Lecture 4 - The birth of Psychology Flashcards

Question

# psychology as mathematically describable who was one of the first statisticians? | she kinda skipped him during the lecture

Answer 1

- **Quetelet** (Belgian astronomer and sociologist) → introduced the science of l''homme moyenne" (the average human) → this resulted also in quantitative sociology

Answer 2

- **1822-1911** - cousin of Darwin - main focus: *heredity* and *intelligence* - human qualities are just as heritable as "natural" qualities - invented regression

Answer 3

- most controversial part of Galton's ideas - he wanted to create a society based on intelligence → intelligence should be leading in who procreates and who doesn't (only smart people should reproduce) ! this was a very common idea at the time

Answer 4

- **Galton**: founded regression to predict someone's intelligence based on their parents' intelligence - **Pearson**: founded Pearson's correlation for the same field of Eugenics

Answer 5

= "random probability distribution or pattern that may be analysed statistically but may not be predicted precisely" → humans can be studied statistically, but their behavior cannot be accurately predicted

Answer 6

- applying statistics to psychology appeared to be a great success (correlation, regression method, mental chronometry, ...) - Kant had perhaps underestimated the potential of describing humans mathematically (picture 3)

Answer 7

- at the time of Donders (etc), reserachers worked mostly on natural sciences - they strived to describe mathematically as much as possible, but this is not necessarily necessary - now many branches of psychology consider psychology not to necessitate mathematical description

Answer 8

- Charles **Darwin** (1809-1882)→ evolution theory → man is not the king of animals - explains origin of species based on evolution → *accidental mutation* → *natural selection* (advantageous traits are passed on) - animals that are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce more than animals less adapted - humans developed certain advantageous traits and evolved as separate species from the apes (picture 4)

Answer 9

- man loses its special status compared to animals - humans and animal behavior are related - the answer to "who are humans" now falls under the scope of sience ! Darwin encounters resistance, but what is surprising is how fast his theory was accepted

Answer 10

- evolutionary psychology is currently a separate field of research - reserach along the lines of functional psychological modules that are adaptive - examples are inferring human emotions or detecting cheaters

Answer 11

- in 18th-19th century, it became clear that mental functions are linked to the brain - localization (Wernicke, Broca) - discovery and study of reflexes introduce idea of mechanisms behind behavior → mind is not enchanted (picture 5)

Answer 12

- Freud (1856-1939; Austro-Hungarian Empire) - Wundt (1832-1920; German Empire) - James (1842-1910; United States; student of Wundt) - Binet (1857-1911; France)

Answer 13

- **1856-1939**; very controversial man - puts forward the first comprehensive psychological theory - focus on the mind of people, not the quantitative measurements - **psychoanalysis** revolves around the tension between the conscious and the unconscious → the unconscious is a set of uncoordinated instinctual desires like sex and aggression, too threatening to allow in the consciousness → the ego censors the id by the order of the superego → problematic when unbalance between conscious and unconscious (picture 18)

Answer 14

- **Id**: in the unconscious part → based on pleasure principle (sex, aggression, desires that society doesn't allow) → internal drives, since we are born - **Superego**: still in unconscious part → morality principles (e.g. you can't kill people) → learnt throughout life, not innate - **Ego**: in coscious part → controls superego and id → keeps balance between desires and social norms (picture 6)

Answer 15

- psychological problems arise from problems in the unconscious → e.g. complexes, repressed memories... - to solve problems, we must trace and address the latent cause - the psychoanalyst should trace down the problem using all sorts of cues → Freud was convinced that hysterical symptoms were due to repressed sexual childhood experiences ! this is the foundation of psychodynamic therapy (focus on diving deep in background to find latent cause)

Answer 16

- the unconscious sometimes shows itself, when the censoring ego isn't paying attention → slip of the tongue → *dreams* (language through which the unconscious speaks) → free associations - from their interpretation, problem and solution can be inferred

