Philosophers Flashcards
Socrates and Plato
Plato wrote in support of Nativism and thought the mind was sepreate from the body and that it continued on after death.
Nativism
The idea that certain basic knowlege was innate and doesnt need to be taught or learned, but when we age these basic truths rise to the surface within us. (we are born knowing certain things)
Aristotle
Belived that the mind couldnt seperate from the body, Put forth the ideas of empericism
Empericism
The idea that human knowlege and thought comes from ones senses and that science floureshes through observation and experiments (NOTHING IS INATE)
Descartes
1600s french philosopher, he studied nerves and reflexes and thought the human body was like a machine, and thought the body brings sensory information to the brain, the sould receives it, and then makes the body move and respond.
Kant
Argued that for humans to make sense of the world they had to have built in fundamentals. (concepts of time and space, how to store and organize sounds, what to attend to)
Dog metaphor
Thought is the only component to the soul (Kant dissagrees because dogs live in the same world as us and they dont learn like we do)
Charels Darwin (Natural Selection)
Living things evolve gradually, individuals whos inherited charachteristics are most adaptable are more likely to survive, living things act in ways that promote survival
William James
FATHER OF AMERICAN PSYCH: Gave the first psych lecture at harvars and wrote, “Principles of Philosophy) thought humans were motivated by biological instincts like cleanliness, curiosity, sympathy, jealousy, and socialbility) Thought that instincts are inherited tencancies
G stanley hall
recieved first ever PHD in psychology and opens the first psych lab
Wilhem Wundt
starts the first psych lab, first person to call himslef a psychologist, and rant he first experiments (reaction time)
Margret Floy Washburn
first woman to earn a PHD
Mary NOT A DOC Calkins
was denied her PHD at harvard, but became the president of American Psychological Association
Structuralism
an early school, breaking down mental experiences into their SMALLEST COMPONENTS (sensations perceptions and feelings) Used the introspective methiod
Introspection
careful self-examination and reporting of ones concious experience (pepermints)
Functionalism
Rejects structuralism, there was no point in studying isolated parts of conciousness since they act together in reality, Focused researchers on how mental processes work to our advantages AND how they vary from person to person
Gestalt
also rejected sturcturalism, their main argument was that the whole of conciousness is not the same as the sum of its parts (really focused on SENSATION and PERCEPTION
Biological Approach
Behavior and mental processes are shaped by biological processes. FOCUS: the brain and contral nervous system, sensation and perception, endocrine system, heredity and genetics.
HOW WE LEARN AND REMEMBER. (the sleep wake cycle, motivationa nd emotion,, mental illness)
Behavioral Approach
Focuses on observable behavior and the role of learning behavior. -The role of REWARD AND PUNISHMENT
Cognitive Perspective
Studies peoples mental processes to understand how humans gain knowlege about the world around them. (how we LEARN, form CONCEPTS, SOLVE PROBLEMS, MAKE DECISIONS, use LANGUAGE)
Cognition
“unobservable” mental process, focus is NOT on observable behavior. The study of conciousness, psychological determinations of behavior. The manipulation of mental images can influence how people behave. can be studied OBJECTIVALLY and SCIENTIFICALLY
Psychoanalytic/ Psychodynamic Approach`
examines UNCONSIOUS motives influenced by experiences in early child hood and how these motives govern personality and mental disorders.
Sigmund Freud
the FATHER OF PSYCHOANALYSIS. theory of personality
Evolutionary approach
Functionalism, why we do what we do, the influence of charels darwin….Key points: the adaptive value of behavior/ the biological mechanisms that make it possible/ The enviornmental conditions that encorage or discourage behavior/ focused on helping mental dissorders, temperament, and interpersonal attraction.
Evolutionary Approach EXAMPLES
Fear of spiders or snakes
preferance in foods, ect
Humanist Approach
Rejected both behaviorism and psychoanalytic thought (free will and counsious choice). Humanists felt both perspecives were dehumanizing cause they ignored personal growth (an optomistic view of human potential)
- client-centered therapy
Humanistic approach was vauge and unscientific.
Sociocultural APPROACH
explores how society and culture influence behavior. (culture comparisons may foster stereotypes) EXAMPLES: Ethnicity, Gender issues, Lifestyles, Income, ect)
Eclectic
Most psychologists benifit from looking at a problem from mulitple approaches
Biopsychosocial
View that illnesses can be treated by biological, psychological and social means (these are NOT mutually exclusive)
Theory
an IDEA of how the world works
Hypothesis
TESTABLE (driven by a theory)
Case study
an intensive study of one or a small number of people either ebcause theyre normal or special
Naturalistic Observation
just going out into the world and watching people without affecting things.
Hawethron affect
people changing their behavior because they know theyre being tested or watched.
Survey
Asking questions to a group of people carefully
Sampling Bias
when a sample isnt a good representation of the population
Random Sampling
(fixes sampling bias) when every member of the population has an equal chance of being chosen
Corralational study
a study that looks at A LOT OF DATA and looks for relashionships between two variables (and thus how well one can predict another)
Correlation coefficient
a # between -1 and 1 that represents the strength and direction of a relashionship.
Illusory Correlation
When people think there is a connection between two variables but it is not supported by data (nurses and the full moon)
Experiment
The only study where researchers control what subjects experience (IV)
Experimenters BIas
When an experimenter accidentally help, lead, treat some subjects differently.
Random assignment
each subject has an equal chance of being in each condition
Mode
most commonly occuring
median
number in the middle
mean
the average
Range
largest number minus the smallest number (very susceptable to outliers)
Histogram/ noremal distrobution
bell shaped
Skewed distrobution
negative or positive, has outliers, isnt a perfect even bell shaped curve.
Null Hypothesis
Often easier to disprove a theory than to prove it
assumes there is NO relashionship between the 2 varriables and that contorling variables has NO affect on the onther
Inferential Statisticts
you are trying to “guess” mathmatically what the populationis doing based on what the sample did (uses a lot of statistical tests)
Statistical significance
Statistical likelyhood that the results found in the experiment were NOT due to chance (random error)
Applied research
designed to answer specific questions aimed at solving practical problems
Basic research
a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomena.
empiricism
the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience. Stimulated by the rise of experimental science
Community Psychology
individuals’ contexts within communities and the wider society
