Exam 2 Study Guide Flashcards
elementism
the belief that complex mental or behavioral processes are composed of or derived from simple elements and that t best way to understand these processes is first to find the elements of which they are composed.
gestalt psychology
school of thought that believes all objects and scenes can be observed in their simplest forms. Sometimes referred to as the late of simplicity, the theory proposes that the whole of an object or scene is more important than its individual parts.
Three founders of gestalt
max wertheimer
kurt koffka
Wolfgang kohler
max wertheimer
german psychologist had an idea that our perception ar structured in ways that sensory stimulation is not. that is, our perceptions are different from the sensations that comprise them.
kurt koffka
in 1922, he wrote an article about perception and how it relates to gestalt.
gestalts were interested in learning about thinking, perception, development, learning, and much more.
for him, the geographical environment is the physical environment, whereas the behavioral environment is our subjective interpretation of the geographical environment
Our own subjective reality governs our actions more than the physical environment does.
wolgang kohler (1887-1967)
he saw flaws in IQ tests and in what exactly they measure.
emphasized the processes that influence the tests achievements.
studied learning in chimpanzees and chickens, and how that is tied into the
phi phenomenon
illusion that light is moving from one location to another
perceptual constancy
the way we respond to objects as if they were the same, even though the stimulus themselves might be varied greatly
figure ground relationship
division of the perceptual field into two parts (the figure that is being attended to, and the ground, which is diffuse, and is everything not being attended to)
principle of continuity
the tendency to experience stimuli that follow some predictable pattern as a perceptual unit
principle of proximity
the tendency to perceptually group together stimuli that are physically close
principle of similarity
tendency to perceive as units stimuli that are physically similar to one another
principle of closure
the tendency to perceive incomplete objects as complete
gestalt explanation of learning
there is a problem, disequilibrium, and then a motivation to solve the problem and equilibrium
detour problem
animal could see its goal but could not reach it directly
insightful learning
learning that involved perceiving a solution to a problem after a period of cognitive trial and error
productive thinking
insight based reasoning, understanding solutions rather than memorizing
wertheimer believed that solving a problem is an intrinsic reinforcement
reaching an understanding involves many aspects of learners
german and british traditions in psychology
the german tradition went from rationalism with Spinoza and Leibniz to physiology
the british tradition was empiricism, which transferred to evolutionary theory with darwin and malthus
why were Bessel’s discoveries important?
Friedrich Bessel (1784–1846), who speculated that the error had not been due to incompetence but to individual differences among observers. Bessel set out to compare his observations with those of his colleagues and indeed found systematic differences among them. This was the first reaction-time study, and it was used to correct differences among observers.
he showed that there were differences between individuals in reaction time studies, which made it clear that these were not incompetencies.
Bell-Magendie Law
There are two types of nerves: sensory nerves carrying impulses from the sense receptors to the brain and motor nerves carrying impulses from the brain to the muscles and glands of the body.
After Bell and Magendie, it was no longer possible to think of nerves as general conveyers of vibrations or spirits. Now a “law of forward direction” governed the nervous system.
clearly sensation and movement involves the brain.
Charles Bell (1774–1842)
British physiologist, Discovered, in modern times, the distinction between sensory and motor nerves.
Operating on rabbits, Bell demonstrated that sensory nerves enter the posterior (dorsal) roots of the spinal cord and the motor nerves emerge from the anterior (ventral) roots. Bell’s discovery separated nerve physiology into the study of sensory and motor functions—that is, into a study of sensation and movement. Bell’s finding was significant because it demonstrated that specific mental functions are mediated by different anatomical structures.
François Magendie (1783–1855)
French physiologist, discovered, in modern times, the distinction between sensory and motor nerves.
doctrine of specific nerve energies
Each sensory nerve, no matter how it is stimulated, releases an energy specific to that nerve.
Johannes Muller (1801-1858)
german physiologist. Expanded the Bell–Magendie law by demonstrating that each sense receptor, when stimulated, releases an energy specific to that particular receptor. This finding is called the doctrine of specific nerve energies.
