History of Psychology - Lecture Notes

Flashcards covering the historical foundations and early influences on the field of psychology, from ancient civilizations to the establishment of modern psychological science.

Wilhelm Wundt

Opened the first experimental psychology laboratory in 1879, marking the regarded beginning of psychology as a formal science.

Ancient Egyptian Psychology

Doctors linked traumatic brain injuries to behavioral changes, suggesting the head as a source of thinking.

Nature vs. Nurture

A concept contemplating whether knowledge and behavior come from inherent human traits (nature) or environmental experiences (nurture).

Nativist

A perspective, exemplified by Plato, that emphasizes the role of nature, believing knowledge is born within humans.

Empiricist

A perspective, exemplified by Aristotle, that emphasizes the role of nurture, believing knowledge is acquired through experiences.

Tabula Rasa

Latin for 'blank slate,' used by Aristotle to describe babies, meaning they are born without innate knowledge, acquiring it through experience.

Hippocrates' Four Humors

An early theory suggesting that different bodily fluids (yellow bile, blood, black bile, phlegm) relate to different personality characteristics and mental well-being when in balance.

Natural Selection (Darwin)

The evolutionary process where species adapt genetically to their surroundings over time, with the most fit individuals surviving and passing on genes.

Behavioral Adaptation (Darwinian Influence)

The idea that certain behaviors, like attachment in infants, can be selected for through natural selection to enhance survival.

Phrenology

A 17th-century pseudoscience that claimed personality traits could be determined by the bumps and indentations on a person's skull.

Phineas Gage

A 19th-century railroad worker who survived a severe brain injury, becoming a famous case study for post-traumatic personality change and the localization of brain function.