Chapter 1 Flashcards
Pre-Scientific Psychology (19 cards)
What is public psychology?
“It comprises
public interest in and beliefs about behavior and mental states.
It involves practitioners, such as phrenologists and mesmerists from the nineteenth century, and
contemporary practitioners who are not trained in psychology, but advertise themselves as persons
who can offer psychological help such as reading a person’s mind, foretelling the future, or offering
some form of therapy that they believe will be effective in treating certain kinds of problems. They
can practice in this way as long as they do not advertise themselves as a psychologist. […]
When and what represented the beginning of modern psychology?
The establishment of a research laboratory by Wilhelm Wundt in 1879 (university of Leipzig in Germany)
What is mental philosophy and what does it include?
The focus of mental philosophy is on sensation and perception (properties of of intellect). Also covered emotions (sensibilities)
What is the study of phrenology （颅相学）and when did it start?
Started with the work of Franz Josef Gall (1758-1828)
He believed that different parts of the brain were responsible for different intellectual,emotional, and behavioral functions.
他认为头骨上面鼓起来的地方代表有些能力很强，凹进去的地方代表发育的不行。比如左耳往上面测量可以看出人的毁坏性，右耳往上可以看出人的自私性。
Elements of modern psychology: localization of function, multiple personality factors
Who are some other important figures in the study of phrenology besides Gall?
- Johann Spurzheim (1777-1832), Gall’s research assistant
- George Combe (1788-1858), book ‘System of Phrenology’ published in 1825
- Orson and Lorenzo (selection of marital partner), Fowler brothers, created their own phrenological industry and profited; founded the American Phrenological Journal
- Abigail Fowler (1939-1922), traveled throughout North America to aim at women clients who were encouraged to gain self-knowledge to earn perfection
What is physiognomy （面相学）and when did it begin?
Physiognomy also called characterology, began in the 18th century. Like phrenology, it was used to validate ethnic and racial stereotypes.
Johann Lavater (1741-1801), book ‘ Essays on Physiognomy’, published in 1775, emphasized the eyes, nose, chin, and forehead as the principal indicators of intelligence,sense of humor, sympathy, morality, and other characteristics.
Who else was famous in the field of physiognomy?
Cesare Lombroso (1835-1909), Italian surgeon and criminologist: criminology descriptions of a criminal’s facial features, such as heads oversized, larger ears and bushy eyebrows
Who founded Mesmerism （麦斯迈催眠术）and what was it about?
Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815) passed magnets over his patients’ bodies to relieve medical and psychological symptoms. At that time, humors or bodily fluids such as blood and bile were viewed as keys to health.
It was argued to be the beginning of psychotherapy by some historians.
What is Franklin commission and what did they do?
Benjamin Franklin lead a commission to investigate animal magnetism. Result: people reported they are healed regardless if they received any treatment. Imagination alone could produce the same effect as actual mesmerism.
How do the actions of the Franklin Commission relate to modern research methods?
- Blinding of subjects
- Experimental and control group; first randomized control trial (first RCT)
- Replication
- Generalize the findings to the public based on a few sample
- Public report of the findings
What is spiritualism and when did it start?
Spiritualism began in 1848 in which mediums claimed to be able to contact the dead through séances
Grew in popularity during and after the US Civil War because so many individuals were desperate to contact loved ones lost in the war
Who was a famous spiritualist?
Eusapia Palladino (1854-1918), communicated with the dead and served as a physical medium, caused physical events to occur, e.g., doors slamming, shoulders being touched. But she actually used deception to create sensory and movement effects of the séances （通灵）
The new science of psychology’s battle for scientific respectability was
partially undermined by a famous psychologist who showed a strong
interest in the pseudosciences . Who was he?
William James
What is mental healing and when did it originate?
Mental healing’s origin was in New England in the 1850s, referred to as the “mind cure” movement or “new thought” movement. Direct tie to mesmerism.
Originator: Phineas Parkhurst Quimby (1802-1866), believed that many diseases had causes that were entirely mental and that other diseases were exacerbated by mental conditions.
How does mental healing work?
Helping the clients reach a spiritual healing by helping them see how irrationality and negative thinking affected their health
What did the course on moral philosophy in the 19th century cover?
Topics such as morality, conscience, virtue, religion, love, justice, and civic duty. Mental philosophy created a home for the new psychology in the university curriculum.
What was an important idea raised by philosopher John Locke (1632-1704)?
The mind as tabula rasa, a blank state. Locke denied the existence of innate ideas and wrote that all knowledge comes from two sources: 1) sensation (via direct experience with the external world); 2) reflection (ideas from an interaction of new sensations and ideas already in the mind from early sensations)
What is Scottish Realism and who is the founder?
Thomas Reid (1710-1796) found Scottish faculty psychology, also known as common sense philosophy.
He explored the five senses and how they are used to gain knowledge of the world. We directly perceive the external world through the senses, with no abstract “reflection”
Who wrote the first textbook in psychology?
Thomas Upham (1799-1872), “Elements of Intellectual Philosophy” published in 1827. His delineation of topics closely mirrored the form of the new experimental psychology and the textbooks in the new field.
