What Is Darwin's Influence On Early Psychology

As a person who wishes to peruse a career in animal behavior I found Charles Darwin to be the most interesting psychologist within chapter 3. he dedicated his life to find evidence of evolution and in 1859 he published his findings. His main focus within his research were about the finches found on different areas within the Galapagos island. The finches each had different beaks accommodated for the different types of food they ate on the island. By studying the finches he was able to conclude that behavior and traits can adapt to certain situations in which the individual or animal finds themselves in. This research helped many psychologist understand more about individual traits and the different behaviors of both animals and humans. Thus sparking an increase in behaviorism and the use of biology within the field of psychology.

The work of Charles Darwin has had a colossal impact on the world and that impact has been felt the most in the area of the sciences. Darwin theorized that humans and animals have descended from a common ancestor and that all living things have a lot in common; out of that background came the study of Comparative Psychology which, is the study of animals to learn more about human behavior (Tanner, 2008). The basic original goal of comparative psychology was to study the differences and the similarities of the behavior of types and classes of animals in the evolutionary history of those types and classes (Waters, Rethlingshafer, & Caldwell, 1960, p. 9). Another of Darwin’s theories concerns the

The theory of evolution through natural selection was proposed by Charles Darwin in the 1800s. This theory shows that our behaviours have changed over time as the result of our physical characteristics adapting to its environment over time. This is a biological approach as our genes are what influence our behaviour. Human’s adaptive social behaviour supports the theory of evolution as cuddling with children creates a feeling of warmth and security which replicates the feeling of being in the womb. Wundt’s introspective experiment had its strengths and limitations. The experiment provided an insight on a human’s personal mental processes. But there could be a problem with the validity of the results because the participant may choose not to be 100% truthful with the content of their thoughts in fear of, for example, embarrassment. Another limitation is that we don’t always learn things the same way so humans can learn from the past. They take a different approach the second time

Although Charles Darwin is usually just looked at in the light of purely biology, his work that impacted other fields such as psychology or his work that lead to the rapid expansion of certain fields such as ethology, is often looked over. Darwin’s work impacted these fields both directly and indirectly at such a level of influence that some people believe that psychology should be looked at as pre- and post-Darwin. On the Origin of Species, while being primarily about biological phenomena and theories, was one of these works that impacted psychology indirectly. Other than giving a new perspective for psychologists to possess when contemplating different ideas, Darwin’s work on natural selection lead to the creation of evolutionary psychology.

Though this theory mainly focuses on Skinner, another theorist named John B. Watson is mentioned. Watson believed that human behavior is the result of specific stimuli that elicited certain responses. His basic idea was that the conclusions about human development should be based on the observation of overt behavior rather than speculation. Watson was also a professor of psychology at Hopkins University and “By the time he left the field for good in the early 1930s, behaviorism had succeeded in taking center stage within American psychology” (Wozniak, 1997).

Since our infancy we learn about behavior through the experiences and the knowledge that we get by observing other people or having relations with them. Living in society leads us to watch and try to explain the way people behave. But that is not always easy. Sometimes we cannot understand even ourselves. Psychology comes to give answers to all this uncertainty.

Your argument that Darwin has more influence I see is well supported, the example from Cosmos using the warrior crabs is quite strong. My only concern is the lack of support/evidence towards Adam Smith. There is a clear and strong argument as to why Darwin will have a lasting influence but there is little information provided about Smith, his theories and why it is inadequate in having a lasting influence. The only part I see in your short essay about Smith is the last line saying the ideas of Adam Smith are “antiquated for modern day use.” On the contrary, Smith’s idea of evaluating a country’s wealth through GDP is still being used today, his theory of the invisible hand is still being caught in some if not most economics classes today. Your

Three major events in the early twentieth century greatly influenced Skinner’s work: Darwin’s theory of evolution, Freud’s psychoanalysis, and Pavlov’s approach to conditioning. Darwin asserted that all life forms evolved from simple forms and that the selection of characteristics contribute to the survival of each individual. Skinner believed that Darwin’s ideas could be applied to behaviorism and coined the idea of “selection by consequences” to explain why people act how they act. Psychoanalysis began in the early 1900s and Freud focused on the idea that people are driven by their unconscious and that adult behaviors are formed in childhood. Skinner agreed with a few of Freud’s ideas; both psychologists believed that behavior has predictable effects and is not a result of free will. However, Skinner rejected Freud’s idea that the id, ego, and superego cause behavior. Pavlov’s