Following Bell’s suggestion, Müller demonstrated that there are different types of sensory nerves, each containing a characteristic energy, and that when they are stimulated, a characteristic sensation results. In other words, each nerve responds in its own way no matter how it is stimulated. For example, stimulating the eye with light waves, electricity, pressure, or by a blow to the head will all cause visual sensations.
adequate stimulation
Stimulation to which a sense modality is maximally sensitive.
legacy of muller
The most significant implication of Müller’s doctrine for psychology was that the nature of the central nervous system, not the nature of the physical stimulus, determines our sensations. Müller’s findings underscored that we are never conscious of objects in the physical world but of various sensory impulses in the brain linked to those real objects. It follows then that our knowledge of the physical world must be limited to the types of sense receptors we possess.
An ardent Kantian, Müller believed that he had found the physiological equivalent of Kant’s categories of thought. According to Kant, sensory information is transformed by the innate categories of thought before it is experienced consciously. For Müller, the nervous system is the intermediary between physical objects and consciousness. Kant’s nativism stressed mental categories, whereas Müller’s stressed physiological mechanisms. In both cases, sensory information is modified, and therefore, what we experience consciously is different from what is physically present.
Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1894)
A monumental figure in the history of science who did pioneer work in the areas of nerve conduction, sensation, perception, color vision, and audition.
vitalism vs materialism
Although Helmholtz accepted many of Müller’s conclusions, the two men still had basic disagreements, one of them over Müller’s belief in vitalism. In biology and physiology, the vitalism-materialism problem was much like the mind–body problem in philosophy. The vitalists maintained that life could not be explained by the interactions of physical and chemical processes alone. For the vitalists, life was more than a physical process and could not be reduced to such a process. Furthermore, because it was not physical, the “life force” was forever beyond the scope of scientific analysis. Müller was a vitalist. Conversely, the materialists saw nothing mysterious about life and assumed that it could be explained in terms of physical and chemical processes. Therefore, there was no reason to exclude the study of life or of anything else from the realm of science. Helmholtz sided with the materialists, who believed that the same laws apply to living and nonliving things, as well as to mental and nonmental events. So strongly did Helmholtz and several of his fellow students believe in materialism that they signed the following oath (some say in their own blood):
principle of conservation of energy
The energy within a system is constant; therefore, it cannot be added to or subtracted from but only transformed from one form to another.
Helmholtz’ research on nerve conduction
To measure the rate, Helmholtz isolated the nerve fiber leading to a frog’s leg muscle. He then stimulated the nerve fiber at various distances from the muscle and noted how long it took the muscle to respond. He found that the muscular response followed more quickly when the motor nerve was stimulated closer to the muscle than when it was stimulated farther away from the muscle.
He found that reaction time was slower when the toe was stimulated than when the thigh was stimulated; he concluded, again by subtraction, that the rate of nerve conduction in humans was between 165 and 330 feet per second (50.3–100.6 meters per second). This aspect of Helmholtz’s research was significant because it showed that nerve impulses are indeed measurable—and, in fact, they are relatively slow.
helmholtz on sensation and perception
Although he believed that the physiological apparatus of the body provides the mechanisms for sensation, Helmholtz thought that the past experience of the observer is what converts a sensation into a perception.
Sensations, then, are the raw elements of conscious experience, and perceptions are sensations after they are given meaning by one’s past experiences.
unconscious inference (Helmholtz)
According to Helmholtz, the process by which the remnants of past experience are added to sensations, thereby converting them into perceptions.
Helmholtz and Kant agreed on one important point: The perceiver transforms what the senses provide. For Kant this transformation was accomplished when sensory information was structured by the innate faculties of the mind. For Helmholtz, the transformation occurred when sensory information was embellished by an individual’s past experience.
Young–Helmholtz theory of color vision
Separate receptor systems on the retina are responsive to each of the three primary colors: red, green, and blue–violet. Also called the trichromatic theory.
resonance place theory of auditory perception
The tiny fibers on the basilar membrane of the inner ear are stimulated by different frequencies of sound. The shorter the fiber, the higher the frequency to which it responds.
contributions of helmholtz
Although Helmholtz was an empiricist in his explanations of sensation and perception, he did reflect the German Zeitgeist by postulating an active mind. According to Helmholtz, the mind’s task was to create a reasonably accurate conception of reality from the various “signs” that it receives from the body’s sensory systems. Helmholtz assumed that a dynamic relationship exists among volition, sensation, and reflection as the mind attempts to create a functional view of external reality. Helmholtz’s view of the mind differed from that of most of the British empiricists and French sensationalists because they saw the mind as largely passive. For Helmholtz the mind’s job was to construct a workable conception of reality given the incomplete and perhaps distorted information furnished by the senses (Turner, 1977).
psychophysics
psychological perceptions in response to physical attributes of a stimulus
Franz Joseph Gall (1758–1828) (faculty psychology)
Believed that the strengths of mental faculties varied from person to person and that they could be determined by examining the bumps and depressions on a person’s skull. Such an examination came to be called phrenology. (See also Phrenology.)
phrenology
The examination of the bumps and depressions on the skull in order to determine the strengths and weaknesses of various mental faculties.
formal discipline
The belief that the faculties of the mind can be strengthened by practicing the functions associated with them. Thus, one supposedly can become better at reasoning by studying mathematics or logic.
