HisPhil Lec 1 - Why Is History Important?

Flashcards for reviewing History and Philosophy of Psychology lecture notes.

"Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it"

George Santayana quote emphasizing the importance of learning from the past to avoid repeating it.

Historical Truth

The idea that historical accounts can be influenced by personal or cultural perspectives, leading to different interpretations of the same events.

Presentist Bias

The tendency to interpret past events and ideas through the lens of present-day values and knowledge.

Possible earliest scientist

Ibn Al-Haytham, vision scientist

Zeitgeist

The prevailing spirit or mood of a particular period in history, influencing ideas and events.

1879 - Wilhelm Wundt's Lab

The official start of psychology as a separate scientific discipline, marked by the establishment of the first psychology lab.

Introspection

A method used by structuralists to examine one's own conscious thoughts and feelings, in an attempt to break them down into basic components.

Functionalism

An approach to psychology that focused on the purpose and adaptive functions of the mind and behavior.

Stream of Consciousness

The continuous flow of thoughts and feelings in the mind, which William James argued made it difficult to analyze mental structures.

Psychophysics

A field of psychology that quantitatively investigates the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations and perceptions they produce.

Key figures in Psychophysics

Ernst Heinrich Weber and Gustav Theodor Fechner

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

The minimum difference in stimulation that a person can detect 50 percent of the time

Weber's Law

The change in a stimulus that will be just noticeable is a constant ratio of the original stimulus