Chapter 8 Flashcards
(130 cards)
1
Q
What is psychology an outgrowth of?
A
outgrowth of Enlightenment philosophy and 19th Century physiology
2
Q
What is psychology?
A
Psychology is the study of the soul
3
Q
Why is psychology important?
A
Important because it shapes what we do and why we do it
4
Q
Describe what objective means
A
Objective - factual, concrete, without bias and observable.
5
Q
Describe what subjective means
A
Subjective - open to interpretation, qualitative, easily influenced, individualized/relative
6
Q
Describe two things about the Enlightenment
A
Empiricism is part of psych’s enlightenment background (focus on senses, knowledge comes from these, passive mind view, Brits and French) and the other side was rationalism (Germans, knowledge we obtain via senses is transformed by the mind via reason, active mind).
7
Q
Describe early science and physiology
A
- Scientific achievements helped to address the question: By what mechanisms do empirical events come to be represented in consciousness?
- Everything from sense perception to motor reactions was studied intensely and gave birth to experimental psychology.
8
Q
Describe the Objective-Subjective split
A
O & S split is a big issue for scientists. Sensory info might not be accurate. Led to concerns and interest in sensation.
9
Q
Describe the role of early reaction time studies
A
- Early reaction-time study illustrated the importance of individual differences and demonstrated the importance of discrepancy between objective and subjective reality.
Evident that there was not a point-to-point correspondence between physical reality and the psychological experience of that reality.
Researchers became interested in the physiology of the organism.
10
Q
Describe the 2 astronomer example
A
2 astronomers example. One was an assistant and the other saw that his observation was off by a few seconds. Senior saw the difference as incompetence
11
Q
Describe the importance of Besel’s finding
A
maybe it wasn’t incompetence, maybe it was a difference between individual perceptual systems. Very first reaction time study. His observations of planetary motion compared to colleagues. Systematic → personalized equations which can be done to deal with errors. He started to uncover individual differences.
12
Q
Why were individual differences considered scary?
A
They were frightening to science because it’s hard to study (outside of stats).
13
Q
What were the two things early physiologists were interested in?
A
Early physiologists were either interested in accounting for individual differences in systematic ways or they were establishing universals.
14
Q
How did universal physiologists view differences?
A
Universals → accounted for differences as “noise”. E.g. Extreme outliers today
15
Q
What did physiologists want?
A
Wanted to understand the processes and mechanisms organisms interact with their environment.
16
Q
Describe the Bell-Magendie law
A
- Demonstrated That Sensory nerves enter the dorsal roots of the spinal cord and motor nerves emerge from the ventral roots.
- Separated nerve physiology into sensory and motor functions
- Significant because it demonstrated that specific mental functions are mediated by different anatomical structures.
It was no longer possible to think of nerves as general conveyors of vibrations or spirits.
Sensory nerves carry impulses from sense receptors to the brain
Motor nerves carry impulses from the brain to muscles and glands.
This suggested separate sensory and motor regions in the brain.
17
Q
What were the two camps prior to this law
A
Descartes’ view and Hartley’s view
18
Q
What was Descartes’ view?
A
Nerves = hollow tubes
19
Q
What was Hartley’s view?
A
Nerves vibrated
20
Q
What is the Bell-Magendie law?
A
Demonstrated That Sensory nerves enter the dorsal roots of the spinal cord and motor nerves emerge from the ventral roots.
21
Q
What was B-M law’s effect on physiology?
A
- Separated nerve physiology into sensory and motor functions
- Significant because it demonstrated that specific mental functions are mediated by different anatomical structures.
- It was no longer possible to think of nerves as general conveyors of vibrations or spirits.
- This suggested separate sensory anmotor regions in the brain.
22
Q
What did sensory nerves do?
A
Sensory nerves carry impulses from sense receptors to the brain
23
Q
What did motor nerves do?
A
Motor nerves carry impulses from the brain to muscles and glands.
24
Q
What did Bell discover?
A
- Bell’s palsy is named after Charles Bell, who was a science geek.
- He didn’t really publicize his work, which was mainly with rabbits.
- There isn’t just one kind of nerve. There are distinct sensory and motor nerves a la Bell.
