topic 4 - Issues and Debates: How Psychology has changed over time Flashcards
How has the term ‘psychology’ changed?
the term psychology is now defined as, ‘the scientific study of the human mind and it’s functions, especially those affecting behaviour in a given context’.
Psychology has been developing over the past 200 years. It started as a philosophical discipline and is now widely regarded as a science alongside bio, chem and physics. The way psychologists work and how they study behaviour has also changed over time.
what is neuroscience?
it is a scientific study fo the brain and the nervous system
how did psychology start?
Psychology was born in 1875 when a researcher called Wilhelm Wundt opened a laboratory in Leipzig, Germany to study peoples thoughts. before this people didn’t consider what happened inside of our heads, they were more interested in the anatomy of our brain rather than what it does. After Gage’s accident in 1848, it encouraged doctors to investigate how the brain itself was involved to control specific behaviours. At that time, studying the brain was only possible after someone had died, this was called ‘post-mortem studies’. After Gage’s brain was studied, people began to make more connections between the physical brain and human behaviour.
what does ‘post-mortem’ mean?
it is an examination of a body after death, often to work out how or why the person died.
what was the second stage of the development in psychology?
in 1924, Hans Berger developed the EEG (electroencephalograph) as a way to measure brainwave activity in a living brain. This was a start of studying the brain without rely on the patient being dead. In EEG, electrodes are placed onto the scalp to pick up the general level of activity in different areas of the brain. This tells the researcher which parts of the brain are working hardest when the person is doing different activities.
This led to more forms of brain scans such as the MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and PET (positron emission tomography) scans which gives up more detailed information and photos on how the brain looks like and works.
what is an advantage of using brain scans?
an advantage is using brain scans to study the living brain, rather than post-mortem studies, is that it provides more opportunity to help people living with brain damage. If we can see where the damage is and understand how that area is working.
future of psychology?
more modern methods are being developed today which will allow psychologists to use high-powered microscopes to look how individual synapses work. From this, theories can be developed about exactly which parts of the brain control what kinds of behaviour. Rather than looking at the general brain, it may be possible to investigate behaviour at the level of the neuron.
development of psychology in general.
since the first brain split by Sperry (1968) began to develop our understanding of the role of the left and right hemispheres, new research methods have permitted much greater advances to be made. brain scans enable researchers to identify specific areas in the brain that are associated with certain tasks. Our knowledge of the roles of the left and right hemispheres has developed greatly since the first studies by Sperry.
what is an MRI scan (magnetic resonance imaging)?
it is a method of studying the brain using electromagnets
what is a PET scan (positron emission tomography)?
it is a method of studying the brain suing imagery showing the amount of energy being used throughout the brain.
