Unit 5 Flashcards
Define the word gestalt. Specify what gestalt psychologists sought to study, what they favored in psychology, and what they opposed. Describe the roles of the following as antecedents of gestalt psychology: (a) the work of Immanuel Kant, Ernst Mach, and Christian von Ehrenfels, and (b) developments in physics.
The word “gestalt” is a German word meaning configuration or form. Gestalt psychology, then, focuses on seeing things as whole and not deconstructing them into smaller parts.
Gestalt psychologists take the molar approach to studying consciousness, which is also focusing on phenomenological experiences. They are greatly opposed to elementism.
A) Kant— believed that the mind adds to sensory experience and allows us to understand and process what we experience, and experience can not be reduced to just sensory stimulation
Mach— he proposed the idea of two perceptions that are separate from the elements that compose them, these are the space form and time form.
Ehrenfels— was a teacher of Wertheimer (father of Gestalt psychology) and so his ideas greatly influenced the future ideas of Gestaltism
D) Gestalt psychology represented an effort to model psychology after field theory rather than Newtonian physics
Describe the circumstances that led to the founding of gestalt psychology. Briefly describe the life and work of Max Wertheimer (1880–1943), Kurt Koffka (1886–1941), and Wolfgang Köhler (1887–1967).
The beginning of gestalt psychology started with Wertheimer on a train where he thought about the way some still objects appear to be moving. This resulted in him going to research the amount of time between flashes of light that made them look like a single light moving around (phi phenomenon). Moved to New York when the Nazis started to take over.
Koffka— friends with Wertheimer and Kohler. Responsible for much of the initial information that the US psychologists received about Gestalt psychology. He made Gestalt psychology interesting to a wider audience by being attractive.
Kohler— stuck on an island with chimps during WW1 and researched how the chimps learn where he may have been spying on English ships for the German military. Criticized the use of IQ tests because they don’t know exactly what they are measuring. Openly criticized the Nazi’s treatment of Jewish people before eventually moving to the US.
Describe the following aspects of gestalt psychology: (a) the concept of psychophysical isomorphism, (b) the constancy hypothesis, (c) top-down and bottom-up analysis, and (d) the law of Prägnanz.
A) psychophysical isomorphism is a concept that was introduced to describe the relationship between field activity of the brain and conscious experience. It is basically saying that the patterns of brain activity and patterns of conscious experiences are structurally the same.
B) the constancy hypothesis was not supported by the Gestaltists because it states that there is a one-to-one correspondence between environmental stimuli and sensation. This hypothesis proposes that there every stimulus causes an experience, but there may be discrepancies.
C) top-down analysis is looking at the whole before looking at the individual parts that make it up. Bottom-down refers to analyzing the small parts first.
D) the law of Pragnanz states that all cognitive experiences will be organized, simple, and as regular as they can be given the pattern of brain activity in the moment (dependent on the environment— brain)
Define (a) perceptual constancy (do not mistake this for the constancy hypothesis), (b) the figure-ground relationship, (c) the gestalt principles of continuity, proximity, inclusiveness, similarity, and closure, and (d) the Gestalt view of subjective and objective reality.
A) perceptual constancy refers to the way we respond to objects as if they are the same, even though the actual sensory stimulation may be very different (ex. How a man walking towards us is always that man despite the stimulation changing)
B) the figure-ground relationship is the perception in which we divide the scene into two parts; the first is the figure, which we are paying attention to and is clear, and the ground, which involves everything other than the figure (the stuff we are not paying attention to)
C) continuity— the continuity of the stimulation is what causes the experience, such as a line of dots being seen as a line
proximity— being closer together they are more likely to be grouped together
Inclusiveness— when there are more than one figure then we are more likely to focus on the figure with more stimuli
Similarity— objects that are similar tend to form perceptual units
Closure— incomplete figures in the physical world are perceived as complete ones
D) They use the term geographical environment to describe the physical environment and behavioural environment to describe our subjective interpretation of the geographical environment— our subjective reality governs our actions more than the physical environment does
Describe the Gestalt position on learning, including (a) the basis of trial and error learning, (b) insightful learning, and (c) transposition (contrasting this with Spence’s explanation). Describe the Gestalt position with respect to problem solving as reflected in Wertheimer’s 1945 book Productive Thinking. Outline the Gestalt approach to memory.
A) Gestaltists believe that a problem causes disequilibrium within the brain and to get back to equilibrium the brain searches for a solution within the environment and cognitively. The trial and error is a cognitive rather than behavioural.
B) Insightful learning occurs when the things necessary to solve the problem are made available, it is the “lightbulb moment” when one realizes exactly what to do to solve the problem.