- ## Sensory = dorsal, motor emerge from ventral nerves
25
What was the major historical conflict that Bell and Magendie were part of?
Major historical conflict because Francois Magendie got similar findings 10 years later and supporters on both sides argued. Resolved via naming of Bell-Magendie Law.
26
What new understanding of the brain did the Bell-Magendie law suggest?
Forward pathway: Senses —> Nerves —> muscles
27
What were Johannes Müller’s contributions to physiology?
- Demonstrated that each of the five types of sensory nerves results in a characteristic sensation.
- In other words, each nerve responds in its own way regardless of the stimulation which activated it.
- Trained some of the most important physiologists of this era
- 5 types of sensory nerves → characteristic sensation
28
Describe the idea of characteristic sensation
Respond in a specific way no matter how they’re stimulated.
29
What was Du Bois Reymond's famous statement?
- Cut and cross auditory and visual nerves → hear with eyes and see with ears.
30
What is adequate stimulation?
The idea that each sensory system is maximally sensitive to a specific type of stimulation but may be stimulated by other forms of energy.
31
What did Müller call this?
“specific irritability”
32
Why is this concept important?
This set the stage for how we experience the world
33
What determines our sensations?
The central nervous system, not the physical stimulus, determines our sensations
34
What determined sensations, according to Müller?
The energy of the nerve that determined sensations
35
Why is this concept important?
Helped us determine what kind of access we have to the world around us.
36
Give an example
- Humans can’t detect UV light but bees can.
- Bees experience the world differently than us.
37
What determines what we experience?
The Nervous system
38
What is consciousness dependent on?
The NS
39
Describe Müller’s rudimentary view of attention
Humans have an active mind that lets us focus on somethings at the expense of others (e.g. vision and hearing atm than feeling of clothes).
40
What else did Müller do?
He opened the 1st experimental physiology office in Berlin.
41
What did Galvani do?
He used electricity to elicit reflex action in the leg of a frog.
42
Why is he important?
He was a crucial figure that sought to understand the basis of neural transmission as an electrical process.
43
What methodology did Galvani use?
Used laden jar (stores electrical charge) as a source to elicit a reflex in the partially intact spinal cord of a frog.
44
What did Galvani discover?
Nerves can conduct electricity.
45
How did he try to fit his stuff into the paradigm?
- Was more passive and tried to fit it in the existing paradigm.
- He called it “animal electricity” - different substance, from fluid made by nerves
46
What was Du Bois-Reymond’s contribution?
Established the modern basis of neural transmission.
47
How does he differ from Galvani?
- Broke away from traditional views entirely
- Set the stage for the modern view of nerves.
48
Who was Helmholtz?
One of the most important scientists in this era
49
Why was school a problem for him?
- German education is very holistic
- He hated the arts
- Challenged his teacher
50
How did he understand science?
Science can let us understand every facet of our lives
51
What was the speed of nerve conduction according to Helmholtz?
Measured the speed of nerve conduction, finding nerve conduction in humans to be between 165 and 330 feet per second.
52
Why was this work important?
This provided further evidence that physical– chemical processes are involved in our interactions with the environment rather than some mysterious process.
53
How did Müller view nerve conduction?
Nerve conduction is instant, almost divine
54
What was Helmholtz’s view?
- Helmholtz disagreed and took a frog and isolated some neural fibers in the leg and found that nerve conducted faster closer to leg than further away
- Did a number of studies
55
What were Helmholtz’s results?
- Neural impulse in frogs: 90 feet/s
- Nerve impulse in humans (tested by reaction time study): slower in toe and thigh, 160 -365 feet/s
- Result: We can measure it and operate pretty slowly.
56
Why did he throw the concept out?
Tossed this concept out (deemed unreliable) for 2 big reasons: varied widely among individuals and among the same person over time.
57
What was vitalism?
A concept that states that life comes from a force beyond physical and chemical processes alone
58
Why can’t we study the life force, according to vitalists?
Because it was not physical, the “life force” was not conducive to scientific analysis.
59
What was the materialist position?
- The materialist position (Helmholtz and others) stated that life could be explained in terms of physical and chemical processes and thus there is no need to exclude the study of life or anything else from the realm of science.
