General Psychology Every week, learn something about you Every week, sample an area of psychology

Transcription

1 General Psychology Every week, learn something about you Every week, sample an area of psychology THE BIRTH OF PSYCHOLOGY PHILOSOPHY Techniques Inconsistencies in accounts of reported events Observes limits of personal experience Analysis of word meanings Logic & conceptual analysis Syllogisms Philosophy Questions #1: What is real? Spirits, witches, trolls, goblins & monsters Mentalism handwriting analysis psychic powers crystal ball Materialism Only things you can touch closely related to naturalism and sensualism there is nothing beyond it all that exists is matter it is the final reality Democritus ( BC) Greek philosopher of Abdera no supernatural intervention atomism all things were composed of atoms everything explained by atoms atoms are: in constant motion indestructible tiny particles un-derived indivisible composed of exactly the same matter different in size, shape, and weight atoms are: heavier atoms form the earth lighter ones form heavenly bodies

2 #2: How know what is real? Aristotle ( BC) Greek philosopher; born in Macedonia (northern Greece) Emphasized individualism & personal initiative Wrote the constitution of Athens Tutored Alexander the Great Studied with Plato Thinking and knowing are different Thinking uses images Knowing is more like active intuition The way to truth is by rational arguments systematic logic Didn t coin the term logic He defined it & founded it as a science. Syllogisms chains of reasoning Proposition-Proposition-Conclusion format Test the logical consistency of ideas Into the 20th century: all logic was Aristotelian logic John Locke ( ) Empiricism = ideas originate with sensory experience No innate ideas Blank slate The Doctrine of Formal Discipline The mind is like a muscle You have to exercise it to make it stronger Transfer depends on the amount of effort you put into mastering a task Nothing does this better than mathematics It should be taught to all those who have the time and opportunity Once the mind is trained, they will be able to transfer their reasoning skills to other areas of knowledge Chinese Zodiac Shun Dynasty ( BC) Year of birth determines personality Year starts on "first day of spring when solar longitude equals 315 degrees early February; Feb 14 th year cycle based on lunar calendar 12 animals rat ox tiger

3 rabbit dragon snake horse sheep (ram) monkey rooster dog pig Year Born Your Chinese "Year" rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, #3: Are the mind & body separate? The Mind-Body Problem Are you still you if you lose a thumb? What survives after death Dualism: the soul survives Monism Physical monism: nothing survives Spiritual monism: everything survives Descartes ( ) Faced with how to integrate faith and science Believed: God created the universe Set it in motion, left it alone, not involved in the day to day operations of the universe Faced with how to integrate faith and science Consequently: Can study the universe and its laws without making theological statements The search for truth be an exercise in logic Don t have to blindly accept the validity of ideas based on someone else s authority The search for truth be an exercise in logic Don t have to blindly accept the validity of ideas based on someone else s authority

4 A mechanistic philosophy People are more like machines than mystical spiritual beings Dualist both body and soul exist body can impact the soul = conscious sensations soul can impact the body = behavior Automatic response to external events; beginning of reflex theory Physical Monism Thomas Hobbes ( ) "The universe is corporeal; all that is real is material, and what is not material is not real." --The Leviathan believes in the mortality of the soul rejects free will man is selfish by nature our lives are "nasty, brutish, and short" our main concern is fear of violent death Spiritual Monism George Berkeley ( ) Bishop Berkeley knowledge is based on our perceptions no "real" object behind one's perception what was "real" was the perception itself need a mind in order to perceive we share many perceptions the mind that generates perceptions is God's we exist in God's mind Qualities are perceived, not things The perception of qualities requires a mind. Matter does not exist without perception Color & taste perceived in the human mind Extension and weight are independent of the human mind. So they must be in someone s mind = the mind of God We know what the retina tells us Can t tell real size from retinal size Big tree in distance or miniature tree closer Our 2-dimension retinal vision can't inform us of 3 dimensions We can't know the real tree without making inferences Scientific Method Observations = what your senses tell Inferences = what conclusions you draw Theories are composed on constructs Models are composed of variables

5 Operational Definitions Define in terms of operations What is done Chance Numbers 4 ways to use numbers Nominal = use as names Ordinal = place, rank or rating Interval = count Ratio = math numbers PHYSIOLOGY Luigi Galvani ( ) Discovery that nerves are electrical electricity applied to the spinal cord of a frog generated muscular spasms throughout body legs jump even not attached to the frog Galvanization derived from Luigi Galvani s name someone suddenly jumps into action bonding zinc to steel with electricity Johannes Muller ( ) Studied: voice, speech and hearing lymph system blood Law of specific energies sensation depends on which organ is stimulated, not the mode of stimulation light, pressure, or mechanical stimulation retina and optic nerve Vitalist can t reduce wonder of life chemical & physiological processes life is qualitatively different more than sum of its chemical processes behavior is the result of the human spirit moving throughout the body Franz Gall ( ) God s spirit can move instantaneously people are created in the image of God human spirit moves through body can t measure speed of the human spirit

6 One of the first comparative anatomists Compared brains & skulls of several species Concluded that brain size and mental capacity were correlated Larger-brained animals were capable of performing more complex and more varied tasks. Argued for brain localization Each region of the brain is reserved for its own skill, ability, mental faculty or personality trait Founder of cranioscopy better known as phrenology Phrenology = shape of the skull reveals internal characteristics personal character intellectual ability emotional stability brain is like a muscle size increases with exercise large the honesty area of the brain, the more honest the person As that area of the brain develops it would increase in size, causing the skull to protrude Consequently, examine topography of skull; describe the brain areas No theoretical rationale for the number of brain regions used by phrenology Gall identified 26 areas of the brain His followers expanded it to 35. Pierre Flourens ( ) French physiologist brain surgery anesthesia Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte ordered Academy of Sciences of Paris to study Franz Gall s claims The Academy asked Flourens to investigate Used lesions to study brain function destroyed small part of brain rabbits and pigeons observed effects Showed for first time that the main divisions of the brain had different functions Hermann Helmholtz ( ) The leading scientist of his time 1. Wrote on Law of Conservation of energy used physiological examples provided physics with additional evidence of the law s existence provided physiology with empirical approach; be like other sciences

7 2. Invented the ophthalmoscope used to look into eye & examine retina 3. Revived Young's theory of color vision 4. Showed that the ear's basilar membrane vibrates sympathetically to stimulation 5. Measured the speed of a nerve impulse previously thought to be impossible student of Muller; rejected vitalism Helmholtz reasoned Behavior is the result of natural causes Behavior is physiological In 1850, Helmholtz invented the myograph Measured the speed of a nerve impulse Surprisingly, the speed is quite slow Light travels at 186 thousand miles per sec A nerve impulse travels only 90 ft. per sec (60 mph; some are up to 200 mph) PSYCHOLOGY Whilhelm Wundt ( ) Approached the matter systematically Major contribution was practical Created a new science Began the first laboratory exclusively dedicated to the experimental study of psychology His research program was composed of interlocking studies, held together by his theory of volition 2 major accomplishments: 1. Established experimental psychology Used the methods of experimental physiology to address the questions of philosophy 2. Developed a non-experimental psychology Social psychology or cultural anthro Volkspsychology (folk psychology) Included the non-experimental study of higher thought processes, art, myths, rituals and stages of development