C) Gestaltists believe that an organism learns principles or relationships, not specific responses to specific situations, and once it learns a principle the organism applies it to similar situations— transposition. This is different from Spence’s explanation in which there is a tendency to approach the positive stimulus rather than avoid the negative stimulus— the greater net positive stimulus will be approached.
Gestalt principles are based on an understanding of the structure of the problem which makes the solution easily memorable and generalizable to other relevant situations.
The Gestalt approach to memory is that the brain must be organized and function in the simplest and most concise way possible. This means that brain activity that is caused by an environmental event causes a memory process, and when that event ends so does the memory process. There is a remnant of this memory process— called a memory trace— that remains, and with more experiences that trace can become a trace system which records all experiences with that specific stimulus. We remember the general memory, and not the exact full memory of that experience.
Briefly describe the life and work of Kurt Lewin (1890–1947). Describe Lewin’s position with respect to (a) Aristotelian and Galilean science, (b) life space, (c) motivation, (d) conflict, and (e) group dynamics. Describe the impact of gestalt psychology on the history of psychology.
A) He distinguished between the two; Aristotle’s view which emphasized inner essences and categories, and Galileo’s view which emphasized outer causation and dynamic forces. Lewin believed that Galileo revolutionized science when he changed its notion of causation. He thought that too much of science was Aristotelian.
B) He created the concept of life space, which consists of all influences acting on the person at a given time. The influences, called psychological facts, could include awareness of internal events like hunger, external events, such as other people, and recollections of prior experiences. Lewin’s principle of contemporaneity states that only those facts that are currently present in the life space can influence a person’s thinking and behaviour.
C) He said that both biological and psychological needs can cause tension in the life space and thus act as motivators. Lewin called these psychological needs “quasi needs”, and these included things like wants.
D) Lewin concentrated on three types of conflict:
- Approach-approach conflict which occurs when a person is attracted to two goals at once
- Avoidance-avoidance conflict which occurs when a person is repelled by two unattractive goals at once
- Approach-avoidance conflict which occurs with only one goal that the person has mixed feelings about— it is the hardest to solve
E) Lewin saw groups as functioning as a system, much the same as a brain does. He found that there are many different configurations of groups, and his studies on group dynamics now effect things like leadership programs.
Gestalt psychology is not talked about enough in the history of psychology because it was prominent in German prior to WW2, and so when the war happened (and after) many of the psychologists were scattered across the world and the school was unable to gain enough followers to maintain it’s position in psychology. Social psychology is largely based on the work of American Gestaltists though.
What is mental illness? Identify and describe the four themes that govern the definition of mental illness. Identify and describe the three classes of early explanations of mental illness. Identify and describe the general features of four early approaches to treating mental illness.
Mental illness refers to a number of conditions that afflict the brain and mental processes, resulting in abnormal behaviour relative to the rest of the community.
The 4 themes are:
- Harmful behaviour
- Inappropriate emotions
- Unrealistic thoughts
- Unpredictable behaviour
Three classes:
- Biological— assumes a malfunctioning body
- Psychological— assumes psychological events are the cause of abnormal behaviour
- Supernatural— attributes the problems to mysterious forces (such as God)
4 early approaches:
- Psychological— involved support, catharsis, reassurance
- Supernatural— removing the evil forces through magic
- Biological— make the body more relaxed or healthier, such as through herbal remedies and massages
- Return to Supernatural— Witch hunts
Describe the gradual improvement in the treatment of mental illness that began in the 16th century, briefly describing the contributions of Philippus Paracelsus, Cornelius Agrippa, Johann Weyer, and Reginald Scot. Identify the most popular treatment for ailments—including mental disorders—up to the end of the 18th century.
During the 16th century some brave people started to stand up against the witch hunts because they believed that these “bewitched” people were suffering from physical or psychological problems, as the symptoms were similar to those found in known ailments of the time.
Paracelsus— an ill-tempered and flamboyant physician. He pointed out that herbal remedies that common folk used often did help in curing disorders which made him think that the chemical composition of the remedies explained their effectiveness, and so he did empirical studies to find which herbs cured which ailments. He was against the witch trials because he thought they were cruel and women are not evil.
Agrippa— was against the witch hunts and saved at least one person from a witch trial.
Weyer— a student of Agrippa who published a book that claimed those seen as witches were actually just mentally disturbed and wrote about how those who condemned witches were Godless. This well-written book got him called insane and a witch.
Scot— wrote “Discovery of Witchcraft” which said that “witches” were actually people with mental illness
Treatments included blood letting, inducing shock through spinning the patient or throwing buckets of cold water on them while they are chained up.
