Chapter 1

Página 1

Definition of Psychology

No single definition

Historically defined as study of:

The psyche, or mind

The spirit

Consciousness

Behavior

Activities of Contemporary Psychologists

Research and study in:

Biological correlates of mental events, including sensation, perception, and ideation

Principles, that govern learning and memory

Nonhuman animals

Unconscious motivation

Applied areas such as industry, education and child-rearing

Human behavior in terms of evolutionary theory

Individual differences in humans

Therapeutic tools to help mentally ill

Problem solving strategies and adapting to one's environment

Language development

Modeling human thought processes using computer programs

Human development across the lifespan

Problems in Studying a History of Psychology

Where to start?

Ancient man's explanations

Early Greek philosophers - theories of cognitive processes

When psychology became a separate science - in the 19th century

The textbook starts with ancient Greek philosophers

What to include?

Presentism

Attempt to understand the past in terms of present knowledge and standards

Historicism

Study of the past without addressing the relationship between past and present

Amount of detail in presentation of the evolution of concepts and ideas

This textbook concentrates on individuals who contributed the most to the development of or who has become closely associated with an idea

Choice of approach

Zeitgeist (spirit of the times)

Zeitgeist (spirit of the times) approach emphasizes the influences of developments in other sciences, political climate, technological advancements, and economic conditions on the development of psychology

Great-Person

Emphasizes the works of individuals

Choice of approach?

Historical development

Illustrates how individuals and /or events contributed to changes and development of ideas and concepts

Eclectic approach

combines these three approaches

is the approach we will be following

Why study the history of Psychology?

Deeper understanding

Allows for a greater awareness of where psychology's subject matter came from and why it is considered important

Recognition of fads and fashions in psychology

The ability of recognize that a current avenue of research of body of knowledge may be affected by subjective and arbitrary factors of society

Avoiding repetition of mistakes

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

Being familiar with the history of psychology helps avoid repeating the mistakes of previous researchers and practitioners.

a source of valuable ideas

Individuals can become familiar with earlier ideas that may have remained dormant for various reasons

What is Science?

Some, such as Galileo and Kant, have argued that psychology could never be a science because of its interest in subjective experience (mental events)

Define science

Developed as a way to answer questions about nature by directly examining nature, in contrast to unquestionable acceptance of church dogma, past authorities, superstition, or by using abstract thought alone.

Empirical observation - direct observation of nature

Science has two major components: empirical observation and theory.

Combination of rationalism and empiricism

Rationalism - mental operations or principles (rules of logic) must be employed to attain true knowledge.

Empiricism - the source of all knowledge is sensory observation.

Scientific theories are formulated.

Scientific theories are formulated.

Scientific theory has two main functions.

Organize empirical observations.

Provides guide for future observations.

Confirmable propositions: Theories suggest propositions that are tested experimentally and if they are confirmed then the theory gains strength, otherwise the theory will be revised or abandoned.

The search for laws

Law - consistently observed relationship between two or more classes of empirical events which is amenable to public observation and verification.

Two Classes of scientific laws:

Correlational laws - how classes of events vary together.

Causal laws - how events are causally related.

Major goal of science - discover the cause of natural phenomena.

Assumption of determinism

What is being studied can be understood in terms of causal laws

Revisions in the Traditional view of Science

Traditional view

Empirical observations

Theory formulation, testing, and revision

Prediction and control

Search for lawful relationships

Assumption of determinism

Some aspects of this view have been challenged by philosophers of scone

Karl Popper (1902 - 1994)

Thomas Kuhn (1922 - 1996)

Karl Popper

Science starts with recognition of a problem, which determines what observation are to be made.

Propose solutions (conjectures) and find fault with solutions (refutations)

Thus, science involves problems, theories (proposed solutions), and criticism.

A scientific theory must be refutable - principle of falsifiability

Theories must make risky predictions - predictions that run a risk of being incorrect

Post diction - Explaining phenomena after they have already occurred

All theories will eventually be replaced by more adequate theories

Science is unending search for better solutions to problems or better explanations of phenomena.

Thomas Kuhn

Correspondence theory of truth

"The nation that the goal, when evaluating scientific laws or theories, is to determine wether or not they correspond to an external, mind-independent world."

Paradigm

"The entire constellation of beliefs, values, techniques, and so on shared by the members of a given scientific community."

Normal science is likened to puzzle solving and is guided by the restrictions of the paradigm.

Researchers become emotionally involved with their paradigm and it becomes very difficult to give up.

Paradigms change as observations cannot be explained by the current paradigm.

anomalies - persistent observations that a currently accepted paradigm cannot explain.

Science progresses as scientists are faced to change their belief systems, which are very difficult to change.

Popper versus Kuhn

Popper stated that scientific problem solving is a creative activity, unlike the puzzle solving that Kuhn describes it as.

Popper's analysis stresses logic and creativity while Kuhn's analysis of sciences stresses convention and subjective factors.

Popper accepted the correspondence theory of truth, while Kuhn rejected this theory and instead believed that scientists create the "reality" they explore.

