Defining psychology Flashcards
Psyche
The mind
Logos
Study of
What is the modern definition of psychology?
Scientific study of the human mind and its function, especially those functions affecting behaviour in a given context.
Rene Descartes 1596-1650
Cartesian Dualism
Mind and body are independent
“I think therefore I am”
John Locke
1632-1704
Empiricism-we can only test what you can see
All experiences comes through our senses-we do not inherit instincts or knowledge
Tabula Rasa-blank slate-humans start afresh we are born a blank slate-not anything existing
Wilhelmina Wundt
1879 First ever psychology lab in Leipzig,Germany
Introspection
Controlled conditions
Same stimulus each time (metronome)
Standardised instructions
Could be replicated
What is introspection?
Systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking us conscious awareness into thoughts, images and sensations.
Problems with introspection
Introspection is unreliable -b/c it measures things that are not observable -each person may describe their sensations!thoughts+feelings differently.
Introspection is not accurate-b/c we cannot be consciously aware of all processes that affect our S/T/F. e.g stereotypes +other unconscious processes affect them
Quite subjective cannot see what is happening
What is empiricism?
All knowledge is derived from sensory experience- to be scientific we can only assess that which can be directly observed observed.
The belief that all behaviour-determine by environmental psychology should be able to predict behaviour based on stimulus
What is the scientific method?
Used to study behaviour
Experiments were devised
Variable defined/controlled/measured
theories created based on findings+then gave rise to further experiments to test predictions.
What are the steps of the scientific method?
Identify the problem->Gather Data->Hypothesis->Test Hypothesis->Does the new data agree?
