Lecture 9

define “mental chronometry”

• idea that you can assess non behavioural mental processes by looking at the time between the stimulus and the participant’s reaction

• main conclusion is that there is a delay to perceive and make a decision

who was considered as the founder of psychology?

Wundt: mental chronometry, journal and textbook, founding a lab and training students

why was Wundt skeptical of Ebbinghaus’s work?

Ebbinghaus’s work on memory challenged his ideas and he wasn’t one of his students

define “structuralism”

• psyc213: identifying the basic building blocks of complex thoughts and conscious experience (by using introspection)

• class definition: deep thoughts about nature of perception, what are emotions and how many there are

• textbook: understand structure before understanding the functions

[Tirchener/Wundt] believed in structure

trick question, both! structuralism = identifying the basic building blocks of complex thoughts and conscious experience (by using introspection)

why did Ebbinghaus develop nonsense syllables?

• this method was a reaction to Wundt’s: Wundt believed that some processes, such as memory or language, are too complex to be able to study experimentally

• Ebbinghaus believed that the main problem was the stimuli used: they were all associated with something in participant’s daily life (ex: the sound metal against a mug reminds you of your morning coffee)

• if you use any stimulus, you aren’t studying memory but associations

• therefore, he developed something that could not be associated: nonsense syllables

how did Ebbinghaus try to study pure memory?

with nonsense syllables that were randomly put together

how did Ebbinghaus describe the forgetting curve?

inverted logarithmic: after learning something, people forget quickly before plateau

according to Ebbinghaus, what could affect memory? (2)

• mnemonics (tricks)

• practice (especially spaced repetition)

true or false: Darwin was focused his studies in psychology

false: he was interested in the evolution which happened in parallel of the development of psychology and both themes began to converge quickly

according to Plato, in regard to the soul/mind/psychological processes:

• are metaphysical processes involved?

• are the processes innate VS acquired?

• what are the best tools to study them?

• yes, we have a rational soul

• our knowledge is innate

• we study processes with deep thoughts, by knowing ourselves

*Plato and Socrates were empiricists!

according to Locke, in regard to the soul/mind/psychological processes:

• are metaphysical processes involved?

• are the processes innate VS acquired?

• what are the best tools to study them?

• sort of: God made the physical world but… (see next point)

• a bit of both: God made our brain as a blank state (tabula rasa), but our knowledge is acquired by experience

• you need thoughts but empiricism too to observe the world

according to Helmholtz, in regard to the soul/mind/psychological processes:

• are metaphysical processes involved?

• are the processes innate VS acquired?

• what are the best tools to study them?

• no: anti-vitalism/anti-metaphyiscal oath = “no other forces than common physical-chemical ones are active within the organism”

• our processes are mainly acquired, but some mixture

• science: you need to do experiments because observing won’t be enough

true or false: Darwin included some metaphysical explanations to his theories

false: he was science all the way as humans are products of evolution and share it with animals

define “biophilia hypothesis”

people are innately drawn to animals (for benefits, they are cute)

what did Erasmus Darwin, Charles Darwin’s grandfather, write about?

natural issues and theorized that animals evolve and aren’t randomly created

*unlike his grandson, he did not have the details or the necessary proofs

what was the purpose of Darwin’s trip to South America?

• to survey the continent (it was supposed to be 2 years, but it ended up lasting 5 years)

• he was initially sent to Cambridge to become a clergyman (because becoming a doctor didn't work out), so this trip was a good opportunity to read and discover more of his passion on animals

true or false: during his trip, Darwin read books about geology

true: it was recommended by his mentors, even though his interests were in zoology and biology

define “uniformitarianism”

theory that the Earth’s major features developed gradually over million of years

define “catastrophism”

Earth’s features were formed by a series of major catastrophes over a short period of time

*not Biblical, but it allowed people to believe in certain ideas like Noah’s flood

what’s the difference between uniformitarianism and catastrophism?

• uniformitarianism: Earth’s major features developed gradually over million of years

• catastrophism: Earth’s features were formed by a series of major catastrophes over a short period of time

Darwin believed in [catastrophism/uniformitarianism]

uniformitarianism

• uniformitarianism: Earth’s major features developed gradually over million of years

• catastrophism: Earth’s features were formed by a series of major catastrophes over a short period of time

what did Darwin use as proofs of uniformitarianism? (2)

• seashells found in the Andes

• earthquake in Chile that left the coast higher than before

→ proof that the world has been changing for a long time

true or false: according to Darwin, animals and humans are the same

false: while they have the same origins, animals and humans are not the same

true or false: Darwin’s theories were well accepted

false: back then, people still believed in creationism (something similar to catastrophism)

define Paley’s “argument from design”

humans and animals (and some of their organs) are so well done and complicated that they must have been designed and final products of God

who was Jean-Baptiste Lamarck?

French zoologist who proposed that species evolve and change by inheriting physical features resulting from the voluntary use or disuse of specific body parts

what’s the difference between Lamarck and Darwin’s theories?

• Lamarck: a giraffe can’t reach the top of the trees where the leaves are, so it starts stretching its neck muscles and this is a characteristic that will be transmitted to future generations → usage determine your traits

• Darwin: a giraffe can’t reach the top of the trees were the leaves are, and since it cannot reach them, it will die from starvation. instead, giraffes with longer necks will be able to reach the top of the trees and reproduce and their genes will be passed down to descendants → breeding determines your traits

in Montreal, you find grey squirrels in [foliage areas/cities] because […] and you find black squirrels in [foliage areas/cities] because […]

• grey = cities: warmer, cities are grey tbh

• black = foliage areas: colder, easier to hide

what was Malthus’s idea?

• most humans are destined to live in poverty because our capacity to increase population is greater than our capacity to increase food production

• our population can be prosperous when it’s small, but eventually, population growth will outstrip food production which will lead to scarcity, poverty, disease, famine, etc…

what were some geographical differences Darwin noticed?

• he found birds that were similar, yet with different characteristics

• he concluded that the environment and their diet had an impact on how animals evolved

what was Darwin’s theory of natural selection?

within species, differences lead some animals to be more adapted to the environment and they are more likely to reproduce

why was Darwin’s theory of evolution so controversial? (2)

• it challenged religious doctrine: there are no days of creation and metaphysical/religious explanations were not needed

• animals and humans come from a same ancestor

true or false: Darwin believed emotions to be useless

false: our facial expressions and emotions were considered by Darwin to be useful

who was Eleanor Acheson McCullosh Gamble?

she tried to define and measure sensations we experience through our nose

who was Margaret Floy Washburn?

she investigated the relationship between vision and touch

who was Christine Ladd-Franklin?

she looked at symbolic logic and focused on syllogism

what were the experiments developed by Oswald Külpe? (2)

• he would make participants go through complex mental tasks: they see something, “what do you remember” while they are doing the task

1. imageless thought: participants associate stimulus to words or how heavy something is → participants are unaware of their mental process

2. directed association: participants need to associate a stimulus to something specific that requires some thinking → they recall the processing they had