialties in academic psychology also have a place in applied psychology. For example, a developmental psychologist may be employed by the product development department of a toy company. Using her knowledge of children, she can help design toys that will be appropriate for particular age levels; she then brings children to a playroom at the company to see how they play with the new toys. A developmental psychologist could also advise parents about how to manage their children when they are home day-in-and-day-out for weeks at a time, as happened during the COVID-19 pandemic. A physiological psychologist studies the brain and brain–body interactions and may work at a company that makes drugs or brain-scanning machines. A social psychologist may recommend to lawyers which potential jurors should be chosen or excluded from a given jury, depending on the defendant and the details of the case. A personality psychologist may design a new test to help select suitable personnel for a job. An industrial/organizational (I/O) psychologist focuses on using psychology in the workplace; he or she might help an employer create a more comfortable and effective work environment or remote team in order to increase worker productivity. A sport psychologist works with athletes to help them improve their performance by helping them learn to concentrate better, deal with stress, and practice more efficiently (Tiger Woods has consulted a sport psychologist). An educational or school psychologist works with educators (and sometimes families) to devise ways to improve the cognitive, emotional, and social development of children  at school.

The occupation of the various types of psychologists are summarized in Table 1.2.

You may have noticed a lack of female names when we reviewed the history of psychology, and for good reason. In earlier times, few opportunities were available for women to make major contributions to this field; however, in spite of the barriers of those days, a few women did make their mark on psychology, such as Margaret Floy Washburn, who was Edward Titchener’s first student to earn a PhD (in 1894), and Mary Whiton Calkins, the first woman to become president of the American Psychological Association (in 1905).

The situation has changed: Increasing numbers of women—such as Mahzarin Banaji, Linda Bartoshuk, Laura Carstensen, Susan Carey, Nancy Kanwisher, Elizabeth Spelke, and Anne Treisman—have made major contributions in all areas of psychology. In fact, in the last major survey (National Science Foundation, 2017), fully 70% of college graduates with psychology majors were women. Thus, we can expect to see increasing representation of women in the field.