Alright, listen up, y’all. We’re gonna talk about some big-shot folks in somethin’ called AP Psychology. Don’t ask me what that “AP” stands for, sounds fancy, but these folks, they done figured out a whole heap ’bout how our brains work, or so they say.
First off, there’s this fella, Sigmund Freud. Now, he was a real character, talked a lot about stuff nobody else dared to mention back then. He went on and on ’bout “id” and “ego” and “superego”. Sounded like a bunch of gibberish to me at first, but it’s somethin’ ’bout how we got different parts of our minds fightin’ with each other. Like, one part wants to eat the whole dang pie, another part says, “Hold on, you’ll get a bellyache,” and the last part, well, it just judges ya for even thinkin’ ’bout that pie in the first place. He also talked ’bout dreams and what they mean, but honestly, half the time I dream ’bout chickens gettin’ loose, so I ain’t sure he’s right about everything.
Then there’s Wilhelm Wundt. They call him the “father of psychology.” Imagine that! He started the first place where they poked and prodded folks’ minds, way back in 1879. He had people lookin’ inside their own heads and tellin’ him what they was thinkin’. Sounds like a lot of navel-gazin’ to me, but I guess it got things started.
- Mary Whiton Calkins: Now, this woman, she was somethin’ else. Fought tooth and nail to get an education in this mind stuff when women weren’t supposed to be doin’ such things. She didn’t let them fellas push her around. Good for her, I say!
- Charles Darwin: Yeah, yeah, the monkey guy. You might be thinkin’, “What’s he doin’ in a brain talk?” Well, turns out, he had some ideas ’bout how our brains and how we act got shaped over time, just like them monkeys he was so fond of. Survival of the fittest, they say. Guess that explains why some folks are just plain smarter than others, huh?
And don’t forget Adler. He talked ’bout how we’re all just tryin’ to fit in and feel important. Said if we don’t get that feelin’, we might start actin’ up. Makes sense, I reckon. Nobody wants to feel like a fifth wheel.
There are a whole bunch of other names they throw around in this AP Psychology thing: Skinner, he was into how we learn stuff by what happens to us – if you get a treat for doin’ somethin’, you’re gonna do it again, simple as that. And them folks who study how we think, like, how we remember things or solve problems… It’s a whole mess of ideas and big words, but when you get down to it, they’re just tryin’ to figure out why we do the things we do.
Now, I hear tell that if you take this AP Psychology test, and you get a good score, like a 4, that means you’re pretty darn smart. They say only 15% to 25% of folks get a score that high. So if you’re thinkin’ ’bout takin’ this test, you better start studyin’ these names. They’re important, or so they say.
But let me tell ya, life’s the real teacher. You learn more by livin’ than you ever will from books. These psychology folks, they got their theories, but I got my common sense. And sometimes, that’s all you need. Still, it don’t hurt to know a little somethin’ about what these big brains been thinkin’ all these years. It’s good to know about your noggin, helps keep it from gettin’ rusty like an old tractor.
So, there you have it. A little somethin’ about some important people in somethin’ called AP Psychology. Now, don’t go quotin’ me on all this, ’cause I might not have all the fancy words right, but I think I got the gist of it. And that’s what matters, ain’t it?
Tags: [Psychology, AP Psychology, Sigmund Freud, Wilhelm Wundt, Mary Whiton Calkins, Charles Darwin, Adler, Skinner, Important Figures, History of Psychology, Psychological Theories, Learning, Personality, Exam Preparation]
