Lecture 4: The birth of psychology - 1650-1900

Question 1

We ought never to allow ourselves
to be persuaded of the truth of
anything unless on the evidence of
our reason. And it must be noted that
I say of our reason, and not of our
imagination or of our senses: thus,
for example, although we very clearly
see the sun, we ought not therefore
to determine that it is only of the size
which our sense of sight presents;
and we may very distinctly imagine
the head of a lion joined to the body
of a goat, without being therefore
shut up to the conclusion that a
chimaera exists

Answer 1

descartes

Question 2

Thus we remember, to have seen that species of object we call flame, and to have felt that species of sensation we call heat. We likewise call to mind their constant conjunction in all past instances. Without any farther ceremony, we call the one cause and the other effect, and infer the existence of the one from that of the other.”

Answer 2

Hume

Question 3

wat was de grootste vraag gedurende deze tijd

Answer 3

does man fall within or outside the scope of science?

Question 4

who published the first book with psychology in the title and when

Answer 4

christian wolff: 1732 -> Psychologia Rationalis

Question 5

wat was het boek van christian wolff…

Answer 5

• de eerste presentatie van psychologie als eigen science
• launches the idea of introspection als methode
• wanted to describe the results of introspection mathematically

Question 6

introspection is the study of …

Answer 6

the mind, by the mind.
(to learn about the mind, we have to look inside)

Question 7

who was kant impressed with

Answer 7

newton

Question 8

who was the first to consider the possibility of a scientific psychology

Answer 8

Kant (maar… hij dacht dat psychology at most could describe, but will have no explanatory laws such as physics)

Question 9

in welke twee categorieen deelde kant science op

Answer 9

• proper science: lawful, quantitative description in the language of mathematics
• improper science: describing cases in normal language, categorisation, merely empirical, Kant called this systemic art

Question 10

“A rational doctrine of nature thus deserves the name of a natural science, only in case the fundamental natural laws therein are cognized a priori, and are not mere laws of experience…
…in any special doctrine of nature, there can only be as much proper science as there is mathematics therein… …proper natural science requires a pure part lying at the basis of the empirical part, and resting on a priori cognition of natural things”

wie zei dit en wat bedoelde hij er mee

Answer 10

Kant: chemistry is not a proper science, and psychology certainly not!

Question 11

Kant; introspection is problematic because….

Answer 11

• mental states are not quantitative
• therefore no mathematical description
• consciousness never stands still
• observing the mind changes the mind

Question 12

Comte: introspection is problematic because….

Answer 12

• no distinction between investigator and investigated
• objectivity is impossible: you cant check it
• evidence is therefore not public (and therefore not scientific)

Question 13

waarom liep psychologie rond 1700 dus een beetje vast

Answer 13

omdat ze alleen introspectie hadden om mee te meten, en dat was dus niet scientific.

Question 14

wat was toen het wereldbeeld over mensen en psychologie (3 misconcepties)

Answer 14

• humans cannot be described in maths
• humans are different from animals
• the mind is immaterial

(= non scientific psychology)

Question 15

waardoor veranderde het beeld

Answer 15

door de uitvinding van de stopwatch in 1816. toen kon Donders in 1868 de ‘duration of mental processes’ meten dmv mental chronometry.

-> toen mathematical description of mental processes

Question 16

jack the ripper en freud waren tegelijkertijd

Answer 16

oke

Question 17

Cognitive psychology: it turns out man
can be described mathematically!

Answer 17

oke

Question 18

Fechner

Answer 18

difference in weight is easier to noice when the objects are similar (twee telefoons) than when they are different (mok vs telefoon)

Question 19

dus wie kan ook gezien worden als de eerste cognitieve psycholoog

Answer 19

fechner, omdat reaction time van Donders zo subjectief gezien wordt

Question 20

wie was de eerste die statistiek toepaste op menselijk gedrag

Answer 20

Quetelet

Question 21

wat introduceerde Quetelet

Answer 21

l’homme moyenne

(the average human: when individuals cannot be described lawfully, the average person can!)

