exam 1 Flashcards
why do we study the history of psychology
- there is no single form or approach
- the past helps shape the present
- integrates areas and issues within modern psychology
what is psychology made up of
philosophy and physiology
what did psychology derive from
ancient philosopy
- philosophers like plato and aristotle
- focused on memory, learning, motivation, thought, perception, and abnormal behavior
what are key components of modern psychology
- defined by its methods
- uses techniques of physical sciences
- increased precision and objectivity
how to collect data in psychology
- conduct a lab experiment
- observe behavior under controlled real world conditions
- take a survey
- calculate statistical correlation between two variables
- record keeping
what is historiography
how we study history
- the techniques and principles employed in historical research
why is the data of history unreliable
- data can not be reconstructed
- only access to fragments of events
- may be unreliable or false
- may be lost or distorted
- data can be misplaced or dilerberately destroyed
- data may be lose in translation
- self serving data
what is an example of data being deliberately destroyed
Watson burned all of the stuff in his office after having an affair
what is an example of data being lost in translation
Freuds theory of personality
what is an example of self-serving data
data is subject to the biases of those who report it
ex: skinner described himself as rigourous and disciplined in his biography but later recanted these statements
what is zeitgeist
the cultural and intellectual climate of the times
how was psychology affected by the zeitgeist
economic opportunity
- scholarly and real world careers opened
world wars
- job opportunities
- expansion of testing services
- diagnostically useful
what are contextual forces in psychology
- prejudice and discrimination (against women and based on ethnicity)
- many groups have little to no access to higher education and career opportunities
what is the personalistic theory
progress and change are a result of individual contributions (Freud)
what is the naturalistic theory
progress and change are inevitable (pavlov)
- result of general zeitgeist
what is the school of thought
group of psychologists who become associated ideologically or geographically with the leader of a movement
- cyclical nature
what is structuralism
wundt and titchener
- dealt with conscious experience as dependent on experiencing persons
- introspection
what is functionalism
james and dewey
- concerned with the mind as used in adaptation to environment
what is behaviorism
skinner and watson
- science of behavior
- observable behavioral acts
- objective methodology
what is gestalt psychology
focus on learning and perception
- combining sensory elements to create novel patterns
what is psychoanalysis
freud
- theory of personality
- system of psychotherapy
what is humanistic psychology
emphasizes the study of conscious experience
- wholeness of human nature
what was the defacating duck and why was it important
mechanical duck that looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, swallowed grain, and defecated but not a real duck
- was important because of zeitgeist. the machine began being used for science, industry, and entertainment
- started a new wave of automata
the spirit of mechanism - why was it important
- machines were put to daily use such as pulleys, cranes, wheels, gears
- machines freed the industry from dependence on humans
what is a mechanism
the image of the universe as a great machine
- idea originated in physics
- introduced by galileo and newton
- every physical effect follows from a direct cause
- the physical world is like a clock: predictable, smooth, orderly
the invention of the clock
- “mother of machines”
- available to all - rich and poor
- symbol of wealth
- lead to activities being more regular and predictable
- influenced government
what is determinism
the doctine that acts are determined by past events
what is reductionism
the doctrine that explains phenomena on one level in terms of phenomena on another level
what is automata
machines capable of performing feats with precision and regularity
what is empiricism
the pursuit of knowledge through the observation of nature and the attribution of all knowledge to experience
who is Descartes
french philosopher, scientist, and mathematician. a seminal figure in the emergence of modern philosophy and science
what is descartes main view
the mind body problem
- the question of distinction between mental and physical qualities
- proposed the mind and body are joined
- mind influences body, but body also influences mind
what is mind body dualism
denotes either the view that mental phenomena are non-physical and that the mind and body are distinct and seperable
what was auguste comtes main view
introduced positivism
what is positivism
recognizes only natural phenomena or facts that are objectively observable
what is materialism
supports anti-metaphysical positivism
- considers the facts of the universe to be sufficiently explained in physical terms by the existence and nature of matter
what is john lockes main view
concerned with how the mind acquires knowledge
- tabula rasa : blank slate
sensation and reflection
sensation is derived from direct sensory input
reflection is forming ideas from that input
what are john lockes simple ideas
elementary ideas that arise from sensation and reflection
what are john lockes complex ideas
derived ideas that are compounded of simple ideas and can be reduced to smaller components
what is the theory of association
the notion that knowledge results from linking or associating simple ideas to form complex ideas
locke
what are john lockes primary vs secondary qualities
primary qualities: characteristics that exist whether or not we perceive them; do not change (size/shape)
secondary qualities: exist in our perception of the object (color/odor)
what is george berkeleys view of mentalism
mentalism: all knowledge is a function of mental phenomena and dependent on the perceiving person
what is george berkeleys view on the associaton of sensations
we combine sensory information to represent objects
who is david hartley and his idea of associaton by contiguity and repetition
- law of associatoin is used to explain memory, reasoning, emotion, and voluntary/involuntary action
- ideas that occur simultaneously will become associated
- repetition: the notion that the more frequently two ideas occur together, the more readily they will be associated
what is hartleys influence of mechanism
attempted to explain the mental world and the underlying psychological processes with mechanical principles
james mill
the mind is a machine
- mind is a totally passive entity
- run by internal physical forces
- acted on by external stimuli
- no free will
- no creative function
john mill - mental chemistry
- complex ideas not summations of simple ideas
- creative synthesis: complex ideas formed from simple ideas also take on new qualities
- the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
principles of empiricism
- primary role of the process of sensation
- analysis of conscious experience into mental elements
- focus on conscious processes
David K’s mistake
worked at the royal observatory and noted the times of star movements
- observations were 5/10 of a second slower than his boss, and increased to 8/10 which got him fired
