1.2 - How Psychology Became a Science Flashcards
Empiricism
a philosophical tenet that knowledge comes through experience
*knowledge about the world is based on careful observation, not on common sense of speculation
Determinism
the belief that all events are governed by lawful, cause-and effect relationships
*behaviour determined by both internal (ex. genes, brain, chemistry) and external influences
Psychological Science
both empirical and deterministic
*behviour can only be understood by making observations and testing hypotheses
Hippocrates
developed world’s first personality classification scheme
Four humours influenced health and personality (blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm)
Galen of Peragmon
suggested 4 humours combined to create temperaments
Sanguine (blood) = impulsive, pleasure seeking, charismatic
Choleric (yellow bile) = ambitious, energetic, aggressive
Melancholic (black bile) = independent, perfectionistic, introverted
Phlegmatic (phlegm) = quiet, relaxed, content
Zeigeist
a general set of beliefs of a particular culture at a specific time in history
Materialism
belief that humans, and other living beings, are composed exclusively of physical matter
Dualism
properties of humans that are not material (mind or soul separate from the body)
Gustav Fechner
Sensation and Perception
Psychophysics = study of relationship between physical world and mental representation of that world
Developed formula to calculate and perceived changes
Charles Darwin
Theory of evolution by natural selection
- behaviour also shaped by natural selection
- behaviour, like physical traits, are affected by hereditary influences
Clinical Psychology
field of psychology that concentrates on the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders
Brain Localization
certain parts of the brain control specific mental abilities and personality characteristics
Studied in two different ways :
Phrenology (Franz Gall and Johann Spurzheim)
- brain consists of 27 “organs” corresponding to mental traits and dispositions detected by examining surface of skull
- diff. traits and abilities were distributed across diff. regions of the brain
- if particular trait is possessed, that area of brain = larger
- measures bumps on head to identify diff. traits
Study of brain injuries (Paul Broca and Karl Wernicke)
- had scientific grounding phrenology lacked
Franz Mesmer
prolonged exposure to magnets can cure disease and insanity (rejected)
Psychosomatic medicine
Hyponosis
Sigmund Freud
started using hypnosis
Cured hysterical paralysis (lose feeling and control of specific body part)
Psychoanalysis = attempts to explain how behaviour and personality are influenced by unconscious processes
When a person is hypnotized, easier access to unconscious mind by psychoanalyst
Medical Model = use of medical ideas to treat disorders of emotion, thoughts, and behaviour
Early life influences our behaviour as adults
Sir Francis Galton
Cousin of Charles Darwin
Believed genetics explained psychological differences
Eminence = combo of ability, morality, achievement
Nature vs. Nurture Relationships = inquiry into how heredity (nature) ad enviro. (nurture) influence behaviour and mental processes
Eugenics (“good genes”, biased) = lead to mistreatment and influenced the thinking of Hitler (White, blond, blue eyes, German = good)
Wilhelm Wundt
established psychology as independent scientific field
Primary research method = introspection
- exp. of stimulus and report each sensation
- reaction time = mental activity not instantaneous, requires effort
- measuring mental activity
Edward Titchener
Student of Wundt
Structuralism = attempt to analyze unconscious experience by breaking it down into basic elements, and to understand how these elements work together
Mental exps. made up of limited # of sensations, which were analogous to elements in physics and chemistry
William James
wrote first textbook in psychology
- sought to explain how our thoughts and actions help us adapt to our enviro.
- Functionalism
Functionalism
study of purpose and function of behaviour and conscious experience
ex. evolutionary psychology
(William James)
Evolutionary Psychology
interprets and explains modern human behaviour in terms of forces acting upon our distant ancestors
Professor Edwin Twitmyer
Behaviourism
Behaviourism
studying only observable behaviour w/ little to no reference to mental events or instincts as possible influences on behaviour
- approach dominated first half of 20th century of North American psychology
(Professor Edwin Twitmyer)
Ivan Pavlov
credited for classical conditioning that was discovered by Edwin Twitmyer
John B. Watson
- behaviour is explained through conditioning
- only observable changes in envrio. and behaviour were appropriate for scientific study
- rejected Wundt’s introspection
- believed in power of exp. not genetics
- influenced advirtisement
B. F. Skinner
- agreed w/ Watson that psychology = study of behaviour not unobservable mind
- reward and punishment (we repeat actions that lead to reward, avoid actions that lead to punishment)
Behaviourists
human behaviour is a product of rewards, punishments, and learned associations
Psychoanalysts
human exp. is result of unconscious forces at work deep in the human psyche
Humanistic Psychology
focuses on unique characteristics of each individual, each person’s freedom to act, their rational thought, belief that humans are diff. from animals
*humans had freedom to act and rational mind to guide processes
(Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow)
Karl Lashly
- interested in locating engram (place in brain where memory is stored)
- principle of mass action (size of damage impacts impairment in performance)
Donald Hebb
- student of Karl Lashly
- how learning occurs
- Hebb’s Law
Hebb’s Law
when brain cell stimulates another cell, metabolic and physical changed occur to strengthen relationship
Wilder Penfield
- created maps of sensory and motor cortices in the brain
- removed cells from part of brain to prevent it from spreading to other parts
Herman Ebbinghaus
- collected data on remembering and forgetting
- “forgetting curves” = we forget what we learn quickly but the rate will slow and allow us to remember SOME info.
Frederick Bartlett
- memory is influenced by cultural knowledge and exp.
- gestalt psychology
Gestalt Psychology
approch emphasizing that psychologists need to focus on the whole of perception and exp. rather than its parts
Structuralist
breaking exp. into individual parts
Norman Triplett
- people respond to stimuli or events in presence of other people
- social psychology/personality psychology
Social Psychology
study of influence of others on our behaviour
Norman Triplett
Personality Psychology
how different personality characteristics influence how we think/act
(Norman Triplett)
Kurt Lewin
- founder of modern social psychology
- behaviour = function of individual and the environment
- behaviour can be predicted/explained through understanding of individual w/ specific set of traits and how they respond to context involved a specific set of conditions (ex. quiet vs. outgoing)
- cross-cultural
Cross-Cultural
draws comparisons about individual and group behaviour among cultures
- role of society in shaping behaviour, beliefs, values
