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Question

Discuss Helmholtz's (1821-1894) study

Answer 1

There was a common belief that perception and sensation was simultaneous. However, when a stimulus was applied to the big toe and then to the thigh, perception times varied ?nerve conduction

Answer 2

He proposed that scientific psychology should focus on analysing consciousness (a person's subjective experience of the world). Proposed STRUCTURALISM (the analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind) and Introspection (subjective observation of one;s own experiences) {Focusing on pressing a button as opposed to focusing on the tone to press the button: former faster reaction time as interpretation of the sound in not a factor)

Answer 3

William James did not believe in the structuralist approach. He claimed that it isolated aspects of consciousness that distorted its very nature. He proposed FUNCTIONALISM (the study of mental processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment) 1890: abilities evolved because they were adaptive i.e. had a biological function {Perception: recognition of family/ predators; Language: organise thoughts and communicate to others --> forming social groups; Memory: Avoid solving the same problems with each encounter; Emotions: strong social bonds, react strongly to events that have life/ death significance William James (1890): In ordinary consciousness, we are aware of a single self but aberrations suggest that their brain could create many conscious selves that are not aware of each other's existence

Answer 4

1. Gestalt Psychology We perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts Muller-Lyer line Wertheimer (vertical light source, diagonal light source) 2. Mental Disorder and Multiple Selves Azam (1876): Felida X (dissociative identity disorder). Went from shy to outgoing with no insight Charcot and Janet interviewed women with hysteria. Hypnosis relieved symptoms of blindness and paralysis but they returned once the hypnosis session ended. 3. Freud and Psychoanalytical Theory Hysteric patients' problems could be traced to painful childhood memories that they could not recall. Suggested the powerful influence of the unconscious mind 4. Psychoanalysis and the Humanistic Response Freud was dark. Maslow and Rogers proposed HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY- an approach to understanding human nature that emphasised the positive potential of humans. Humans were free agents who had an inherent need to develop and reach their full potential.

Answer 5

1. Understanding a person's thoughts, feelings and behaviours required a thorough exploration of a person's early sexual experiences AND unconscious sexual desires 2. Considered taboo 3. Retrospective reports are often non-reproducible

Answer 6

1. Physiological needs 2. Safety 3. Love and Belonging 4. Esteem 5. Self-Actualisation

Answer 7

Altered state of consciousness characterised by suggestibility

Answer 8

Emphasises the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts and behaviours

Answer 9

An approach that advocates that psychologists should restrict themselves to the scientific study of objectively observable behaviours

Answer 10

Private experience was too vague to be replicable and thus instead of describing experiences, the focus should be on what people actually did. In animal studies, that's precisely what was done. Based on Pavlov's experience... Little Albert and the white rat

Answer 11

In everyday life, animals DO things, not just wait for food. He built an OPERANT CONDITIONING CHAMBER (Skinner Box). (Beyond Freedom and Dignity (1971): Behaviour was controlled by the judicious application of the principle of reinforcement. Free Will is an illusion, we are responding to past and present patterns of reinforcement Spinoza (1677): Men are conscious of their actions and ignorant to the causes by which they are determined.

Answer 12

the scientific study of mental processes such as "attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and thinking". Attempts to link brain with mind

Answer 13

The study of the causes and consequences of interpersonal behaviour

Answer 14

How cultures reflect and shape the psychological processes of members. Relativism: psychological phenomena are likely to vary considerably across cultures

Answer 15

the reason why one does something

Answer 16

the intention one does something

Answer 17

the drive to do something

Answer 18

Actions can feel willed or not. Will is a feeling. The feeling of will is separate from the action of actually doing it

Answer 19

Alien Hand Syndrome Hypnosis Hand experiment (sense of self is permeable)

Answer 20

Will not only refers to a feeling, but also can be conceptualised as a force. Restraining oneself is often seen as "causing" control Benjamin Livit: fMRI showed activity 200ms before awareness of desire to move

Answer 21

Hume: we cannot see causality we infer it Priority (temporality), consistency, exclusivity (discount causal inference if other causes are apparent) Humans like discussing things in goal-directed terms The real causes of human behaviour are strongly overdetermined. We think of ourselves as causal when we experience relevant thoughts of the act in advance of the act and infer that our mental processes caused the act (Wegner and Wheatley 1999) ``` Fudor modularity (1983) : modules are functionally impenetrable The classic illustration of this property comes from the study of visual illusions, which tend to persist even after the viewer is explicitly informed about the character of the stimulus. In the Müller-Lyer illusion, for example, the two lines continue to look as if they were of unequal length even after one has convinced oneself otherwise, e.g., by measuring them with a ruler ```

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