ch1 : origins of science of mind (17th century)

Question 1

3 critical intellectual developments: 1. Geocentric to heliocentric universe

Answer 1

the defining moment where science overpowered religion

• the idea that the earth revolves around the sun rather than the sun revolving around the earth.
• humans are no long special divine creatures/ center of creation
• challenged knowledge that had been established and that knowledge can be accessed through science

Question 2

3 critical intellectual developments: 2. Mechanization of the world including human body:

Answer 2

the idea that the body is a machine created by God, but because it’s a machine we can understand how it works

Question 3

3 critical intellectual developments: 3. Newton’s Physics:

Answer 3

• the law of gravity which explained so many things in the working of the universe
• faith in science was found, idea that the law can explain the working universe than we can discover a law that can explain human bodies
• soul was replaced with mind/brain

Question 4

Psychological sensibilities

Answer 4

common man was more aware of psych processes, of their own place in the universe, and developing a psych understanding of themselves

Question 5

Renee Descartes Mind-body dualism

Answer 5

1. Mind-body dualism: mind and body are separate entities each with its own properties
   - body is a machine created by God so it follows specific laws and we can access those laws through knowledge(believed in Rationalism)
   - Soul independent of body & we can’t study that
   - human body can be studied because it’s like any other machine
   - distinguished between mental processes (perception, thinking, memory) they form the materialistic world and we can study them
   - Rationality is part of soul

Question 6

Renee Descartes Method of doubt

Answer 6

accept only those things are clear & distinct/no possibility of doubt.

• anything about which you can have a doubt, don’t accept it
• Certainty should be the basis of knowledge
• I can only get certainty about my own self through thinking

Question 7

Renee Descartes mechanical movement

Answer 7

metaphor for understanding functions of the body

Question 8

John Locke’s Empiricism

Answer 8

all knowledge gained though experience (through senses), crucial to development of psych

• No innate knowledge, no divine knowledge, knowledge is gained through experiences
• Was able to place the soul in the mind

Question 9

Tabula Rasa/ Blank slate

Answer 9

knowledge mind gathering experiences from the material world

Question 10

Associationism

Answer 10

complex contents of consciousness built from elementary sensations through laws of association (ex: when we say chair, the immediate association is desk)

Question 11

2 ways humans can learn : 1. Sensation

Answer 11

-complex ideas are built from simple sensations

Question 12

2. Reflection

Answer 12

• use relfection to understand that sensation and then develop complex ideas from there
• humans able to think & reflect on human experience

Question 13

Empirical method:

Answer 13

through observations based on our hypothesis we collect the data and try to understand the results