Question 22

Galton kenmerken

Answer 22

• cousin of darwin
• fascinated by genius ppl
• human qualities are just as heritable as natural qualities
• eugenetics

Question 23

eugenetics =

Answer 23

intelligence should be leading in who gets to procreate and who does not

Question 24

wat zeiden statistics

Answer 24

humans are stochastic (eigenschappen die goed beschreven worden door random probability distributions) and noisy

Question 25

Kant had underestimated...

Answer 25

the potential of descibing humans mathematically

Question 26

wat was darwins evolutie theorie

Answer 26

* Charles Darwin dethrones man as king of the animal kingdom * Suggests an explanation for the origin of species based on evolution with two simple principles: accidental mutation and natural selection * Animals that are better adapted to their environment survive and reproduce more than animal less adapted. * Human beings developed certain advantageous traits (like bipedalism), passed those on, and evolved as a separate species from apes.

Question 27

wat waren de consequenties van darwin

Answer 27

– Man loses its special status compared to animals – Human and animal behavior are related – A very important part of the question "who are we?" suddenly turns out to fall within the scope of science

Question 28

wat was de enchantment of the mind

Answer 28

eerst dachten ze dat de soul: connections to god, immaterial, etc.

Question 29

hoe veranderde dit beeld van de mind

Answer 29

- 1800: mental functions are related to the brain - localization (wernicke, broca) - reflexes -> why wouldnt the brain also just be a machine?

Question 30

dus welke 3 misconcepties waren er over mensen en psychologie, en hoe werden deze veranderd?

Answer 30

- no mathematical description: reaction time and stopwatch - humans are not animals: evolution theory - the mind is immaterial: the brain is material gebeurde allemaal in de 19e eeuw/1800!

Question 31

wat was het eerste psychologie lab

Answer 31

in 1879, van wundt

Question 32

wat deed freud als eerste

Answer 32

first comprehensive psychological theory

Question 33

wie was de eerste psycholoog van austro-hungarian empire

Answer 33

freud

Question 34

wie was de eerste van german empire

Answer 34

wundt

Question 35

wie was de eerste van usa

Answer 35

james

Question 36

wie was de eerste van frankrijk

Answer 36

binet

Question 37

Psychoanalysis revolves around....

Answer 37

the tension between the conscious and unconscious

Question 38

unconscious=

Answer 38

set of uncoordinated instinctual desires (like sex and aggression), too threatening to allow into the conscious

Question 39

wat is de relatie tussen id, ego en superego

Answer 39

the ego censors the id by order of the superego.

Question 40

wat waren nog meer standpunten van de psychoanalysis

Answer 40

* In psychic functioning unconscious fantasies, desires and drives are central. * They primarily serve the pleasure-principle. * Only secundarily they serve adaptation and rationality (reality principle). * Rational adaptation never really succeeds, conflict remains.

Question 41

dus samenvatting van freud

Answer 41

unconscious drives usually serve the pleasure principle, instead of the reality principle. psychological problems arise from problems in the unconscious (complexes, repressed memories etc.). the psychoanalyst needs to trace down these problems.

Question 42

waar kan een psychoanalyst deze unconscious aan herkennen

Answer 42

– Slip of the tongue – Dreams – Free associations (when the censoring ego is not paying attention)

Question 43

hoe keken ze voor de 16e eeuw naar mentale stoornissen

Answer 43

- leefden thuis of op straat - possessed by the devil or ghosts

Question 44

hoe keken ze na de 16e eeuw naar mentale stoornissen

Answer 44

- responsibility to authorities - institutions (maar leken eerst wel op gevangenissen) - treatments such as cold showers or turning around

Question 45

hoe keken ze rond de 19e eeuw naar mental disorders

Answer 45

- focus from 'treating morale' to biological components - neurologists - use of hypnosis - uiteindelijk psychologische therapie

Question 46

1. Psychoanalysis was initiated and shaped by Freud and his wishes were father to many of its thoughts. 2. Historians and methodologists have found unscientific practices and clinical scandals. 3. This has resulted in genuine scientific and ethical doubts. Is psychoanalysis a science? Is it a cure? Or only nonsense?

