The Death of Consciousness Flashcards
What is Pragmatism?
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
When was Charles Sanders Peirce alive?
1839-1914
Who did Peirce work alongside?
William James
Why do beliefs exist according to Peirce’s pragmatism?
Beliefs exist to establish action habits
Which form of logic did Peirce introduce to science?
Abduction
What was Peirce’s scientific method?
Abduction - moving from cases to hypotheses
Deduction - deriving outcomes from hypotheses
Induction - testing outcomes of hypotheses
When was William James alive?
1842-1910
What was James’ ‘Stream of Consciousness’?
Individual and ever-changing
Discrete yet continous
Selective
According to James what function does consciousness serve?
An adaptive function - gives bearer interests and allows us to make choices when faced with new choices
What else does James say about consciousness?
Cannot be broken down into individual structures
Cannot be understood by trying to piece together individual elements
What does James say about mental and physical experiences?
Mind and body are not separate systems
Mental and physical experiences are two aspects of the same thing
What are the features of James’ pragmatism?
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
When was John B. Watson alive?
1878-1958
What does Watson state in his behaviourist manifesto?
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
What is the aim of behaviour according to Watson?
Behaviour is response to restore balance in its relationship to the environment - make an adjustment
What is phylogenetic continuity?
Mechanisms of adjustment are the same for animals and humans
What is ‘The Determination of Behaviour’?
Behaviour emerges from stimuli and characteristics of the organism e.g. drive states and hereditary reflexes
What is somatic/hereditary behaviour?
Prepotent reflexes
Instinctive reaction tendencies
What is somatic/acquired behaviour?
Systems of habits
What is visceral/acquired behaviour?
Emotions
What is the behavioural redefinition of the traditional categories of mentalism?
Concepts such as perception and attention must be redefined in terms of behavioural mechanisms or be discarded
When was Ivan Pavlov alive?
1849-1936
Who influenced Pavlov?
Darwin and Sechenov
What did Pavlow believe we should focus on?
The influence of external stimuli on behaviour
What was Pavlov’s main contribution?
Classical conditioning
When was Clark Hull alive?
1884-1952
What did Hull say needed to be considered in addition to the stimulus and response?
Organismic variables - habit strength, reaction potential, drive, negative reaction tendencies
What is Hull’s theory called?
Drive reduction theory - drives cause unpleasant states
When was B.F. Skinner alive?
1904-1990
What did Skinner reject?
The need for organismic variables
Says that all behaviour is a consequence of the environment - radical behaviourism
What types of conditioning did Skinner differentiate between?
Type S/Pavolovian conditioning
Type R/operant conditioning
Explain operant conditioning
Voluntary behaviours that have a positive or negative outcome
Immediate consequences of behaviour affect probability of being repeated
When was Edward Chace Tolman alive?
1886-1959
What did Tolman think about cognitions?
Recognised that cognitions are internal representations that guide behaviour
What were Tolman’s views on learning?
Learning is goal directed/ expectncy related
What form of behaviourism is Tolman associated with?
Purposive behaviourism
Which organismic values did Tolman include?
Cognitions, purposes, hypotheses and appetite
Wht two types of learning did Tolman distinguish between?
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
