Exam #1 Chapter 1: Roots of Psychology Flashcards
What defines psychology as a field?
The study of behavior and mental processes
Outline the “Head versus the Heart” debate.
- Practices of the early Egyptians suggest that the heart was seen as more important than the brain
- The process of trepanation dates back over 10,000 years
Who were the major historical figures associated with the “Head versus the Heart” and what were their sides of the arguments?
- Plato - Tripartite theory of reasoning
- Aristotle - Followed the cardiac hypothesis of reasoning
- Hippocrates - Followed a medical model to explain mental illness known as the humoral theory, convinced the brain was the major controlling center
- Claude Galen - Surgeon to the gladiators, also stated the brain was the central organ of cognition, ventricular theory
Who were the major historical figures associated with the “Localization versus Holism” and what were their sides of the arguments?
- Rene Descartes - Followed a dualism approach to scientific study, the body is an automaton with tiny tubes or balloons running into the muscles, interaction is at the pineal gland
- Franz Jospeh Gall - Phrenology – skull features represent underlying brain development, mapped out the skull to represent 27 different faculties of thought, good theory, very poor methodology
- Marie Jean Pierre Flourens - Was hired by the French government to prove Gall wrong, conducted experiments on pigeons to support holism, good methodology, but bad theory
- Fritsch and Hitzig – experimentation with the motor cortex of dogs • Paul Borca - Published a case of a patient “Tan” who had great language difficulties and suffered left hemisphere damage
Outline the “War of Soup and Sparks” debate.
- Mike the Headless Chicken
- Raising the Dead
- Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
Who were the major historical figures associated with the “War of Soup and Sparks” and what were their sides of the arguments?
- Luigi Galvani - Discovered bio-electricity accidentally using frog legs hung on brass hooks of an iron railing, believed muscles contained “animal electricity”
- Otto Loewi - Conducted an experiment with frogs’ hearts to demonstrate a chemical interaction between nerves, discovery of first neurotransmitter
What is Structuralism?
First psychology lab in Germany (1879), Mind consists of basic elements analyzed via objective introspection, introspect about physical objects AND thoughts, “Tell me what comes to mind when you see this object.”
What is functionalism and who was associated with it?
Focus on adaptation, living working, playing—what is its purpose or function in the real world? o William James (1842-1910) - First American Psychologist, “stream of thought” vs. elements of mind
What is Psychoanalysis and who was associated with it?
Neurologist in late 18th century Vienna, Psychoanalysis – insight therapy for fear & anxiety, unconscious , early childhood
What is Behaviorism?
If we can’t observe it for record, then it’s not worth recording, major focus is on rewards and punishments in shaping of our behavior
What are the 5 major directions of psychological study?
- Sociocultural – Relationship between social behavior and culture
- Humanistic – People have the freedom to choose their own destiny
- Biopsychological – Attribute human and animal behavior to biological events
- Cognitive – Includes the study intelligence, memory, perception, problem solving, learning
- Evolutionary – through the process of natural selection, how certain processes have developed to aid in survival
