1.2 - How Psychology Became a Science

Question 1

Empiricism

Answer 1

a philosophical tenet that knowledge comes through experience

*knowledge about the world is based on careful observation, not on common sense of speculation

Question 2

Determinism

Answer 2

the belief that all events are governed by lawful, cause-and effect relationships

*behaviour determined by both internal (ex. genes, brain, chemistry) and external influences

Question 3

Psychological Science

Answer 3

both empirical and deterministic

*behviour can only be understood by making observations and testing hypotheses

Question 4

Hippocrates

Answer 4

developed world’s first personality classification scheme

Four humours influenced health and personality (blood, yellow bile, black bile, phlegm)

Question 5

Galen of Peragmon

Answer 5

suggested 4 humours combined to create temperaments

Sanguine (blood) = impulsive, pleasure seeking, charismatic

Choleric (yellow bile) = ambitious, energetic, aggressive

Melancholic (black bile) = independent, perfectionistic, introverted

Phlegmatic (phlegm) = quiet, relaxed, content

Question 6

Zeigeist

Answer 6

a general set of beliefs of a particular culture at a specific time in history

Question 7

Materialism

Answer 7

belief that humans, and other living beings, are composed exclusively of physical matter

Question 8

Dualism

Answer 8

properties of humans that are not material (mind or soul separate from the body)

Question 9

Gustav Fechner

Answer 9

Sensation and Perception

Psychophysics = study of relationship between physical world and mental representation of that world

Developed formula to calculate and perceived changes

Question 10

Charles Darwin

Answer 10

Theory of evolution by natural selection

• behaviour also shaped by natural selection
• behaviour, like physical traits, are affected by hereditary influences

Question 11

Clinical Psychology

Answer 11

field of psychology that concentrates on the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders

Question 12

Brain Localization

Answer 12

certain parts of the brain control specific mental abilities and personality characteristics

Studied in two different ways :

Phrenology (Franz Gall and Johann Spurzheim)

• brain consists of 27 “organs” corresponding to mental traits and dispositions detected by examining surface of skull
• diff. traits and abilities were distributed across diff. regions of the brain
• if particular trait is possessed, that area of brain = larger
• measures bumps on head to identify diff. traits

Study of brain injuries (Paul Broca and Karl Wernicke)
- had scientific grounding phrenology lacked

Question 13

Franz Mesmer

Answer 13

prolonged exposure to magnets can cure disease and insanity (rejected)

Psychosomatic medicine

Hyponosis

Question 14

Sigmund Freud

Answer 14

started using hypnosis

Cured hysterical paralysis (lose feeling and control of specific body part)

Psychoanalysis = attempts to explain how behaviour and personality are influenced by unconscious processes

When a person is hypnotized, easier access to unconscious mind by psychoanalyst

Medical Model = use of medical ideas to treat disorders of emotion, thoughts, and behaviour

Early life influences our behaviour as adults

Question 15

Sir Francis Galton

Answer 15

Cousin of Charles Darwin

Believed genetics explained psychological differences

Eminence = combo of ability, morality, achievement

Nature vs. Nurture Relationships = inquiry into how heredity (nature) ad enviro. (nurture) influence behaviour and mental processes

Eugenics (“good genes”, biased) = lead to mistreatment and influenced the thinking of Hitler (White, blond, blue eyes, German = good)

Question 16

Wilhelm Wundt

Answer 16

established psychology as independent scientific field

Primary research method = introspection

• exp. of stimulus and report each sensation
• reaction time = mental activity not instantaneous, requires effort
• measuring mental activity

Question 17

Edward Titchener

Answer 17

Student of Wundt

Structuralism = attempt to analyze unconscious experience by breaking it down into basic elements, and to understand how these elements work together

Mental exps. made up of limited # of sensations, which were analogous to elements in physics and chemistry

Question 18

William James

Answer 18

wrote first textbook in psychology

• sought to explain how our thoughts and actions help us adapt to our enviro.
• Functionalism

Question 19

Functionalism

Answer 19

study of purpose and function of behaviour and conscious experience

ex. evolutionary psychology

(William James)

Question 20

Evolutionary Psychology

Answer 20

interprets and explains modern human behaviour in terms of forces acting upon our distant ancestors

Question 21

Professor Edwin Twitmyer

Answer 21

Behaviourism

Question 22

Behaviourism

Answer 22

studying only observable behaviour w/ little to no reference to mental events or instincts as possible influences on behaviour

• approach dominated first half of 20th century of North American psychology

(Professor Edwin Twitmyer)

Question 23

Ivan Pavlov

Answer 23

credited for classical conditioning that was discovered by Edwin Twitmyer

Question 24

John B. Watson

Answer 24

• behaviour is explained through conditioning
• only observable changes in envrio. and behaviour were appropriate for scientific study
• rejected Wundt’s introspection
• believed in power of exp. not genetics
• influenced advirtisement

Question 25

B. F. Skinner

Answer 25

- agreed w/ Watson that psychology = study of behaviour not unobservable mind - reward and punishment (we repeat actions that lead to reward, avoid actions that lead to punishment)

Question 26

Behaviourists

Answer 26

human behaviour is a product of rewards, punishments, and learned associations

Question 27

Psychoanalysts

Answer 27

human exp. is result of unconscious forces at work deep in the human psyche

Question 28

Humanistic Psychology

Answer 28

focuses on unique characteristics of each individual, each person's freedom to act, their rational thought, belief that humans are diff. from animals *humans had freedom to act and rational mind to guide processes (Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow)

Question 29

Karl Lashly

Answer 29

- interested in locating engram (place in brain where memory is stored) - principle of mass action (size of damage impacts impairment in performance)

Question 30

Donald Hebb

Answer 30

- student of Karl Lashly - how learning occurs - Hebb's Law

Question 31

Hebb's Law

Answer 31

when brain cell stimulates another cell, metabolic and physical changed occur to strengthen relationship

Question 32

Wilder Penfield

Answer 32

- created maps of sensory and motor cortices in the brain | - removed cells from part of brain to prevent it from spreading to other parts

Question 33

Herman Ebbinghaus

Answer 33

- collected data on remembering and forgetting | - "forgetting curves" = we forget what we learn quickly but the rate will slow and allow us to remember SOME info.

Question 34

Frederick Bartlett

Answer 34

- memory is influenced by cultural knowledge and exp. | - gestalt psychology

Question 35

Gestalt Psychology

Answer 35

approch emphasizing that psychologists need to focus on the whole of perception and exp. rather than its parts

Question 36

Structuralist

Answer 36

breaking exp. into individual parts

Question 37

Norman Triplett

Answer 37

- people respond to stimuli or events in presence of other people - social psychology/personality psychology

Question 38

Social Psychology

Answer 38

study of influence of others on our behaviour | Norman Triplett

Question 39

Personality Psychology

Answer 39

how different personality characteristics influence how we think/act (Norman Triplett)

Question 40

Kurt Lewin

Answer 40

- founder of modern social psychology - behaviour = function of individual and the environment - behaviour can be predicted/explained through understanding of individual w/ specific set of traits and how they respond to context involved a specific set of conditions (ex. quiet vs. outgoing) - cross-cultural

Question 41

Cross-Cultural

Answer 41

draws comparisons about individual and group behaviour among cultures - role of society in shaping behaviour, beliefs, values