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History of Psychology > Problem 6 > Flashcards

Problem 6 Flashcards

1
Q

Why did scientific psychology expand as rapidly in the USA in the 20th century ?

A

While europe was crippled by 2 wars, USA became an economic superpower, investing in all types of sciences

  • -> resulted in establishment of many laboratories
  • -> foundation of APA
  • -> initiation of important journals
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2
Q

What led to functionalism ?

A

Psychology changed to address concerns prevalent in american society

ex.: adaptation to the environment (eugenics), practical usefulness

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3
Q

Eugenics

A

Refers to a social philosophy claiming that the fate of a nation can be improved by selective breeding of its inhabitants

–> started with Galton

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4
Q

Positive Eugenics

A

Sought to improve society by encouraging people with desirable features to have more children

–> Galton

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5
Q

Negative Eugenics

A

Sought to improve society by preventing people with undesirable features from having more children/ entering the country

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6
Q

Phrenology

Gall + Spurzheim

A

View that an individuals personality could be deduced from his/her physical appearance, in particular from the head + face

  • -> different function are controlled by different parts of the brain
  • -> bigger parts are better developed
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7
Q

Mesmerism

A

Refers to the act of putting someone into a mental state like sleep, in which a person’s thoughts can be easily influenced by someone else

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8
Q

Spiritualism

A

View that the spirits of the dead could be contacted by mediums

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9
Q

Why was the impact of the “new psychology”, meaning psychology as a science, limited ?

A

The topics they talked about failed to capture the publics imagination to the same degree as phrenology, mesmerism + spiritualism

–> rather associated psychology with these three subjects

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10
Q

What led to an increased interest in animal behaviour, especially the similarities between human + animal behaviour ?

A

The evolutionary theory, meaning the writings of spencer + Darwin

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11
Q

Anthropomorphic interpretation

A

Interpreting behavior on animals by attributing human motives + human-like intelligence to them

  • -> assumed animals have same reasoning processes as humans
  • -> how animal behavior was studied initially
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12
Q

In which way did Thorndikes approach differ from the Anthropomorphic interpretation ?

A
  1. Observed in a controlled environment
  2. Based his conclusions on animals behaviour, objectively
    - -> Law of effect
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13
Q

Law of effect

A

States that behaviours followed by positive consequences are strengthened + more likely to be repeated

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14
Q

Instrumental conditioning

A

Refers to learning on the basis of the law effect

–> called operant conditioning by Skinner

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15
Q

Thorndikes puzzle box

A
  1. Put hungry animals in a puzzle box
  2. Placed food outside of the box
  3. Animal could reach the food if it managed to solve the puzzle + open the door
    ex. : pulling lever

–> time decreased, because animal will repeat behaviors that had been successful

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16
Q

Edward Thorndike

A

Was an american physiologist, seen as the father of comparative + educational psychology

–> introduced instrumental conditioning

17
Q

Comparative Psychology

A

Refers to the study of animals behaviour, to she light on human functioning

–> within the framework of the evolutionary theory

18
Q

What did eventually bring research on animal behaviour into the realm of the natural sciences ?

A

Pavlovs + Thorndikes/Skinners theories on conditioning

19
Q

Behaviorism

A

Argues that observable behaviors are the most important aspect of human functioning to be understood

20
Q

What initiated Behaviorism ?

A

The launch of the article “Behaviorist manifesto” by Watson as editor of “psychological review”

–> beginning of Behaviourism

21
Q

What did the “Behaviorist manifesto” article state ?

Which were its main suggestions to improve Psychology ?

A
  1. Psychology has to be a purely objective experimental branch of natural science
  2. It has to be based on prediction + control of behavior
  3. No room for introspection + everything that refers to consciousness

–> comparative

22
Q

John B Watson

A

Was an american physiologist + behaviorist

–> conducted the conditioning experiment on “Little Albert”

23
Q

Philosophy of science

A

Studies the foundations of scientific research, so that other knowledge areas could adopt this method as well

24
Q

Which are the 3 ideas behaviorists adopted from the philosophy of science to make Psychology more scientific + objective ?

A
  1. Necessity of OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS
  2. Distinction between DEPENDENT + INDEPENDENT variables
    - -> S-R variables
  3. Necessity of VERIFICATION
25
Q

Operational definition

A

Refers to the definition of a variable in terms of how the variable has been measured

ex.: weight expressed in kg

26
Q

Verification

A

Statements are only useful if they could be verified by empirical observation

–> evidence has to be presented in such a way that it can be verified by others

27
Q

When Watsons scientific career ended after being thrown out of Johns Hopkins University, who were the 3 behaviourists to continue his legacy ?

A
  1. Hull
    - -> mathematical equations to explain phenomena
  2. Skinner
    - -> Radical behaviorism
  3. Tolman
    - -> Purposive behaviorism
28
Q

Radical Behaviorism

Skinner

A

Is a strong version of behaviorism that

  1. Denies the relevance of information processing in the mind
  2. Holds that all human behavior can be understood on the basis of S-R associations
  3. Humans have little to no control over their actions as they merely respond to events in their environment, without taking initiative
    (Conditioning)
29
Q

Purposive behaviorism

Tolman + Blodgett

A

Form of behaviorism that states that animal + human behavior is motivated by goals

–> goals can be studied objectively

ex.: only when the rats were provided with a goal did they make use of their knowledge

30
Q

With which methods did Thorndike replace Anthropomorphism ?

A
  1. Mechanomorphism

2. Theriomorphism

31
Q

Mechanomorphism

A

Attributing mechanistic properties to psychological phenomena

32
Q

Theriomorphomism

A

Attributing the qualities of nonhuman animals to human beings

33
Q

Henry Spencer

A

Thought that life started from very simple, homogenous organisms and constantly became more complex and better integrated

–> was inspired by Lamarck + Darwin

34
Q

Romanes

A

Attempted to clarify nature of animal intelligence through anecdotal and anthropomorphic means

History of Psychology (9 decks)

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