4 - Here Comes Psychology

Question 1

“We ought never to allow ourselves to be persuaded of the
truth of anything unless on the evidence of our reason. And it
must be noted that I say of our reason, and not of our
imagination or of our senses: thus, for example, although we
very clearly see the sun, we ought not therefore to determine
that it is only of the size which our sense of sight presents;
and we may very distinctly imagine the head of a lion joined
to the body of a goat, without being therefore shut up to the
conclusion that a chimaera exists”

Who said this?

Answer 1

Descartes

Question 2

“Thus we remember, to have seen that species of object
we call flame, and to have felt that species of sensation
we call heat. We likewise call to mind their constant
conjunction in all past instances. Without any farther
ceremony, we call the one cause and the other effect,
and infer the existence of the one from that of the
other.”

Who?

Answer 2

Hume

Question 3

There were three main arguments against psych not being a viable scientific field; The mind is immaterial, no math formulation and humans are not animals.

How did these get refuted over time and as such saw psych as the development of an actual scientific field?

Answer 3

Math. formulation is possible
- Donders (mental chronometry) > reaction times
- Statistics (Quetelet > introduction of averages) aka humans are stochastic

Humans are animals
- Darwin’s evolutionary theory

The mind is material
- aka the continuous research into the brain and their developments (ch5 or 6)
- Localization, reflex, etc.

Question 4

Which two opposing schools of thought did James and Wundt represent?

Answer 4

Functionalism and structuralism (respectively)

Question 5

Structuralism and functionalism were opposing, Mary Calkins proposed differently, why?

Answer 5

The self is both in relation with the environment and should be investigated structurally

Question 6

Freud and Binet influenced psychology how?

Answer 6

Freud
- psychoanalysis (albeit controversial now), does help with the changing view on mental disorders
- Also the first comprehensible psych theory

Binet:
- His trying establishment of intelligence leads him to sum scores > has good predictiveness
- Test scores are still heavily used as they are better than teacher judgements (but not without problem)

Question 7

Titchener promoted structuralism on the basis of introspection in the USA, what three main critiques broke this down before it ever really had a chance to rise?

Answer 7

1. Wurzburg school and introspection as a method > findings that many thoughts/processes are unconscious (“imageless thoughts”)
2. Gestalt Psychology > humans are more than the sum of individual sensations (illusions, etc.)
3. Rise of functionalism (which fit better into the American culture)