From phrenology to scientific theory Flashcards
Aristotle
4th century BC Tabula Rasa mental processing speed by way of associations Law of continguity domain general (horizontal) faculties
Locke
17th century
association theory: blank slate, sensoristic, atomistic, ‘common sense’
horizontal faculties
Enlightenment
117th - 18th century
embracing of reason and science
Gall
1800-1850
vertical faculties (domain specific)
localizationism
phrenology: bumps on skull reflect mental faculties
Pseudo-science
1800-1850 Physiognomy mesmerism mental healing spiritualism
Physiognomy
persons character is reflected by features of the face
Mesmerism
magnetic forces which work at distance and that hypnosis and magnets can cure mental disorders
Mental healing
mental illnesses may be cured by establishing correct thinking
Spiritualism
mediums may establish contacts with spirits of the dead
Flourens
1800-1850
experimental evidence for holism in pigeons and rabbits
Holism
functions are distributed accross whole cerebral cortex
Broca
1850-1900
speech production deficit because of left frontal lobe lesion (patient Leborgne)
evidence for localization
Wernicke
1850-1900
association model of language
Helmholtz
1850-1900
conduction of nerve impuls take time
Broca’s aphasia
difficulties producing speech and repeating words, comprehension is relatively spared
Wernicke’s aphasia
difficulty understanding speech and repeating heard words, but speech production is relatively spared
conduction aphasia
the fiber connection between the areas is damaged, so repetition of heard speech is impaired but production and comprehension are relatively spared
Connectionism
New form of associationism, associative networks and processes are simulated via computer programs
Associationism
mental processes operate by the association of one mental state with its successor states
Hebb’s law
Neurons that fire together, wire together. Associationism at the neural basis
long-term potentiation
What Hebb also saw, later this was the term for it
Donders
1850-1900
substraction method: simple, choice, go/no-go tasks.
mental processes take time
Sternberg
1950-now
additive factors method, to identify differente stages of mental processing
Weber
1850-1900
Weber’s law. Relationship between physical quantities and psychological experiences = just noticable differences
Fechner
1850-1900
Fechner’s law: just notible differences is subjectively equal and would create a logarithmic relationship
Fodor
1950-now
mind is both localized modules and holistic central systems (combination of Gall and Flourens)
Anderson
1950-now
Central processing engages working, declarative and procedural memories
Kanwisher
1950-now
modules for perception, places, faces and visual words. Central systems are localized in the frontal and parietal cortex
