Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century Precursors to Psychology

Flashcards about the precursors to psychology in the eighteenth and nineteenth century.

What is individualisation?

An increased focus on people as individuals, rather as societal or familial groups.

How did the increased power of the state contribute to individualisation?

The state made individuals responsible for their actions, taking away the burden of supporting them.

How did Christianity promote individual culture?

Everyone is responsible for their own actions and sins, not a family member responsible, leading to the idea of individual salvation and a personal relationship with God.

What characterised the understanding of the mind in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries?

The branching out and diversification of thinking, leading to debate.

What is epistemology?

The study of how we know what we know and how we understand the world.

What are some examples of early psychological studies?

Seeing how far a participant can still see light from a candle when it is moved away from them, or a memory test where a participant has to remember a certain set of numbers. For example, researchers would measure the distance at which a candle's light was no longer visible to determine visual sensitivity thresholds.

How did Darwin's evolutionary theory impact science and religion?

It supports the positivist scientific way of thinking and contradicted the Church's teachings.

What did Nietzsche mean by 'the death of God'?

The death of God's role in scientific understanding and our lives.

What is a limitation of evolutionary theory when applied to humans?

It cannot be predicted.

What is eugenics?

The pseudoscience of improving humanity through selective breeding.

To paraphrase Nisch, Why did science have a prominent place in society's understanding at the time?

Science had just killed God, so was there anything it couldn't do?

What is statistics in the context of psychology?

The process of examining data and using mathematical methods to analyse it.

Why should statistics always be taken with some caution and maybe even some suspicion?

All include an element of bias.