History and Systems 2

Name and define the three basic types of consciousness identified by Titchener and name and describe the characteristics of mental elements (2nd part)

i. Quality- Characteristics elements such as "cold" or "red". ii. Intensity- A sensations strength, loudness, or brightness. iii. Duration- The course of a sensation over time. iv. Clearness- The role of attention in conscious experience.

Nonsense syllables

syllables presented in a meaningless series to study memory processes

Wundt defined his system as VOLUNTEERISM

the act or power of willing; refers to the power of the will to organize the mind's contents into higher-level thought processes

What was the main purpose in Wundt's writing Cultural Psychology?

*10 volume work *dealt with various stages of human development *it divided the new science of psychology into 2 parts: experimental and social *Wundt believed that simple mental functions could be completed in the lab, but that higher mental processes are conditioned by language and other aspects of cultural training

Why was Wundt considered founder of experimental psychology? Discuss what constitutes founding.

*Established first laboratory *Investigated sensation, perception, attention, feeling, reaction time, and association *Edited the 1st journal *Began experimental psych as a science

What constitutes founding?

*lies in the nature of the process of founding a school of thought *founding is a deliberate and intentional act *requires the integration of prior knowledge, and the publication and promotion of newly organized material *more modernly, one must sell their idea to the scientific community

What was the significance of Ebbinghaus' work?

-Ebbinghaus proved Wundt wrong about saying that it isn't impossible to conduct experiments on the higher mental processes. (Wundt said it could only be socially studied) -First to study learning and memory experimentally. -Changed the way learning could be studied. -Experimental psychology

Briefly describe Wundt's 3 goals for psychology

1. ANALYZE conscious processes into their basic elements (2 elementary forms of experience: sensation and feelings) 2. DISCOVER how these elements are ORGANIZED: APPERCEPTION is an active process. Our consciousness is not merely acted on by the elemental sensations and feelings we experience; instead the mind acts on these elements in a creative way to make up the whole 3. DETERMINE the LAWS of connection governing the organization of the elements.

Tri-dimensional theory (part of Wundt's 3 goals for psychology)

Explanation for feelings based on three dimensions: -Pleasure/displeasure -Excitement/Depression -Tension/relaxation

Imageless Thought

Kulpe's idea that meaning in thought can occur without any sensory or imaginal component

Wundt believed that that psychologists should be concerned with the study of immediate experience rather than mediate experience

MEDIATE EXPERIENCE-provides us with information or knowledge about something other than the elements of an experience (Rose being red) IMMEDIATE EXPERIENCE-unbiased or untainted by any personal interpretations (Toothache: describe pain=immediate, say "I have a toothache=mediate)

Describe the process of apperception

Our mind acts on elements in a creative way to make into a whole. Elements are organized into a whole which creates new properties from the building up or combining of the elements (CREATIVE SYNTHESIS)

Phenomenology

Stumpf's introspective method that examined experience as it occurred and did not try to reduce experience to elementary components. Also an approach to knowledge based on an unbiased description of immediate experience as it occurs, not analyzed or reduced to elements

Explain the subject matter of psychology according to Wundt and how did he differentiate between mediate and immediate experience?

The subject matter of psychology was consciousness *It included many different parts, and could be studied by the method of analysis or reduction *Wundt believed consciousness actively organized its own content *He believed the study of the elements, content, or structure of consciousness alone would prove only a beginning to understanding psychological processes

Describe Brentano's act psychology.

a. Focused on mental activities (ex: seeing) rather than on mental contents (ex: that which is seen). b. A distinction between an experience as a structure or content, and experience as an activity.

What are four ways Darwin's work has influenced contemporary psychology?

a. A focus on ANIMAL PSYCHOLOGY forming the basis of comparative psychology. b. Emphasis on FUNCTIONS rather than structure/consciousness. c. The ACCEPTANCE of methodology and data. d. A focus on the DESCRIPTION and MEASUREMENTS of INDIVIDUAL differences.

