History and Systems Exam 3

Voluntarism

The name that Wundt gave his approach to psychology; emphasis on will, choice and purpose (active)

Voluntarism

First School in psychology

consciousness

inner experience

reductionism

human behavior can be explained by breaking it up into many parts or elements

Wundt's three goals

break conscious process into basic elements, discover how they are organized, determine laws of connection governing the organization of elements

Wundt divided psychology into two parts

experimental, social

simple mental functions

sensation/ perception

Wundt's goal of psychology

understand both simple and complex conscious phenomena

Wundt classification of sensations

intensity, duration, sense modality

Tridimensional theory of feelings

pleasantness- unpleasantness, excitement- calm, strain- relaxation

immediate experience

unbiased by interpretation

mediate experience

influenced by past experience

creative synthesis

elements attended to can be arranged and rearranged as the person wills

Mental chronometry

method developed by Franciscus Danders to measure differences in reaction time

physical causality vs. psychological causality

reality vs not possible

Structuralism

empiricists viewpoint that a mind acts on sensations and ideas in an automatic, mechanistic way (passive)

Edward titchener

Introduced experimental psychology to US

Titchener towards women

conflicting, would not let women join The Experimentalists, but later gave 1/3 of 56 doctorates to women.

structuralism goals

determine the what, how , and why of mental life

Introspection

that what of mental life was learned; cataloging of basic mental elements

how of mental life

how elements combined

why of mental life

neurological correlates of mental events

Titchener Elements of consciousness

sensations, images, affections

Attributes

quality, intensity, duration, clearness, and extensity

Law of Contiguity

Titchener: things or events that occur close to each other in space or time tend to get linked together in the mind.

Context Theory of Meaning

What gives sensations & events meaning is the images & events with which the sensation has been associated contiguously in the past

Act Psychology

Franz Clemens Brentano: The important aspect of the mind was not what was in it but what it did. Studies should emphasize the mind’s processes.

intentionality

All mental acts incorporate something outside of itself

phenomenological introspection

introspective analysis of intact, meaningful experiences

Clever Hans phenomenon

Horse: Not only could Hans count — something no other animals were said to do — but he could also tell time, read & spell

Double-blind experiments

the understanding of Unconscious Cuing lead to the development of

Mental Set

a determining tendency, which causes the person to behave in certain ways completely unaware that they are doing so

Hermann Ebbinghaus

Studied how much individuals forgot over time & what types of techniques could be utilized to reduce forgetting

Jean Lamarck

theory of inheritance of acquired characteristics: environmental changes during the lifetime of the organism resulted in structural changes in plants & animals

Herbert Spencer

Through evolution, differentiation occurs & systems become increasingly complex & move toward perfection

Spencer-Bain Principle

The probability of a behavior occurring in the future is a function of whether it is followed by a pleasurable event or a painful event

Herbert Spencer

the first to coin the term survival of the fittest

Thomas Malthus’s Essay on the Principles of Population

mechanism/principle ;proposed that food supply & populations size were kept in balance by events such as war, starvation, & disease

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution

Natural struggle for survival;Within a species there is variability, which produces vast individual differences, the survival of the fittest Therefore, a natural selection occurs

Fitness

ability to survive & reproduce

Comparative Psychology

Concerned with the study of animal behavior. Can lead to a deeper & broader understanding of human psychology; Darwin’s book, The Expressions of Emotions in Man and Animals

Sir Francis Galton

Darwin’s Cousin;Became interested in studying the inheritance of human abilities & individual differences

eugenics

Galton Selective breeding.Thought the government should support marriages of desirables

nature-nurture controversy

Galton Believed that the potential for high intelligence was inherited, but it must be nurtured by a proper environment

Karl Pearson

developed the mathematical formulation for the correlation coefficient

Contributions of Galton

1)The study of the nature-nurture question
2) The use of questionnaires in research
3) The use of word-association tests
4) The conduction of twin studies
5) The study of imagery
6) The development of correlational techniques

James Cattell

Developed early Galtonian-type tests in the U.S.
First to use the term mental test

Alfred Binet

Interested in what makes people different, not their similarities

Binet-Simon Intelligence Scale

valid means to distinguish between normal children & children with mental deficiencies

William Stern

Introduced the term mental age, which was to be divided by chronological age yielding the intelligence quotient

Mental Orthopedics

Alfred Binet; exercises that improve a child’s will, attention, & discipline – all abilities that Binet thought were necessary for effective education

Charles Spearmen

he proposed a two-factor theory of intelligence consisting of a specific factor & a general factor

Spearman’s conclusions about the nature of intelligence are important for three reasons

1) He emphasized the unitary nature
2) Spearman viewed intelligence has being largely inherited
3) Spearman’s conception of intelligence was embraced by the new testing movemen

Lewis Terman

He & his colleagues adapted the Binet-Simon test to develop the Stanford-Binet test. Intelligence Quotient.

