Lecture 2 Flashcards

Question

Answer 1

A

whether or not the mind is a separate thing from the physical body or is it part or the body’s physical activity. What is the relationship between the two?

Answer 2

A

Mind & body interact but are fundamentally different. (both influence each other)
Mind comes from God.
The body is a machine.

According to Descartes, the interaction occurs in the pineal gland (now known as false)

What set humans apart from animals was the possession of a mind- thought that animals were mindless ‘reflex’ beings and humans had a ‘mind’ and are therefore more complex.
He was a mind-body dualist: the mind is a spiritual entity not subject to physical laws

Answer 3

A

If the mind is nonphysical then it can’t be studied via physical means.

Answer 4

A

An alternative view to dualism - the mind & body are one.
The mind is not a separate spiritual entity but simply a product of physical events in the brain (e.g., Thomas Hobbes, 1588-1679).
More conducive for the development of psychology as a science.

Answer 5

A

Descartes’ rationalism was replaced by John Locke’s empiricism – pursuit of truth through observation and experience (Locke thought reasoning was prone to error) collecting data is good as data can be verified

All knowledge comes from the senses
Observation more valid than reason. (observe pattens of data to make conclusions)

Answer 6

A

Advances in physiology & medicine paved the way for psychology.

Electrically stimulating brains of lab animals & mapping the surface areas that controlled body movements. (suggested the brain of animals control bodily movement

Damage to specific areas of the human brain linked with certain behavioural & mental impairments. Discovered through the use of the bullet through warfare as caused damage to only a specific part of the brain. E.g brain damage to left hemisphere and affected language. First suggestion that left hemisphere controls language

By the mid-1800s a new field – psychophysics, the study of how the experience of sensations depends on the characteristics of physical stimuli

Answer 7

A

Wudnt
Structualism
Evolution and heritability (charles darwin)
Functionalism
Psychodynamic perspective (sigmund freud)
Behaviourism
behaviourism after watson
cognitive revolution
social perspective
biological perspective

Answer 8

A

1879 in Leipzig
First psychological laboratory designated for psychology research
Intended psychology to be the science of the mind & consciousness
Modelled after the natural sciences.
Believed that the mind could be studied partly by breaking it down into its basic components.
Interested in the elements of mind.

Answer 9

A

Not developed by Wudnt
Started by Edward Titchener, an English student & associate of Wundt’s.
emphasising fundamental need to identify the basic building blocks of the mind.

Structuralists used a method called introspection (looking within), to study sensations.
Participants presented with various kinds of sensory stimuli & trained to describe their inner experiences of them.
The method came under criticism (to unreliable) & this early school withered & died fairly swiftly.
Based on subjective opinion, memory problems, cannot be replicated.

Answer 10

A

suggested that behaviours could be best explained by understanding their role in the adaptation of an organism to its environment.
Behaviours could be inherited from ancestors
Argues that behaviour could also be inherited (that behavioural trait may of allowed the ancestors to survive so genes are passed on- advantages gene)
Continuities between different species

Answer 11

A

The next major school after Structuralism
The function of the mind is more important than the structure. (what was the evolutionary function)
Inspired by Darwin’s work on evolution.
Emphasis more on overt observable behaviour than private mental sensations & memories.
Key figure = William James
Aspects still seen within modern day cognitive and evolutionary psychology

Answer 12

A

helped to make psychology a broader subject)
He helped broaden the scope and methodologies of psychology.

Answer 13

A

Focus on the idea of a dynamic unconscious.
Based on his personal introspection & his clinical observations (case studies) - identified lots of people with physical problems e.g. blindness and also phobias. He claimed to believe that these people acquired these issues due to psychological unconscious causes.
Problems must be psychological & unconscious.
Freud came up with free association. ( idea of patients speaking ‘freely’ to try and tap into the unconscious) Patients would often reveal painful & long ‘forgotten’ experiences. Often, after recalling & reliving these experiences, the patients’ symptoms would improve. Freud devised psychoanalysis, a form of psychotherapy after seeing these results.
Freud’s work is controversial within psychology, but he helped to broaden the subject & stimulated research in areas such as dreams and memory.

Answer 14

A

Focuses on the role of the external environment on behaviour
Rooted in the philosophical school of empiricism.
John Locke argued that at birth the human mind is a blank slate (tabula rosa)
In this view, human nature is shaped purely by the environment. (nurture)

Answer 15

A

Habits learnt from previous experiences
Stimuli in our immediate environment

Answer 16

A

egan as a formal school with the work of J. B. Watson. (he wanted psychology to be a solid empirical science)
Believed all behaviour is learnt
Psychology should stick to observable events and not use mentalistic terminology.
Human beings are products of their learning experiences.

Answer 17

A

The most extensive theoretical framework was developed by B. F. Skinner
Skinner believed that the causes of human behaviour reside in the outer world: “A person does not act upon the world the world acts upon him” (1971). (suggests no free will)
Skinner examined how behaviour is shaped by rewarding & punishing consequences. (rats)
believed that society could harness the power of the environment to change behaviour in beneficial ways.
believed society would be better if free will is removed. His approach is known as radical behaviourism & is rejected by many psychologists as its to simplistic and rejects free will.
However, a form of applied psychology, showing how environmental forces can enhance human welfare.
Behaviourism is limited. Only looks at observable behaviour. Doesn’t look into cognitive processes e.g memory.

Answer 18

A

Behaviourism restricted psychology to observable behaviour.

Meant that mental life was off-limits for scientific study.

Throughout the 1950s & 60s psychologists from many different perspectives challenged these restrictions.

Answer 19

A

Cognitive Behaviourism: Our expectations and thoughts interact with learning and the environment to affect how we behave
The Humanistic Perspective: emphasizes Personal responsibility, personal growth and finding meaning in ones existence
The Cognitive Perspective: the study of mental processes and how they develop and influence behaviour

Answer 20

A

Culture – the values, beliefs, behaviours & traditions shared by large groups of people & passed on over generations – is important for psychology. However, cross-cultural work was actually quite rare in psychology. More recently there’s been a growth in cross-cultural psychology.
Indivisuliatsic vs collectivsit

Answer 21

A

individualistic cultures e.g. western cultures vs collectivist cultures e.g. Asia
(Self vs group)

Answer 22

A

One of the most prominent & fastest growing perspectives.
Examines how brain processes & bodily functions regulate/influence mind & behaviour & addresses the role of genetics & evolutionary history.
Can be broadly divided into two fields:
- Behavioural neuroscience
- Evolutionary psychology

Answer 23

A

The role of processes and physiology on behaviour sensation, emotion and thought

Answer 24

A

This field stresses that many human mental abilities and behavioural tendencies are by products of millions of years of evolution

Lecture 2 Flashcards

Introduction to psyc pt.2