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According to Spencer, what rule governs the universe, including behavior?

Herbert Spencer, a 19th-century philosopher and sociologist, proposed the concept of "the survival of the fittest" as a fundamental principle governing the universe, including behavior. Spencer argued that individuals and societies evolve according to this principle, with those behaviors that promote survival and success becoming more prevalent over time.

What’s functionalism? How does it differ from Wundt’s voluntarism and Titchener’s structuralism?

Functionalism focuses on adaptive value or function of mental processes and behavior.

Wundt's voluntarism emphasizes the study of the will and voluntary processes of the mind, often through introspection.

Titchener's structuralism seeks to analyze the basic elements of consciousness through introspection and understand their underlying structure.

What’s pragmatism?

The doctrine that the validity of ideas is measured by their practical consequences. This work is from James. For example, instead of just learning math formulas, students might apply them to real-life situations like budgeting or data analysis.

What types of methods did James accept as appropriate for psychology?

Experimentation

Introspection but different from Wundt

Asking what went through your mind in the moment

Psychologizing

Observing behavior and analyzing it

What’s psychologizing?

Psychologizing is interpreting behaviors or phenomena using psychology. It involves applying psychological principles to understand actions, motivations, or emotions.

How did James employ introspection? How did this differ from Wundt and Titchener’s

introspection?

James used introspection to understand how mental processes function in real-life situations, focusing on their practical consequences. Wundt and Titchener used introspection to analyze the basic elements of consciousness in controlled laboratory settings.

Be familiar with James’ views on the mind-body problem, consciousness, the self, free will, the unconscious, and emotion.

Mind-body problem: James saw the mind and body as different perspectives on the same reality, emphasizing practical study over metaphysical debates.

Consciousness: He viewed consciousness as a continuous stream of thoughts and sensations, focusing on its functions rather than structure.

The self: James described the self as both the empirical "me" (personal experiences and traits) and the pure "I" (the observing self).

Free will: James believed in free will, rejecting determinism and emphasizing personal agency in decision-making.

The unconscious: While acknowledging its existence, James didn't delve deeply into the concept of the unconscious, focusing more on conscious processes.

Emotion: He proposed the James-Lange theory, suggesting that physiological arousal precedes and shapes emotional experiences, emphasizing bodily sensations in emotions.

synthetic psychology

Herbert spencer’s idea that knowledge and experience can be explained in terms of evolutionary principles

an epidemic of neurasthenia

George beard coined this term reffering the American nervousness. James called this “americanitis”

stream of conciousness

James idea that consciousness is a continuous flowing process and that any attempt to reduce its elements will distort it

Mary whiton calkins

Women refused for her PHD.

The reason was from a generally held belief that that men were intellectually superior.

Best known for devising the paired associates task

variability hyptosis

The notion that men show a wider variation of ohysical and mental development than women. Women were seen as average

Helen Woolley

Helen Woolley was known for her research in differential psychology, particularly her work on intelligence testing and personality assessment. She collaborated with Lewis Terman on revising the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale, a widely used test. Woolley's contributions helped advance our understanding of individual differences in intelligence and personality.

Leta Hollingworth

Leta Stetter Hollingworth was known for her pioneering work in gifted education, psychology of women, and child development. She challenged stereotypes about intelligence and advocated for individualized education for gifted children. Hollingworth's research continues to influence educational practices and our understanding of human development.

G stanley hall

Hall founded the APA, began the first psychology labratory in the US, and developed the recapitulation theory

recapitulation theory

Halls idea that psychological development of children repeats the history of the human race., evolving from near savage state in infancy, to rational civilized human in adulthood.

John Dewey

Published the first American textbook on new psychology, developed the reflex arc, and influenced other psychologists on functionalism

The reflex arc

The connection between sensory stimuli and motor responses. Dewey's model challenged the idea of simple stimulus-response relationships, emphasizing the complexity of reflex actions.

criticisms of functionalism

• According to tichener, functionalism did not adhere to structuralisms subject matter, therefore it deviated from introspection and cannot be called psychology.

• reawakened the long standing controversey between pure and applied psychology

contributions of functionalism

emphasis on application and solutions to practical problems

According to James, do stimuli cause behavior? Do mental states cause or are they simply correlated with behavior? Can mental states cause other mental states?

Stimuli do not directly cause behavior; it arises from the interaction between stimuli and internal mental states.

Mental states can cause behavior; they play an active role in guiding actions.

Mental states can also cause other mental states; consciousness is described as a continuous stream of thoughts and feelings.

Was James’ view on consciousness reductionist or holistic? What did he mean by the term stream of consciousness?

A holistic approach. Stream of consciousness is a continuous flowing process of conciousness and you cannot reduce it

What are the components of the self? According to James, can they be measured empirically?

The material self, refers to everything we call our own such as our body, house or family

The social self refers to the regocigtion we get from other people

The spiritual self refers to our inner or subjective being

James argued that while the material and social aspects of the self can be observed and measured empirically, the spiritual self or pure ego is not directly accessible to empirical measurement.

According to James, what is free will? What role does it play? How is it adaptive (i.e., functional)?

Free will is the capacity for individuals to make genuine choices and exert control over their actions.

It plays a central role in human agency, allowing individuals to deliberate among alternatives and choose courses of action based on their desires, intentions, and values.

Free will is adaptive because it enables individuals to adapt to changing circumstances and pursue goals that promote their well-being and fulfillment.

To James, what is the function of the unconscious?

Filtering of constant or unimportant stimuli. 

Know the James-Lange theory of emotion. Is it still relevant today?

The James-Lange theory proposes that emotions arise from physiological responses to external stimuli. According to this theory:

Stimulus triggers physiological changes in the body.

These physiological changes are then interpreted as emotions.

Therefore, emotions are a result of bodily reactions to stimuli.

According to Angell, what is the subject matter of functional psychology?

Functional psychology is the study of:

Mental operations, not mental elements

Distingues from structualism

Utility of consciousness

Organism as a whole and its relationship to the environment

What’s the basic premise of Woodworth’s dynamic psychology?

The influence of causal factors and motivations on feelings and behavior

What’s the paired associates task? What’s it used for? Who designed it?

The paired associates task is a memory experiment where participants learn associations between pairs of items and later recall them. It's used to study associative memory and learning.

Hollingworth