TOPIC 2 - THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY
PLATO
The soul chariot: We need a stable charioteer --> Conscious mind to Skillfully handle the wild and untamed horse --> Emotional mind o Mind (reason, intellect) o Moral, emotional (bravery) o Irrational passions (appetite) -Following the Socratic tradition, Plato was also of the view that knowledge is innate and inside themind. In order to extract knowledge one needs to look into the mind rather than looking at external objects. -This method was later called the introspective method in which outwardly observation is discouraged andlooking into the mind or the soul is encouraged. -This method was later adopted by manyphilosophers/psychologists who agreed with Platonian and Socratic methodology. -Plato is also considered an idealist philosopher who believed in the supremacy of ideas. He did notbelieve in acquiring knowledge by empiricism and observing facts. -He thought that ideas are the only sourceand the true source of knowledge. -As an individual looks into his ideas he can extract the best possiblesolutions and explanations to the problems that are encountered by him or her. -Another of Plato's contributions is that he described the parts of personality as Intellect ·Will·And appetite.·The intellect is the ability to understand, while the will is the drive to do something. - Appetite on the other hand is the part of the personality that deals with bodily needs. According to Plato, ideas are eternal, they are not born, and neither do they die while worldly objects change and die. Therefore, true knowledge, asmentioned earlier, can be gained from ideas rather than observation. Plato also regarded the soul or psycheto be permanent and the body as something that could change. This further suggested that knowledge couldbe acquired through the soul or the psyche but not by the use of bodily sensory organs. To Plato sensory organs were a hindrance to the acquisition of knowledge. Plato suggested that the soul has three parts: Reason, located in the head Passion, located in the chest Appetite, located in the stomach The function of the reason is to control and direct the passion and appetite. - Passion is the desire to performa certain action. -Appetite part of the soul refers to the natural needs of the body, such as hunger, thirst etc. According to Plato, some passions and appetites are satisfied in dreams. This concept given by Plato issimilar to what was later given by Freud as id, ego and super ego. Plato was the one who established thefirst ever university by the name of Academy.
GALEN
➢ ,The four humors of human organism ➢ Essentially, this theory holds that the human body is filled with four basic substances, called humors, which are in balance when a person is healthy. All diseases and disabilities supposedly resulted from an excess or deficit of one of these four humors. These deficits were thought to be caused by vapors inhaled or absorbed by the body. The four humors are black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. These terms only partly correspond to the modern medical terminology 1. Yellow bile: choleric, IRRITABLE 2. Black bile: Melancholic, DEPRESSED 3. Blood: sanguine, OPTIMISTIC 4. Phlegm: Phlegmatic, CALM
Operant Conditioning:
Operant Conditioning: B.F. Skinner Reinforcements rewards and punishments → o It means roughly changing of behavior by the use of reinforcement which is given after the desired response. SKINNER identified three types of responses or operant that can follow behavior; 1) Neutral operants: responses from the environment that neither increase nor decrease the probability of a behavior being repeated. 2) Reinforcers: Responses from the environment that increase the probability of a behavior being repeated. Reinforcers can be either positive or negative. 3) Punishers: Responses from the environment that decrease the likelihood of a behavior being repeated. Punishment weakens behavior.
Psychoanalysis Sigmund Freud (1956-1939)
Sigmund Freud (1956-1939) --> Clinical practise -->Comprehensive theory of personality, disorders and interventions -->Unconscious and sexual desires Psychoanalysis was founded by Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Freud believed that people could be cured by making conscious their unconscious thoughts and motivations, thus gaining "insight". The aim of psychoanalysis therapy is to release repressed emotions and experiences, i.e. make the unconscious conscious. Psychoanalysis is commonly used to treat depression and anxiety disorders.
A. BANDURA - SOCIAL LEARNING
A. BANDURA - SOCIAL LEARNING: posits that people learn from one another, via observation, imitation, and modeling
Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive psychology focuses on the way humans process information, looking at how we treat information that comes in to the person (what behaviorists would call stimuli), and how this treatment leads to responses. In other words, they are interested in the variables that mediate between stimulus/input and response/output. Cognitive psychologists study internal processes including perception, attention, language, memory and thinking.
