final exam review

Question 1

How are empiricism and rationalism essential to the formation of science in general and the science of psychology in particular? What are the similarities and differences between these two schools of thought? In your answer, use examples from multiple time periods in the history of science and psychology.

Answer 1

Empiricism
* Came up with simple and complex ideas
o Simple: mental remnants of sensations (the m sound); raw sensory data
o Complex: configurations of simple ideas (mom from the m sound); complicated concepts
* Mind can neither create or destroy ideas, but can arrange existing ideas in an infinite number of configurations; bottom-up processing, passive mind
* Hedonism, mechanistic and materialistic, reductionistic
* Emotions derived from pleasure and pain (Locke)
* Emotions motivate all behavior, and we all possess the same passions but in different ways (Hume)
* Sensations are stronger than ideas, but sensations with emotions are even stronger (Mill)
* All knowledge comes from the senses (tabula rosa)
* Science at this time was hard (study of physical things that can be objectively measured) and the Greeks thought there was a nonphysical realm
* All ideas can be explained in terms of experience and associative principles
* Emotions drive behaviors
* Laws of association provided the gravity that held ideas together (based on Hume’s which were based on Aristotle’s contiguity, similarity, contrast, and frequency)
Rationalism
* Mind is active, interacts with information from the senses and gives it meaning it otherwise wouldn’t have
* Considers both nature and nurture
* Leibniz came up with the notion of “insensible perceptions” that was as useful to psychology as the notion of insensible atoms was to physics; petites perceptions, apperception, limen, unconscious mind
* Kant said that knowledge does not come from senses; the mind must add to data before it can be attained
o Categories of thought:
 Time: never experience the passing of time, just the present
 Causality: connections are a creation of the mind
 Totality: imagine the all of something (like cats on earth)
o Relates to Plato and Pythagoras
 Dualism; subject of knowledge, either opinion or objective (like the Pythagorean theorem)
* Rational reasons some acts/thoughts are more desirable than others
* Stresses deduction

CONTRAST:
* Rationalism is…
o Logical deduction, analysis, and argument
o Active mind
o Both bottom-up and top-down approaches
o Innate mental structures
* Empiricism is…
o Knowledge based on senses
o Passive mind
o Experience, memory, and hedonism guide our thoughts
COMPARE:
* Use of skepticism (doubt that other ideas are true, to lead to knowledge of the truth
* Using innate ideas despite prioritization
* Importance of sensory information

Question 2

Compare and contrast structuralism and functionalism. Specifically address the different scientific discoveries and theoretical ideas that lead to each in this discussion. What influence did these two schools of thought have on modern psychology?

Answer 2

• function over structure; functionalism said everything about is us evolved due to natural selection, need to survive (Darwinian influence)
• functionalism was non-reductionistic, active mind; structuralism said mind is a machine (passive)
• functionalism had a broader scope and methodology; structuralism is narrower, limited
• functionalism has a biological tradition (evolutionary theory), rationalism, pragmatism (practical, applied)
• structuralism focused on introspection; identifying what the basic elements of consciousness are, how they combine, but we cannot access the elements of consciousness just from thinking (we cannot see the thinking process); sensation, images, affections
• rationalism: mind is active; some knowledge cannot be gained from senses;
• british empiricism: consciousness being built from the mental elements, thinking the mind is passive; laws of association; reduces complex mental states to simple processes, relates reductionist natures of empiricism
• contributions to modern psychology: evolutionary theory, applied psychology, expanded methodology, expanded subjects, paradigm of functionalism; paradigms should not be narrow and limited

Question 3

Discuss how Freud’s psychoanalysis fits into the history of psychology. Specifically, what are some of his ideas that were rejected by modern scientific psychology, and why? Also, discuss which of his ideas line up with modern psychological constructs and/or are supported by research.

