History of Psychology

psychology (1st definiton)

the study/science of bind and behavior

structuralism

• the science of the mind can be studied scientifically through elements of thought

• introduced by Wihelm Wundt in 1879 (created the first psych lab in Germany)

• focused in introspection (looking inward)

Edward Tichner

• studied under Wundt

• created the view of structuralism (content of conscious thought)

  • what is going on the mind when we think?

  • “apple and all its elements”

• believed thoughts had images within them

  • other researchers disagreed

    • can be picture abstract things?

    • conflicted with behaviorism

When and by who was psychology declared a science? What was its focus at the time?

• in 1913 by John Broadus Watson

• focused on behaviorism (dominates for 6 years)

behaviorism

• the science of behavior

• purely objective and observable view of psych (need data)

• emphasizes observable behaviors and associations

• John Watson argues that “Introspection plays no essential part”

• recognizes no difference between man and brute

associations

• central to behaviorist learning, especially in operant and classical conditioning

• the connection formed between a stimulus and a response

classical conditioning

• learning process when one stimulus becomes associated with another stimulus to become a learn (conditioned) response

• ex: Pavlov’s dog associating a bell (neutral stimulus) with food (unconditioned stimulus)

operant conditioning

• learning and responses that are reinforced or punished

• leads to an increase or decrease in behavior

cognitivism

• science of mind and behavior

• begins in 1967; published by Ulric Neisser

• focuses on attention, memory, perception, language and ability of the brain to act like a computer using input of info and sending outputs

• made field popular and is how psych is characterized today

cognitive psychology

• mind = software (fire electrical signals)

• brain = hardware

second defintion of psycholopgy

“science of experimental epistemology”

What is the origin of knowledge according to nativism?

• born with innate ideas

• experience provides occasion for knowing

• natural instincts

• related to rationalism

Language Acquisition

• Noam Chomsky’s theory of innate language capacity

• language rules are complex, and not fully understood

  • explains how children learn language effortlessly despite ambiguous (nativism)

Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

innate brain mechanism that extracts grammatical rules

poverty of stimulus

the idea that input alone in insufficient to learn complex language rules

What does Skinner argue about language?

argues that is learned through reinforcement (behaviorist and operant conditioning)

What is the origin of knowledge according to empiricism?

• born as a clean slate; “tabula rasa”

• experience = source of knowledge

• related to associationism

How is knowledge learned according to rationalism?

• learned by operation of mind and manipulation of concepts and ideas

• learn by thinking about things, making inferences, and using reasoning

• related to nativism

What is reasoning often viewed as?

• as manipulation of ideas or conscious

• not typically attributed to animals (ex: rats moving through a maze), but rather responses learned through associations

How is knowledge arrived at associationism?

• learned by connecting experiences in world

• related to empiricism

third psych definition

• the science of knowing and experiencing

• inspired by philosophy: intentionality (aboutness) and qualia (subjective experience)

knowing

• thoughts are about something

• not just storing info

• we understand it, we are aware of it and thus know how to behave

• ex: computers “know” things because they store and retrieve information

experiencing

• sensations and impressions

• ex: computer can experience things (i.e. color or listening)

• ex: experiencing a mint taste

  • telling someone about it isn’t the same as actually tasting it

• drives motivation (hungry so we eat pizza bc of past good experiences)

mind-body problem

• can the science of knowing and experiencing be a natural science (often denies)

• how the mind and physical body are related and interact

• no solution

  • still follow materialism even though its not perfect a fit for psych

two possible answers to the mind body problem

• dualism

• materialism

dualism

• made from Descartes 1640’s (early scientific revolution)

• two things interact and make up the universe

  • physical matter

  • non physical matter (mind, soul, thoughts)

• how they actually interact with each other:

  • no one knows by Descartes suggests the pineal gland

materialism

• everything in the world consists of physical matter

• thought is a part of the physical world

  • if the mind is real, it is just an assertion of thought

fourth psych definition

• the study of things that move on their own

• emphasizes motion and agency as key features

For years, how were the questions of what everything was made and why things happened answered?

• atomic theory, matter and motions (physics) as well as other natural sciences

• don’t account for animate motion and subjective/consciousness states (‘swept under the rug”)

animate motion

• movement without applying anything to it

• things moving on their own

• ex: jumping, stepping to the side

• psych is the only science that accounts for this

continuum of agency

• form of things moving on their own and having the capacity for goal-directed behavior

• humans, chimps, bacteria, but NOT rocks

locomotion

• coordinated movements of the body for meeting goals using perception

• ideas like:

  • having goals and knowledge of success and goals

  • having perception

  • ability to learn environment (adapt behavior based one experience)

  • have memory (records of experience)

Why do Whitehead and Nagel criticize materialism?

• says that its view of nature is incomplete

• consciousness and subjective phenomenon need expanded framework and broader understanding

neural assumption

the mind is simply the activity of neurons in the brain

challenges and critiques of materialism and natural science answers

• no direct physical evidence links specific thought or beliefs to particular neural patterns

• problem of subjectivity

  • types of qualities are not reducible to physical processes

  • still central to exp.

• limitations to scientific tools’ inability to measure it

  • future scientific revolutions might incorporate exp. and knowing into fundamental understanding of nature

    • possible spiritual and non-spiritual aspects

• philosophical critiques (Whitehead and Nagel)

ecological psychology

• introduced by James Gibson

• emphasizes studying broader problems like perception, locomotion, control, and coordination rather than narrow topics like memory or language

• focus on organisms that more one their own and how they perceive and act in their environment

What does James Gibson advocate for?

• for psych to appreciate the miraculous nature of perception and action

• criticizes the mundane approach to studying simple tasks (i.e. word recall)

• suggests psych studies convenient problems rather than relevant ones

what is the importance of studying perception and action

• fundamentally questions how organisms perceived their environment and control their actions to meet goals

• problems are hard to study but essential to understanding the science of movement