Chapter 8 Flashcards
What is psychology an outgrowth of?
outgrowth of Enlightenment philosophy and 19th Century physiology
What is psychology?
Psychology is the study of the soul
Why is psychology important?
Important because it shapes what we do and why we do it
Describe what objective means
Objective - factual, concrete, without bias and observable.
Describe what subjective means
Subjective - open to interpretation, qualitative, easily influenced, individualized/relative
Describe two things about the Enlightenment
Empiricism is part of psych’s enlightenment background (focus on senses, knowledge comes from these, passive mind view, Brits and French) and the other side was rationalism (Germans, knowledge we obtain via senses is transformed by the mind via reason, active mind).
Describe early science and physiology
- Scientific achievements helped to address the question: By what mechanisms do empirical events come to be represented in consciousness?
- Everything from sense perception to motor reactions was studied intensely and gave birth to experimental psychology.
Describe the Objective-Subjective split
O & S split is a big issue for scientists. Sensory info might not be accurate. Led to concerns and interest in sensation.
Describe the role of early reaction time studies
- Early reaction-time study illustrated the importance of individual differences and demonstrated the importance of discrepancy between objective and subjective reality.
Evident that there was not a point-to-point correspondence between physical reality and the psychological experience of that reality.
Researchers became interested in the physiology of the organism.
Describe the 2 astronomer example
2 astronomers example. One was an assistant and the other saw that his observation was off by a few seconds. Senior saw the difference as incompetence
Describe the importance of Besel’s finding
maybe it wasn’t incompetence, maybe it was a difference between individual perceptual systems. Very first reaction time study. His observations of planetary motion compared to colleagues. Systematic → personalized equations which can be done to deal with errors. He started to uncover individual differences.
Why were individual differences considered scary?
They were frightening to science because it’s hard to study (outside of stats).
What were the two things early physiologists were interested in?
Early physiologists were either interested in accounting for individual differences in systematic ways or they were establishing universals.
How did universal physiologists view differences?
Universals → accounted for differences as “noise”. E.g. Extreme outliers today
What did physiologists want?
Wanted to understand the processes and mechanisms organisms interact with their environment.
Describe the Bell-Magendie law
- Demonstrated That Sensory nerves enter the dorsal roots of the spinal cord and motor nerves emerge from the ventral roots.
- Separated nerve physiology into sensory and motor functions
- Significant because it demonstrated that specific mental functions are mediated by different anatomical structures.
It was no longer possible to think of nerves as general conveyors of vibrations or spirits.
Sensory nerves carry impulses from sense receptors to the brain
Motor nerves carry impulses from the brain to muscles and glands.
This suggested separate sensory and motor regions in the brain.
What were the two camps prior to this law
Descartes’ view and Hartley’s view
What was Descartes’ view?
Nerves = hollow tubes
What was Hartley’s view?
Nerves vibrated
What is the Bell-Magendie law?
Demonstrated That Sensory nerves enter the dorsal roots of the spinal cord and motor nerves emerge from the ventral roots.
What was B-M law’s effect on physiology?
- Separated nerve physiology into sensory and motor functions
- Significant because it demonstrated that specific mental functions are mediated by different anatomical structures.
- It was no longer possible to think of nerves as general conveyors of vibrations or spirits.
- This suggested separate sensory anmotor regions in the brain.
What did sensory nerves do?
Sensory nerves carry impulses from sense receptors to the brain
What did motor nerves do?
Motor nerves carry impulses from the brain to muscles and glands.
What did Bell discover?
- Bell’s palsy is named after Charles Bell, who was a science geek.
- He didn’t really publicize his work, which was mainly with rabbits.
- There isn’t just one kind of nerve. There are distinct sensory and motor nerves a la Bell.
- ## Sensory = dorsal, motor emerge from ventral nerves
What was the major historical conflict that Bell and Magendie were part of?
Major historical conflict because Francois Magendie got similar findings 10 years later and supporters on both sides argued. Resolved via naming of Bell-Magendie Law.
What new understanding of the brain did the Bell-Magendie law suggest?
Forward pathway: Senses —> Nerves —> muscles
What were Johannes Müller’s contributions to physiology?
- Demonstrated that each of the five types of sensory nerves results in a characteristic sensation.
- In other words, each nerve responds in its own way regardless of the stimulation which activated it.
- Trained some of the most important physiologists of this era
- 5 types of sensory nerves → characteristic sensation
Describe the idea of characteristic sensation
Respond in a specific way no matter how they’re stimulated.
What was Du Bois Reymond’s famous statement?
- Cut and cross auditory and visual nerves → hear with eyes and see with ears.
What is adequate stimulation?
The idea that each sensory system is maximally sensitive to a specific type of stimulation but may be stimulated by other forms of energy.
What did Müller call this?
“specific irritability”
Why is this concept important?
This set the stage for how we experience the world
What determines our sensations?
The central nervous system, not the physical stimulus, determines our sensations
What determined sensations, according to Müller?
The energy of the nerve that determined sensations
Why is this concept important?
Helped us determine what kind of access we have to the world around us.
Give an example
- Humans can’t detect UV light but bees can.
- Bees experience the world differently than us.
What determines what we experience?
The Nervous system
What is consciousness dependent on?
The NS
Describe Müller’s rudimentary view of attention
Humans have an active mind that lets us focus on somethings at the expense of others (e.g. vision and hearing atm than feeling of clothes).
What else did Müller do?
He opened the 1st experimental physiology office in Berlin.
What did Galvani do?
He used electricity to elicit reflex action in the leg of a frog.
Why is he important?
He was a crucial figure that sought to understand the basis of neural transmission as an electrical process.
What methodology did Galvani use?
Used laden jar (stores electrical charge) as a source to elicit a reflex in the partially intact spinal cord of a frog.
What did Galvani discover?
Nerves can conduct electricity.
How did he try to fit his stuff into the paradigm?
- Was more passive and tried to fit it in the existing paradigm.
- He called it “animal electricity” - different substance, from fluid made by nerves
What was Du Bois-Reymond’s contribution?
Established the modern basis of neural transmission.
How does he differ from Galvani?
- Broke away from traditional views entirely
- Set the stage for the modern view of nerves.
Who was Helmholtz?
One of the most important scientists in this era
Why was school a problem for him?
- German education is very holistic
- He hated the arts
- Challenged his teacher
How did he understand science?
Science can let us understand every facet of our lives
What was the speed of nerve conduction according to Helmholtz?
Measured the speed of nerve conduction, finding nerve conduction in humans to be between 165 and 330 feet per second.
Why was this work important?
This provided further evidence that physical– chemical processes are involved in our interactions with the environment rather than some mysterious process.
