Chapter 1 vocab Flashcards
(46 cards)
The type of determinism that stresses the biochemical, genetic, physiological, or anatomical causes of behavior
Biological determinism
The belief that scientific laws and theories are correct insofar as they accurately mirror events in the physical world
Correspondence theory of truth
The belief that everything that occurs does so because of known or knowable causes and that if these causes were known in advance, an event could be predicted with complete accuracy. Also, if the causes of an event were known, the event could be prevented by preventing its causes. Thus, the knowledge of an event’s causes allows the prediction and control of the event
Determinism
The belief that bodily and mental events are inseparable because they are two aspects of every experience
[Type of dualism; humans can be divided into mind and body; they are a unity of experience]
Double aspectism
Anyone who believes that there are two aspects to humans, one physical and one mental
Dualist
The contention that mental processes emerge from brain processes. The interactionist form of this claims that once mental states emerge, they can influence subsequent brain activity and thus behavior. The epiphenomenalist form claims that emergent mental states are behaviorally irrelevant
[Type of dualism; mental states emerge from brain states]
Emergentism
The belief that the basis of all knowledge is experience
[Emphasizes experience]
Empiricism
The type of determinism that stresses causes of behavior that are external to the organism
Environmental determinism
The form of emergentism that states that mental events emerge from brain activity but that mental events are subsequently behaviorally irrelevant
[Type of dualism; mental processes are byproduct of the brain]
Epiphenomenalism
The study of the nature of knowledge
Epistemology
Argued that science cannot be described by any standard set of rules, principles, or standards. In fact, he said, history shows that scientific progress occurs when individual scientists violate whatever rules, principles, or standards existed at the time
Paul Feyerabend (1924-1994)
The approach to history that concentrates on the most prominent contributors to the topic or field under consideration
Great-person approach
The approach to history that concentrates on an element of a field or discipline and describes how the understanding or approach to studying that element has changed over time. Ex: description of how mental illness has been studied and defined throughout history
Historical development approach
The study of the past for its own sake, without attempting to interpret and evaluate it in terms of current knowledge and standards, as is the case with presentism
Historicism
Those who believe that ultimate reality consists of ideas or perceptions and is therefore not physical
[Attempt to explain everything in terms of consciousness]
Idealists
The contention that even though determinism is true, attempting to measure the causes of something influences those causes, making it impossible to know them with certainty. This contention is also called Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle
Indeterminism
A proposed answer to the mind-body problem, maintaining that bodily experiences influence the mind and that the mind influences the body
[Type of dualism; the mind and the body interact]
Interactionism
Any explanation of human behavior stressing determinants that are not under rational control–for example, explanations that emphasize the importance of emotions or unconscious mechanisms
Irrationalism
Believed that the activities of members of a scientific community are governed by a shared set of beliefs called a paradigm. The paradigmatic, or normal, science continues until an existing paradigm is displaced by another paradigm
Thomas Kuhn (1922-1996)
Those who believe that everything in the universe is material (physical), including those things that others refer to as mental
[Matter is the only reality, thus everything must be explained in terms of matter]
Materialists
The belief that the behavior of organisms, including humans, can be explained entirely in terms of mechanical laws
Mechanism
Those who believe that there is only one reality. Materialists are this in because they believe that only matter exists. Idealists are also this because they believe that everything, including the “material” world, is the result of human consciousness and therefore mental
[Believe in only one view: either materialist or idealist]
Monists
The belief that what one experiences mentally is the same as what is present physically
Naive realism
Anyone who believes that important human attributes such as intelligence are largely inherited
[Emphasized inheritance, proposed that some ideas are naturally part of the mind]
Nativist
