Unit 2 Flashcards
Assumptions
Verbal and nonverbal responses about the status of reality
Assumptions allow us to
Operate in the world and our subject matter
Ontological assumptions:
Concerned with
Nature of being and existence whether immaterial or material in nature
Epistemological assumptions (4)
How we come to know about:
1) Truth
2) The universe
3) Our world
4) Humankind
Idealism
“The world as we know it is immaterial as it consists of the ideas that we construct about it in our minds”
Materialism
“The world is made of real material things that exist independently of ourselves, our minds, or anything else”
Rationalism
“It is possible to know about the world through the exercise of rational thought”
Empiricism
“It is possible to know about the world through our experiences with it”
Rationalism: Truth can be known through
Deductive reasoning
Empiricism: Truth can be known through
Inductive reasoning
Idealistic monism
“All of reality is composed of 1 thing (mind or spirit)”
Materialistic monism
“The mind does not exist and everything is physical, body, and behavior”
Neutral monism
“The mind and body are aspects of a 3rd reality where spiritual and physical merge into a single reality”
Dualism
“There are 2 entities, a mind and a body, that interact with one another”
Mechanism
The hypothetical system responsible for altering stimulus functions and/or behavior-environment relations
Metaphysics:
Categories proposed by philosophy (2)
1) Ontological
2) Epistemological
Ontological assumptions (2)
1) Idealism
2) Materialism
Epistemological assumptions (2)
(1) Rationalism
(2) Empiricism
Ontological question:
Plato’s answer
Experience of the world is filtered through the mind
Ontological question:
Aristotle’s answer
Experience of the world is through direct contact
Ontological question:
Radical behaviorist’s answer
Behavior is materialistic in nature
Idealism often goes with
Rationalism
Materialism often goes with
Empiricism
Types of monisms (3)
1) Idealistic (mentalistic)
2) Materialistic (physicalism)
3) Neutral
Areas of study that formed psychology (2)
1) Study of mind
2) Study of body
Study of mind is based on
Philosophy
Study of body is based on
Physiology
Relation between mind and body: Behaviorist’s position
Materialistic monism
