Foundations of Psychology: Historical Theories and Philosophers

Wundt's views on - Body and Mind Theory

Every Physical event has a mental counterpart, and every mental event has a physical counterpart.

Wundt's views on - Parallelism

A 19th century notion which states, in order to study mind, we have to have measurable variables. These variables must be products of sensory activity and movements.

General Goals of Psychology According to Wundt

Analyzing the elements of consciousness and finding out how the elements are connected and why.

Wundt was a _________ who studied

Structuralist, studied the structure of the mind.

Introspection - Wundt

An experimental technique to measure sensory elements according to their intensity, duration and quality. A study of pure sensations.

First Psychology - Wundt

Physiological Psychology.

Second Psychology - Wundt

Social and cultural which effects the first psychology.

Personality Types were ______'s contribution to psychology

Hume's

Epicurean - Hume

Elegant, seeks pleasure.

Stoic - Hume

Action and virtue.

Platonist - Hume

Contemplative and philosophical.

Hume was a skeptic so he was very...

Critical.

National Character - Hume

The character of a nation is determined by social factors, government policies, customs and resources not the climate or geography.

David Hume was a ....

Scottish philosopher of science, wrote about cognitive science, mind and theology.

Monads - Leibniz

The universe is made up of an infinite number of spiritual forces called Monads. Each establishes the state of others according to the established principle of harmony.

Soul - Leibniz

Has infinite monads. Monads of the soul have Apperceptions, these are little perceptions.

Clear Knowledge :1

One of the different areas of knowledge of the soul.

Fragmented Knowledge: 2

One of the different areas of knowledge of the soul.

Unconscious Knowledge: 3

One of the different areas of knowledge of the soul.

Deist (God) - Berkeley

God is an infinite spirit. He created the universe but abandoned the earthly affairs afterward.

Idealist - Berkeley

The world is made up of minds of God and humans.

Solipsism (self) - Berkeley

Self is the only entity that we can know or are able to verify.

Berkeley's views on - Visible and Tangibles

The smallest indivisible points of experience like a sensory threshold.

William James was a .....

Functionalist: Science of mental life focusing on feelings, desires, cognition, reasoning and conditions they take place. James was more interested in how the mind functioned rather than the structure of the mind. Mental states are interrelated and influenced by ever changing behavior in the environment.

Structuralism vs. Functionalism

structuralists studied letters of alphabet and their sound, functionalists studied how we use language and conversation.

William James wasn't interested in______

James was not interested in experimentation and empirical work, but in general, he did not oppose it.

James' Emphasized________

James emphasized comparative psychology. Comparing behaviors of humans and animals, mentally ill and well functioning individuals, children and adults, etc.

James Lang Theory

James worked with George Lang a Danish doctor on one of the 1st theories to connect emotions with physiological indicators.

They suggested that a physiological reaction to an event can cause an emotional reaction to that event so emotions can't exist without bodily expression.

• Lose Money...Cry...→ Feel Sorry

William James was a .....

Functionalist: How people function depends on their environment. Our behaviors evolve and adopt as we are exposed to different the environments.

James Angell

We all form habits as we gradually learn useful behaviors and movements. Useful behaviors are repeated and become habits. Harmful behaviors are eliminated.

• When a habit is first formed, a great deal of attention goes into the details of that particular behavior trying to avoid mistakes.

Slowly as the behavior is repeated over and over again, it becomes automatic, and we don't think about it.

James Angell's views on mental processes

• Mental processes help in survival of an organism and its adaptation to the environment. According to Angell, structuralists who only focused on the mental processes missed the point because mind and body can not be separated, one does not survive or thrive without the other.

Mary Calkins life

Born in Hartford CT. Her father was a minister. She attended Smith College and earned a degree in philosophy. Two years later offered a job at Vellesley College teaching Greek and psychology although she had no background in psychology.

She wanted to take courses in psychology at Harvard but at that time, Harvard, like most universities, would not allow women to take courses.

She petitioned the president and was finally allowed to take courses, but they would not count toward a degree.

More on her life

In 1902 she and three other women had taken enough courses to get graduate degrees from Harvard, but their request was rejected. Instead, they were offered degrees from Radcliffe College. Calkins refused that degree calling it discriminatory.

She wrote four books and hundreds of articles. She became the president of the APA and the American Philosophical Society.

Calkins theory of Self

Self: Closely related to physical and social environment

SELF —- OBJECT

Calkin's explanation of Self beyond physical and social factors... (expand in notes)

Levels of Self Consciousness

Environment

Faith and Will active components

Emotions passive components

Discrete vs Continuous Self : Calkins

Some elements of self are shared by others like perceptions, and others private. Such as imagination of Self which is unique or (discrete) in each person " I am me!" but continuous in time "That was me 10 years ago!"

Self is constantly changing and developing.

Calkins views on attitude

Attitudes: Explains the complex relationship between the individual and the environment.

Harry Hollingsworth trial

The U.S government sued Coca-Cola for putting too much caffeine in their soft drink. They considered caffeine harmful and addictive to children.

Hired Hollingsworth, a professor at Columbia to determine whether caffeine can affect performance.

Hollingsworth asked for three wishes

• No pressure on researchers

• No use of his name in ads

• Results could be published in journals

Description of trial

elaborate double-blind experiment with 64,000 observations was designed to measure:

Coordination - movement

Attention- reaction time

Color identification - speed

Perception - Association

Conclusion: The caffeine dosage in coke is too low to be harmful. Coca-Cola still further lowered the dosage.

• Hollingsworth also contributed to the psychological aspects of advertising

Avicenna for extra credit

Father of modern medicine. He wrote Canon of Medicine and at least 450 other works.

Brain and Nervous System: Most physicians and philosophers of his time assumed the center for psychological functions was the heart, but Avicenna believed it was the brain. He was also one of the earliest physicians who understood the peripheral nerves of the surface of the body and how they move to the brain (soul). Soul can rise above perception.