Unit 1

Question 1

How did Descartes explain the functioning and interaction of the human body and the human mind? What is the role of the conarium?

Answer 1

Body
composed of physical matter, so laws of physics & mechanics to it
assigned greater importance

Mind
nonmaterial, lacking physical substance
has a single function: thought

Site of interaction?
focal point in brain
sought single & unitary structure (pineal body)

Question 2

How did Berkeley’s ideas challenge Locke’s distinction between primary and secondary qualities? What did he mean by the phrase “Perception is the only reality”?

Answer 2

For Locke:
Primary quality
exists in the object whether or not we perceive it
e.g., solidity, extension, figure, mobility
Secondary quality
exists only in our perception of an object
e.g., color, odor, sound, taste
paradox of the basins

For Berkeley:
there are no primary qualities

Question 3

Describe the differences between personalistic and naturalistic conceptions of scientific history. Which approach is supported by cases of simultaneous discovery?

Answer 3

Personalistic theory: achievements & contributions of specific individuals
E.g., if no Freud, no psychoanalysis
will & charisma of unique persons directs history… “the person makes the times”.

Naturalistic theory:
the Zeitgeist, intellectual climate, directs history makes culture receptive to some ideas but not others: E.g., if no Watson, still behaviorism because of ripe intellectual climate–E.g., if Watson at different time, no interest;
“the times make the person”;
supported by simultaneous discoveries.

Question 4

How do we know about gravity? Empiricists’ answer: By observing falling objects.

Answer 4

True.

Question 5

Berkeley argued that the collection of ideas that we loosely call things do in fact exist in the mind of God.

Answer 5

True.

Question 6

The notion in modern psychology that knowledge depends on the experiencing person is essentially a restatement of Berkeley’s position.

Answer 6

True.

Question 7

How did Descartes distinguish between innate and derived ideas?

Answer 7

Derived ideas
arise from direct application of external stimulus
E.g., sound of bell, sight of a tree
products of the experiences of the senses

Innate ideas
do not arise from direct application of external stimulus
incapable of representation by single sensory experience
develop out of mind’s consciousness independent of sensory experience
E.g., God, self, perfection, infinity
opposed by empiricists

Question 8

A basic principle of 17th century physics was that every physical effect is predictable and measurable.

Answer 8

True.

Question 9

Instances of simultaneous discoveries of theory support the naturalistic concept of scientific history.

Answer 9

True.

Question 10

Empiricism argues that pure reason can grasp truths about the world.

Answer 10

False.

Question 11

What is the mental chemistry approach to association? How does it relate to the idea that the mind is like a machine?

Answer 11

Associationism
reduces mental life to simple ideas (elements)
simple ideas combine to form complex ideas

simple ideas are conceptually analogous to the atoms of matter in a mechanistic universe

now, the mind, like the body, is viewed as a machine

Contiguity (Hume, Hartley, James Mill)
if two (or more) sensations are paired together, then one alone felt later brings to mind the idea of the other (or others)
E.g., seeing chair brings to mind the idea of touching chair

Resemblance (Hume)
if two (or more) sensations are similar, then one alone felt later brings to mind the idea of the other (or others)
E.g., seeing chair brings to mind the idea of seeing highchair

Repetition (Hartley)
effect of contiguity is enhanced the more often two (or more) sensations are paired together
E.g., the more often the sensation of seeing chair is paired with the sensation of touching chair, the more likely seeing chair will bring to mind the idea of touching chair

Question 12

Contrast and compare the positions of James Mill and John Stuart Mill on the nature of the human mind. Which view had the more lasting impact on psychology?

Answer 12

James Mill believed that ideas were associated, and only the sum of their parts. I.e.: a bunch of bricks make a wall; a bunch of walls make a house.

J.S.M. believed that there was “chemistry” at work; that complex ideas had different properties than their component parts. He was the most influential.

Question 13

In the experimental sciences, rationalism seems to have triumphed over empiricism.

Answer 13

False.

Question 14

Empiricists, as opposed to rationalists, tend to be naturalists.

Answer 14

True.

Question 15

Psychology is one of the oldest and one of the newest scholarly disciplines.

Answer 15

True.

Question 16

According to one commentator, for Descartes, anything that can’t be called physical gets put into the mind.

Answer 16

True.