60
What was Helmholtz able to demonstrate?
Through research he was able to demonstrate the application of the principle of conservation of energy to living organisms.
61
What was the mechanist position?
Components and mechanisms can be used to understand everything (e.g. Helmholtz)
62
What is the cat example?
Computer that’s malfunctioning can be taken apart. A cat that isn’t working properly → taken apart then cat is dead.
63
Whose position is dominant today?
Helmholtz’s
64
What are 2 big concerns in psych?
Prediction and control
65
What do psychologists want to do?
- Want to establish universals, and fine tune them to make distinction
66
What happened near the end of the 18th century
Toward the end of the 18th century, it was believed that a person’s character could be determined by analyzing his or her facial characteristics
67
What is physiognomy?
Determine how a person is via physical characteristics (e.g. gait, posture, facial features, body shape)
68
Why is physiognomy important?
- Start of the study of the brain
- Phrenology is the most important kind
- Attempt to find physiological locations of mental faculties
69
Why was he important?
Developed the first cohesive ideas about phrenology–the magnitude of one’s faculties (in the mind) could be determined by examining the bumps and depressions on one’s skull.
70
Who was Franz Gall?
He was a faculty psychologist that was interested in localizing those faculties.
71
What did he believe?
- Believed that faculties are located in specific parts of the brain
- Also believed that faculties are varied among individuals
72
Describe the basic rationale behind phrenology
- Well developed faculty = bigger brain and push skull up a little
- Less developed = smaller brain and skull would sink in.
73
What was the problem with phrenology?
Gall wasn’t really gifted. He would look at some people’s overt characteristics. E.g. Extrovert → sit them down and bump in one area = extrovert area. Feel someone else with same bump → assumed that they were an extrovert.
74
What contemporary discipline has been referred to by some as the ‘new phrenology’?
Cognitive science
75
What were some of Gall’s better accomplishments?
- Originally differentiated between gray and white matter
- Development of the cortices is related in some way to function
- Was one of the first to ask about brain localization (controversy and research).
76
What is formal discipline
Practicing could strengthen certain faculties
77
Who popularized phrenology?
Gall’s student, Johann Spurzheim (1776-1832), through his demonstrations and books
78
Who was Luigi Rolando?
Critic of phrenology.
79
What kind of research did he do?
Cerebral hemisphere research
80
What did Flourens do?
Used the ablation method (destroying part of the brain and noting behavioral consequences) and investigated localization of function in the brain.
81
Why were his findings important?
- Findings were contrary to the phrenologists
- Observed that in some cases the function that was lost to an ablation was regained later.
82
Who was Phineas Gage?
Man who got a tamping rod through his skull. Survived the accident but experienced gross changes in personality
83
What did Broca and Wernicke do?
They used the clinical method to localize language and communication function in the brain.
84
What is the function of Broca's area?
speech production
85
What is the function of Wernicke's area?
Speech comprehension
86
What methodology did Fritsch and Hitzig use?
They stimulated brain neurons using neurons
87
What were their results?
- The cortex is not insensitive as previously thought
- That when a certain area of the cortex is stimulated, muscular movements on the opposite side of the body are elicited, thus discovering the motor cortex.
- What would later be called the sensory cortex was also discovered.
88
What extended the Bell-Magendie law to the brain?
The findings and observations of other researchers
89
What was Golgi and Cajal's major discovery?
The neuron
90
What was Sherrington's focus?
Spinal cord neurology and reflex pathways.
91
What legacy did Sherrington leave?
He trained many important neurophysiologists such as Eccles and Penfield.
92
Why is Thomas Young important?
He developed a rudimentary theory of colour vision that was built upon by Helmholtz.
93
What are sensations?
Sensations are raw elements of experience and perceptions are sensations after given meaning by the person’s past experience.
94
How did Helmholtz account for the transformation from sensation to perception?
To explain the transformation from sensation to perception dependent he relied on the ideas of unconscious inference of past experience
95
What is Helmholtz’s color theory?
- Devised a theory of color vision which proposed three types of color receptors corresponding to the three primary additive colors.
- The firing of these receptors in various combinations results in subjective color experiences corresponding to various wavelengths of light.
96
What was Helmholtz’s theory of auditory perception?