Answer 17

- Freud based his therapy on how the message of the patient was given, rather than the message itself - the therapist had to focus on small cues in the patient's speech, and from these try to interpret the meaning of e.g. dreams

Answer 18

- thanks to him, problems started being solved by talking to therapists, and not just through medication etc... - if someone has problems, most times they can be helped. They don't always have to be put in a home or considered crazy ! the lecturer was saying that despite being critical of Freud, we must also take into account his contribution to the scene of psychology

Answer 19

**Psychological treatment**: - treatment of mental health problems consisting of conversations between the patient and the therapist - initiated by Freud as an alternative to prevailing medical and educational treatments **Psychoanalysis**: - Freud's theory and therapy - provided first coherent framework for the treatment of nervous disorders - first complete theory of human psychological functioning

Answer 20

1. psychoanalysis was initiated and shaped by Freud and his wishes were father to many of its thoughts - e.g. psychoanalysis can be used to prove that someone has a mental disorder, but to also prove that he doesn't based on the situation (bias) 2. historians and methodologists have found unscientific practices and clinical scandals → this resulted in genuine scientific and ethical doubts (is psychoanalysis a science? Is it a cure?)

Answer 21

Before 16th century - lived at home or on streets - "possessed" by the devil or ghosts From the 16th century onwards → responsability shifts to authorities - first institutions look like prisons (**asylums**), then like hospitals - treatments (e.g. cold showers or quickly turning around)

Answer 22

- focus shifts from "teaching morality" to biological components - neurologists focus on nervous disorders - use of hypnosis - psychological therapy instead of medical or educational treatment (!) - therapist-client conversations

Answer 23

- in the 19th century, neurologists entered the scene - they were interested in disorders related to the brain - only worst cases were then admitted in asylums - Charcot was frontrunner of this movement (Freud attended his lectures)

Answer 24

- academic rather than amateur role for both philosophers and physiologists - better job oportunities in philosophy than in physiology encouraging the mobility of men and methods from physiology into philosophy - academic standing of philosophy below that of physiology, requiring the physiologists to maintain their scientific standing by applying their empirical methods to the materials of philosophy ! these three variables all applied to Wundt

Answer 25

- **1832-1920** - founder of the *first formal laboratory for psychology* (started in Leipzig, 1879) - he became very influential for setting the stage: hundreds of phd students came to learn from him, and then went back to their countries and opened psychological laboratories - (consciousness becomes a central theme) (picture 10)

Answer 26

- he called it "Physiological psychology" - particularly interested in: → measurement of just-noticeable differences (Fechner, 1860) → registration of response time (Donders, 1868) (picture 9)

Answer 27

- psychophysical methods to study the connection between physical stimuli and their conscious states - measurement of the duration of simple mental processes - accuracy of reproduction in memory tasks (Wundt's lab was part of a wider set of communicating labs, it was not isolated. At the time though, the experiments sometimes had only one participant, and they were not aware of Demand Characteristics)

Answer 28

- **Experimental Observation** → e.g. reaction time research - **Introspection** → e.g. investigating affective states - **Völkerpsychologie** → historical and cultural analysis of psychology

Answer 29

(Kant and Comte had already criticized introspection beforehand) - Wundt avoided criticism by introducing more control into the experimental situation - he distinguished between: → internal perception (armchair introspection as in philosophy) → experimental self-observation (stimulus was presented repeatedly and participants reported their experiences to the stimulus) - he claimed that experimental self-observation was a valid scientific method to measure consciousness

Answer 30

- studying the human mind by investigating the products of human cultures - works well to investigate the "higher" functions of the mind

Answer 31

- **Structuralism** (study of the structure of the mind) → what are the components/building blocks of each attribute? (e.g. shame) - he studied this through introspection tests

Answer 32

In terms of **valence** and **arousal** - frustrated = negative affect, high arousal - depressed = negative affect, low arousal - content = positive affect, low arousal - excited = positive affect, high arousal (see picture 7)