Paul Feyerabend stated that whatever scientific rules do exist must be broken in order for scientific progress to occur.

Traditional aspects of science remain: empirical observation, lawful relationships are sought, theories are formulated and tested, and determinism is assumed.

Researchers have observed lawful relationships between classes of environmental events and classes of behavior and devised rigorous, refutable theories.

Determinism

All behavior has causal explanations.

Biological determinism

Emphasizes importance of physiological conditions and/or genetic predispositions in explanation of behavior.

Environmental determinism

Emphasizes importance of environmental stimuli as determinants of behavior.

Sociocultural determinism

Emphasizes cultural or societal rules, regulations, customs, and beliefs that govern human behavior.

Determinism (continued)

Common characteristic of these three determinisms is that the determinants are directly measurable (physical determinism).

Physical determinism - genes, environmental stimuli, and cultural customs are used to explain human behavior

Psychical determinism - mental causes of behavior

Can be conscious or unconscious

Indeterminism and Nondeterminism

Uncertainty principle

Heisenberg's principle applied to psychology states that we can never learn at least some causes of behavior because in attempting to observe them we change them.

Human behavior may be determined, but the causes cannot be accurately measured.

Nondeterminism

some researchers reject science as a way of studying humans.

reject science as a way of studying humans.

Human behavior is freely chosen, self generated.

Humans have free will.

Determinism and responsibility

Free will leads to personal responsibility for behavior.

Hard determinism

Causes function in an automatic, mechanistic manner, thus the notion of personal responsibility is meaningless.

Soft determinism

Cognitive processes intervene between experience and production of behavior. Human behavior is result of thoughtful deliberation of options available; thus, a person is responsible for actions.

Persistent Questions in Psychology

What is the nature of human nature?

How are the mind and body related ?

Nativism versus empiricism

Mechanism versus vitalism

Rationalism versus irrationalism

How are humans related to nonhuman animals?

What is the origin of human knowledge

Objective versus subjective reality.

The problem of the self

Universalism versus relativism.

Determine what is universally true about humans.

How are the mind and body related?

Materialists

Matter is only reality, thus everything must be explained in terms of matter.

Idealists

Attempt to explain everything in terms of consciousness

Monists

Believe in only one view: either materialist or idealist

Dualist

Believe that there are both physical events (materialism) and mental events (idealism). The question is, how are they related?

Types of Dualism

Interactionism

The mind and body interact.

Emergentism

Mental states emerge from brain states.

Epiphenomenalism

Mental process are byproducts of brain processes.

Psychophysical parallelism

Environmental events cause both mental events and behavior simultaneously, which are independent of each other.

Double aspectism

Humans cannot be divided into mind and body; they are a unity of experience. Mind and body are ascpects of the same person

some dualists propose a pre-established harmony between mind and that is coordinated by an external agent (i.e. God).

Occasionalism

This suggests that when a desire accurs in the mind, God causes the body to act; when events happen to the body god causes the corresponding mental experience.

Nativism versus Empiricism

Nativism

Emphasizes role of inheritance

Empiricism (nurture)

Emphasizes role of experience.

Most psychologists take the position that human behavior is influenced by both nativism and empiricism.

Mechanism vs. Vitalism

Mechanism

Behavior of all organisms can be explained as machines in terms of parts and laws.

Vitalism

Living things contain a force that does not exist in inanimate objects.

In ancient times, this was called the soul

Rationalism vs. Irrationalism

Rationalism

Emphasizes logical, systematic, and intelligent thought processes in explaination of behavior

Irrationalism

Emphasizes unconscious determinants of behavior which cannot be pondered rationally

How are humans related to nonhuman animals?

If difference is quantitative (one of degree), studying animals can contribute to understanding human behavior

If difference is qualitative, studying animals can contribute nothing important to understanding human behavior

What is origin of human knowledge?

Epistemology

Study of the nature of knowledge

Radical empiricism

All knowledge comes from sensory experience.

Postulates the mind that passively takes in information

Rationalism

Agrees that sensory information is important, but that the mind then actively transforms the information in some way before knowledge is attained. (The mind is active.)

Nativists

Propose that some ideas are a natural part of the mind (Examples: Plato and Descartes)

Objective vs. subjective reality.

Naive realism posits that our subjective experience is exactly what is present in the physical world.

One position posits that something is lost or gained in translation from the physical world to the subjective world.

Reification - A fallacy in which we tend to believe that because something has a name, it also has an independent existence.

The problem of the self.

Often viewed as having a separate existence.

Often given attributes such as instigator and evaluator

The self as an autonomous power creates

Universalism vs. Relativism

Universalism

The goal is to describe general laws and principles that govern the world and our perception of it.

Universal truths are to be discovered

Relativism

Universal truths either donot exist, or if they do, they cannot be known

Humans influence what the yobserve thus the search for universal truths independent of human existence is in vain. Truth is relative to the individuals perspectives; there is no ultimate truth just truths.