He proposed a resonance place theory of auditory perception in which the pitches of sound we hear are determined to a great extent on where along the basilar membrane the most vibration is occurring in response to a sound vibration.
97
What is Helmholtz's auditory theory an extension of?
Müller’s doctrine of specific nerve energy
98
What did Helmholtz’s theory lead to?
Led to the development of auditory resonance theory
99
What did Helmholtz discover?
Found that there were thousands of nerve fibers in the ear, responding to different sound waves
100
What was the function of the mind according to Helmholtz?
- The mind’s task was to create a reasonably accurate conception
of reality from the various “signs” that it receives from the body’s sensory systems; the mind is active.
101
How important is he to the development of psych?
- 2nd most important figure in this section
- First is Fechner
102
What were Helmholtz’s contributions to the field?
- He created a space for the conception of the mind in science → psych (?)
- He set the stage for psych to be an experimental, natural science
- He set up a sense of what psych could be
103
What methodology did Purkinje use?
He employed a combination of experimentation and self-observation in his physiological research.
104
What were Purkinje's contributions?
- Purkinje Effect
- Discovered Purkinje Cells and Purkinje Fibres.
105
Who was Purkinje?
- Czech scientist
- He was really poor and didn’t have resources to do what he was doing
- Managed to work around it by turning to phenomenology
- Was interested in study of consciousness
- Studied himself like Descartes did
- Worked at University of Prague
106
What is the Purkinje effect?
- Able to recognize that there were certain visual perceptive events (i.e. illusions) that he didn’t think were random. Relationship of structure of eye and way it was tethered to the brain. 1825 → Purkinje Effect → Relative luminosity of color in faint lights differ from that in bright lights.
- Darker conditions —> Violets and blues are brighter than yellow and red
- Mediated by structure of the eye (cones and rods in the retina)
Inability to differentiate colors in the periphery of the retina → discovered by him
107
What are Purkinje fibers?
Heart fibers (Purkinje fibers) → discovered by him
108
What are Purkinje cells?
Cerebellum neurons (purkinje cells) → discovered by him
109
Why is Purkinje important?
Allowed some psychologists to use their own sense of things in addition to physiological work as it pertained to sensory processes.
110
Who did Hering replace?
Purkinje
111
Which field is Hering more important to?
Medicine
112
Who did he work with?
Joseph Breur
113
What is the hering-breur reflex?
Discovered cells in lungs responsible for respiration
114
What did Hering suggest?
That receptors in the eye provide information regarding depth
115
How did Hering view space perception?
As an innate characteristic of the eye
116
What was his theory?
- Alternative to Helmholtz
- Suggested receptors in the eye which respond in an opponent process manner (red-green, blue-yellow, and black-white)
117
What is the current view?
States the Young-Helmholtz theory is correct at the retina level but neural processes farther up work in opponent process manners like Hering proposed
118
What is Ladd-Franklin's contribution?
Proposed a theory of color vision that was based on evolutionary theory and evolution of the physiology of the system.
119
Describe her color vision theory
Concluded that achromatic vision came first, then blue–yellow sensitivity, and finally red–green sensitivity.
120
What is the central problem in psychophysics?
-Relationship Between Consciousness and Physiology: The main challenge was to determine how conscious mental events are related to physiological processes in the sensory system.
-Question of Conscious Experience: Focused on understanding what we are conscious of and the causes of that consciousness.
121
Describe the rise of experimental psych
-Linking Sensation and Brain Activity: Aimed to scientifically explore how sensations are related to brain activities.
-From Philosophy to Science: Transition from philosophical speculation to empirical investigation in understanding the mind-brain relationship.
122
Describe Weber's focus on physiology
-Primary Research Interests: Specialized in the senses of touch and kinesthesis (muscle sense).
-Expansion Beyond Traditional Research: Before Weber, sensory perception research primarily focused on vision and hearing.
123
Describe Weber's innovations in sensory perception
-Touch as Multiple Senses: Demonstrated that touch comprises several senses, including pressure, temperature, and pain.
-Muscle Sense Recognition: Provided substantial evidence for the existence of a distinct muscle sense.
124
What were his contributions to the JND?
