Chapter 1: The Study of the History of Psychology Flashcards
Why is psychology considered to be a “nasty little subject”
Because it is limited by methods, demand characteristics, and human biases.
Why do we study the history of psychology?
Significant area of study, no single form/approach to psych exists, the past helps shape the present (ethics), integrates areas/issues within modern psychology.
What is psychology?
The study of the psyche
Who was the first to boldly make science the forefront of his thinking?
Rene Descartes
Who had the first psychology lab and how was it used?
Wilhelm Wundt- used it to answer questions empirically and trained many psychologists.
What is historiography?
History + psychology.
Who was the first historiographer?
Edwin Boring.
What are some examples of how data loss is a common issue in history?
John B Watson: Destroyed his unpublished docs
Ebbinghaus: Writings were lost for 7 years
Descartes: Letter stolen in the 1600s, found again in the 2010s.
How have some documents been altered/hidden?
Deliberate alteration of written documents (psychoanalysis is well known for this), biographies as biased and written by fanboys.
What is the idea of the person or zeitgeist?
How we focus ourselves when we study history:
Great person approach: Person, name, and how they’re known
Zeitgeist: Time, environment, culture etc.
What is the eclectic approach?
Using all approaches available to craft the story.
How does economic opportunity promote psychology?
If you’re not worried about money and food, then you have time to sit around and think.
How did the war impact psychology?
Jewish psychologists fled Europe, creating more disciplines, expansions of testing services and psychotherapy. Demanded psychological services for veterans.
How were women discriminated against in the past with regards to psychology?
Fewer appointments and lower pay for women, refusal to take married grad students, positions only available at women’s colleges.
How were different ethnicities discriminated against in early psychology?
Jewish people in early 20th century, Maslow was encouraged to change his name, African Americans afforded little opportunities until the end of the 1900s.
Who were Kenneth and Mamie Clark?
First African American’s to earn PhD’s in psychology from Columbia University, first African American full tenured prof at city college of New York. Seminal research on racial identity and self-concept.
What are the two components of science?
1) Empirical observation: Direct observation of nature
2) Theory: organization or categorization of observations in some meaningful way.
What is the difference between the mind and body according to mind-body dualism?
Mind: Conscious thinking. “You”
Brain: part of the body, mental events result from biology and chemistry.
What is objective vs subjective reality?
Objective: What is really present
Subjective: What we perceive to exist
What is the idea of naive realism?
What is experienced mentally is actually the same as what is presented physically
What is rationalism?
Human behaviour emphasized the importance of logical and systematic thoughts (ancient greeks and descartes)
Wise humans are good humans
What is irrationalism?
The cause of human behaviour is found in the unconscious (Jung and Freud)
What are nativists vs empiricists?
Nativists: Emphasized the role of nature in human attributes
Empiricists: human attributes due to the environment
What is epistemology?
The study of knowledge- how we obtain it, limits on knowledge, how much knowledge is innate, what we learn
