Chapter 5 Flashcards
(27 cards)
Who is Charles Darwin and what was his famous theory?
Charles Darwin (1809-1882), famous for his theory of natural selection
What is Darwin’s painstaking work?
His 1859 book, On the Origin of Species, regarded as the single most important book in the history of scientific publications by many sources
Describe the theory of natural selection
Changes occurred in species and that some of these changes would prove to be advantageous to the organism, thus increasing that organism’s chances of survival. As the environment changed, species had to adapt to those changes. If they didn’t, they died.
What was the debate over “pure” science versus application like?
Pure science is research that is done without regard for practical benefits, search for knowledge for knowledge’s sake
Applied research is designed to have some practical application
Pure scientists viewed themselves and their science as superior to those doing applied work
Who was Edward Bradford Titchener? What was he famous for?
Edward Bradford Titchener (1867–1927)
Structuralism: emphasis on discovering the structure of consciousness
How did Titchener distinguish between mind and consciousness?
mind is the sum-total of mental processes occurring in the life-time of an individual
consciousness is the sum-total of mental processes occurring now, at any given ‘present’ time
What was structuralism/introspective psychology?
Structuralism is a theoretical paradigm in psychology that involves identifying the structure of consciousness by analyzing its elements and their arrangement.
- Analysis refers to identifying the elements of consciousness, while synthesis involves discovering how these elements are grouped and arranged.
What is introspection according to Titchener?
- Looking within
In Titchener’s lab, a trained introspector is presented with words one at a time to observe and report the mental processes stimulated by the word. This could include recalling another word, or experiencing an emotional reaction like sadness, happiness, or surprise.
Titchener emphasized the need for high concentration, unbiased observation, and the ability to precisely translate experiences into words. He noted that effective introspection requires the observer to be in good health, at ease, and free from external worries.
What is introspective habit and stimulus error?
Titchener trained his introspectors to develop what he called the “introspective habit,” allowing them to observe their mental processes automatically without significantly disrupting them. This training was crucial for achieving accurate and consistent introspective reports.
Titchener emphasized the importance of avoiding the stimulus error, where observers might confuse the object of observation (e.g., a book) with the basic elements of the stimulus (e.g., color, texture, shape). Properly trained introspectors should focus on these elements rather than the object as a whole.
What were Titchener’s three elements of consciousness?
Sensations, images, and feelings
- Sensations have four main attributes: quality (e.g., cold, red, loud, salty), intensity (e.g., brighter or dimmer, louder or softer), clearness (e.g., distinct vs. indistinct), and duration (the time course of the sensation). Some sensations like touch might have additional attributes such as extent.
- Images share the same four attributes as sensations. Feelings, however, are described only by three attributes: quality, intensity, and duration.
What was Titchener’s psychological periodic table?
Inspired by the periodic table in chemistry, Titchener aimed to develop a similar systematic classification for psychological elements, identifying and cataloging the basic elements of the psychological world.
By 1896, Titchener had cataloged a vast array of sensory experiences: 32,820 distinctive visual sensations and 11,600 separate auditory sensations, totaling more than 44,000 distinctive sensory experiences for vision and audition alone.
What were some criticisms of Titchener’s pursuit of elemental analysis?
While Titchener was committed to his exhaustive listing of distinctive sensations, other psychologists questioned the purpose and utility of such detailed analysis, wondering what it could reveal about the workings of the mind. Despite criticisms, Titchener continued his work, convinced that this elemental analysis was crucial for a scientific understanding of consciousness.
What was Titchener’s greatest contribution to American psychology?
Four volumes entitled “Experimental Psychology: A Manual of Laboratory Practice” (2 on qualitative experiments and 2 on quantitative experiments)
These volumes were designed not for original research but to teach standard laboratory methods through classic psychology experiments, such as sensory tests and threshold measurements.
What was Titchener’s organization?
The Experimentalists:
It met once a year in the spring at one of the psychology laboratories in the Northeast. Attendance was by invitation only, and only men were permitted. Titchener wanted it that way because he felt the presence of women would harm the kind of frank discussion that he wanted to have among “laboratory men.”
