History of Psychology

Natural Science Perspective

Primarily focused on behaviour, biology, empiricism

Human Science Perspective

More subjective, assigning meaning to personal experiences

Hermeneutic Circle

Understanding is a circle, never ending process of going back and forth between context and text

Pure Historical Objectivism

Not possible

Critical Historical Objectivism

Understanding history within its own context; setting aside present-day biases and knowledge

Sophisticated Presentism

Viewing the past from its context, and then considering their influence and relevance to the present; full objectivity is impossible and we can’t avoid judging it through the lens of the present

Naive Presentism

Views the past from the standpoint of today, and judging the past with today’s standards

Hermeneutic Circle

Understanding the details within the whole, it is a circle — a never ending process of going back and forth between context and text

Types of History

Great Man, Zeitgeist, Feminist, Critical

Reflexive Objectivity

Aim for fairness whilst acknowledging your limits and be able to change

4 Lenses of Critical Thinking

Internalist, externalist, hermeneutic, ethical-practical

Mindfulness in Historical Context

Presentist, provincializing, psychologizing, Indigenizing

Histories of Progress

Linear, evolutionary, cyclical, spiral, dialectical

Rationalism

Science of the human soul and mind; the mind-body problem

Empiricism

Identifying principles with concrete experiences, interaction between the mind and body

Induction

From specific observations to general rules (top-bottom)

Deducation

From general rules to specific observations (bottom-up)

Assumptions of Positivist Science

Naive realism, determinism, reductionism

Kuhn’s Paradigm Shifts

Pre-paradigm → Normal science → Crisis → Revolution → New normal

Pythagoreas

Math as symbolic, numbers as reality

Hippocrates

Naturalistic medicine, illness is the imbalance of elements

Hippocratic 4 Humours

Sanguine, Choleric, Melancholic, Phlegmatic

Sanguine

Blood, air, spring

Choleric

Spleen, black bile, land, summer

Melancholic

Liver, yellow bile, fire, fall

Phlegmatic

Brain, phlegm, water, winter

Socrates

Encouraged critical inquiry, searching for the truth is the key to virtue and happiness

Plato

Socrates’ student, theory of forms, 3 parts of the soul: rational, appetitive, affective

Theory of Forms

The physical world we see is not objective reality; it is imperfect, temporary, and constantly changing

Rational soul

Reasoning, intellectual, wisdom (brain)

Appetitive

Sensory desires, physical pleasures (instincts)

Affective

Emotions, drive for victory (heart)

Aristotle

Middle path, reality is found in the senses, 4 causes

Middle Path

There are stable, unchanging aspects of reality

4 Causes

Material, formal (attributes), efficient (process), Final (purpose/goal)

Metaphysics

How do we know that things exist? Sensory experience, common sense, passive reasoning, active reasoning

Ontology

The study of what is “real”, does something exist beyond physical material

Epistemology

The study of how we know something

Medieval Shifts

Collapse of Roman empire leading to illiterate, feudal societies; population growth, political stability, development of governments

Islamic Contributions

Canon of Medicine: added 7 interior senses to Aristotle’s theory

Jewish Contributions

Bridged Aristotelian thought with Jewish and Islamic Philosophy

Renaissance

Rise of individualism, humanism (living a good life without religion)

Montaigne

Skepticism in the belief that humans are superior to animals, Eurocentrism

Medieval to Renaissance Science

Growth of rationalism, exploration, scientific tools, mathematical reasoning, loss of religion

Philosophical Realism

Universals are real; e.g. depression exists

Philosophical Nominalism

We put mental labels on objects because they are convenient, not because they are true

Cultural Shifts in the Scientific Revolution

Rise of capitalism, colonialism, global trade, decline of Church authority

Social Management in the Scientific Revolution

Formal institutions were formed to control society

Scientific Developments in the Scientific Revolution

Heliocentrism, empiricism, early scientists still deeply religious, magic still studied at home

Francis Bacon

Scientific revolution, wanted to replace philosophy and superstition with empiricism

Naturalism

Explanations via natural causes; e.g. headache = fatigue

Materialism

Only matter exists, thoughts are physical brain processes

Mechanism

Mind and body as machine-like systems

Vitalism

Life is more than its material parts, it has a special life-force that science cannot explain on its own

Idealism

Mind and reason are our fundamental reality, nothing exists unless we perceive and conceive them

Locke

Naturalistic, reductionist lens, sensory experiences, we were all born with blank slates (empiricism)

Primary qualities of sensation (Locke)

Qualities that are measurable and objective

Secondary qualities of sensation (Locke)

Qualities that have subjective impressions (color, taste, smell)

Hobbes

Mechanistic, humans have laws of motion (of passions); empiricism

Hume

Humans naturally grasp a priori truths (intuitive), the mind having innate ideas and reasoning without need for sensory input; associationism

Associationism

Mind builds ideas through lawful connections

Rationalism

Innate reasoning and logic as the primary means to gain understanding, rather than sensory experience

Diderot

The self is shaped by memory and the senses, passion and instinct overriding reason; rationalism

Spinoza

Blended science with religion, God is at the heart of the natural world, humans are governed by their instincts; rationalism

Leibniz

Reconciling natural philosophy with religion, which may be beyond scientific understanding; rationalism

Kant

Reconciling empiricism and rationalism, the mind is composed of a complex set of processes where senses are distinct but interpretation is socially constructed; rationalism

Rene Descartes

Method of doubt, cogito ergo sum, mind-body dualism

Method of Doubt (Kant)

If it can be doubted, it cannot be a foundation of knowledge

Cogito ergo sum (Kant)

“I think, therefore I am”

Enlightenment Intellectual Movements influencing Psychology

Positivism, utilitarianism, dialectical materialism

Positivism

Auguste Comte; only scientific knowledge is valid, rejecting introspection

Utilitarianism

Bentham; create the greatest good for the greatest number of people; maximize pleasure, minimize pain; efficiency + surveillance

J.S. Mill

Revised utilitarianism, trying to balance it with emotions and creativity, emphasizing individual liberty; cautioned about authoritarianism

Dialectical Materialism

Marx; the social sciences are the laws of motion of society, economic conditions drive history and social development; systemic issues

Phrenology

Pseudoscientific brain mapping; brain-behaviour link: larger brain regions = more intelligent behaviour in those areas

Broca’s Area

Brain localization; lesion in the left frontal lobe leads to aphasia (loss of speech); clinical case of “Tan”

Craniometry

Racist and sexist pseudoscience that measured human skulls to determine intelligence

Nietzsche

Early existentialist, Western cultural critic, skepticism of universal truths… the drive to be creative and make progress = peak

Darwin

Natural selection, warned against racist misuse of evolution, delayed publications of his theories due to personal conflict with the possible religious implications

Scientism

Belief that only science produces real truth, functioning like a secular religion… neglects social contexts and classifies all other knowledge as inferior

Mesmerism

Mesmer; “animal magnetism” is an invisible, universal fluid existing in all living beings that can heal illnesses; used hand movements to direct this fluid, i.e. hypnotism