Answer 33

- mental states are built from basic properties - study the structure of mental experiences - complex psychological states are systematic constellations of thoughts and feelings → guilt = a (negative) feeling linke to the thought (that you have done something wrong) → hope = a (positive) feeling linked to the thought (that something might get better in the future) ! this school of though is now not very common

Answer 34

- through structuralism we get some structures of affects and mind, but then what? - we still don't know how they are related, we don't know about causes-effects, experiences of people - these building blocks do not really lead anywhere

Answer 35

- 1867-1927 (US) - Wundt's student (the book says that he founded structuralism, while the lecturer didn't even mention him) (picture 15)

Answer 36

1- introspection did not intuitively give rise to the experience of elementary sensations (**Wüzburg School**) 2- structuralism did not address the issues that were important for the American society at the time, namely pragmatic issues (not consciousness); Americans were more interested in functionalism. 3- not convincing statements even to the psychologists interested in consciousness (**Gestalt Psychology**)

Answer 37

- psychologists that used introspection as research method, but came to different conclusions than Wundt and Titchener - "many thought processes are not available to introspection (e.g. imageless thughts)"

Answer 38

- the human mind cannot be understood by breaking down the experiences into their constituent elements - perception is more than the sensation of stimuli, it involves organization (picture 14)

Answer 39

- **1842-1910** - introduced psychology in the US - wrote book "*Principles of Psychology*" (took him 12 years!) (picture 13)

Answer 40

Introspection - James ackowledges that introspection is fallible and hardly objective - however, through repeated observations and corrections over time psychologists can build a better understanding of this concept - therefore, he thinks that introspection is flawed but necessary (picture 11) ! James was a bit against experimental methods, saying that it eliminates nuances of introspection by operating on a large scale

Answer 41

- agree: consciousness should be central - doubts whether there really are these "building blocks" (that are the bases of structuralism) ! James as similar criticisms for Titchner (one of Wundt's students)

Answer 42

"structuralism has plenty of school, but no thought; could not have arisen in a country whose inhabitants could be bored" - the brain is constantly changing, so we can't dissect it to look for building blocks - we also don't have access to the single building blocks, as sensations don't come to us pure and single, they are always combined (picture 8)

Answer 43

- strongly influenced by *Darwin* (Darwin pointed out that some of our features have a particular function in society; emphasis on function) → James adds that once we have consciousness, we don't just survive, but we chase goals and purposes - James emphasizes the function of psychological phenomena (and not on how they are structured) - founded **functionalism** (function and purpose of things) (picture 12)

Answer 44

- emotion is a response to physiological change (*The James-Lange Theory of Emotions*) - these physiological changes and emotions have a function → e.g. disgust coincides with sticking the tongue out, which has the function of spitting out bad food → e.g. fear coincides with an increased heart rate, which has the function of being ready to flee

Answer 45

"What is the **purpose** of this psychological state?" - *evolutionary* → fear serves to avoid danger → love serves to generate offspring - *cultural* → religious faith serves to coordinate behavior in a society - ... ! James emphasizes the usefulness of everything, and how mental activities help to adjust to our surroundings ! consciousness is not an "entity", but a function

Answer 46

- Mary Calkins: first female president of APA → argues for a union of functionalist and structuralist approaches → the self is both in relation with the environment and should be investigated structurally - (now both schools are not in use, it was only in the early days of psychology, in the 19th century)

Answer 47

- attacked Comte's claims that introspection is not a valid research method, and psychology not a science - stated that psychology could study psychological phenomena subjectively (consciousness, memory, reasoning) and objectively (facts, signs, opinions and actions) at the same time

Answer 48

- one of the first neurologists - interested in psychopathology - made experiments with **hypnosis** to cure hysteria, but Delboeuf demonstrated that the results were stemming from demand characteristics (hypnosis cannot actually cure hysteria) - Binet was his assistant

Answer 49

- Mesmer investigated animal magnetism to cure diseases - discovery that what was important was the trance-like, somnambulist state - studied by Charcot as similar symptoms as hysteria and Epilepsy; thought to be hereditary degeneration → three stages: lethargy, cataplexy (loss of muscle function), somnambulism

