Introduction to Psychology, Part 2 - by @amitvegada

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During Freud's lifetime, there were a number of opposing theories about how the study of the human mind should be conducted. Most of the ideas were influenced by the ideas of structuralism, functionalism, and psychoanalysis.

German physician Wilhelm Wundt's Principles of Physiological Psychology, the first textbook of psychology, was first published in 1879 -just a few years after he set up the first science-based psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig.

The brain is composed of chemical compounds and structures, so why can't they break it down into simple elements? This was a view held by Wundt and his student Edward Bradford Titchener. Researchers asked patients how they felt when they watched the sunset, smelled coffee, licked a kitten, or whatever they felt at the time, in an effort to understand the structures of consciousness.

The approach was called structuralism, but despite its rigid-sounding name, it was very subjective since it relied upon introspection. In other words, even if we lick the same kitten, you may perceive and feel something different than what I would feel. It's impossible for psychologists to observe an individual's inner thoughts or feelings, so the structuralist style of thought was relatively short-lived.

However, American philosopher and physician William James offered a different perspective, focusing on such things as why we taste, smell, touch, or lick. It is going to turn out that he thought about our behavior in terms of how it functions. Evolutionary behavior is conserved throughout evolution, according to the "functionalist" view, based on Darwin's theory of evolution.

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The Principles of Psychology was published in 1890, just at the time when Freud was beginning to flex his big brain. In it, James defined psychology as the science of mental life. After receiving his medical education at a Viennese hospital, Freud started his practice, specializing in nervous disorders, in 1886.

A patient named Anna O was treated by Freud's colleague Josef Breuer with a new talking remedy during this time. The doctor merely invited Anna to talk about her feelings. They noticed symptoms were lessened the more she spoke and tugged at her traumatic memories. The breakthrough changed the course of Freud's life. Freud then encouraged his patients to freely associate and speak about whatever they came up with. His career and a whole branch of psychology were built on the foundation of this method.

We will be talking more about this in our next lesson, until then. Take care and see you all later.