Lecture 1 - History of Psychology Flashcards
Definition of Psychology
The scientific study of behaviour and the mind
Psychologist
Scientists who use the scientific method to acquire knowledge on behaviour and the mind
Mind
The internal states and processes of the brain
Psychology goals (three B’s)
Describe behaviour, explain causes for behaviour, predict behaviour under certain conditions
Early Psychology
Pre 19th century; based in philosophy
Hippocrates
Ancient Greek physician - first person to explain illness based on science rather than supernatural
Theory of Humorism (Greeks/Romans)
- The body is made up of 4 principal humours
- Complex system of interactions
- good health = humours in balance
- Primary way of understanding biology and psychology
Humours
Black bile, blood, yellow bile, phlegm
Definition of humour
Explained the balance of life
Rene Descartes
(1596 - 1650) Philosopher and mathematician
- Minds are immaterial
- Bodies are material
- Substance dualism
- Mind-body problem
Substance dualism
Life possess both physical and metaphysical properties
Interactionism
The interaction between the physical and metaphysical
Mind-body problem
- how do minds and bodies interact
- how does the physical affect the mental vice versa
Reductive physicalism
Idea that life is comprised solely of physical matter
16th Century
Psychology’s beginnings as a science