Answer 46

oke

Question 47

wat was het centrale thema van wundt's lab

Answer 47

consciousness

Question 48

welke methodes in wundts lab

Answer 48

– Experimental observation (e.g. reaction time research) – Introspection (e.g. investigating affective states) – Völkerpsychologie (historical and cultural analysis of psychology).

Question 49

wat was wundt zijn theorie

Answer 49

characterization of affect in terms of valence (positive/negative) and arousal (high/low)

Question 50

structuralism =

Answer 50

* Mental states are thus “built” from basic properties * Structuralists think we should study the structure of mental experiences * Complex psychological states are systematic constellations of thoughts and feelings

Question 51

hoe zou een structuralist 'guilt' uitleggen

Answer 51

= a [negative] feeling linked to the thought [that you've done something wrong]

Question 52

hoe zou een structuralist 'hope' uitleggen

Answer 52

= a [positive] feeling linked to the thought [that something might get better in the future]

Question 53

wat was een overeenkomst tussen wundt en james

Answer 53

dachten beide dat consciousness centraal moet staan

Question 54

wat was anders tussen james en wundt

Answer 54

wundt: structuralist james: vond structuralism saai en impossible, was een functionalist

Question 55

wat was james zijn tegenargument tegen structuralism

Answer 55

a single thought cannot occur to a single section of the brain, because your thoughts are dynamic.

Question 56

william james kenmerken

Answer 56

* Strongly influenced by Darwin * Emphasizes the function of psychological phenomena * He is therefore one of the founding fathers of functionalism in psychology * Like Wundt, he developed theories about emotions * Emotion is a response to physiological change (The James Lange Theory of Emotion). * These physiological changes and emotions have a function

Question 57

hoe legt James de emoties disgust en fear uit

Answer 57

– Disgust coincides with sticking the tongue out, which has the function of spitting out bad food – Fear coincides with an increased heart rate, which has the function of being ready to flee

Question 58

wat vragen functionalists zich altijd af

Answer 58

what is the purpose of this psychological state

Question 59

fear serves to avoid danger, love serves to generate offspring, : religious faith serves to coordinate behavior in a society waar is dit een voorbeeld van

Answer 59

functionalism

Question 60

James emphasizes ...

Answer 60

the usefulness of everything; consciousness is not an “entity” but a function

Question 61

first female president of the APA=

Answer 61

mary calkins

Question 62

wat deed mary calkins

Answer 62

argued for a union of functionalist and structuralist approaches. -> the self is both in relation with the environment and should be investigated structurally

Question 63

Binet;

Answer 63

* Binet first tries to establish intelligence like Galton did: reaction times, basal perceptual tests, skull size, etc. * That doesn't work, and Binet comes up with the idea of letting kids solve simple tasks * counted how many problems the kids solve: much stronger predictor of academic success than all previously constructed variables.

Question 64

Terman

Answer 64

* Educational psychologist * Also eugenicist * Devises the Stanford Binet Intelligence Scales, which is still the basis of most IQ tests.

Question 65

* Test scores are seen as more fair than the teacher's judgement (there is a lot of evidence for that) * In the 20th century testing institutes are set up to classify students into education levels * In the Netherlands CITO is founded by A.D. de Groot * Testing children at primary schools doesn’t have a good reputation anymore, but don’t forget that it was introduced as a solution for teachers’ prejudices

Answer 65

oke

Question 66

* Psychology comes into existence in a turbulent time in which the image of man is tilting in all kinds of ways * Psychology becomes an independent discipline (no longer part of philosophy) and becomes an empirical science, initially based on introspection * Psychology is given shape: Freud, Binet, James, and Wundt all still have a detectable influence on psychology * There are some schools, but no dominant paradigm yet. This is being developed in the US, where Thorndike, because he couldn't use children as a test subject, started studying chickens...

Answer 66

oke

Question 67

wat was de anthropometric laboratory

Answer 67

van Galton, waar simpele reaction time experiments werden uitgevoerd = psychometrics!