Pierre Flourens (1794–1867)
Concluded that the cortical region of the brain acts as a whole and is not divided into a number of faculties, as the phrenologists had maintained.
When he examined the entire brain, Flourens concluded that there is some localization, but that contrary to what the phrenologists believed, the cortical hemispheres function as a unit. Seeking further evidence of the brain’s interrelatedness, Flourens observed that animals sometimes regained functions that they had lost following ablation. Thus, at least some parts of the brain had the capacity to take over the function for other parts.
Paul Broca (1824–1880)
Found evidence that part of the left frontal lobe of the cortex is specialized for speech production or articulation.
brocas area was The speech area on the left frontal lobe side of the cortex (the inferior frontal gyros).
studying phineas gage, Broca figured out that certain parts of the brain and their lack of functioning contributes to some known disorders (his patient who could intelligently communicate, but couldn’t talk, and the legion on his brain)
Ernst Heinrich Weber (1795–1878)
Using the two-point threshold and the just noticeable difference, he was the first to demonstrate systematic relationships between stimulation and sensation.
Weber was a physiologist who was interested in the senses of touch and kinesthesis (muscle sense)
two-point threshold (Weber)
The smallest distance between two points of stimulation at which the two points are experienced as two points rather than one.
just noticeable difference (jnd)
The sensation that results if a change in stimulus intensity exceeds the differential threshold. (See also Differential threshold.)
Weber - Judgments Are Relative, Not Absolute
During his research on kinesthesis, Weber made the startling observation that the jnd is a constant fraction of the standard weight. For lifted weights, that fraction is 1/40; for nonlifted weights, it is 1/30. Using lifted weights as an example, if the standard weight is 40 grams, the variable weight would have to be 41 grams to be judged heavier or 39 grams to be judged lighter than the standard. If the standard weight is 160 grams, the variable weight would have to be 164 grams or 156 grams to be judged heavier or lighter, respectively, than the standard. Weber then aligned himself with the large number of scientists and philosophers who found that there was not a simple one-to-one correspondence between what is present physically and what is experienced psychologically
Weber’s law
Just noticeable differences correspond to a constant proportion of a standard stimulus
This was the first statement of a systematic relationship between physical stimulation and a psychological experience. But because Weber was a physiologist, psychology was not his primary concern. It was Fechner who realized the implications of Weber’s work for psychology and who saw in it the possible resolution of the mind–body problem.
Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801–1887)
Expanded Weber’s law by showing that, for just noticeable differences to vary arithmetically, the magnitude of a stimulus must vary geometrically.
Around 1840, Fechner had a “nervous breakdown,” resigned his position at Leipzig, and became a recluse. Additionally, Fechner had been almost blinded, presumably while looking at the sun through colored glasses during his research on afterimages. At this time, Fechner entered a state of severe depression that was to last several years and that resulted in his interests turning from physics to philosophy.
panpsychism
The belief that everything in the universe experiences consciousness.
absolute threshold
The smallest amount of stimulation that can be detected by an organism.
negative sensations
According to Fechner, sensations that occur below the absolute threshold and are, therefore, below the level of awareness.
differential threshold
The amount that stimulation needs to change before a difference in that stimulation can be detected.
Fechner’s law
physical stimulus must change geometrically for us to notice an arithmetic change. It is not a 1:1 correspondence.
Fechner’s legacy
psychology is possible, experimental, and quantitative
3 methods of psychophysics
method of limits, method of adjustment, and method of constant stimuli
method of limits
A stimulus is presented at varying intensities along with a standard (constant) stimulus to determine the range of intensities judged to be the same as the standard.
method of constant stimuli
A stimulus is presented at different intensities along with a standard stimulus, and the observer reports if it appears to be greater than, less than, or equal to the standard.