Answer 50

- first he tried to establish intelligence like Galton did: reaction times, basal perceptual tests, skill size, ... - doesn't work, so he decides to administer simple tasks to kids → e.g. repeating a sentence, giving a simple definition, count money - calculated sum score of problems solved ! this appears to be a much stronger predictor of e.g. academic success than all previously constructed variables (picture 16)

Answer 51

- **1857-1911** - *the first psychological test* ... Lewis Terman (US) → Educational Psychologist, and Eugenicist → devises the *Standford-Binet Intelligence Scales* (still the basis of most IQ tests)

Answer 52

- in France primary school became mandatory, but they wanted to create special schools for children with more difficulties - Binet asked the committee who was qualified to determine which child could attend which school - measures such as head circumference were proven inaccurate to measure cognition → Binet & *Simon* created the first intelligence test (1912), with different questions not based on school teachings (picture 17)

Answer 53

- they had at that point an objective and concrete method to calculate intelligence, and knew that it was also rather accurate - therefore, it could be used in the pursue of the ideal society, by measuring people's intelligence - of course, this also meant that black and hispanic people, women and immigrants were disadvantaged (and not offered trainings) ! however, better divider than sole race, relgion of teacher's judgement (in schools)

Answer 54

- in the 20th century testing institutes are set up to classify students into educational levels - in the Netherlands, CITO is founded (by A.D. de Groot) - testing children in primary schools doesn't have a good reputation anymore, but it was introduced as a solution for teachers' prejudices

Answer 55

- psychology comes into existence in a turbulent time in which the image of man is tilting in all kinds of ways - psychology becomes an independent discipline (no longer part of philosophy) and becomes an empirical science, initially based on introspection - psychology is given shape: Freud, Binet, James and Wundt all still have a detectable influence in psychology - there are some schools, but no dominant paradigm yet. This is being developed in the US, where Thorndike, because he couldn't use children as subjects, started using chickens...

Answer 56

- the foundation of the first laboratory of experimental psychology in Germany - Starting psychology in America: James and Titchener - Psychology in France: Ribot, Charcot, Binet - Freud and psychoanalysis - starting psychology in the UK: finding a place between clerics, philosophers and biologists - Focus on: What about the five schools of psychology?

Answer 57

Disclaimer! This part was only in the book. She didn't even mention it in the lecture, so I wouldn't spend too much time memorizing everything. If there is part that I considered particularly important, I marked it in the Prompt part of the flashcard

Answer 58

- one of the oldest and most important is Oxford (around 10th/11th century), followed by Cambridge and later by UCL (the neutral university, regardless of religion etc) - Scotland, Wales and Ireland got their universities a later on ! Oxford and Cambridge were heavily influenced by the Church

Answer 59

- Cattell (19th century) - Wundt's student and inspired by Galton - he brought all his equipment with him to Cambridge, but then went back to the US → Cattell was followed by Rivers and Myers

Answer 60

- established the first laboratory of psychology in the UK (UCL, 1890s) - founded the British Society of Psychology

Answer 61

- Galton (heredity of features, intelligence testing) - Pearson (correlatio) - Wissler (discovered with correlation that Galton's measurements of intelligence were invalid) - Spearman (factor analysis, general intelligence)

Answer 62

- Bain: created the journal Mind, that was used by Sully, Venn, Wundt, ... to publish their articles - Stout

Answer 63

- belief that the spirits of the dead can be contacted by the mediums - coined in USA in 19th-20th century → Psychological Society of Great Britain

Answer 64

- usually we would distinguish the schools of psychology in Structuralism, Functionalism, Gestalt psychology, Behaviorism and Psychoanalysis - we should though distinguish the eras of psychology in: → Thesis (introspection; structuralism, functionalism and gestalt psychology) → Antithesis (experimentation; behaviorism) → Synthesis (mind as proper subject of psychology)