exam 1 shortened Flashcards
what is personalistic theory
the idea that progress/change are a result of individual contributions (Freud)
what is naturalistic theory
the idea that progress/change are inevitable (Pavlov)
what is the structuralism school of thought
Wundt/Titchener
- introspection (looking in the self)
- conscious experience is dependent on who is experiencing it
what is the functionalism school of thought
James/Dewey
- how the mind adapts to its environment
what is the behaviorism school of thought
Skinner/Watson
- observable behavioral acts
- objective methodology
what is the gestalt psychology school of thought
focus on learning and perception
- combining sensory elements creates new patterns
what is the psychoanalysis school of thought
Freud
- theory of personality
- psychotherapy
what is the humanistic school of thought
- the study of conscious experience
- the wholeness of human nature
what is reductionism
breaking down complex things into smaller parts
what is empiricism
the idea that knowledge comes from observation and experience
what is introspection
the process of observing ones own thoughts
what defines modern psychology
- its use of methods
- uses techniques of physical sciences
- increased precision and objectivity
- blend of philosophy and physiology
Why is historical data unreliable
- data cannot be reconstructed
- we only have access to fragments of events
- data may be unreliable or false
- data may be lost or distorted
- data may be misplaced or deliberately destroyed
- data may be lost in translation
- data may be self-serving tho those who report it
what is historiography
how we study history
- to determine the techniques and principles used in historical research
who was descartes
- “inaugarated” modern psychology
- mind-body problem (the mind influences the body but the body also influences the mind)
- mind and body are distinct and seperable
who was comte
- introduced positivism (recognizes that only natural phenomena are objectively observable)
- materialism (considers the facts of the universe are dependent on physical processes)
who was Locke
- studied how the mind acquires knowledge
- Tabula rasa : blank slate
- sensation (derived from direct sensory input) and reflection (forming ideas from that input)
- simple ideas: basic ideas that arise from sensation and reflection
- complex ideas: ideas that can be reduced to smaller components
- primary qualities: characteristics that exist whether we perceive them or not
- secondary qualities: our perception of an object
who was berkeley
mentalism: all knowledge is a function of mental phenomena
(the mind creates all ideas and objects exist only as ideas in the mind)
who was hartley
- studied association by contiguity and repetition
- ideas that occur simultaneously will become associated
- vibrations in the nerves
who was james mill
- mind is a machine and run by internal physical forces
- no free will/creative function
- the mind is run by internal physical forces
who was john mill
- believed complex ideas formed from simple ideas take on new qualities
- the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
who was Bessel
- people have no control over their personal differences
- there is no such thing as objective observation
who was müller
- attempted to determine brain function by mapping from the inside
- doctrine of specific nerve energies
who was Gall
phrenology: the belief that mental characteristics correspond to bulges on the skull
who was Galvani
found that nerves are electrical
who was ramon y cajal
studied the direction of travel of nerve impulses
who was helmholz
assumed human sense organs functioned like machines
- speed of neural impulse
- theory of color vision
who was weber
- applied physiology methods to psychology questions
- webers law
- 2-points threshold: the threshold at which 2 points of stimulation can be distinguished as such
- JND: smallest difference that can be detected between two stimuli
who was fechner
- absolute threshold
- difference threshold
- a stimulus increase does not produce a corresponding increase in sensation
what was Fechners absolute threshold
point of sensitivity at which no sensations can be detected
what was Fechners difference threshold
the just noticeable point of sensitivity at which the least amount of change gives rise to a change in sensation
what was webers law
the smallest noticeable difference between 2 stimuli is proportional to the magnitude of the original stimulus (when a stimulus is intense, more change is needed to detect a change)
what was webers 2 point threshold
the threshold at which 2 points of stimulation can be distinguished as such
what was webers JND
smallest difference that can be detected between two stimuli
what was mullers doctrine of specific nerve energies
different nerves lead to different modalities of experience
who was wundt
believed a person cannot attend to 2 stimuli at once
- created the first psychology lab and journal
- studied consciousness
- voluntarism
- developed introspection
what was wundts voluntarism
the mind has the capacity to organize mental contents into higher level thought
who was ebbinghaus
- studied learning/memory
- forgetting curve
- recorded the rate that associations are formed using nonsense syllables
who was brentano
believed the study of psychology should be the study of mental activity
who was stumpf
- studied phenomenology
- examined experience as it occurred
who was kulpe
- studied imageless thought
- thought processes can be studied experimentally
who was titchener
- elements are mechanically linked through association
- he was criticized
why was titchener criticized
he had limits on psychology and believed animal psych and child psych were not actually fields of psychology
whats the difference between wundt and titchener
wundt was interested in how the elements of consciousness related to one another
titchener was interested in identifying and analyzing the events of consciousness
what were criticisms of introspection
- the mind is not capable of studying itself
- trained observers will be biased
- introspection alters the conscious experience it intends on studying
what are three basic states of consciousness
- sensations
- images
- affective states
what is zeitgeist
the cultural and intellectual climate of the times
wundt focuses on the ______ whereas titchener focused on the ________
product; process
wundt established psychology as distinct from philosophy primarily in terms of its ______
use of the experimental method
ebbingaus focused on the ________ formation of associations
- initial
- nonsense syllables
