Foundations for the Study of Psychology 08 29 2013 online article summaries 1 page Article summaries submitted to subject binghamton edu Submit electronic copy of your article along with the first page of the journal article 4 credits by Oct 11th 1 bonus credit tonight 8 UU 103 What is psychology A formal discipline in science o Physiological o Cognitive o Developmental o Social o Clinical The study of mental processes and behavior in humans where o Behavior observable actions o Mind sensations perceptions memories thoughts dreams emotions and other subjective experiences Unconscious knowledge and operating rules that are built into the brain Explain and predict behavior Three foundational ideas for psychology studied scientifically a Descartes dualism b Hobbes materialism 1 Behavior and mental experiences have physical causes which can be 2 The way a person behaves thinks and feels is modified over time by the person s experiences in his or her environment a John Locke empiricsm b Kant nativism 3 The body s machinery which produces behavior and mental experiences is a product of evolution by natural selection a Darwin natural selection Ancient Greece be answered scientifically Alcmaeon the story of psychology Seeds for the idea that questions about human behavior and the mind could Dissected animals discovered optic nerve The brain is the seat of understanding and to distinguish understanding from perception Thought perceptions travelled along channels to the brain Empedocles water air Hippocrates Asserted that all things are made up of four elements earth fire All matter is made up of natural elemental substances Father of medicine Applied Emp s 4 element theory to the body 4 body fluids fire blood water phlegm air yellow bile earth black bile Explained mental illness as an imbalance of humors Galen Socrates Greek physician during Roman Empire Extended 4 elements to personalities sanguine blood phlegmatic phlegm melancholic yellow bile choleric black bile Asserted that we all have innate knowledge that can be remembered through questioning o Socratic dialectic Asseted that innate knowledge proves that we posses an immortal soul Plato Studied with Socrates for 8 years Expanded upon the notion of innate knowledge and argued against the idea that perception is the source of knowledge The idea of a chair is more important real and enduring than a physical chair idealist Aristotle knowledge general ideas Spent 20 yrs at Plato s academy Argued that perceptions were the essential raw material of No innate knowledge From accumulated sensations we derive Memory relies on connections among ideas o Similarity contrast contiguity 2000 years of dormancy none of the social and religious systems inspired men to explore the psychological unknown some slight modifictions and discussions Galen eventually the grip of religious doctrine loosened slightly 1600 renaissance rebirth Rene Descartes Dualism mind nonmaterial body material Shifted the explanation od behavior toward the body REFLEX Shifted explanation of behavior towards the body Theory of reflex based on Hydraulic Automaton animated statuses Complex behaviors can occure by purely mechanical means without influence from the soul Thomas Hobbes metaphor for life Materialism no part of the universe is spiritual and soul is only a Conscious thought is purely a product of the brain s machinery John Locke British empiricsm human knowledge and thought derive ultimately from sensory experience vision hearing etc Blank slate All mind is filled with experience Association by contiguity apple Immanuel Kant be furnished further by experience Charles Darwin Theory of natural selection Nativism basic knowledge is inborn The mind must come with some initial furnishings in order for it to o Innate characteristics of any species can be asserted by what function they serve o All organisms are subject to the same evolutionary process Formal Schools of Thought in Psychology Emphasizing analyzing causes of thoughts and behaviors at different levels o Level of the Brain o Level of the person o Level of the group Structuralism sensation of feeling Method introspection Functionalism William James Wilhelm Wundt father of modern psychology Edward Titcher student Goal was to identify building blocks of consciousness by describing and assessing every mental process to produce a particular o Sought to understand how human behavior and thought benefit our ability to survive and adapt the environment o Influenced by Darwin s theory of evolution and natural selection o Humans and nonhuman animals are related o Parts v Function Psychodynamic Theory Sigmund Freud o The talking cure o Mind is composed of individual thoughts id ego superego o Unconscious mental processes sexual aggressive hedonistc interact with conscious repressive processes to produce behavior which is sometime abnormal o Theories based on subjective interpretations are unable to be falsified Behaviorism Pavlov Thorndike Watson Hull Skinner o Rejected studying mental processes as they were too subjective and not a useful concept o Emphasize studying only observes behavior focusing on stimuli and responses to those stimuli o Responses to stimuli have consequences that affect how organism will respond to the stimulus on a subsequent encounter Research Methods 08 29 2013 Wed 4 6 300K next to elevtor Mon 3 30 530 Tues 3 5 Thur 10 12 3 5 Fri 11 1 Definitions Fact objective statement based on observation Theory idea designed to explain fact and make predictions Hypothesis prediction about new facts made from theory Experiment by Oskar Pfungst debunked Clever Hans theory The Value of skepticism people are fascinated by extraordinary things and want to believe them The value of careful observation under controlled conditions Control condition is the hallmark of scientific research Observer Expectancy Effects Cues from the scientist of the observer may cause subject to participate or behave in a certain manner Dimension 1 Research design Descriptive studies ex Jane Goodall o Collecting facts making observations o Normally done in the field o Observation w out manipulation no causal conclusions can be drawn o Good for exploring phenomena and creating hypotheses that can later be tested in a real experiment Correlational studies o Determine the relationships between variables o Correlation does not imply causation There is no ability to manipulate variables o Can determine strength and direction of relationship
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