PSY 401 1st Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Lectures 1 7 Lecture 1 January 23rd Issues in Historical Study Describe why we study the history of Psychology We study the history of psychology in order to Have a coherent narrative understand the different disciplines that led to the founding of psychology Know the context we can better understand the ideas if we know the background Make progress We need to know what has been researched in order to build off of previous findings Avoid Pitfalls Know what mistakes have been make so they are not repeated What is Historiography What is the difference between Historicism and Presentism Describe an example of a primary and a secondary source Explain a situation in which one might be better How are internal and external historiography different Historiography method of history based on examination of relevant sources must use reliable sources make decisions in order to study something Presentism the interpretive study of past events Involves the inability to set aside bias and instead embrace subjectivity Historicism is an objective analysis of human past for its own sake it involves avoiding being swayed by morals Scientists can look at something the occurred without regard to morality Milgram Studies A primary source would be a speech written by President Lincoln A secondary source would be a textbook explaining the main points of the speech by Lincoln A primary source in this situation may not be as helpful because you may not be able to understand the main points from the way Lincoln wrote the speech Internal Historiography involves a detailed account of a discipline from inside whereas external historiography looks at it from the outside Philosophies of History What are two orientations or ideas about how history is shaped Great Person Orientation discusses how history is shaped by ideas actions of brilliant people Zeitgeist believes it is shaped by broad impersonal factors Lecture 2 January 26th Explain three theories of historical development Which is the theory behind scientific development Cyclical theory history and an endless process of repetition supernatural explanations and introspection Linear Progressive each generation builds on the last scientific development Chaos Theory history is a series of random and unrelated events George W Stepping down after two terms Philosophical Issues What main idea came from Thomas S Khun Give an example of this idea Paradigm shifts how change happens over time dominant way of doing things is shifted to something new An example was the introduction of computers and how it caused a shift from behaviorism to cognitive psychology Who introduced inductive and deductive thinking What are the main differences between the two types of thinking Which one can you use to prove something Why must a theory possess falsifiability Karl R Popper Inductive involves beginning with a blank slate then making observations finding a pattern making a tentative hypothesis and developing a theory Deductive involves beginning with a theory then coming up with a hypothesis seek out ways to disprove the theory make observations collect data and end with a confirmation then revise and begin again Neither of these can prove an idea theory Falsifiability is important for a theory to be scientific because it needs to have the potential to be proven wrong Explain Epistemology What are the contrasting features between rationalism and empiricism Give an example of each Epistemology is the study of the nature of knowledge how we know what we think we know Rationalism involves the idea that the source of all knowledge is reason a priori so we have an active mind An example is the visual glass cliff they use in developmental research to examine if we are born with depth perception or if we learn it Empiricism holds the idea that knowledge is based on sensory experience a posteriori and involves a passive mind An example is the examination of the size distance cue with children shows they learn to distinguish close from far away objects Lecture 3 January 28th Explain the Nature vs Nurture issue examines whether our behavior is controlled by our experiences or our genes Nature heredity and genetic determine behavior Example is imprinting Nurture Environment is responsible Example is behaviorism Describe the differences between Reductionism and Holism reductionism molecular study of behavior reduces simple parts Can describe a building in different ways such as how it looks from outside the patterns of bricks or the individual atoms that make up the entire structure holism behavior and cognition should be studies as a whole When looking at an illusion examining the little spots of ink doesn t tell you about the perceived illusion need to look at the organization of the spots at a higher level Explain the different between Monism and Pluralism using the example of drug addiction Monism drugs cause addiction putting rats in skinner box and giving them access to drugs rat how no control and is now addicted pluralism multitude of reasons one may become addicted rats put in rat park with access to drugs would not go back could wean themselves off Concluded in bad social circumstance skinner box they were more likely to become dependent What is the mind What is the brain Explain Psychogeny What are the two theories involved in psychogeny and the issues associated with each theory Mind not something you can directly look at consciousness Brain physical Psychogeny study of origin development of the mind identity theory person s mind is endowed at a single point in time in its full form Issues are 1 Arbitrary time line 2 Where does it come from Emergentism certain in point in time mind emerges but from brain and since brain develops over time so does the mind Issues are 1 Not sure degree of complexity necessary for emergence 2 How do subjective experiences fit in 3 What is it emerging from Explain the Monistic and Dualistic theories surrounds the Mind Body Problem Monistic only have one thing other is an illusion Materialism body is only true reality Idealism the ultimate reality consists of ideas or perceptions and is not physical consciousness generates material world Epiphenomenalism the mind is secondary phenomena byproduct arising from the body brain unidirectional Lecture 4 January 30th Dualistic mind and boy both exist and might interact Interactionism mind and body interact to cause a mutual event bidirectional causal relationship