- 20 years later, Bessel concluded that astronomy is affected by the human observer and the human observer is important to all sciences
what was Bessels personal equation
there are personal differences among people over which they have no control
müller and his research on brain functions
attempted to determine brain function by mapping from the inside
other attempts:
- extirpation (flourens)
- clinical method (broca)
- electrical stimilation (fritsch)
research on brain functions - mapping from the outside
Gall - phrenology: belief that mental characteristics correspond to bulges on the skull
research on the nervous system - Luigi Galvani
- found that nerves are electrical
research on the nervous system - Ramon y Cajal
discovered the direction of travel of nerve impulses
experimental psychology - the german approach to science
emphasis on the careful, thorough collection of observable facts
- welcomed the study of biology
the reform movement in german universities
- freedom unknown to other nations
- more resources
- more research universities
who is hermann von helmholtz
- one of the greatest scientists
- emphasized mechanism and determinism
- assumed human sense organs functioned like machines
helmholz contributions to new psychology
- investigated the speed of neural impulse
- research on vision and hearing (theory of color vision)
Weber
applied physiologys experimental methods to psychology questions
webers law
psychological events can be studied in conjunction with measurable physical stimulus values
webers two point thresholds
the threshold at which two points of stimulation can be distinguished as such
webers just noticable difference
the smallest difference that can be detected between two physical stimuli
fechner
mind and body
- stimulus increase does not produce corresponding increase in sensation
- absolute threshold: point of sensitivity below which no sensations can be detected
- differential threshold: JND point of sensitivity at which the least amount of change gives rise to a change in sensation
wundt
tested whether one person can percieve two stimuli at once
concluded that one cannot attend to both at once
who established first psych lab and journal
wundt
why is wundt so important
he sold psychology as a science
what was the subject matter of wundts psychology
consciousness
what is voluntarism
wundt
- the idea that the mind has the capacity to organize mental contents into higher level thought on its own
what is introspection
examination of ones own mind to inspect and report on personal thoughts or feelings
what are the elements of conscious experience
sensations
- one form of experience
- aroused whenever a sense organ is stimulated and results in impulses reaching the brain
feelings
- the subjective complements of sensation but do not arise directly from sense
what is the tridimensional theory of feelings
feeling states are based on three dimentions
- pleasure/displeasure
- tension/relaxation
- excitement/depresson
what are criticisms of wundtian psychology
introspection cannot always lead to agreement
influential themes
darwin - theory of evolution
galton - individual differences
ebbinghaus
investigated learning and memory
ebbinghaus’s method
- initial formation of associations
- controlled conditions under which chains of ideas were formed
- recorded the rate that associations were formed
what was ebbinghaus research with nonsense syllables
because it was difficult to study with words that carried meanin because of exisiting associations, he experimented with syllables that were presented in a meaningless series to study the speed of memorization and forgetting
what was ebbinghaus’s main finding
the forgetting curve
who was franz brentano
believed that psych should be the study of mental activity
who was carl stumpf
phenomenology
- examined experience as it occurred and did not try to reduce experience to elementary components
who was kulpe
systematic experimental introspection
- imageless thought
what was the difference between wundt and kulpe
kulpe believed that thought processes could be studied experimentally
what was the swallow the rubber tube
titchener
- asked students to record feelings and sensations while participating in different experiments
- structuralism
what was the difference between wundt and titchener
wundt believed the mind had the power to organize mental elements voluntarily
titchener believed elements were mechanically linked through association
titcheners experimentalists
no women allowed because they were too pure to smoke
met regularly to discuss work
what was titcheners view on women
they were not allowed at his experimentalist meetings because they were too pure to smoke
- but he accepted them into his graduate program, he favored hiring women faculty, and more women completed their doctoral degrees under him than any other
what are titcheners three problems for psychology
reduce conscious processes to their simplest components
determine laws by which these elements were associated
connect the elements with their physiological conditions
what are criticisms of introspection
- titchener and kulpes methods are subjective reports in the elements of consciousnes s
- introspection alters the conscious experience it intends to study
- mind is not capable of studying itself
- trained observers will be biased
what are criticisms of titcheners system
structuralism is accused of artificiality
- the whole experience cannot be captured by a combination of elements
he considered animal and child psychology as not psychology
which psychologist burned his own letters before he died
watson
whose research would support the argument that there is no such thing as an objective observation
bessel
how many subjects did ebbinghaus use when conducting his research
1 - himself
skinners self discipline as a student and freuds being rejected early in his career indicated that
biographers are often subjective with biased accounts
what is ebbinghaus most recognized contribution
the forgetting curve
wundts focus was on _____ whereas titcheners was on _____
product; process
who is the researcher credited with the conclusion that the nerve impulses are electrical within the neuron
galvani
wundt established psychology as distinct from philosophy in terms of its ____
use of the experimental method
what are mechanized figured that could almost perfectly duplicate the movements of living things
automata
what was the dominant idea of the 17th century
mechnism
what measurement does webers law (the formulation of how mcuh change in a stimulus is required for a subject to detect it) lie on
just noticable difference
what theory supports the claim that freud was instrumental in discovering psychoanalysis. if not for him, no other psycholoist would have been able to uncover the human psyche
personalistic theory
what idea has psych borrowed from natrual physics
effects of predictable and measurable
who inaugurated the era of modern psych
descartes
what does wundts term voluntarism reflect his emphasis on
the power of the will of the mind to organize its contents
what was ebbinhaus;s focus of study on
the initial formation of associatoins
what feature of modern psych distinguishes it from its antecendents
methodology
the concept that meaning in thought can occur without any sensory input is called
imageless thought
what is the idea that science should be based totally on objectively observable facts called
positivism
