History of Psychology Flashcards
What is presentist bias?
The tendency to analyse and discuss past ideas, people and events in terms of the present.
What is ‘zeitgeist’?
It is the dominant perspective or ideology at the time. It means ‘spirit of the time’.
Who was the main psychologist behind structuralism?
Wundt
What is structuralism?
A concept that focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic functions.
Who was the main psychologist behind functionalism?
William James
What is functionalism?
A philosophy that describes the mind as a functional tool that allows us to adapt to our environments.
What is trepanation and why was it used?
A treatment of drilling into the skull. It was used for treatment of head injuries, healing epilepsy and headaches, ritual reasons, spiritual reasons, increasing blood flow to prevent degenerative diseases, and letting out evil spirits.
Who was Alhazen?
A 10th century astronomer and mathmatician who made lots of discoveries that were also discovered by more recent scientists.
What is the Edwin Smith papyrus?
Writing about head wounds of soldiers - brain lesions led to distal symptoms. They found that the left side of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa. The brain is responsible for speech and touching the brain can lead to epileptic seizures. It tells us that the seat of the soul is different to the source of motor behaviour.
What is the three cell theory/doctrine?
A discovery of the ventricles. Cell 1 is a collection of information from senses, cell 2 is cognition/thinking, cell 3 is memory.
What function is located in Broca’s area?
Speech production.
What function is located in Wernicke’s area?
Language comprehension.
What is phrenology?
The idea that each characteristic can be pinpointed to a specific area in the brain.
What does the case of Phinnias Gage tell us?
Personality is linked to the brain - Gage’s personality completely changed after a metal bar went through his brain.
What is the scientific method?
Fact, theory, hypothesis, test.
