L02: History of Ideas in Psych Flashcards
Structuralism
Consciousness can be analyzed into a state of basic constituting elements.
Introspection
The examination of one’s own conscious thoughts and feelings.
Functionalism
The emphasis in psych should be on the purpose and utility of behaviour.
Gesalt Psychology
Looks at the human mind and behaviour as a whole.
“The whole is more than the sum of its parts.”
Behaviourism
All behaviours are acquired through conditioning.
Shifted the focus towards biology and studied non-human behaviours
Cognitive Revolution
The cognitive model replaced behaviouralism as the most influential model of the human mind.
Psychophysiological Model of the Mind
Explains human behaviour by recourse to its biological basis
Psychodynamic Model of the Mind
Human behaviour arises from inherited biological drives and the attempt to reduce states of tension and conflict
Psychoanalysis
Set of theories and techniques that deal with the unconscious mind.
Id
Follows the pleasure principle: Avoid pain and increase pleasure
Ego
Reason and self control
Superego
Morality and ideals
Behaviourist Model of the Mind
Aims to determine what factors in the environment control behaviour
Cognitive Model of the Mind
Assumes cognitions are the principle subject of psych
Humanistic Model of the Mind
Tries to understand human behaviour by detecting patterns in life histories. Human beings are naturally good and equipped with free will.
William James
Inspired functionalism. Father of psych. U.S.
Wilhelm Wundt
Created the idea of structuralism. Father of psych Europe
John Watson
Inspired behaviourism & criticized introspection as inaccessible to the investigator
Sigmund Freud
Focused his work on the unconscious as the main motor of behaviour. Followed the psychodynamic model & developed psychoanalysis
René Descartes
Founded the idea of dualism
Phi Phenomenon
Optical illusion of movement. Instead of two different and separate stimuli, we mistakenly perceive movement of the same stimulus.
Emergence
Spontaneous organization of elements that give rise to a form that isn’t really there
Multistability
Figure/background selection
Reification
Illusionary contours (tendency to consider an object in its entirety before it perceives the object as the sum of individual parts)
Invariance
Recognition of objects in different orientations
Law of Closure
Humans have the tendency to perceive object outlines as closed.
Law of Similarily
Objects that are similar are grouped together and perceived as a whole.
Law of Proximity
Objects that are close to each other belong together
Law of Continuity
We perceive two separate objects as continuous and part of one
The McGurk Effect
What you see can affect what you are hearing
Pavlov’s Experiment
Dogs salivating when there’s no food due to being condition by the sound of a tuning fork
Parallelism
There is no causal interaction between mind and body
