Science & History

Question 1

psychology

Answer 1

psychology
the scientific study of the mind, brain, and behavior

Question 2

individual differences

Answer 2

individual differences
variations among people in their thinking, emotion, personality, and behavior

Question 3

naive realism

Answer 3

naive realism
belief that we see the world precisely as it is

Question 4

scientific theory

Answer 4

scientific theory
explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world

Question 5

hypothesis

Answer 5

hypothesis
testable prediction derived from a scientific theory

Question 6

confirmation bias

Answer 6

confirmation bias

tendency to seek out evidence that supports our hypotheses and deny, dismiss, or distort evidence that contradicts them

Question 7

belief perseverance

Answer 7

belief perseverance
tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them

Question 8

metaphysical claim

Answer 8

metaphysical claim
assertion about the world that is not testable

Question 9

pseudoscience

Answer 9

pseudoscience
set of claims that seems scientific but isn’t

Question 10

scientific scepticism

Answer 10

scientific skepticism
approach of evaluating all claims with an open mind but insisting on persuasive evidence before accepting them

Question 11

critical thinking

Answer 11

critical thinking
set of skills for evaluating all claims in an open-minded and careful fashion

Six principles of scientific / critical thinking 

1. Ruling out rival hypotheses (have important alternative explanations) 

2. Correlation isn’t causation (A does not always cause B)

3. Falsifiability 

4. Replicability 

5. Extraordinary claims (require extraordinary evidence)

6. Occam’s razor – parsimony (logical simplicity – “shave off’’ complicated explanations)

Question 12

correlation - causation fallacy

Answer 12

correlation–causation fallacy
error of assuming that because one thing is associated with another, it must cause the other

Question 13

variable

Answer 13

variable
anything that can vary

Question 14

falsifiable

Answer 14

falsifiable
capable of being disproved

Question 15

replicability

Answer 15

replicability
when a study’s findings are able to be dupli- cated, ideally by independent investigators

Question 16

introspection

Answer 16

introspection
method by which trained observers carefully reflect and report on their mental experiences

Question 17

structuralism

Answer 17

structuralism
school of psychology that aimed to identify the basic elements of psychological experience

Question 18

functionalism

Answer 18

functionalism
school of psychology that aimed to under- stand the adaptive purposes of psychological characteristics

Question 19

natural selection

Answer 19

natural selection
principle that organisms that possess adapta- tions survive and reproduce at a higher rate than do other organisms

Question 20

behaviourism

Answer 20

behaviorism
school of psychology that focuses on uncovering the general laws of learning by looking at observable behavior

Question 21

cognitive psychology

Answer 21

cognitive psychology
school of psychology that proposes that thinking is central to understanding behavior
cognitive neuroscience
relatively new field of psychology that examines the relation between brain functioning and thinking

Question 22

psychoanalysis

Answer 22

psychoanalysis
school of psychology, founded by Sigmund Freud, that focuses on internal psychological processes of which we’re unaware

Question 23

evolutional psychology

Answer 23

evolutionary psychology
discipline that applies Darwin’s theory of natural selection to human and animal behavior

Question 24

Early Modern Philosophy Rene Descartes (1596-1650)

Answer 24

French mathematician, physiologist, philosopher Rationalism - the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive Knowledge is from thought and reflection Challenged dogma by resolving to doubt everything “Cogito ergo sum” or “I think, therefore I am”

Rationalists (like Descartes) contend the way to knowledge is only through reason and thought; mind actively transforms sensory information

Question 25

John Locke (1632-1702)

Answer 25

The human mind begins as a “tabula rasa” and we learn through experience Two sources of ideas from experience: 1. Sensation and 2. Reflection Simple knowledge builds Complex knowledge

Empiricists (like Locke) argue all knowledge is gained through experience; with emphasis on the method of using observation and sensory impressions to build knowledge

Question 26

rationalist & empirical approaches

Answer 26

The type of work favoured by empiricists is empirical work. By definition, an empirical project is one that requires observation at some point.

The type of work favoured by rationalists is theoretical work, a theoretical project being defined as one that does not require observation at any stage (Kukla, 2001, pp 1-2).