Gestalt Psychology
Gestalt Psychology Another response to early experimental psychology The Berlin School of Exp. Psy. The primacy of the „global whole" Gestalt: „The whole is other than the sum of the parts" (Kurt Koffka) The principles of organization The dynamics of Perception Famous representatives Oswald Külpe (Wundt's disciple) Max Wertheimer Kurt Koffka Wolfgang Köhler
JOHN B. WATSON (1878-1958)
J.B. Watson is regarded as the founder of the school of behaviorism Watson taught that psychology should ignore consciousness and concentrate on concrete facts:psychology. This was one of the founding principles of the behaviorists' approach. He further said thatpsychologists must discard all reference to consciousness and must only look at behavior of animals andman. Because of his stress on behavior to the neglect of consciousness, he called himself a behaviorist. He was the first one to proclaim himself as a behaviorist. In one of his books, entitled "Behavior," he enumerated what behaviorism is all about inpsychology. As the functionalists and the structuralists had defined psychology as the study ofconsciousness, Watson defined, as opposed to them, psychology as the science of behavior. Behavior ofanimals and humans was in his view what needed to be studied for an understanding of psychology.Furthermore, Watson asserted that psychologists should use only objective, experimental methodsand should not use introspection as a method. He said that the aim of the study of psychology should be toprovide prediction and control of behavior. This is the basic aim of behaviorism. Behaviorists tend todevelop methods and techniques to control and predict human behavior in order to get the most out of them. Behaviorism emerged in times when the industrial revolution took place. At that moment in thehistory of mankind, the focus was on increasing the productivity of workforce. According to Watsonian behaviorism, behavior can be studied in terms of stimulus-responsepatterns. This means, that a stimulus is received by organism and it responds. For example, when someone touches a hot object, he immediately withdraws his hand from the object. In other words, the hotness ofthe object serves as the stimulus while the withdrawing action of the individual is his or her response to the stimulus. This again refers to the study of behaviorism as a physiological phenomenon rather than a mysterious one. He said that the sensory activities of the brain can be classified as "molecular behavior."Watson further proclaimed that by controlling the environment of an organism we could controlled and predict its behavior. This is known as environmentalism, that organism is affected by its environment.It is similar to the idea of Tabula Rasa given by John Locke. Watson's contribution to psychology was one of the major developments in the study of psychology.
C. DARWIN:
One of the greatest contributions of Charles Darwin is that he put forward the view that life andsurvival in the world requires constant struggle and battle against hostile forces. He stated that only thoseorganisms survive who can fight the battle and win while weak organisms perish. This is the law of the nature. This law is called "Survival of the Fittest" which was given by Darwin in an article written by him.Relating it to psychology, Darwin said that psychology is a study of tactics of organism for survival andemotions are an important factor for survival of the organisms. This means that organisms use theiremotions to accomplish the task of fighting against the hostile environment and forces.For example, when an animal shows its teeth to a predator in anger, the predator is scared. Theanimal is actually expressing its emotions. The emotions may merely to scare the enemy. On the other hand,when an animal screams or cries, it is actually calling others for help. Therefore, according to Darwin, this ishow organisms use emotions to survive in the battle of nature. Darwin was able to relate the battle forsurvival in the nature with the psychology of the organism. This reflects his aim of discovering the linkbetween physiology and psychology.Another contribution of Charles Darwin is he put forward the view that environment plays adominant role in determining the psychology of a person. This means that the environment, in which aperson lives, influences his thinking, his imagination, the way he behaves and his overall personality. This proposition of Darwin gave rise to the nature versus nurture controversy; which means that it is quiteuncertain that whether it is the nature that shapes the thinking and behavior of a human being or it is thebringing up that shapes it. Therefore, man's thinking is either a product of the environment that he lives in
SOCRATES
SocratesSocrates is considered to be one of the most important ancient philosopher/psychologist. He laidthe foundation of ideas for many philosophers/psychologists to follow. Socrates was born in 469BC and hedied in 399BC. In his opinion knowledge and truth reside in the mind and one has to look for and find itthere. It means that in order to gain knowledge and understand various phenomenon one has to lookinwards instead of looking at the outward things and trying to find an explanation in them.He further said that knowledge and awareness create virtue, so in order to be virtuous one has tolook into the self. In other words, Socrates stressed on the study of soul i.e. looking inwards, and he rejectedexternal observation. Another of the Socratic contributions is that he defined the concept of happiness. To Socrates,stealing is not happiness but the satisfaction gained through acquiring by honest means is happiness.He regarded the soul, called psyche in Greek, as superior to body and said that the psyche or thesoul helps us to distinguish between good and bad. Socrates asserted that all things have a definite purposeand nothing occurs without that purpose. Another of the great contributions of Socrates is his method of teaching. It is called the Socraticmethod of teaching. It is also the modern method of teaching and it consists of a dialogue, rather thanmonologue and focuses on the logical correctness of the argument. The teacher and the student interactwith each other and have an intelligent dialogue that helps them to understand and comprehend better. The monologue is discouraged because it involves only one way flow of information, further it does not clear upany misunderstanding that may arise in the mind of the students, who are not able to express themselves. The Socratic method of teaching is in practice these days
Webers law
Weber's Law is related to the Just Noticeable Difference (also known as the difference threshold), which is the minimum difference in stimulation that a person can detect 50 percent of the time. But Ernst Weber noted that for people to really perceive a difference, the stimuli must differ by a constant "proportion" not a constant "amount". For example, if you are buying a new computer that costs $1,000 and you want to add more memory that increases the and the price $200 (a 20% increase), you might consider this too much additional money to spend. However, if you were buying a $300,000 house a $200 feature may seem like nothing. It might take an additional $10,000 to make you stop and think if it's too much to spend. In this example, the amount stays the same ($200), but the proportion changes and that's what makes the perceptual difference.
