Are we the products of our environment, guided by forces out of our control, or are we able to choose the behaviors we engage in? Most of us like to believe in free will, that we are able to do what we want-for instance, that we could get up right now and go fishing. This question concerns the extent to which people have control over their own actions. But we will also see that nature and nurture interact in complex ways, making the question of “Is it nature or is it nurture?” very difficult to answer. 85 out of 1.0) and that the heritability of extraversion is about. We will see, for example, that the heritability of intelligence is very high (about.
The proportion of the observed differences on characteristics among people (e.g., in terms of their height, intelligence, or optimism) that is due to genetics is known as the heritability of the characteristic, and we will make much use of this term in the chapters to come. Are genes or environment most influential in determining the behavior of individuals and in accounting for differences among people? Most scientists now agree that both genes and environment play crucial roles in most human behaviors, and yet we still have much to learn about how nature (our biological makeup) and nurture (the experiences that we have during our lives) work together (Harris, 1998 Pinker, 2002). Some of these questions follow, and we will discuss them both in this chapter and in the chapters to come: The study of how the social situations and the cultures in which people find themselves influence thinking and behaviorįritz Heider, Leon Festinger, Stanley Schachterįigure 1.5 Timeline Showing Some of the Most Important PsychologistsĪlthough it cannot capture every important psychologist, this timeline shows some of the most important contributors to the history of psychology.Īlthough psychology has changed dramatically over its history, the most important questions that psychologists address have remained constant. Hermann Ebbinghaus, Sir Frederic Bartlett, Jean Piaget The study of mental processes, including perception, thinking, memory, and judgments Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler, Erik Ericksonīased on the premise that it is not possible to objectively study the mind, and therefore that psychologists should limit their attention to the study of behavior itself Uses the method of introspection to identify the basic elements or “structures” of psychological experienceĪttempts to understand why animals and humans have developed the particular psychological aspects that they currently possessįocuses on the role of our unconscious thoughts, feelings, and memories and our early childhood experiences in determining behavior Table 1.2 The Most Important Approaches (Schools) of Psychology School of psychology
Although most early psychologists were men, now most psychologists, including the presidents of the most important psychological organizations, are women. There has also been an increasing influx of women into the field. Perhaps most importantly, the field has moved steadily from speculation about behavior toward a more objective and scientific approach as the technology available to study human behavior has improved (Benjamin & Baker, 2004). The approaches that psychologists have used to assess the issues that interest them have changed dramatically over the history of psychology. Table 1.2 “The Most Important Approaches (Schools) of Psychology” and Figure 1.5 “Timeline Showing Some of the Most Important Psychologists” both represent a selection of the most important schools and people to mention all the approaches and all the psychologists who have contributed to the field is not possible in one chapter. The schools of psychology that we will review are summarized in Table 1.2 “The Most Important Approaches (Schools) of Psychology”, and Figure 1.5 “Timeline Showing Some of the Most Important Psychologists” presents a timeline of some of the most important psychologists, beginning with the early Greek philosophers and extending to the present day. In this section we will review the history of psychology with a focus on the important questions that psychologists ask and the major approaches (or schools) of psychological inquiry.
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