History of psychology part 2 summed up Flashcards
What societal changes in the early 20th century influenced the development of psychology?
Psychology adapted to societal demands, such as compulsory schooling, military selection, and industrial needs, driving the study of individual differences and the measurement of human capabilities.
How did psychology contribute to shaping the school environment?
Psychology developed tools to measure children’s abilities, leading to classification systems that placed students in classrooms based on their academic levels.
What psychological approaches were used to improve learning in schools?
Behaviorist methods, such as rewards and punishments, were implemented to enhance learning and discipline.
What role did psychology play in the military?
It created methods to assess candidates’ physical and mental abilities to select the best individuals for specific military roles.
What are the two opposing views about the origins of individual differences in psychology?
Innatism: Traits and abilities are genetically inherited.
Environmentalism: Traits and abilities are shaped by environmental factors.
Who was Sir Francis Galton, and what was his main area of focus in psychology?
Galton was an English scientist and psychologist who focused on individual differences, particularly the study of intelligence and heredity.
What concept is Sir Francis Galton credited with introducing?
Galton introduced the concept of eugenics, emphasizing the selective breeding of humans to improve hereditary traits.
How did Galton contribute to the study of intelligence?
He pioneered the measurement of intelligence through early psychometric tests and statistical methods.
He considered that everything was measurable.
What statistical technique did Galton develop that is widely used today?
Galton developed “regression to the mean” and contributed to the foundation of correlation analysis.
How did Galton study individual differences?
He used anthropometric measurements, such as height, reaction time, and sensory acuity, to study variations among individuals
What tools or methods did Galton invent for his research?
Galton invented the Galton whistle for auditory testing and introduced the use of questionnaires to collect data on psychological traits
How did Galton’s work influence the field of psychology?
His emphasis on heredity and statistical methods laid the groundwork for modern psychometrics and the study of intelligence.
What controversial aspect is associated with Galton’s work?
Galton’s advocacy for eugenics has been criticized for its ethical implications and misuse in social policies.
Was Galton Darwins cousin?
Yes
What are some of Francis Galton’s major contributions to measurement?
Invented the weather map and introduced terms like high and low pressure and weather fronts.
Demonstrated that fingerprints could uniquely identify individuals, a method now used globally in law enforcement.
Discovered that the human ear loses its ability to perceive high-frequency waves with age.
Conducted a study to determine in which country the most beautiful women were found.
Measured the degree of boredom experienced during scientific conferences.
How did Francis Galton define intelligence?
Galton believed intelligence was based on sensitive acuity and considered it largely inherited. He used the rate of eminence (achievements and recognition) as a measure of high intellectual capacity.
What were Galton’s findings in Hereditary Genius (1869), and what project did he propose from it?
In Hereditary Genius, Galton concluded that the offspring of illustrious (famous, accomplished, or highly respected) individuals are more likely to be illustrious than the general population. Based on this, he proposed Eugenics, a project aimed at improving hereditary traits through selective breeding.
What was the basis of Galton’s Selective Descent project?
The project was based on Darwin’s theory of evolution and emphasized intelligence as a fundamental marker of individual differences.
How was Galton’s Selective Descent project received?
Galton proposed that governments subsidize the project, but it was rejected by all. Even his cousin, Charles Darwin, called him a fool for the idea
What was Galton’s stance in the nature versus nurture debate?
Galton argued that high intelligence was primarily due to hereditary factors but acknowledged that it required a suitable environment for development, as discussed in his book English Men of Science: Their Nature and Nurture (1894).
How did Galton support his belief in innatism?
In Investigations into the Human Faculties and Their Development (1883), Galton supported innatism by studying monozygotic (identical) and dizygotic (non identical) twins, showing the role of heredity in shaping intelligence.
What was the purpose of Galton’s word association test in The Investigations (1888)?
Galton created the first word association test as a tool to study individual differences, hypothesizing a possible link between intelligence (I.Q.) and word associations.
What were the results of Galton’s word association research, and how was the method later used?
Galton was unable to find a direct link between intelligence and word association. However, the method was developed by Carl Jung as a clinical diagnostic tool.
What did Jung theorize about delays in word association tests?
Jung believed delays in responding indicated a block in self-expression, such as having too many possible answers or discomfort with a specific response. He linked this resistance to Freud’s concept of repression.
How did Jung use the word association test in his practice?
Jung used the test as a tool to uncover traumas and complexes in patients. However, as a projective test, it has no reliable diagnostic value if used exclusively.
What were Galton’s contributions to mental imagery and anthropometry?
Galton studied mental imagery, exploring how people experience sensory information without external stimuli. He also established an anthropometric laboratory to measure intelligence and individual differences through physical characteristics.
What statistical concepts did Galton introduce?
Galton introduced correlation, regression, and the median as a measure of central tendency in his works Correlations and Their Measurements and Natural Heredity (1889).
How was Galton’s concept of correlation further developed?
Karl Pearson (1857–1936) expanded Galton’s work by introducing the Pearson correlation coefficient, a formula to measure the strength of relationships between variables.
What was Alfred Binet’s essential contribution to psychology?
Binet made a significant impact in psychometrics and differential psychology by designing tests to predict school performance, focusing on assessing individual abilities.
How did Binet’s work with Simon influence intelligence testing?
Binet and Simon developed early methods for assessing mental abilities, which became the foundation for modern intelligence tests. Their work focused on identifying children who needed additional support in school.