Briefly describe the life and work of Philippe Pinel (1745–1826), Benjamin Rush (1745–1813), Dorothea Lynde Dix (1802–1887), Emil Kraepelin (1856–1926), and Lightner Witmer (1867–1956).
Pinel— he found that physicians were greedy and didn’t care about the people that needed treatment. He became interested in mental illness and became friends with Daquin, who had written about how mental illness was natural and should thus be treated using natural science. Pinel became the director of an asylum and changed it by releasing the patients from their chains and actually treating them like people, and he found that it was very helpful in treating their mental illnesses. He was also the first to keep accurate medical records of his patients. He was eventually given the role of director of the largest asylum in Europe and again had great success in treating the patients.
Rush— the first American psychiatrist, seemed to be a great man who was ahead of his time on many topics, such as the rights of women, slavery, and capital punishment. He wanted people with mental illness to be treated like people and should not be made public for other people’s amusement. Rush also advocated for blood letting and the rotating chair though.
Dix— advocated for human treatment of inmates and those with mental illness. She eventually went on tour through Europe in search of better treatment for mental illness, and even convinced both the Queen and the Pope that better treatment was needed.
Kraepelin— attempted to classify mental disorders, and his eventual publication became used around the world for a very long time. The DSM is a direct descendent of Kraepelin’s work. He also was the first to systematically study the effects of drugs on cognitive and behavioural functions.
Witmer— believed that psychology should provide practical information for average people to understand and use. Eventually started teaching a course on how to teach non-average students, such as those with mental disorders or the blind. He came up with the profession of clinical psychology. Witmer also heavily contributed to school psychology and special education.
Describe the psychological and medical models of mental illness and the tension between these models. Describe the views of Thomas Szasz regarding the medical model
Psychological model— argues that factors such as stress, conflict, fear, etc. are what cause mental illness
Medical model— argues that factors such as genetics or a chemical imbalance are what cause mental illness
Szasz— believed that the label of mental illness reflects a social or moral judgement and not a medical one. By calling mental illness a medical problem it takes away the patient’s ability to work to control the illness, and instead they believe their life and actions are dictated by the diagnosis. He believed that patients should be referred to as clients so that the medical notion is taken out of psychology.
Describe the use of hypnotism as a treatment for behaviour disorders, including the work of Franz Anton Mesmer (1734–1815), Marquis de Puységur (1751–1825), John Elliotson (1791–1868), James Esdaile (1808–1859), James Braid (1795–1860), the Nancy school, and Jean-Martin Charcot (1825–1893). Be sure your response includes a description of animal magnetism, the contagion effect, artificial somnambulism, posthypnotic amnesia, and posthypnotic suggestion.
Mesmer— theory of animal magnetism (since proven unscientific) was that the planets influence humans through animal magnetism (kind of like gravity). Used magnets to cure people and challenged the most famous exorcist of the by claiming that magnets worked better. Caused the contagion effect, which is when treatment only worked after seeing how it “worked” for others.
Puysegur— came up with artificial somnambulism, which was like Mesmer’s trick but without the crisis, instead patients looked like they were sleeping (hypnotized). He learned that in a hypnotized state, patients are extremely suggestible. He also observed posthypnotic amnesia (when they wake up and don’t remember what happened) and posthypnotic suggestion (doing what was suggested while under without knowing why).
Elliotson— suggested that mesmerism be used during surgery, but it was forbidden
Edaile— did over 250 painless operations on Hindus but this was not seen as useful information to the English because it was done on Indians
Braid— wrote a book on mesmerism that basically said it worked but not because of magnets, it instead worked because the people became so suggestible. He was the one who named it hypnosis
Nancy school— used hypnosis to treat the poor people of France who only paid what they could afford, and they determined that some people are more suggestible than others
Charcot— turned Pinel’s asylum into a research centre by observing the patients and when they died he would correlate the symptoms with any brain abnormalities and spinal cord.
What were the people who were interested in the unconscious mind concerned with? Describe the historical antecedents of psychoanalysis.
Those that were interested in the unconscious mind were interested in how understanding this aspect of the mind might help with understanding the causes of mental illness. Many psychologists were on the same track as Freud, such as Nietzsche, who saw humans as engaged in a perpetual battle between the irrational and rational tendencies. Freudians would rather have you believe, though, that Freud’s ideas were entirely unique to him rather an a zeitgeist (as they mostly were).
Describe the life and work of Sigmund Freud (1856–1939), including (a) the cocaine episode, (b) Freud’s addiction to nicotine, (c) Joseph Breuer and the case of Anna O., (d) Freud’s visit with Charcot, (e) the invention of the free association technique, and (f) the Studies on Hysteria.
