1.1 The Story of Psychology Flashcards
nativism
- the philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn
- Plato was in favor of this view
philosophical empiricism
- the philosophical view that all knowledge is acquired through experience
- aristotle believes that the mind was a “blank slate”
dualism
- the argument for the distinction between the physical brain and the non-physical mind
- Descartes posited was connected to the physical via the pineal gland
materialism
the mind and body are one and the same
phrenology
now defunct theory that specific mental abilities are characteristics are localized in specific regions of the brain
Franz Joseph Gall (1758)
- phrenology
- the more capacities and traits a person has, the greater area they take up in their brain
Paul Broca (1824-1880)
- worked with a patient who lacked the ability to speak, but retained the ability to comprehend speech
- Broca surmised that this impediment might be related to a specific part of the brain
William James (1842-1920)
- first to take a scientific approach to study Psych
- Functionalism
- thought it was impossible to break consciousness down into component parts
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
- founded the first lab devoted to exclusively psych
- structuralism
- wanted to study consciousness scientifically
structuralism
- analyzes the mind by breaking it down into its basic
- wundt
functionalism
- the study of the purpose mental processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment
- james
physiology
- the study of biological processes
introspection
the subjective awareness of one’s own experiences
structuralism
the analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind
consciousness
a person’s subjective experience of the world and the mind
fundamental difficulties in introspection
- invalid –> different people see different things
- unreliable –> the same person may see different things at different times
- people are often mistaken about their experiences
Hysteria
a temporary loss of cognitive or motor functions, usually as the result of emotionally upsetting experiences
Jean-Martin Charcot & Pierre Janet findings
founded that when hypnotized, hysteric patients experience relief from physical and emotional symptoms
psychoanalysis
- Sigmund Freud
- therapeutic approach focusing on bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness
- bringing the unconscious material into conscious awareness
psychoanalytic theory
- Id, Ego, Superego
- theorized that hysterical symptoms resulted from early sexual molestation
- leaving memories that were intentionally forgotten
- discovered that symptoms disappeared when memories were completely recalled
Theory of neuroses (freud)
- behind every neurotic conflict lies a forgotten childhood trauma
- mind defends against painful experiences by actively excluding them from conscious awareness
Sigmund Freud
- attempting to treat hysteria with hypnosis
- found that hysterical patients experience catharsis when talking about problems in a hypnotic state
- psychoanalytic theory
topographic model
the idea that the mind has organization or architecture that overflows consciousness and can be described in terms of different levels or compartments
1. unconscious - the only part of the mind that exists at birth
2. preconscious - everything that can be summoned to consciousness on command
3. conscious awareness - the part of our mind that forms our waking lives
Humanistic Psychology
- this approach emphasized the positive potential of human beings
- a direct reaction to the darker tones of the psychoanalytic theory
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)
- most well known for his hierarchy of needs
- pioneered humanistic psychology
Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
- more well known for his “client-centered” approached to therapy
- pioneered humanistic psychology
Behaviorism
- advocated that psychologists restrict themselves to the scientific study of objectively observable behavior
- represented a dramatic departure from all previous schools of thought within psychology
- how can anyone tell you about our own private and subjective experiences?
- behaviorists challenged the idea that psych should be interested in mental life at all
John Watson (1878 - 1959)
- proposed that psychologists focus entirely on what people do rather than what they experience
Ivan Pavlov (1849 - 1936)
- neobehaviorist
- studied digestion
- founded classical conditioning (stimulus-response learning)
B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
- neobehaviorist
- is free will an illusion?
- stated that our behaviors are a product of past and present patterns of reinforcement
Margaret Washburn (1871 - 1939)
- studied behavior in different animal species
- developed theory of consciousness
Noam Chomsky (1928)
- cognitive neuroscience
- not all learning is based off of paired associations or reinforcement
- children generate sentences that they could never have heard before
- thus, language cannot be learned solely by reinforcement
Cognitive Neuroscience
- an approach to psychology that links psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily experiences
Behavioral Neuroscience
- the field of study that attempts to understand the links between cognitive processes and brain activity