Henry Goddard

urged that those with mental deficiencies be sterilized and/or segregated from the rest of society

Robert Yerkes

Organized the testing program for the army in World War I .Developed the Army Alpha test for literate people & the Army Beta for those who were illiterate

The Bell Curve

Proposes six points
1. There is a general factor of cognitive ability on which humans differ
2.All standardized tests of academic aptitude or achievement measure this general factor to some degree
3.IQ scores match, to a degree, whatever people mean when they use the word intelligence or smart in ordinary language
4.IQ scores are stable, although not perfectly so, over much of the lifespan
5. Properly administered IQ tests are not demonstrably biased against social, economic, ethnic, or racial groups
6. Cognitive ability is substantially heritable, apparently no less than 40 percent & nor more than 80 percent

David Wechsler

Developed a new intelligence test to better understand adult intelligence.
WAIS & WISC

ethics, divinity, & philosophy

Psychology included topics such as

Stage One

Moral & Mental Philosophy:
which were psychological in nature – child psychology, the nature of consciousness, the nature of knowledge, introspection, & perception

Stage Two

Intellectual Philosophy:
Psychology became a separate discipline
Became primarily influenced by the Scottish common- sense views

Thomas Reid

Who was the main proponent of the Scottish Common-Sense Views

Common Sense Psychology

We can trust our impressions of the physical world because it makes common sense to do so

Stage Three

The U.S. Renaissance:
Psychology becomes an empirical science
Late 1880’s
Publishing of John Dewey’s textbook, the first issue of the American Journal of Psychology
Psychology began emphasizing individual differences, adaptation to the environment, & practicality

Stage Four

Functionalism
Science, emphasis on the individual, & evolutionary theory combined into the school of functionalism

Characteristics of Functional Psychology

Opposed the elementarism of structuralism

Focus was to understand the function of the mind

Focus was not upon a description of its contents (why)

The function was to aid the organism in adapting to its environment

A practical science

William James

highly influential Principles of Psychology

Pragmatism

The belief that if an idea works, it is valid

Radical empiricism

All consistently reported aspects of human experience are worthy of study

Stream of Consciousness

Selective; some events are selected for further consideration while others are not

Functional; purpose is to aid the individual in adapting to the environment

Three Components of Self (Empirical Self)

Material self:
Body, family, & all things owned
Social self:
Self known by others; many social selves
Spiritual self:
State of consciousness, one’s own subjective reality

Theory of emotion

Event (stimulus) causes a bodily reaction/behavior, which is then experienced as an emotion

Pragmatism is the Cornerstone of Functionalism

Behaviors, thoughts, or beliefs must be judged by their consequences
If it works for the individual then it is appropriate

Hugo Münsterberg

Disagreed with James on many points regarding behavior & consciousness

Stated that behavior causes ideas rather than ideas cause behavior as James had stated

He was one of if not the first applied psychologists
He studied clinical psychology & he wrote books on forensic psychology, & industrial psychology

Mary Whiton Calkins

could not be enrolled in Harvard- She took (unofficially) the Ph.D. examination but could not receive her degree.She was offered a degree from Radcliffe College but refused

Developed a paired-associate technique to study the influence of frequency, recency, & vividness on memory

Developed self psychology

Granville Stanley Hall

Organized the first psychology laboratory in U.S.

Founded the first psychology journal, American Journal of Psychology

Recapitulation Theory?

Development of an individual through their lifetime mirrors the evolution of the species

G stanley Hall theory

In the stage of the adolescent, the child now has a rebirth into a sexed life

Hall argued that at this point, there should no longer be coeducation

Hall had several ideas about adolescence including ideas about sexual behavior, religious conversion, & sex-segregated schools

Francis Sumner

Hall’s last graduate student & first African American to receive a Ph.D. in psychology

Argued for segregated higher education; however, evidence indicates that his public statements did not match his private beliefs & activities

Kenneth Clark

They did pioneer work on the developmental effects of prejudice, discrimination, & segregation on children

Extremely instrumental in the efforts to desegregate the school systems

John Dewey

Wrote “The Reflex Arc Concept in Psychology”
Many think this marks the formal beginning of functionalism

the three elements of the reflex

John Dewey proposed sensory processes, brain processes, motor response must be viewed as a coordinated system…

John Dewey ideals

Influential in creating what came to be called “progressive” education, which stated that education should be student-oriented & not subject-oriented & students should learn by doing

Also involved in liberal causes

James Angell

2) Mental processes mediate between the needs of the organism & the environment
3) Mental functions help the organism survive

Mind & body cannot be separated, they act as a unit in an organism’s struggle for survival

Harvey Carr

Carr proposed the adaptive act,

adaptive act

three components:
-A motive that acts as a stimulus for behavior (such as hunger or thirst)
-An environmental setting or the situation the organism is in
-A response that satisfies the motive

James Cattell

Proposed that psychology should be applying its methods in all human activity because that is what humans do

Robert S. Woodworth

Interested in what & why of people’s behavior, particularly motivation

He called his brand of psychology dynamic psychology

Edward L. Thorndike

Developed psychology’s first major learning theory, which basically combined associationism & hedonism

He made the following conclusions:
- Learning is incremental
- Learning occurs automatically without being mediated by thinking
- Same principles of learning apply to all mammals

Law of Effect

If an association is followed by a “satisfying state of affairs” it will be strengthened, if it is followed by an “annoying state of affairs” it will be weakened

Law of Exercise

states that the more often an association is practiced the stronger it becomes

Anthropomorphizing

Attributing human thought processes to nonhuman animals

Morgan’s Cannon

“In no case may we interpret an action as the outcome of the exercise of a higher psychical faculty, if it can be interpreted as the outcome of the exercise of one which stands lower in the psychological scale.”

Occam’s Razor

When you have two competing theories that make exactly the same predictions, the simpler one is the better

psychology at Clark University

In 1908, Hall invited prominent European psychologists to Clark for its 20th anniversary

Hall invited Wundt, Freud, & Jung. Freud remarked that this visit did much to further the acceptance of his theory around the world

Functionalism at University of Chicago

John Dewey
James Angell
Harvey Carr

Functionalism at Columbia University

James Cattell
Robert Woodworth
Edward Thorndike

Objective research developed in Russia

Ivan Sechenov- explain all psychic phenomena on the basis of associationism & materialism.Thoughts do not cause behavior (passive)

Ivan Pavlov- During his work on the physiology of the digestive system Pavlov discovered the conditioned reflex

Reflexive

Both Internal & External behaviors are triggered by external stimulation