chapter one: psych as science Flashcards
who was the first philosopher to make theories in psychology?
aristotle
psyche = ?
the mind
what is the mind
human behaviour
what was the reasoning of “the mind”
thoughts were too complex to just be contained in the brain
what was the role of the brain (organ)
cool body, radiator
where is memory stored according to Aristotle
the heart
what is the heart also involved in
cooling the blood
what is mentalism
non-material mind, all thoughts and behaviour is beyond the body, a person’s soul
who coined dualism
descartes
what did descartes say about the non-material mind
governs advanced thoughts
what did descartes say about the brain
it directs basic mechanical behaviours
what did immanual kant say about human experience
it is drawn from the structure of the mind. it is still non-material
what did immanuel kant say about the structure
all humans share the same basic structure
what did charles darwin study
animals, including humans
what did darwin say about humans
they are just animals, nothing special
how did darwin see behaviours
they are viewed within evolutionary framework
what is materialism
the opposite of mentalism, the mind is explained in biological terms and can be compared between species
what is natural selection
the difference of traits that will allow advantage to specific species
who was francis galton
darwin’s cousin and who is responsible for social darwinism
what is social darwinism
humans are different because of genetics, use statistical methods to measure psychological traits by correlation
what is nature
everything is genes, if you have genes for it, you will be good at something
what is nurture
nothing is predetermined, to get good, you work hard to get it. everything is experience
what was the goal of the first psychologists?
create a science of the mind, which would also be respected among the other sciences
what did wilhelm wundt say
introduced the first experimental psychology lab and produced data. used different measurement tools to measure the mind based on the five sense and were subjectively asnwered
what did ernst weber and gustav fencher introduce
sensitivity thresholds
what is absolute threshold
finding the bare minimum of a person’s sensory detection tests how often stimulus can be detected but also when it stops being able to detect stimulus
what is difference threshold
the just noticeable difference. weber’s law, a human phenomenon that can be measured
what is an example of the difference threshold
eye doctor appointment, prescriptions
what is magnitude estimation
measure of perception of objective reality.
what is response compression
an underreaction
what is response expansion
an overreaction
what is structuralism
an academic approach to think of cognition
what was edward titchener’s (sturcturalist) goal
determine the basic elements of the conscious mind
what is introspection
measuring an experience to achieve objectivity. free of bias
what was a rule of titchener for introspection
experimenter must be on the same page with their observer and be able to accurately describe what they are thinking
what is fuctionalism
study of the practical applications of the growing field of psychology, the how and why of what the mind is doing
what did william james study
studied why humans think the way they do, took darwinian concepts of evolution and adaptation
