*online article summaries (1 page)Article summaries submitted to [email protected] electronic copy of your article along with the first page of the journal article4 credits by Oct. 11th=1 bonus credittonight @ 8 UU 103What is psychology?A formal discipline in sciencePhysiologicalCognitiveDevelopmentalSocialClinicalThe study of mental processes and behavior in humans whereBehavior=observable actionsMind=sensations, perceptions, memories, thoughts, dreams, emotions, and other subjective experiencesUnconscious knowledge and “operating rules” that are built into the brainExplain and predict behaviorThree foundational ideas for psychology1. Behavior and mental experiences have physical causes, which can be studied scientificallya. Descartes (dualism)b. Hobbes (materialism)2. The way a person behaves, thinks, and feels is modified over time by the person’s experiences in his or her environmenta. John Locke (empiricsm)b. Kant (nativism)3. The body’s machinery, which produces behavior and mental experiences, is a product of evolution by natural selectiona. Darwin (natural selection)Ancient Greece:Seeds for the idea that questions about human behavior and the mind could be answered scientificallyAlcmaeon:* (the story of psychology)Dissected animals, discovered optic nerveThe brain is the seat of understanding and to distinguish understanding from perceptionThought perceptions travelled along channels to the brainEmpedoclesAsserted that all things are made up of four elements: earth, fire, water, airAll matter is made up of natural elemental substancesHippocratesFather of medicineApplied Emp.’s 4 element theory to the body4 body fluids: (fire) blood, (water) phlegm, (air) yellow bile, (earth) black bileExplained mental illness as an imbalance of humorsGalenGreek physician during Roman EmpireExtended 4 elements to personalities: sanguine (blood); phlegmatic (phlegm); melancholic (yellow bile); choleric (black bile)SocratesAsserted that we all have innate knowledge that can be “remembered” through questioningSocratic dialecticAsseted that innate knowledge proves that we posses an immortal soulPlatoStudied with Socrates for 8 yearsExpanded upon the notion of innate knowledge and argued against the idea that perception is the source of knowledgeThe “idea” of a chair is more important, real, and enduring than a physical chair“idealist”AristotleSpent 20 yrs at Plato’s academyArgued that perceptions were the essential raw material of knowledgeNo innate knowledge. From accumulated sensations we derive general “ideas”Memory relies on connections among ideasSimilarity, contrast, contiguity2000 years of dormancynone of the social and religious systems inspired men to explore the psychological unknownsome slight modifictions and discussions (Galen)eventually, the grip of religious doctrine loosened (slightly)1600=renaissance (rebirth)Rene DescartesDualism (mind=nonmaterial; body=material)Shifted the explanation od behavior toward the body (REFLEX)Shifted explanation of behavior towards the bodyTheory of reflex based on Hydraulic Automaton (animated statuses)Complex behaviors can occure by purely mechanical means without influence from the soulThomas HobbesMaterialism=no part of the universe is spiritual and “soul” is only a metaphor for lifeConscious thought is purely a product of the brain’s machineryJohn LockeBritish empiricsm: human knowledge and thought derive ultimately from sensory experience (vision, hearing, etc). Blank slateAll mind is filled with experienceAssociation by contiguity (apple)Immanuel KantNativism: basic knowledge is inbornThe mind must come with some initial furnishings in order for it to be furnished further by experienceCharles DarwinTheory of natural selectionInnate characteristics of any species can be asserted by what function they serveAll organisms are subject to the same evolutionary processFormal Schools of Thought in PsychologyEmphasizing analyzing causes of thoughts and behaviors at different levelsLevel of the BrainLevel of the personLevel of the groupStructuralismWilhelm Wundt=father of modern psychologyEdward Titcher=studentGoal was to identify building blocks of consciousness by describing and assessing every mental process to produce a particular sensation of feelingMethod=introspectionFunctionalismWilliam JamesSought to understand how human behavior and thought benefit our ability to survive and adapt the environmentInfluenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selectionHumans and nonhuman animals are relatedParts v. FunctionPsychodynamic TheorySigmund FreudThe “talking cure”Mind is composed of individual thoughts (id, ego, superego)Unconscious mental processes (sexual, aggressive, hedonistc) interact with conscious repressive processes to produce behavior, which is sometime abnormalTheories based on subjective interpretations are unable to be falsifiedBehaviorismPavlov, Thorndike, Watson, Hull, SkinnerRejected studying mental processes as they were too subjective and not a useful conceptEmphasize studying only observes behavior, focusing on stimuli and responses to those stimuliResponses to stimuli have consequences that affect how organism will respond to the stimulus on a subsequent encounterMon: 3:30-530Tues 3-5Wed 4-6 300K (next to elevtor)Thur: 10-123-5Fri: 11-1Definitions:Fact=objective statement based on observationTheory=idea designed to explain fact and make predictionsHypothesis=prediction about new facts made from theoryExperiment by Oskar Pfungst=debunked Clever Hans theoryThe Value of skepticismpeople are fascinated by extraordinary things and want to believe themThe value of careful observation under controlled conditionsControl condition is the hallmark of scientific researchObserver Expectancy EffectsCues from the scientist of the observer may cause subject to participate or behave in a certain mannerDimension 1 Research designDescriptive studies: (ex: Jane Goodall)Collecting facts, making observationsNormally done in the fieldObservation w out manipulation, no causal conclusions can be drawnGood for exploring phenomena and creating hypotheses that can later be tested in a real experimentCorrelational studiesDetermine the relationships between variablesCorrelation does not imply causation!There is no ability to manipulate variablesCan determine strength and direction of relationship (positive or negative)Making connections, drawing relationshipsExperimentsTurning correlation into
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