Ch. 1.2 - How Psychology Became a Science Flashcards
Hippocrates (460-370 BCE) (2)
- considered father of Western medicine
- four humours: blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm
Galen of Pergamon (127-217) (4)
1) sanguine (blood)-tendency to be impulsive, pleasure seeking, and charismatic
2) choleric (yellow bile)-tendency to be ambitious, energetic and a bit aggressive
3) melancholic (black bile)-tendency to be independent, perfectionist, and introverted
4) phlegmatic (phlegm)-tendency to be quiet, relayed, and content with life
Aristotle (384-322 BCE) (3)
- tabula rasa: person begins with blank state
- para psyche (‘about the mind’)-first text in history of psych
- no differentiation between mind and soul
Rene Descartes (1596-1650) (4)
- mind body problem
- Cartesian dualism
- ‘Problem of interactionism’
- pineal gland
Gustav Fechner (1801-1887) (3)
- psychophysics: study of the relationship between the physical world and the mental representation of that world
- how people detect changes in physical stimuli (brightness, loudness, etc)
- 1/4 lb added to 1lb and 5lb -> notice more weight added on 1lb
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) (4)
-evolution by natural selection:
>variation of traits make some individuals more likely to survive and produce offspring
>overtime, surviving traits become more common
-evolution can also select for behaviours -> emotional expressions
brain localization
certain parts of the brain control specific mental abilities
phrenology (4)
- Franz Gall (1758-1828) and Joseph Spurzheim (1776-1832)
- brain consisted of 27 ‘organs’ each associated with a personality trait
- size of organ corresponded to the development of trait
- produced bumps on skull
brain injury (2)
- Paul Broca: comprehension but not production (left hemisphere)
- Carl Wernicke: production but no comprehension (right hemisphere)
Franz Mesmer (1734-1815) (4)
- believed magnets could redirect the flow of metallic fluids in the body to cure diseases
- direct fluids by ‘mesmerizing’ the patient with hand movements, inducing a trance
- psychosomatic medicine
- phenomenon of inducing trances renamed hypnosis
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) (4)
- psychoanalysis: psychological approach that attempts tot explain behaviour and personality are influenced by unconscious processes
- id -> instincts
- ego -> organized part that mediates between the desires of the id and superego
- superego -> morality and critical thinking
criticisms of Freud (3)
- used subjective rather than scientific method
- dismissed claims of sexual abuse as mere constructions of our unconscious mind
- theory suggested a lack of free will
contributions of Freud (4)
- introduced the potential for unconscious mental processes
- medical model: use of medical ideas to treat psychological disorders
- incorporated evolutionary thinking by acknowledging physiological needs and urges
- experiences during development influence adult behaviour
Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911) (4)
-influenced by economics, sociology, and anthropology
-nature and nurture relationships:
>inquiry into how hereditary (nature) and environment (nurture) influence behaviour and mental processes
>believed hereditary explained psychological difference
Galton’s contributions and eminence (3)
-eminence: combination of ability, morality, and achievement resulting from good genes
>beliefs led him to coin the term ‘eugenics’ and justify its use
-he promoted use of statistical methods to quantify psychological traits
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) (4)
- established first lab dedicated to studying human behaviour
- used introspection: a process of ‘looking within’ to describe psychological sensations
- structuralism: analyzing conscious experience by breaking it down into basic elements and understand how these elements work
- reaction time methods: report when they heard a sound -> brain activity isn’t instantaneous
Edward Titchener (1867-1927) (2)
- mental experiences -> composed of ‘elements’ much like the periodic elements used in the physical science
- different combination of elements are responsible for more complex experiences
William James (1842-1910) (3)
- wrote first modern textbook -> The Principles of Psychology
- influenced by Darwin’s evolutionary principles
- functionalism: study of the purpose and function of behaviour and conscious experience
Edwin Twitmyer (1873-1943)
discovered conditioned reflexes (noise is heard -> reflex)
Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) (5)
-trained dogs to salivated in response to metronome
-won Nobel Prize for discovering Classical Conditioning
>learning process that occurs when two stimuli are repeatedly paired
-soon became the focus of behaviourism
>study of observable behaviour, with little or no reference to mental events or instincts as possible influences on behaviour
John B. Watson (1878-1958) (6)
rise of behaviourism in North America
- only observable changes on the environment and behaviour should be studied scientifically
- all behaviour could be explained by conditioning
- revolutionized the principles of marketing
- developed ads that formed associations between a product and desired feeling
- methods still used by advertisers
B. F. Skinner (1904-1990) (3)
- animals in chambers
- operant conditioning: strengthening or weakening a behaviour by reward and punishment
- little room for free will
Carl Rogers (1902-1987) and Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) (2)
- humanistic psychology: focuses on the unique aspects of each individual human, each persons freedom to act, their rational thought, and the belief that humans are fundamentally different from animals
- focused on positive aspects of psych, meaning of experience, self-actualization
Karl Lashley (1890-1958) (3)
- tried to locate the engram (area of brain where a memory trace is stored)
- non-localization: exact location of damage not important
- principle of mass action: size damage corresponds with impairment