Answer 3

Rejected
- Psychosexual theory stages captured the main growth points of a person from infancy to adulthood and focuses on different facets of wants, needs, and desires
o Some of the stages hold true, such as a child starting to put things into their mouth and beginning to potty train, but not all of them
o Did not consider same-sex attraction
- Was not experimental, terms were not operationalized, dogmatic, self-fulfilling prophecy, lack of falsifiability, overemphasized sex and aggression
- Rejected idea of completely forgetting trauma
o There are no memories that are significantly traumatic and still not accessible. We remember trauma so that we can avoid it
o We do, however, forget things
o Memories are complex phenomenon, frequently influenced by a variety of internal and external factors; things constantly added and distorted as we remember them
o Elizabeth Loftus
o McMartin Preschool
Accepted
- Invented talk therapy after noticing a lack of work done concerning psychological problems
o Catharsis
o Transference and countertransference
- Freud said that the experiences a child has during each stage determines, to a large extent, their adult personality
- Believed that foundations for one’s adult personality are formed by the time a child is about 5 years old
o Id, ego, superego
- Defense mechanisms
o Repression
o Denial
o Reaction formation
- Research on the unconscious
o Most of our thoughts are in our unconscious
o We have a pre-conscious just below the surface of our conscious
o Conscious is a very small part of our mind

Question 4

Over the history of science and psychology, different assumptions about what are the most important causes of our cognition and behavior have defined the paradigms of each period (e.g., nature vs. nurture, conscious control/free will vs. epiphenomenalism, conscious vs. unconscious, naturalistic vs supernatural, etc.). Discuss the history of science/psychology in terms of how these different assumptions about causality have framed the paradigms of each time period. Note how these themes reoccur over time. Conclude by articulating the current state of psychology and what we view as the important causal factors.

Answer 4

• empiricism:
  -all ideas can be explained in terms of experience
  -emotions drive behaviors, we all have them but at different degrees (passion)
  -emphasize mechanical causes of behavior, stress induction as a method
  -develops thoughts only through later experience
• rationalism:
  -rational reasons, some acts/thoughts are more desirable than others
  -stress deduction
• romanticism:
  -appreciation for nature
  -emotion over reason
  -senses over intellect
  -heightened examination of human personality and its mental potentialities
• existentialism:
  -meaning and purpose of human existence
  -thoughts and behaviors are shaped by a temporary existence
• german physiologists:
  -thought and behavior does not match reality 100% completely or accurately
  -we perceive what we can
  -the mind and body are connected
• structuralism:
  -what, how, why of mental processes
  -what: three mental elements (sensations, images, affections)
  -how: the ways the elements combine
  -why: determining the neurological correlations of mental events
• Darwinism
  -relative importance of an individual’s innate qualities vs personal experiences in determining or causing individual differences in physical and behavioral traits
  -facial movements, bodily gestures, sounds, physiological changes accompanied and expressed emotions are instinctive
• functionalism:
  -consciousness is personal and reflects
  -all function and internal states have a casual relationship with external behavior
  -instincts drive behavior
  -ideas of actions flow immediately and automatically into behavior
  -behavior is both instinct and learned
• current state of psychology: nature and nurture

Question 5

Over the history of western thought, different eras have focused on different aspects of humanity (mind, heart, and body) as being the most important. For instance, Behaviorism focused on the body (i.e., behavior), Structuralism focused on the mind (i.e., consciousness), and Freud arguably focused on the heart (i.e., emotions). Describe how different theories have incorporated or failed to incorporate these difference aspects over time. Conclude with a brief discussion of how these aspects are incorporated into modern psychology.

