Psychological Movements: From Voluntarism to Gestalt Psychology

Psychology

Best defined as the scientific study of mind and behavior, focusing on internal mental events and external behaviors.

Independent Variable

In an experiment, this is defined as the variable that is manipulated by the experimenter to observe its effect on the dependent variable.

Dependent Variable

In an experiment, this is the variable that is observed for changes in response to the manipulation of the independent variable.

Theory

A general understanding that organizes facts and aids in comprehending how the world works, constructed based on hypothesis testing and experiments.

Hypothesis

A specific statement about the world that is tested through experiments to determine its validity and support.

Introspection

The psychological method used for self-observation and reporting conscious thoughts and feelings.

Gestalt Psychology

Focuses on how the mind creates larger-order structures during perception and problem-solving, emphasizing how mental parts form wholes.

Sigmund Freud's Three Components of the Mind

Critiqued components including the id, ego, and superego, focusing on their dynamic interrelation in psychoanalytic psychology.

Behaviorism

An approach viewing the mind as passively mapping aspects of the environment onto responses, emphasizing environmental control over actions.

Voluntarism and Structuralism

Movements cataloging the basic elements of the mind and their interactions, adopting ideas from chemistry to explain mental processes.

Functionalism

Studied how the mind performs various mental actions rather than focusing on its supposed 'parts,' as seen in the work of functionalists.

Cognitive Psychology

Later studied memory and mental processes, describing concepts in memory and their relationships, including the idea of a mental lexicon.

Neuroscience

Field studying brain scans to reveal neural sequences underlying mental tasks, focusing on the physiological aspects of mental processes.

Connectionists

Developed neural networks simulating mental function patterns, a concept used in cognitive science to explain perception, memory, and attention.

Artificial Intelligence

Involves programming computers with complex rules to mimic brain functions, exploring the capabilities of machines in performing tasks.

Experimental Group

Receives independent variable in an experiment

Control Group

Does not receive independent variable in an experiment

Operationalize

Defining dependent variable in measurable terms

Counterbalance

Adjusting known factors to prevent bias in results

Randomize

Assigning participants to conditions by chance

Stanford-Binet IQ Test

Intelligence test adapted by Terman at Stanford University

Cultural Bias

Prejudice in tests favoring certain cultural groups

General Intelligence

Overall cognitive ability measured by IQ tests

Multiple Intelligences

Gardner's theory of diverse intelligence types

Innate Intelligence

Belief in fixed intelligence capacity from birth

Dynamic Intelligence

Intelligence that can change and improve over time

Genetic Assumptions

Beliefs about inherited intelligence traits

Flexible Notion of Intelligence

Understanding intelligence as varied and learnable

Voluntarism

View of the mind as elements combined by will

Wilhelm Wundt

Founder of voluntarism, used introspection in psychology

Periodic Table of Mental Elements

Concept by Wundt to categorize mental components

Immediate Experience

Direct awareness of something, as perceived

Mediate Experience

Thought about an object derived from mental reflection

Tridimensional Theory of Feeling

Wundt's theory categorizing feelings by pleasure, tension, excitement

Creative Synthesis

Mental process of organizing elements into wholes with new properties

Law of Psychic Resultants

Principle of organizing elements to create new properties

Empiricists

Believed mental combination was a passive process

Associationists

Saw mental combination as a mechanical effect

Gestalt Psychologists

Focused on the relationship between parts and wholes in perception

Strengths of Voluntarism

Establishment of a lab, experimental methods, clear goals

Criticism of Introspection

Flaws include changes in mental experiences over time

Individual Differences in Perception

Observers may perceive stimuli differently due to expectations

Wundt

German psychologist who founded the first psychology laboratory

Structuralism

Psychological school focusing on the mind's passive nature and basic mental elements

Edward Titchener

U.S. psychologist who developed structuralism and listed 44,000 sensation elements

Stimulus Error

Confusing true experience with object description based on language and past experience

Reagent

In structuralism, the mind is seen as a medium where mental reactions occur

Extensity

Attribute added by Titchener, referring to how much space a sensation occupies

Quality

Attribute of sensations distinguishing them from others, like heat from sound

Intensity

Attribute of sensations indicating their strength, like loudness or brightness

Duration

Attribute of sensations referring to how long they persist

Clearness

Attribute of sensations that are more noticeable when attention is paid to them

Harvey A. Carr

One of the U.S. functionalists who emphasized mental activities in psychology

William James

Considered the pioneer of functionalism, emphasizing mental activities over discrete elements

John Dewey

Credited for the formal development of psychological functionalism in the United States

James Rowland Angell

Contributor to the development of psychological functionalism in the United States

Stream of Consciousness

James' concept of the mind as a continuous flow of thoughts, akin to a river.

Transitive Thought

James' term for less focused, associative thinking.

Substantive Thought

James' term for focused thinking when the mind slows down.

Psychophysical Relations

Study of the relationship between the psychological mind and the physical body.

Evolutionary Psychology

Field explaining how the mind evolved to serve the organism.

Phenomenological Method

Approach focusing on subjective experiences rather than objective descriptions.

Principle of Proximity

Visual parts close to each other are perceived as connected and part of a whole.

Principle of Similarity

Visual parts similar in characteristics are perceived as grouped together.

Principle of Closure

Parts forming a complete or almost complete object are perceived as grouped together.

Principle of Pragnanz

Wertheimer's concept of perceiving the simplest and most stable form of an object.