-Exploration of Skin and Muscle Sensations: Investigated the detailed aspects of tactile and kinesthetic sensations.
-Pioneering Work on JND: Among the first to conduct studies on just noticeable differences in sensory perception.
125
Describe the idea of the two-point threshold
-Two-Point Threshold Experiment:
Objective: To find the smallest spatial separation at which two distinct touch points are perceived.
Method: Used a compass-like instrument to apply two pressure points on the skin.
Key Findings: The two-point threshold varied across the body, being smallest on the tongue (about 1 mm)
and largest on the back (about 60 mm).
Interpretation: Differences in thresholds across the body due to varying density of touch receptors.
126
Describe Weber's work on kinesthesis
Importance in Psychology: Weber's kinesthesis research is deemed more crucial than his touch research.
Weight-Discrimination Experiments:
Aim: To determine the smallest detectable difference between two weights.
Process: Subjects compared a standard weight with varying weights, reporting perceptions of weight differences.
Just Noticeable Difference (JND): Identified the minimum
difference between weights that could be perceived. -
Experimental Conditions in Weber's Studies
-Tactile Sensation Condition:
Weights placed on resting hands.
Judgments based primarily on tactile sensations.
-Kinesthetic Sensation Condition:
Subjects lifted weights with their hands.
Judgments based on both tactile and kinesthetic sensations.
Result: Greater sensitivity to weight differences when lifting weights compared to just feeling them.
-Conclusions on Kinesthesis: Kinesthetic involvement in lifted-weight conditions enhanced the sensitivity to weight differences.
-Just Noticeable Difference (JND) as a Constant Fraction: Found that the JND for weight is a constant proportion of the standard weight.
127
Describe Weber's contributions to psychophysics
-Relative vs. Absolute Perception: Demonstrated that sensory discrimination depends on the relative, not absolute, difference between stimuli.
-Extension to Other Sense Modalities: Found that the principle of constant fractions applied to other senses as well.
-Weber’s Law: This principle, defining the systematic relationship between physical stimuli and psychological experience, became known as Weber's Law, the first quantitative law in psychology.
-Breaking Ground in Psychology: Weber’s law established the first systematic relationship between physical stimulation and psychological experience.
-Shift in Scientific Understanding: Aligned with scientists and philosophers who recognized the lack of a direct correlation between physical reality and psychological experience.
-Foundation for Experimental Psychology: Weber's findings laid the groundwork for experimental psychology, particularly in understanding sensory perception.
-Influence on Gustav Fechner: Fechner, recognizing the importance of Weber's work, extended it to address the mind-body problem, leading to further developments in psychophysics.
128
Describe Fechner's philosophical stance and contributions
-Materialism vs. Spirituality: Critiqued materialism ('nightview'), favoring a 'dayview' focused on mind, spirit, and consciousness.
- The day view was represented in his literary works by 'Dr.Mises'
-Adoption of Spinoza’s Dual-Aspect Theory: Believed in the coexistence of consciousness and matter (panpsychism).
-Extensive Literary Output: Authored 183 articles and 81 books, influencing various fields.
-Later Years and Legacy
-Death and Eulogy: Died in 1887 at 86, eulogized by Wilhelm Wundt, a prominent figure in psychology.
129
Describe Fechner's law
Formula: S=klogR
S (Sensation): The psychological experience or perception of a stimulus.
k (Constant): A specific constant value that varies across different sensory modalities.
R (Stimulus Intensity): The actual, measurable intensity of the stimulus.
Logarithmic Relationship: Indicates that the sensation increases logarithmically with the physical stimulus, meaning larger stimulus changes are required for noticeable differences in sensation at higher stimulus intensities.
Application Scope: Fechner extended the application of this law beyond sensory perceptions to include more complex human experiences and values.
130
Describe the psychophysical methods developed by Fechner
-Method of Limits: Determines the threshold at which a stimulus
becomes perceptible or imperceptible.
-Method of Constant Stimuli: Involves presenting stimuli of varied
intensities in a random order to determine the point at which changes in sensation are noticed.
-Method of Adjustment: Allows subjects to adjust the intensity of a stimulus until they perceive it as equal to a standard stimulus, measuring the average error in perception.