Answer 5

Empiricism
- Incorporates body
o Hedonism
o All knowledge comes from senses
o We are born with a blank slate
- Fails to incorporate mind
o Believed in passive mind
o No free will
o Laws of association
- Incorporates heart
o Emotions motivate all behavior; we all posses the same passions, just in different degrees
Rationalism
- Incorporates mind
o Believed in active mind
o Turn sensory information into knowledge
o Some knowledge cannot be gained from senses alone
o Innate mental structures
o Logical deduction, analysis, and argument
- Incorporates body
o Also believed in bottom-up processing
o Thought nurture was important to human development
o Sensory information is important
- Failed to incorporate heart
Romanticism
- Incorporates heart
o Knowledge comes from emotions
o Emotions are primary drive as to why we do things; provides meaning to life
o Thought we were born good and taught to be bad
o Believed irrational/emotional thinking was better than rational thinking
- Incorporates mind
o Believed in free will
- Failed to incorporate body
o Main focus was on emotion/heart
Functionalism
- Incorporates body
o Everything about us is evolved due to natural selection, need to survive
o Ideo-motor theory of behavior
o Learning
- Incorporates mind
o Active mind
o Evolutionary theory
o Rationalism
o Practical, applied
o Consciousness is personal and reflects the experiences of the individual, subjective experience
o Free will
- Incorporates heart
o Misattribution of arousal theory, emotions = physio-arousal + cognitive label
Behaviorism
- Does not incorporate mind
o Biology doesn’t matter at all
o Humans don’t have instincts
- Incorporates body
o Learned behavior
o Only learning, no instincts
o No mind and no cognition
o Conditioning
- Does not incorporate heart
o Behavior only
Gestalt
- Incorporates mind
o Active mind
o Top-down processing
o Whole perception more important than sensations
o Field theory
o Learning
- Incorporates body
o Behavioral environment is subjective interpretation of geographical environment
o Purposive behavior
- Does not incorporate emotions
Humanistic
- Incorporates mind
o Conscious mind
o Free will
o Search for meaning
- Incorporates body
o Subjective experiences are the central cause of human behavior
- Incorporates heart
o Self-actualization
o Positive regard

Question 6

Humans are animals, yet we are very different than most other animals. How have different philosophers and scientists incorporated (or failed to incorporate) the “animal” into their views of humans? Also, what do they say makes us different?

Answer 6

• Humans and animals both experience thinking, perceptions, sensations, and other bodily functions needed for survival
• Humans have the capabilities for complex thinking, morality, culture, language, purpose, etc. (theory of mind, mental time travel, consciousness, self-awareness)
• Before philosophy, humans believed in animism, anthropomorphism, and magic
• Plato
  o Plato’s chariot: three aspects of the soul (mind)
  o Spirited, appetitive, and rational
  o First two are animal
• Aristotle
  o Hierarchy of souls (vegetative, sensitive (hedonism), rational)
• St. Augustine said the mind is in conflict with our animal drives
• Romanticists were animalistic (irrational/emotional)
• Jean-Jaques Rousseau
  o The human animal will be savage
  o Corruption by society
• Nietzsche
  o Aspects of human nature: rational (desire of order) and irrational (desire for chaos), driven by emotion
• Darwin and natural selection
• Functionalism
  o Everything about us is evolved due to natural selection and a need to survive
• Behaviorism
  o Takes evolutionary theory and turns it into animal behavior
  o Classical conditioning
• Freud
  o Libido and Id
  o Aggression and sexual instincts

Question 7

Describe the history of behaviorism and the development of its central concepts over time. Starting with the notions of hedonism and associationism described by the ancient Greeks, describe how many of the ideas of behaviorism recur throughout the history of science and psychology. In this discussion, be sure to put these concepts into the historical context of each time period.

Answer 7

• Connects to British empiricists
  o Emphasizes the mind as a blank slate and associations
  o All behaviors learned through environment
  o Innate or inherited factors have little to no influence on behavior
  o Seek pleasure, avoid pain
• Connects to Aristotle
  o Believed in nurture
  o Education and experience would define the formation of the mind and build knowledge
  o Associations
• Behaviorism was expanded on by neo-behaviorists
  o Tolman proved the importance of thoughts
  o Skinner introduced operant conditioning
  o Behaviorism was combined with logical positivism
  o Neo-behaviorists believed they could be theoretical and still remain objective
• Behaviorism stemmed from functionalism; took animal behavior and applied research,
  denied nature (behavior only)
• Behaviorists made psychology scientific in that they studied what was observable
• Behaviorism is largely responsible for establishing psychology as a scientific discipline through its objective methods and especially experimentation
• Used now in behavioral and cognitive-behavioral therapy, behavior modification is commonly used in classrooms
• Latent learning, classical and operant conditioning, purposive behavior, cognitive map