Unit 3 Flashcards
What are mental tests?
Francis Galton’s assessments of motor skills and sensory capacities.
Who is James Catell?
A notable early ambassador of psychology in America who was strongly influenced by Francis Galton.
What is the parsimony law?
Never invoke higher mental processes if the explanation is possible in terms of lower mental processes. Proposed by Lloyd Morgan.
The two most profound influences on the growth of clinical psychology as a specialty were World War II and the VA hospital system.
True
John Dewey’s seminal paper entitled “The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology” argued that behavior must be understood in terms of its result and the adaptive significance of the behavior to the organism.
True
What is the intelligence quotient?
An index of cognitive ability. Calculated 100 x mental age, divided by chronological age.
What is mental age?
The age at which children of average ability perform certain tasks.
What is the recapitulation theory?
The idea that the developmental stages of the human race are repeated in childhood. Proposed by Stanley Hall.
In what ways did Darwin’s data and ideas alter the subject matter and methods of psychology?
It shifted the focus to animal psychology by
- questioning the traditional Cartesian approach to intelligence
- introducing the notion of the continuity of species
- providing motivation to do comparative psychology
It also shifted the focus on the functions, rather than structure, of consciousness by
- questioning the structuralist method of investigating mental elements
- introducing the notion of adaptive features
- creating functionalism
Darwin also introduced new methods and data:
- Traditional introspection was questioned
- Darwin used data from a variety of sources
- Led to “eclecticism”, i.e. using whatever method works best for the study in question
It finally gave people reasons to focus on individual differences:
- Questioned the traditional wisdom that general laws encompassed all minds
- Introduced the notion of variation via heredity
- Spurred interest in the discovery, description and measurement of differences
How did Galton test for intelligence?
- Galton hypothesized that intelligence was a matter of sensory acuity and motor functioning; the better these, the higher the intelligence
- He invented measurement apparatus to assess sensory acuity and motor skills quickly and accurately, for a large number of people via 17 tests
- In 1884, he opened the Anthropometric Laboratory, where he tested and collected data on over 9000 people
How did Morgan limit the use of introspection by analogy?
Morgan proposed to counteract the tendency to contribute excessive intelligence to animals by conceiving the law of parsimony: animal behaviour shouldn’t be attributed to higher mental processes when it can be explained by lower mental processes.
Who is Francis Galton?
The first to study individual differences in human capacities.
It is the prevailing and undisputed opinion that intelligence tests are culturally biased.
False
Why was the United States so receptive to Spencer’s ideas about Social Darwinism?
- The US had an individualistic spirit that took really well to the idea of evolution
- Americans are capitalistic, practical, useful and functional
- Spencer became a celebrity
Who is William James?
A figure who paved the way for functionalism and who introduced the philosophy of pragmatism into psychology.
Describe Galton’s research on hereditary genius.
In Hereditary Genius, published in 1869, Galton
- Equated intelligence with sensory acuity and motor functions
- Noticed that individual greatness seemed to occur within families
- Found support for this theory by conducting detailed biographical studies
- Developed the theory of eugenics, the science aiming to improve the qualities of the human race via selective breeding
Who is Hugo Munsterberg?
The successor of William James as director of the psychology laboratory at Harvard, who popularized applied psychology.
Structuralism asked, “What does the mind do?” whereas functionalism asked, “How does it do it?”
False
Who is Leta Hollingworth?
Researcher whose work challenged misconceptions about women and “mental defectives”, and who pioneered research about gifted children.
While expanding the scope of the subject matter of psychology, Darwin’s theory added emphasis to the notion that experimentation is the only method proper to the science of psychology.
False
Who is Alfred Binet?
The first psychologist to conduct mental tests of cognitive ability and who introduced the concept of mental age.
Galton’s basic assumption was that one’s sensory abilities directly reflect one’s intelligence.
True
When you say, “ I know what my dog is thinking,” you are practicing introspection by analogy.
True
