Lecture 2 Flashcards
Define Psychology
the scientific study of behaviour; and their mental processes of living organisms (w the use of the scientific method)
Define hypothesis
tentative explanation of why something happens
Define empirical method
based on observation, including experimentation rather than a method based on forms of logical argument
Who is considered to have established Psychology as a science?
Wilhelm Wundt - Father of Psychology
What is the breakdown of the word Psychology
Psych “breath, spirit, soul” Ology “the study of”
Where does psychology have its roots?
Philosophy
Who was involved in the nature vs nurture problem? (Philosophers)
Nature (socrates) vs Nurture (Aristotle)
What did Rene Descarte study? (Philosophers)
dualism, the mind and the body are separate entities
What did thomas hobs study? (Philosopher)
The seed of consciousness is in our mind. The mind controls our body.
What did Herman Von Holtz discover?
it takes longer to feel pain from a pinch farther from the brain.
What did Wundt study? When?
Scientific study of the conscious experience (1879)
What did Wundt create?
Introspection
How was introspection measures?
Reaction times measured under different conditions
What were the steps to measuring introspection?
-Measure reaction time
-Objectively observe their conscious experience
- Ask people to press button when hear the beep
- then ask people to press the button when they processed the fact that they heard the beep
Was question was introspection used to answer?
The structure of the consciousness
What did structuralism focus on?
breaking down the parts (structure) of the conscious experience. Breaking down the Parts of a feeling (what does it feel like? Where/ what does it come from?)
What are the problems with structuralism?
WUNDT tried to make something subject scientific which is very hard to do. Needed very educated people to be trained to introspect, feelings are subjective experiences. Not generalizable.
Who created functionalism?
William james
What was william james influenced by?
Darwin’s theory of evolution
What is functionalism interested in?
The mind as a whole. The function of the cognitive experience. How conscious experience helps us survive
What kind of questions would a functionalist ask?
Why do we love? What function does it have in our lives?
What kind of questions would a structuralist ask?
What is the structure of happiness? Anger?
What are the differences and similarities between Wundt and James?
-whole brain vs part of brain
-Function vs Experience
- Common: Introspection
What is the structuralism question?
What parts make up the conscious experience?
What is the functionalism question?
What are the different components of the conscious experience AND what functions do they serve?
How is introspection like a tool?
It was like a microscope… forced people to turn inward and try to observe the conscious experience
Who came up with the gestalt principles?
Wertheimer Koffka Kohler
What does gestalt mean?
German word for whole
What is a gestalt principle?
-The whole is different from the sum of its parts
- The sensory experience can be broken down into individual parts. But the whole is what the individual experiences as perception.
What did gestalt principles give way to?
Behaviourism
Words are nothing more than black dots on a page that we make sense of. Our brains take the individual bits but fill in the gaps (that is our expeirence)
What branch does this follow?
Gestalt psychology
Who is in the experimental branch of psychology?
Von Helmotz
Wundt
James
Gestalt
Who is in the applied (Clinical) branch of psychology?
Freud
What branch of psychology is in between the experimental and clinical branches?
Behaviourism
What type of psychology is the clincal branch?
applied
What does clincial psychology do?
- Takes what we know about human condition and applies it to the real world
- helps people heal
-develops a theory of where psychological problems come form
What practices did Freud and Breuer focus on?
hypnosis and free association (talk therapy)
What was freuds theory about consciousness?
Iceberg theory
What os the iceberg theory
What is happening consciously is above water
- unconsicous mind is below water
these are wants desires behavioural (sexual) nature
What did freud say about keeping things in the unconsicous?
If we keep things in the unconscious it can cause termoil
What did freud think about dreams?
They were the window to the soul
What did freud do well?
- highlight the importance of early childhood experiences
- Identified unconscious vs conscious
- Identified that motivations can cause psychological conflict
- identified that competing motivations can exist within an individual
What was wrong with frueds theory?
- couldnt be proven false
- he placed too much emphasis on sex
What are behaviourists interests in? What do they think we are?
behaviour. Think we are just complex computers
What is a primary mechanism?
learning
What do behavioursists think about consciousness?
it is flawed because it is subjective
What are the different types of Learning?
-Cclassical conditioning (Pavlov)
-Operant conditioning (B.F Skinner)
What is classical conditioning?
what pavlov did with the dog and drooling at the sound of a bell.
What is operant conditioning?
behaviours that result in pleasant consequence will be repeated and vice versa
- all of our behaviour can be reduced to learning
Who were the behaviourists?
Pavlov and Skinner
What did maslow say?
We live through our needs in a sequential and predictable way
what was the difference between humanistic and previous branches of psych?
before humanism psych focused on what was wrong with people, detemrinstic and reductionist
What is humanism?
the good and growth potnetial is part of the human condition. We are inherintley good
Who was one of the Fathers of Humanism?
Carl rogers
Who are the humanists?
Maslow and carl rogers
What did Carl Rogers do?
Client centred therapy
- acted as a mirror for clients, helped them find solutions to who they want to be
What do humanists emphasize?
unconditional positive regard?
When was the cognitive revolution?
1980-1990s
What was the cognitive revolution?
placed emphasis on cognitive processes
- linguistics (how language shapes thought)
- Neuroscience (how the brain works)
-More collaboration across disciplines.
What was the dominant perspective before the cognitive revolution?
behaviourism
Who was involved in feminist psychology?
Karen horney
What does the feminist approach seek to do?
Free psych of all gender biases
study biases between gender
Study gender differences
Re-evaluate contribution of women in psych (Anna freud)
What did multicultural psych do?
explanations for different events depend on cultural upbringing
- focused on situational influence vs personal influence
- culture influences type of hallucinations
- precedents of eating disorders different in different cultures
Who was the first black person to get a PH.D in America?
Cecil summer
What type of psych did summer impact?
social psych. Work on intelligence.
