Chapter 1 Flashcards
Psychology
the scientific study of mind and behavior
Mind
private inner experience of perceptions, thoughts, memories, and feelings
Behavior
observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals
Nativism
the philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn–> Plato favored this
Philosophical empiricism
the view that all knowledge is acquired through experience–> Aristotle favored this
What did Aristotle think the mind is?
tabula rasa, or blank slate
René Descartes argued what?
argued that the mind and the body are different things
o mind/soul = immaterial
o body = material
What is dualism?
how mental activity can be reconciled & coordinated w/ physical behavior
Thomas Hobbes argued what?
that the mind is what the brain does; can’t look for where the mind meets the body
Phrenology
a now discredited theory that specific mental abilities and characteristics, ranging from memory and the capacity for happiness, are localized in specific regions of the brain
Who developed phrenology?
Franz Joseph Gall
What did Marie Jean Pierre Flourens do?
he surgically removed parts of animals brains and observed that they acted differently than animals whose brains were intact
What did Paul Broca do?
worked w/ patient who damaged part of brain & couldn’t speak, but could understand language and perform gestures; concluded that damage to a specific part of the brain could impair a specific mental function
What did the work of Broca and Flourens achieve?
essentially disproved Descartes’ theory that the mind is separate, but interacts with, the brain and the mind; mind is grounded in substance (brain!)
Physiology
the study of biological processes, esp. in the human body
What did Hemholtz measure & discover?
Measured reactions times from diff. parts of body to find speed of nerve impulse to brain; discovered that mental processes were NOT instantaneous
Consciousness
a person’s subjective experience of the world and the mind
Structuralism
The analysis of basic elements that constitute the mind
What did Wilhelm Wundt do?
Wrote book on physiological psychology, believed psychology should focus on consciousness
Introspection
the subjective observation of one’s own experiences
Describe Wundt’s reaction time experiments
One group told to press button when they heard sound, other group to press when they perceived sound; 2nd group 1/10 of second slower; showed that scientists could use techniques to disentangle subtle conscious processes
Titchener did what?
studied at Wundt’s lab, focused on identifying elements of consciousness (Cornell brain!)
Functionalism
the study of how mental processes enable ppl to adapt to their environments
Who developed functionalism? What did he liken consciousness to?
William James; flowing stream
What is the difference between structuralism and functionalism?
Structuralism- examined structure of mental processes
Functionalism- the purpose/functions of these mental processes
Natural selection
The features of an organism that help it survive and reproduce are more likely than other features to be passed on to subsequent generations
What did G. Stanley Hall theorize about evolutionary biology?
As children develop, they pass through stages that repeat mankind’s evolutionary history
Define hysteria
a temporary loss of cognitive or motor functions, usually as a result of emotionally upsetting experiences