The Death of Consciousness

Question 1

What is Pragmatism?

Answer 1

Developed by philosophers in the US, laid foundations for developing experimental psychology
Naturalistic theory of how the mind works based on Bain, Darwin and Kant
Evaluates beliefs in terms of success of their practical application

Question 2

When was Charles Sanders Peirce alive?

Answer 2

1839-1914

Question 3

Who did Peirce work alongside?

Answer 3

William James

Question 4

Why do beliefs exist according to Peirce’s pragmatism?

Answer 4

Beliefs exist to establish action habits

Question 5

Which form of logic did Peirce introduce to science?

Answer 5

Abduction

Question 6

What was Peirce’s scientific method?

Answer 6

Abduction - moving from cases to hypotheses
Deduction - deriving outcomes from hypotheses
Induction - testing outcomes of hypotheses

Question 7

When was William James alive?

Answer 7

1842-1910

Question 8

What was James’ ‘Stream of Consciousness’?

Answer 8

Individual and ever-changing
Discrete yet continous
Selective

Question 9

According to James what function does consciousness serve?

Answer 9

An adaptive function - gives bearer interests and allows us to make choices when faced with new choices

Question 10

What else does James say about consciousness?

Answer 10

Cannot be broken down into individual structures

Cannot be understood by trying to piece together individual elements

Question 11

What does James say about mental and physical experiences?

Answer 11

Mind and body are not separate systems

Mental and physical experiences are two aspects of the same thing

Question 12

What are the features of James’ pragmatism?

Answer 12

Theory of truth and meaning
- ‘true ideas are those that we can assimilate, validate, corroborate and identify’
- Ideas become true if they help us get into satisfactory relations with other parts of our experience
Functionalist theory
- how does mind adapt to its environment, its history and its actions

Question 13

When was John B. Watson alive?

Answer 13

1878-1958

Question 14

What does Watson state in his behaviourist manifesto?

Answer 14

Psychology has failed to be considered as a natural science
Psychology is a purely objective, experimental branch of science which doesn’t need introspection
No difference between humans and animals
Should no longer study states of consciousness

Question 15

What is the aim of behaviour according to Watson?

Answer 15

Behaviour is response to restore balance in its relationship to the environment - make an adjustment

Question 16

What is phylogenetic continuity?

Answer 16

Mechanisms of adjustment are the same for animals and humans

Question 17

What is ‘The Determination of Behaviour’?

Answer 17

Behaviour emerges from stimuli and characteristics of the organism e.g. drive states and hereditary reflexes

Question 18

What is somatic/hereditary behaviour?

Answer 18

Prepotent reflexes

Instinctive reaction tendencies

Question 19

What is somatic/acquired behaviour?

Answer 19

Systems of habits

Question 20

What is visceral/acquired behaviour?

Answer 20

Emotions

Question 21

What is the behavioural redefinition of the traditional categories of mentalism?

Answer 21

Concepts such as perception and attention must be redefined in terms of behavioural mechanisms or be discarded

Question 22

When was Ivan Pavlov alive?

Answer 22

1849-1936

Question 23

Who influenced Pavlov?

Answer 23

Darwin and Sechenov

Question 24

What did Pavlow believe we should focus on?

Answer 24

The influence of external stimuli on behaviour

Question 25

What was Pavlov’s main contribution?

Answer 25

Classical conditioning

Question 26

When was Clark Hull alive?

Answer 26

1884-1952

Question 27

What did Hull say needed to be considered in addition to the stimulus and response?

Answer 27

Organismic variables - habit strength, reaction potential, drive, negative reaction tendencies

Question 28

What is Hull’s theory called?

Answer 28

Drive reduction theory - drives cause unpleasant states

Question 29

When was B.F. Skinner alive?

Answer 29

1904-1990

Question 30

What did Skinner reject?

Answer 30

The need for organismic variables

Says that all behaviour is a consequence of the environment - radical behaviourism

Question 31

What types of conditioning did Skinner differentiate between?

Answer 31

Type S/Pavolovian conditioning

Type R/operant conditioning

Question 32

Explain operant conditioning

Answer 32

Voluntary behaviours that have a positive or negative outcome
Immediate consequences of behaviour affect probability of being repeated

Question 33

When was Edward Chace Tolman alive?

Answer 33

1886-1959

Question 34

What did Tolman think about cognitions?

Answer 34

Recognised that cognitions are internal representations that guide behaviour

Question 35

What were Tolman’s views on learning?

Answer 35

Learning is goal directed/ expectncy related

Question 36

What form of behaviourism is Tolman associated with?

Answer 36

Purposive behaviourism

Question 37

Which organismic values did Tolman include?

Answer 37

Cognitions, purposes, hypotheses and appetite

Question 38

Wht two types of learning did Tolman distinguish between?

Answer 38

Response learning - typical type in behaviourism, learning through repetition and reinforcement
Place learning - learning mediated by internal representations - cognitive maps
Place learning not supported by radical behaviourism