What was Binet’s first field of study in psychology?
Binet initially studied hysteria and the use of hypnosis under Charcot, focusing on psychological phenomena related to suggestion.
What topics did Binet research at the Sorbonne’s physiological psychology lab?
In 1891 Binet conducted studies on memory, childhood fears, creativity, thinking without images, and graphology.
What was the focus of Binet and Henri’s article “Individual Psychology” (1896)?
They argued that intelligence consists of various mental faculties and should be measured through complex mental operations, rather than sensory acuity.
Why did Binet and Henri reject Galton and Cattell’s methods?
They measured intelligence through sensory acuity, while Binet focused on complex mental operations.
Binet emphasized that age influenced the important variables on which individuals differ.
What was the result of the Individual Psychology project?
The project was disappointing, as Stella Sharp from Cornell University showed that there were few intercorrelations between Binet’s and his assistant’s tests.
How did Alfred Binet begin working with Theodore Simon?
In 1899, Simon, who worked with mentally retarded children, asked Binet to assist him with his doctoral thesis on the subject.
What task were Binet and Simon assigned by the French Government in 1903?
They were tasked with studying the problems of mentally retarded children in schools.
What was the goal of Binet and Simon’s work in 1904?
They aimed to create tests that could differentiate intellectually normal children from those who were not, leading to the development of the first intelligence test measuring intelligence directly.
What was the purpose of the 1905 Binet-Simon scale?
It was a reliable tool to distinguish normal children from children with impairments, composed of 30 tests (3 motor development, 27 cognitive abilities) for children aged 2 to 12 years.
What conclusions did Binet and Simon draw from their intelligence testing?
Heredity played an important role in intelligence.
Many individuals functioned below their full capacity, indicating unrealized potential.
What was the original purpose of Binet’s intelligence test?
It was designed to identify schoolchildren who required special attention to improve their education, not as a tool to label or limit them.
What concern did Binet have about the use of his test?
Binet feared the test would be misused to label children and limit their opportunities, instead of being a practical guide to help slow learners.
How did Binet view the later use of his test?
Binet did not agree with its use as a numerical measure of inherited intelligence, as it was intended to identify children needing support, not to measure innate abilities.
What was the focus of the 1908 revision of the Binet-Simon scale?
The revision focused on studying differences in intelligence levels among normal children, determining if a child’s intelligence was above, below, or at the same level as the average for their age.
What is the concept of “intellectual age” introduced in 1911?
Intellectual age refers to the level of the most difficult tests a child could pass, indicating their mental development relative to their chronological age.
What conclusion was drawn from comparing intellectual age to chronological age?
Children whose intellectual age was two or more years below their chronological age were likely to have problems in school and required special attention.
Who introduced the concept of mental age, and how did it relate to IQ?
William Stern introduced the concept of mental age in 1911, derived from Binet-Simon tests, and defined IQ as mental age divided by chronological age.
How did Lewis Terman modify the IQ calculation in 1916?
Terman proposed multiplying IQ by 100 to remove decimals, creating a more manageable measurement unit.
What additional contribution did Terman make to IQ testing?
Terman introduced a classification system to categorize individuals based on their IQ scores.
Who was Charles Spearman, and where did he study psychology?
Charles Spearman was a British psychologist who studied in Germany and received his doctorate in Leipzig.
What theory of intelligence did Spearman formulate in 1904?
Spearman proposed the two-factor theory of intelligence, which suggests that intelligence consists of a general factor (g) and specific factors (s).
What statistical technique did Spearman develop to support his theory?
Spearman developed factor analysis as a key method for his theory, along with Spearman’s ordinal correlation coefficient.
What was Spearman’s role in shaping psychology in Britain?
Spearman founded the ‘London School’ of Psychology, significantly influencing British psychology.
What career did Charles Spearman leave to pursue psychology, and who influenced his work?
At 34, Spearman left his military career to study psychology. He was influenced by Galton’s work and studied under Wundt and Külpe in Germany.
What did Spearman conclude from his studies with schoolchildren?
Spearman concluded that sensory acuity was related to intelligence, linking physical perception with mental ability.
What is Spearman’s Bifactor Theory of intelligence?
Spearman’s Bifactor Theory proposed that any mental activity depends on two distinct factors: a general factor (g) and specific factors (s).
What are the two factors in Spearman’s Two-Factor Theory?
General Factor (G): This is the overall intelligence that influences all mental abilities. It stays the same for a person across different tasks but can vary between people.
Specific Factor (S): These are abilities unique to specific tasks. They can change depending on the type of task and are different for each person.
What statistical technique did Spearman develop to support his theory of a general factor?
Spearman developed factor analysis as an essential tool to complement his theory of the general factor (g) of intelligence.
What is Spearman’s ordinal correlation coefficient used for?
It measures the relationship between two variables by comparing their ranks, rather than their absolute values.
What are two of Spearman’s most important publications?
The Nature of Intelligence and the Principles of Cognition (1923).
The Abilities of Man (1927).
What is psychoanalysis?
Psychoanalysis is a theory of personality and a therapeutic approach that emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind, childhood experiences, and emotional conflicts in shaping behavior.
Who laid the groundwork for psychoanalysis?
Sigmund Freud developed psychoanalysis, drawing from earlier influences such as Charcot’s work on hysteria and hypnosis.