Question 27

Weber (1795 – 1878; Germany)

Answer 27

Used the two-point threshold method to show sensitivity to touch differed across different body areas – eg. tongue 1mm vs back 5cm 

Used increases in weights to determine Just Noticeable Differences (JNDs); demonstrated judgements are relative

Question 28

Theory of Evolution Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

Answer 28

Humans have descended from animals by modification through principles of natural selection  Change in religious and Cartesian thinking: no separation between man and animals  Examination of emotions in humans and animals; observed universality of emotional expressions

Question 29

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) (Germany)

Answer 29

Seen as the founder of experimental psychology “experimental introspection” • Began the first journal of Psychology: Philosophical Studies (1881). • Opened up first university based lab of psychology at University of Leipzig (1879)

Goal of Wundt’s research was to understand consciousness  He confined experiments to immediate experience  Claimed that “the events of mental life are known through introspection”  attempted to use introspection scientifically sought to investigate the immediate experiences of consciousness, including sensations, feelings, volitions, apperception, and ideas. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr7O41r8uEI

Question 30

Edward Titchener (1867-1927)

Answer 30

Student of Wundt • Englishman who completed PhD • at Leipzig • Moved to US to head new Dept • of Psych at Cornell University Edward Titchener (1867-1927) Goal (like Wundt): to learn about the structure of the mind through analysing elementary conscious experience =Structuralism

Titchener’s Structuralism

Adapted Wundt’s methods, using “analytical introspection” to study the structures of the mind  Elements of consciousness: sensation, images and affections (feelings) can be known by listing attributes  Decline of structuralism partly due to criticisms of introspection as an experimental method

Question 31

William James (1842-1910)

Answer 31

Functionalism - Father of modern psychology/industrial evolution

Opened small psychology lab at Harvard, but not a research scientist Functionalism: “What for” (i.e. function) of mind, NOT “What is” (i.e. structures) Consciousness evolved because it has a function—to help us in the struggle for survival ‘Principles of Psychology’ 1890 William James (1842-1910) AIM: To examine the purpose and functions of the mind Influenced by Darwin: behaviour can be understood in terms of its purpose Functionalism without analysing its mechanisms

Question 32

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

Answer 32

Pavlov influenced by Russian physiologist Sechenov who had worked with Wundt Studied function of conditioned reflexes Lead to the development of a theory of learning known as classical conditioning Classic example of pairing a bell (CS) and meat (UCS) to produce the conditioned response salivation

Question 33

Edward Lee Thorndike (1874-1949)

Answer 33

Performed systematic experiments on the learning process (Columbia University, USA)  Studied S-R connections by observing the learned behaviour of cats in puzzle boxes  http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=BDujDOLre-8  Law of Effect  Animal research - Darwin

Question 34

Behaviourism John B. Watson (1878-1958)

Answer 34

Behaviourist Manifesto (1913): * The rejection of introspection * Emphasis on objectivity * Prediction and control * Use of animals Environment was everything Watson’s behaviourism Described relationship between environment (stimulus) and behaviour (response) • Made claims about the importance of education over inherited characteristics and instincts • Study of Little Albert and the white rat demonstrated the view of phobias as conditioned fear responses

Question 35

B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)

Answer 35

Return to radical behaviourism • Skinner similarly emphasised • observation and control • Also argued that psychological • studies should only focus on • objective and measurable phenomena • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_ctJqjlrHA B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) Skinnerian Behaviourism: All behaviour is determined by its consequences

Described relationship between environment (stimulus) and behaviour (response) • Made claims about the importance of education over inherited characteristics and instincts • Study of Little Albert and the white rat demonstrated the view of phobias as conditioned fear responses http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMnhyGozLyE

Question 36

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

Answer 36

Psychoanalysis

Founder of psychoanalysis:  Emphasizes the role of unconscious processes

Theory of personality 

Id – pleasure principle 

Ego – reality principle 

Superego – morality

Psychosexual stages of development

Some criticisms of Freud’s work: • Lack of falsifiability • Dogmatic, non-experimental approach • Definition of terms • Too much emphasis on sex as motivation Neo-Freudians: New Directions • Anna Freud and Melanie Klein applied psychoanalysis to children • Development of attachment theory (Bowlby & Ainsworth) • Karen Horney - emphasized cultural influences

Question 37

Gestalt psychology

Answer 37

Gestalt psychology focuses on ‘wholes’ not parts or elements of experience, the “whole is more than the sum of the parts”

 Interested in how we organise our perception of the world – as humans we tend to “fill in the blanks  Köhler emphasised a “top-down” approach which aims to achieve closure and completion  Principles of organization  Figure / ground distinction  Insight learning in chimpanzees

****Also this time Koffka 1846-1891

Question 38

Piaget (1896-1980)

Vygotsky (1896-1934)