Who was George John Romanes and what were his two methods of studying animal intelligence?

a. British physiologist b. Formalized and systematized the study of animal intelligence c. Purpose: i. Demonstrate the high level of animal intelligence ii. Demonstrate its similarity to human intellectual functioning d. Developed the "Mental Ladder"-he arrayed the various animal species in order of their degree of mental functioning e. Formed his opinions with: i. Anecdotal method-use of observational, often causal, reports or narratives about animal behavior ii. Introspection by analogy-technique for studying animal behavior by assuming that the same mental processes that occur in the observer's mind also occur in the animals mind

What was the subject matter of psychology according to Titchener?

a. CONSCIOUS EXPERIENCE i.Because experience is dependent on the person who is actually experiencing it. ii.Conscious experience was the only proper focus for psychological research 1.STIMULUS ERROR-confusing the mental process under study with the stimulus or object being observed

Briefly describe the Functionalist Protest

a. Changed focus from the structure of consciousness to its FUNCTIONS. i. Functionalism was concerned with how the mind functions or how it is used by an organism to adapt to its environment b. Protested against both Wundt and Titchener's psychology because they were seen as too restrictive. c. Darwin focused on mental functions. d. The potential application of psychology to everyday problems and how people adapt to different environments (applied psychology).

Compare and contrast the contributions of Structuralism

a. Contributions i. Method of introspection still used today. ii. Its service as a target of criticism iii. Provided a strong starting point in which new movements could develop/advance from. iv. The subject matter, conscious experience, was clearly defined v. Introspective reports involving cognitive processes such as reasoning are frequently used in psychology today b. Criticisms i. The subject matter was limited allowing for no growth. ii. Outdated. iii. Introspection never developed its own "language" iv. The whole of an experience cannot be recaptured by association of individual sensations/states.

What was the fundamental idea underlying Darwin's theory of evolution and briefly explain how he saw this principle working within a species.

a. Evolution- the idea that living things change with time. i. He believed God set life on earth but did not interfere thereafter. ii. Change occurs with natural laws. The variability in nature was due to NATURAL SELECTION-survival of those organisms best suited for their environment and the elimination of those not fit. 1.Life forms that survive the struggle and reach maturity tend to transmit to their offspring the skills or advantages that enabled them to thrive 2.Because variation is one of the general laws of heredity, offspring will show variation among themselves 3.Some will possess the useful qualities developed to a higher degree than their parents 4.Those useful qualities tend to survive, and in the course of many generations changes in the organisms will occur 5.These changes can be so extensive as to account for the differences among species found today iii. Also recognized were changes brought on by experiences that can be passed on to future generations. b. In the Galapagos Islands he observed many animals of the same species had evolved in different ways in response to their environmental conditions. (EX: The finch with a thick beak to slender beak)

Discuss the differences between Wundt and Kulpe

a. Kulpe- Detailed, Qualitative, Subjective. i.Thought processes can be experimentally studied ii.Defined psychology as the science of the facts of experience that are dependent on the experiencing person ^^^ iii.Belief in non-sensory aspects of consciousness(imageless thought) iv.INTROSPECTIVE-examination of one's own mind to inspect and report on personal thoughts or feelings v.SYSTEMATIC EXPERIMENTAL INTROSPECTION-Kulpe's introspective method that used retrospective reports of subjects' cognitive processes after they had completed an experimental task vi.Experimenter has more active role in the research process b. Wundt- Quantitative, Objective i.believed it was impossible to experiment on higher mental processes ii.Wundt prohibited the use of retrospective, or after the fact reporting in his laboratory. iii.He studied conscious experience as it occurred, not the memory of it after it had happened iv.In Wundt's lab, experimenter's involvement was limited to simply presenting the stimulus material and recording the results of the subject's observations

Briefly describe the law of parsimony and how it had an effect on the study of animal intelligence

a. Law of Parsimony-also called Lloyd Morgan's canon; notion that animal behavior must not be attributed to a higher mental process when it can be explained in terms of a lower mental process i. Morgan was the first scientist to conduct large-scale experimental studies in animal psychology. ii. By applying the law of parsimony, Morgan refrained from ascribing higher level mental processes to animals when their behavior could be explained in terms of lower level processes iii. He believed that most animal behavior resulted from learning or association based on sensory experience

