Week1 History of psychology Flashcards
What is Psychology?
the scientific study of the mind, brain and behaviour
Science involves two types of research
Basic research: reflects the quest for knowledge purely for its own sake
Applied research: designed to solve specific practical problems
The 5 Goals of Psychology
To describe how people & other species behave e.g., depressed behaviour
To understand the causes of these behaviours e.g., exposure to daylight
To predict how people & animals will behave under certain conditions e.g., compare seasonal variations
To influence behaviour through control of causes e.g., control exposure to light
To apply psychological knowledge for the enhancement of human welfare e.g., phototherapy
Different levels of explanations for behaviours
biological explanations
cognitive or psychological explanations
environmental explanations
Mind-body interactions
Relations between mental processes in the brain & the functioning of other bodily systems
The Mind-Body Problem
One of the oldest psychological questions.
Is the mind separate or part of the body’s activities?
And what is the exact relationship between the two?
What is a mind-body dualist and one real example in history?
Believes that the mind is a spiritual entity not subject to physical laws.
eg Descartes saw that certain actions were reflexive (hammer - knee).
What is the dualism advocated by Descartes
-Mind & body interact but are fundamentally different.
-Mind comes from God.
-The body is a machine.
-According to Descartes, the interaction occurs in the pineal gland.
-If the mind is non-physical then it can’t be studied via physical means.
Monism and a representing person
The mind is not a separate spiritual entity but simply a product of physical events in the brain
Thomas Hobbes
Empiricism and a representing person
Descartes’ rationalism replaced by Locke’s empiricism – pursuit of truth through observation & experience.
-All knowledge comes from the senses.
-Observation more valid than reason.
John Locke
Psychology began in (year) in (place) by Wilhelm Wundt
1879, Leipzig
Wundt believed that the mind could be studied partly by breaking it down into its basic components.
True as he was Interested in the elements of mind.
Structuralism was started by ________ and structuralists used a method called ______________ to study sensations
Edward Titchener
introspection
Introspection
Participants presented with various kinds of sensory stimuli & trained to describe their inner experiences of them.
*The method came under criticism (too unreliable) & this early school withered & died fairly swiftly.
Darwin’s theory
-Behaviours best explained by understanding their role in the adaptation of an organism to its environment.
-Behaviours could be inherited.
-Continuities between different species.
Functionalism
-Function of mind more important than structure.
-Inspired by Darwin’s work on evolution
-Emphasis more on overt observable behaviour than private mental sensations & memories.
Key figure of functionalism and his achievements
William James
Helped broaden scope and methodologies of psychology.
Functionalism didn’t so much die out as become widely accepted by mainstream psychology.
Its tradition can be seen in modern day fields such as cognitive psychology & evolutionary psychology.
Psychodynamic
Sigmund Freud
Focus on the idea of a dynamic unconscious.
Based on personal introspection & his clinical observations.
Problems must be psychological & unconscious.
What did Freud help
to broaden the subject
to stimulate research in areas such as dreams & memory
Behavioural Perspective
Focuses on the role of the external environment on behaviour
Behaviour is jointly determined by: habits learnt from previous experience & stimuli in our immediate environment.
Behaviourism’s beginning
Rooted in the philosophical school of empiricism
Began with the work of J. B. Watson
-Human nature is shaped purely by the environment
-Psychology should stick to observable events & not use mentalistic terminology.
-Human beings are products of their learning experiences.
John Locke argued that at birth the human mind is a
tabula rasa
Behaviourism After Watson
-most extensive theoretical framework was developed by B. F. Skinner
-believed that the causes of human behaviour reside in the outer world: “A person does not act upon the world, the world acts upon him” (1971).
B.F.Skinner ‘s approach is ______ behaviourism and he examined how behaviour is shaped by ________ and _______ consequences
He believed that society could harness the power of the environment to change behaviour in beneficial ways.
radical
rewarding & punishing consequences