In 1913 John B. Watson wrote a article titled 'Psychology as the behaviorist views it', that particular article started what is now known as the "behaviorist movement". Watson realized that both humans and animals have specific ways of acting depending on the environment they were raised in and how they were conditioned for example a lion who was raised in captivity would act differently than a lion that was born in the wild. He believed that everything is learned rather than just known to human and animals, Ulric Neisser believed differently. In 1967, Neisser came up with cognitive psychology. Neisser concluded that some things such as mental illness's are not learned and just come naturally. In the last couple of decades that both behaviorism

Biological psychology is the study of how biology affects a number of psychological processes i.e. how the mind affects the body (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner & Hood 2015). The study of the mind has had many influential figures throughout history that often use each other’s ideas as a stepping stone to further advance psychology, some of the first being Plato and Aristotle. Plato believed in nativism and theorised some skills and characteristics are innate and a person is born with them (Schacter et al, 2015). Aristotle, however, was in favour of philosophical empiricism i.e. that all knowledge is acquired through experience, yet current scientists do not consider that nativism and empiricism are entirely accurate (Schacter et al, 2015). Aristotle also believed that the brain existed to cool the blood, as during that time people were sceptical that an organ could be responsible for behaviour (Kolb, Whishaw & Teskey 2016). The next major advancement in biological psychology was the introduction of phrenology by Francis Gall, Gall’s theory suggested that all psychological capabilities had a specific place in the brain (Schacter et al, 2015). This theory later turned out to be correct, although was overshadowed by Gall’s insistence that he could state a person’s character dependant on the size of lumps and indentations on a person’s skull, which he thought would represent the size of that brain region beneath (Schacter et al, 2015). Due to this, in spite of a large following, phrenology was quickly discredited. Biologist Pierre Flourens, unhappy with Gall’s research, began removing localized areas of the brain in various animals to observe their behaviour (Schacter et al, 2015). Flourens then found that animal’s movements differed to those with intact brains. This mirrored a situation for surgeon Paul Broca with whom one of his patients had damage to the left side of

This debate is of interest in psychology as it can be traced back to the French philosopher Descartes (1596-1650), whose philosophies had a great effect on both science and Psychology. For much of its past as a distinct, scientific discipline. Psychology has functioned as if there were no alteration among natural, physical phenomena and human thought and actions. In addition to this, Jean-Paul Sartre (1943-1974) argued in favour of human freedom. He believed that people are always free. When individuals argue that they could not help their actions, they

This video is about the evolution of psychology. It also helps define what psychology is as a science, which is the scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes according to the video. People may study psychology to know what is going on in the human mind. As shown in the video, the Candid Camera example, the girls blush and have nervous reactions in front of the male teacher when asked if they wanted to be in his class. The boys have the same reaction when they are put in front of a female teacher. The influence of situational factors affects an individual’s perception. For example, when judging which is the tallest the cowboy, I thought it was the cowboy in the upper right hand corner, but I perceived

With the study of psychology, we have discovered the minds, and bodies and all of its functions of humans in the past and the present. Psychologists help in doing this, as they have created the information that we know, trust and use to figure ourselves and others out. A psychologist in particular that have done such is, B.F Skinner. Burrhus Frederic Skinner, better known as B.F Skinner helped in shaping the study of Behaviorism. Behaviorism is the theory that human and animal behavior that are explained in terms of conditioning without appeal to thoughts or feeling. He helped in determining this theory by creating; behaviorism, operant conditioning, reinforcers,

The twentieth century marked the beginning of rapid industrialization and innovation that allowed for exponential growth in society and science, psychology, in particular. This shift meant that there was modern technology and a better scientific understanding of life. The ideas of John Locke, George Berkeley, and Wilhelm Wundt emphasized the importance of consciousness, however, the materialistic overtone of this time brought new debates about the possibility of understanding the “subjective” in behavioral terms. Psychologists at the time went back to the mechanistic ideas of Julian Offay LaMettrie in order to find a new way to understand behavior. Animal psychology, a new understanding of physiology, and a search for new methods away

John Dewey is an important figure in the development of early psychology in the United States, publishing from the late nineteenth century to the early twentieth century. Primarily seen as a naturalist and a theorist of progressivism, he advocated for the instrumentalism of psychology and the importance of “new psychology”, while resisting the mind-body dualism that was so prevalent at the time. Dewey is often credited with inciting the first revolution in American psychology with the creation of functionalism He focused on “adaptive behavior”, a key part of his beliefs that was misinterpreted by many. As Manicas (2002) points out, both the functionalists and behaviorists of the time also heavily focused on “adaptive behavior”, which unfortunately