A) Freud was an advocate for the use of cocaine because he believed that there was no side effects and it cured his own mental health problems. He gave it to everyone and got some of his friend addicted.
B) He was extremely addicted to nicotine to the point of smoking 20 cigars a day and even after having heart problems and cancer in which they had to remove parts of his face he still smoked.
C) Freud worked with Joseph Breuer while he was still a student. They worked with an anonymous woman known as Anna O. Who had problems such as memory loss, temporary limb paralysis and disorientation. Breuer hypnotized her then asked her to remember the past incidences of these symptoms which eventually lead to the roots of the problems which caused the symptoms to stop. She eventually started having father-like feelings towards Breuer and he also grew fond of her so they had to stop treatment.
D) Freud and Charcot agreed on some aspects but disagreed on others. Charcot was credited with giving Freud the idea that hysteria effected men and women differently, although Charcot denied it. Charcot also believed that trauma can come from any sort of traumatic incident, whereas Freud thought it had to be sexual.
E) He invented free association after witnessing how hypnosis was not quite as effective as intended, but simply telling the patient to remember more was effective. Free association was basically getting the patient to freely talk about their problem to try and get to the root of the trauma.
F) Studies of Hysteria was a book that Breuer and Freud both added to which described psychoanalysis. They stated that hysteria was caused by traumatic experiences that the memory represses. If there is resistance then the therapist is on the right track to find the traumatic experience. Freud also stated the important of unconscious motivation.
Continue describing the work of Freud’s Project for a Scientific Psychology, including the (a) seduction theory, (b) Freud’s self-analysis, (c) dream analysis, (d) the Oedipus complex, (e) the Psychopathology of Everyday Life book, and (f) his trip to the United States.
A) seduction theory— hysteria was caused by traumatic sexual experiences in childhood, which was met with great hostility by other physicians and psychologists. He eventually changed it to say that the events didn’t actually happen and they were likely imagined by the patient.
B) Freud conducted a self-analysis on himself after the death of his father, which, although it was anticipated because he was sick, caused Freud to be depressed for several months
C) A dream analysis included analyzing the symbols within dreams as if they are hysterical symptoms to get to the root of the problem. He thought it allowed you to tap into the unconscious mind, and this made self-analysis much easier. Manifest content refers to what the dream appears to be about, and latent content is the hidden meaning to the dream.
D) The Oedipus complex was his idea that young men desire their mothers and are jealous of their fathers. He thought that the son must be competing for the love of the mother, but eventually worries about castration so he loses desire for his mother.
E) This was a book that he wrote about parapraxes— minor errors in everyday living, such as slips of the tongue, forgetting things, etc. He thought that all behaviour had motivation, even unconsciously.
F) His trip to the US to lecture showed just how famous he was and helped to share the Freudian theories with the world. Freud actively hated the US, despite it adding to his fame, because he thought that it was a giant mistake of a country
Describe Freud’s theory of personality, including the concepts (a) id, ego, and superego, (b) life and death instincts, (c) anxiety and ego defence mechanisms, and (d) the psychosexual stages of development. Describe the effect of the war on Freud’s work and the two themes of the Freudian legend. Discuss the reality of repressed memories and the current concern over repressed memories.
A) Freud believed that the Id portion of personality was made up of instincts and what drives us, such as hunger, thirst, and sex. The Ego coordinates between the Id and the physical world, basically to get the Id what it wants. The Superego is the internalization of the do’s and don’ts that the person experiences in childhood.
B) Life instincts are there to continue life, and death instincts seek to end life. The death instinct is caused by everything in life ending in death, and is what leads to things like masochism and suicide.
C) Freud determined that there are three types of anxiety; objective anxiety (caused by an objective threat), neurotic anxiety (caused by the ego feeling like it will be overwhelmed by the Id), and moral anxiety (when one is about to violate an internalized value). The ego defence mechanisms are processes that the ego use to decrease neurotic and moral anxiety, these include repression, displacement, and sublimation.
D) The psychosexual stages include the oral stage, anal stage, phallic stage, latency stage, and genital stage.
War effected Freud’s work because he was Jewish and the Nazis burnt his library down and banned all of his books. He lost his sisters in the concentration camps.
The two themes for the Freudian legend were the idea that he was a lonely and struggling hero and that his theories were solely his ideas and super original, when they were not.
Repressed memories can be suggested to a patient and are not necessarily true. They can instead be horrible fantasies that the patient instead believes to be true. The current status of repressed memories is that they are often false and might have been created in order to satisfy a need, such as the need to have someone to blame for a crime.