Later changed the name to the Society of Experimental Psychologists (SEP) and agreed to invite women, although a small number
Who was Margaret Floy Washburn (1871–1939)?
She graduated in 1894 as Titchener’s first doctoral student and the first American woman to receive a PhD in psychology.
Published her work in Wundt’s Journal because Titchener adored it. Then became the translator of the second volume of Wundt’s “Ethics”
Second women president of the APA, in 1921
What was Washburn known for?
Washburn published numerous articles with her undergraduate students on topics like personal memory, the interaction of emotion and memory, and attention. These topics continue to be relevant in contemporary cognitive psychology.
Washburn is best known for her book “The Animal Mind,” first published in 1908. This work, which underwent four editions with the last in 1936, focused on animal cognition and included introspection by analogy—a method that inferred animal mental processes by comparing them to human ones.
What is functionalism and what was significant about it?
Functionalism is often recognized as the first uniquely American school of psychology, despite its roots in the evolutionary theories of Charles Darwin and Francis Galton. It represented a broader, more diverse approach compared to earlier psychological theories.
By the early 20th century, Functionalism had given rise to various sub-schools and influenced many aspects of American psychology, establishing a legacy that emphasized practical applications and a comprehensive understanding of mental processes.
What is the difference between functionalism and structuralism?
Titchener’s Structuralism focused on reducing consciousness to its smallest elements, contrasting with Functionalism’s broader approach that included diverse methods and topics such as animal behavior, clinical psychology, and intelligence testing.
What were the foundational questions of functionalism?
Functionalists were driven by questions about the utility and origin of consciousness, grounding their inquiries in evolutionary theory to explain how consciousness developed and why it is useful for adaptation.
Prominent psychologists like William James, G. Stanley Hall, and James McKeen Cattell, all influenced by Darwin, incorporated evolutionary concepts into their psychological theories, contributing to the foundation of Functionalism.
Functionalism was closely associated with William James’s pragmatism and G. Stanley Hall’s recapitulation theory, both of which emphasized the practical and adaptive aspects of psychological phenomena.
Who was James Rowland Angell (1869-1949)?
James Rowland Angell (1869–1949) studied under William James and John Dewey, functional psychology
Dewey’s 1896 article on the reflex arc is considered a foundational piece for functional psychology. He criticized the reductionistic view of reflex arcs into separate components and proposed viewing them as integrated circuits, emphasizing adaptive function.
What were three key ideas of functionalism by Angell?
Angell outlined three key ideas of functionalism:
- Focus on mental operations rather than elemental structure.
- Investigation of the utilities of consciousness—how consciousness helps organisms adapt to their environment.
- Recognition of psychophysical psychology—the interconnectedness of mental and physical processes.
How does functionalism view adaptation?
Functionalism views adaptation as a critical aspect of mental processes, facilitated by learning, which allows organisms to adjust and thrive in their environments.
Who was Robert Sessions Woodworth and what was he famous for?
Robert Woodworth (1869–1962), a Columbia University faculty member who, unlike his peers, never strictly identified as a functionalist but whose work aligns closely with functional psychology due to its eclectic and practical approach.
In his 1918 book “Dynamic Psychology,” Woodworth critiqued both structuralism and behaviorism, arguing that psychology should focus on understanding the dynamics of mental processes, particularly what motivates human actions.
Central to Woodworth’s dynamic psychology is the concept of motivation or “drive,” which he believed was crucial in understanding why people act as they do. His emphasis on motivation marked a significant departure from simpler stimulus-response models.
What is the S-O-R model according to Woodworth?
Woodworth proposed the S-O-R (Stimulus-Organism-Response) model, emphasizing the importance of organismic variables (such as motives, emotions, and personality traits) that intervene between stimuli and responses, shaping behavior.
he proposed an S-O-R psychology in which the O stood for organismic variables. These variables were part of the organism—the person—and unique to that person. Organismic variables are the emotions, motives, personality traits, prejudices, ambitions, attitudes, that is, all of those personal variables that not only affect which stimuli are selected from what James called that “teeming multiplicity of objects and relations” but determine what responses will occur.