Question 17

For religious reasons, Locke was concerned about material substances existing over and above the mind.

Answer 17

False.

Question 18

In 17th century Europe, two opposing views emerged about the source of knowledge: materialism and empiricism.

Answer 18

False.

Question 19

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” reflects Locke’s notion of primary qualities.

Answer 19

False.

Question 20

In what ways have contextual forces influenced the development of modern psychology?

Answer 20

Economic opportunity: E.g., early 1900s America, shift from laboratories to application to education;
War: E.g., WWII altered European psychology
Discrimination: E.g., Eleanor Gibson at Yale in 1930s;
Zeitgeist.

Question 21

The distinction between modern psychology and its roots has more to do with the kinds of questions asked than with the methods used.

Answer 21

False.

Question 22

A major contribution of Descartes to psychology was to deflect attention from the study of the mind in general to the study of consciousness in particular.

Answer 22

False.

Question 23

Current evidence demonstrates that Freud’s works were ignored or even renounced by intellectuals during his lifetime.

Answer 23

False.

Question 24

Hume claimed that the dullest thought is still superior to the most lively sensation.

Answer 24

False.

Question 25

Locke argued that we believe in the existence of an external world on the strength of custom and imagination.

Answer 25

False.

Question 26

Locke believed that the concept of a triangle comes to us ready made from the senses.

Answer 26

False.

Question 27

Three examples of contextual forces in psychology are economic opportunity, war, and prejudice.

Answer 27

True.

Question 28

Describe Locke’s definition of empiricism. Discuss his concepts of sensation and reflection, and of simple and complex ideas.

Answer 28

Descartes
most basic ideas are independent of sensory experience
E.g., God, self, perfection

Locke
all ideas are dependent on sensory experience
empiricism

Idea
mental image that occupies consciousness and can be employed while thinking
two kinds of experience give rise to ideas:

Sensations
experiences directly resulting from sensory input
ultimate source of ideas

Reflections
experiences directly resulting from the mind’s ability to reflect on itself

Two kinds of ideas:

Simple ideas
arise from both sensation and reflection
elemental; received passively by the mind

Complex ideas
combination of simple ideas resulting from further experience

Question 29

Explain the concept of mechanism. How did mechanism come to be applied to human beings?

Answer 29

• view that all natural processes can be understood in terms of machines;
• assumes all natural processes can be explained by the laws of physics & chemistry;

-originated in physics (natural philosophy)
Galileo proposed that matter was made up of discrete atoms that affect one another by direct contact, thus, every physical effect (atom in motion) follows from a direct cause (motion of atom that strikes it)

-universe assumed to be orderly like a smooth running clock (or any other good machine)
determinism, reductionism, materialism, positivism

• Zeitgeist of the 17th to 19th centuries was the intellectual soil that nourished the new psychology
• next step was to apply clockwork machine metaphor to people—which is what Descartes did

Question 30

Comte would argue that because God perceives the world, objects in it remain constant.

Answer 30

False.

Question 31

For Hume, reason can analyze how billiard balls will move a priori without experience.

Answer 31

False.

Question 32

What can we learn from studying the history of psychology?

Answer 32

Modern psychology is marked by diversity;
common denominator is history; most systematic way to integrate areas & issues that constitute modern psychology;
recognize relationships among their ideas, theories, & research efforts

Question 33

How did Descartes’ views on the mind-body issue differ from earlier views?

Answer 33

Accepted theory
unidirectional
mind influences body
mind is responsible for many functions

Descartes view
bi-directional
mind influences body and body influences mind
mind is responsible only for thought
body is a machine

Question 34

Descartes likened the mind to a piece of granite.

Answer 34

False.

Question 35

For Descartes, the perception of, say, a piece of wax is an intuition of the mind.

Answer 35

True.

Question 36

Mostly, modern rationalist philosophers were religious.

Answer 36

True.

Question 37

In what ways do the data of history differ from the data of science? Give examples of how historical data can be distorted.

Answer 37

Historical data cannot be reconstructed or replicated;
Ways historical data can be distorted:
lost: E.g., Watson’s papers;
suppressed: E.g., Freud’s use of cocaine;
translation: E.g., Titchener’s interpretation of Wundt;
self-serving: E.g., E.G. Boring’s influential A History of Experimental Psychology (1929)