WILHELM WUNDT
• "Father of psychology" • Important because he separated psychology from philosophy by analyzing the workings of the mind in a more structured way, with the emphasis on objective measurement and control • Wundt argued that conscious mental states could be scientifically studied using introspection Wilhelm Wundt (1832 - 1930) is known as the "Founder of Modern Psychology" and the "Father of Experimental Psychology". He established the first laboratory in the world that was dedicated to Experimental Psychology, particularly investigations on the senses and perceptions. Wundt used the method of Introspection to investigate psychological phenomena. This involved the subject's observation and reporting of his own inner thoughts and sensations, and was very difficult to master.
J. LOCKE:
• "Tabula rasa" ='blank slate': individuals are free to define the content of their character. Your mental content comes only from your experience. You're born with an empty mind, which is to be filled with your life experiences. • Sensualism: all experiences is either external/sensation (=external perception) or internal which is called reflection (=inner perception). Locke maintained that the ideas of sensation is "prior" in the sense that the ideas of reflection depends upon the ideas of sensation. . Criticism of this: Locke held that reflection (=inner perception) is awaken by sensation, but did not maintain that reflection is produced from sensation
THE LAWS OF LEARNING: • CLASSIC CONDITIONING:
• CLASSIC CONDITIONING: o Def: a process in which a previously neutral stimulus comes to evoke a specific response by being repeatedly paired with another stimulus that evokes the response. o I.P. PAVLOV: his work had a major influence on behaviorism o Conditioned reflexes: "Pavlovs dogs"
MEDIATION PROCESSES: • E.C. TOLMAN - COGNITIVE MAPS:
• E.C. TOLMAN - COGNITIVE MAPS: people and animals are active information processes and not passive learners as behaviorism had suggested. Tolman developed a cognitive view of learning that has become popular in modern psychology. Tolman believed individuals do more than merely respond to stimuli; they act on beliefs, attitudes, changing conditions, and they strive toward goals • C.L. HULL - DRIVE: motivational theory - drive is a major cause of learning and behavior. Primary drives (innate drives): e.g. thirst, hunger, sex. Secondary drices: learned by conditioning: e.g. money. • NEOBEHAVIORISM: school of psychology based on the general principles of behaviorism but broader and more flexible in concept. It stresses experimental research and laboratory analyses in the study of overt behavior and in various subjective phenomena that cannot be directly observed and measured, such as fantasies, love, stress, empathy, trust, and personality
Gestalt Psychology - Laws of perceptual organization
➢ Everything we see, we see for the first time. While parts of a scene may correspond to objects we have some previous acquaintance with, we almost never see the same objects in the same configuration under the same lighting conditions from the same perspective.
6) IMMANUEL KANT:
➢ Ifølge Kant er ikke mennesket et tabula rasa, men erkjenner verden med både sansene og fornuften. ➢ Kant responded to his predecessors by arguing against the Empiricists that the mind is not a blank slate that is written upon by the empirical world,
R Descartes 1596-1650
➢ One of the deepest and most lasting legacies of Descartes' philosophy is his thesis that mind and body are really distinct—a thesis now called "mind-body dualism." ➢ He reaches this conclusion by arguing that the nature of the mind (that is, a thinking, non-extended thing) is completely different from that of the body (that is, an extended, non-thinking thing), and therefore it is possible for one to exist without the other. ➢ This argument gives rise to the famous problem of mind-body causal interaction still debated today: how can the mind cause some of our bodily limbs to move (for example, raising one's hand to ask a question), and how can the body's sense organs cause sensations in the mind when their natures are completely different?
ARISTOTLE
➢ The three part of the soul. → The soul of man, Aristotle says, has three parts. 1. The Contemplative. This is the pure rational part. It does the thinking, reasoning, etc. 2. The Appetitive. This part has a rational element. This part has to do with our appetites and desires. This part can be corrected and controlled by reason. 3. The Vegitative. This part has no rational element. This part takes care of things like breathing, growing, digesting, etc. This part cannot be controlled or corrected by reason. ➢ Now Aristotle thinks that whatever the human function is, it must be identified with something in the human soul. So where would the human function belong? It can't belong to part (3), since this part is shared with all living things (and so doesn't differentiate humans from other living things). So it must be (1) and (2). ➢ The reason it is (1) and (2) is this: humans have reason, and other living creatures do not have reason. As such, Aristotle argues that the human function is a certain kind of life where the entity lives in accord with reason. ➢ When a person's soul lives in accord with reason, this is called VIRTUE. ➢ So, the function of human beings is to live virtuously, which means that the human being must live a life in accord with reason. ==> Anticipating later ideas ➢ Catharsis → Meaning "purification" or "cleansing" → Aristoteles beskriver katarsis som sletting av følelser av medlidenhet og frykt er såret opphisselse hos betrakteren av tragedien