Briefly describe Galton's work in the following areas: mental inheritance, statistical methods, mental tests, association of ideas, and mental imagery

a. Mental Inheritance-eugenicsgood in stock, hereditarily endowed with noble qualities i. Argued that individual greatness or genius occurred within families far too often to be explained solely by environmental influences ii. Thesis was that eminent men have eminent sons b. Statistical Methods- i. Galton's work in statistics yielded one of science's most important measures: the correlation ii. He was never fully satisfied with a problem until he had found some way to quantify the date and analyze them statistically c. Mental Tests i. Mental Testtests of motor skills and sensory capacities; intelligence tests use more complex measure of mental abilities ii. Assumed intelligence could be measured in terms of a person's sensory capacities and that the higher the intelligence, the higher the level of sensory functioning iii. Had the whistle, photometer to measure precision, a calibrated pendulum to measure speed of reaction to light and sound, and a series of weights to be arranged in order of heaviness to measure muscle sensitivity d. Association of Ideas i. 2 problems in the area of association: 1.Diversity of associations of ideas 2.Reaction time ii. Developed the word association tests 1.After walking around in London, associating objects with past memories 2.Taking a word and finding 2 words associated with it (test) e. Mental Imagery i. First extensive use of the psychological questionnaire ii. Subjects asked to recall a scene, (breakfast table from that morning) and many couldn't recollect; women and children had more detailed images iii. Galton's work on imagery was rooted In his continuing attempt to demonstrate hereditary similarities; found that similar images were more likely to occur between siblings than between people who were unrelated

Explain the concept of the stimulus error according to Titchener and how it relates to Wundt's distinction between mediate and immediate experience

a. STIMULUS ERROR i. Individual reports apperception not their perception of the elements of the object. ii. Confusing the mental process under study with the stimulus/object being observed. b. How stimulus error relates to mediate/immediate experience i. When observers focus on the stimulus object (apple) instead of on the conscious content, they fail to distinguish what they have learned in the past about that object from their own direct and immediate experience ii. All that observers can really know about the apple is that it is red, shiny, and round. iii. When they describe anything other than color, brightness, and spatial characteristics, they are interpreting the object, not observing it. Thus they would be dealing with mediate, not immediate experience. iv. Mediate- knowledge of an object v. immediate- observation/experience of an object 1.Reporting on a mediate experience (what is known about an object) rather than the immediate experience (what is observed/experienced about an object). vi. Emphasis on the whole rather than parts.

Name and define the three basic types of consciousness identified by Titchener and name and describe the characteristics of mental elements

a. THREE BASIC TYPES OF CONSCIOUSNESS i.Sensations- PERCEPTION EXPERIENCES of sound, sight, smell, and other experiences. ii.Images- The elements of ideas that are found in the process that reflect experiences that are not actually present at the time, such as a memory of a PAST EXPERIENCES. iii.Active States (Affections)- EMOTION EXPERIENCES Elements that are found in experiences such as love, hate, and sadness.

Titchener's behavior toward women was contradictory. Explain why this statement is valid. Use examples.

a. Titchener Experimentalists i. Met to go over and compare research notes ii. Titchener dominated these meetings, but refused women to attend because he wanted a "smoke filled room" and that women were "too pure to smoke" b. Contradictory because... i. Even though he excluded women from these meetings, he encouraged and supported their advancement in psychology ii. He accepted women into his graduate studies program at Cornell (Harvard and Columbia refused admission to women) iii. More than 1/3 of the 56 doctorates Titchener awarded were to women iv. Titchener also favored hiring women as faculty members v. Although he relented on women attending the meetings of the Titchener Experimentalists, he continued to open to open doors for women in psychology that were firmly closed by most other male psychologists vi. CHRISTINE LADD-FRANKLIN- 1.Wrote to Titchener to attend his meetings and he refused; said she would probably disrupt the meetings so bad that the gentlemen would have to meet underground in some rabbit hole 2.He ended up hiring a female later on as a professor, much to the discouragement of others

Explain why it is not correct to call Wundt's psychology Structuralism

a. Titchener's approach which he called structuralism, claimed to represent psychology set by Wundt, but in reality the two systems were radically different. (Titchener didn't translate correctly) i.Wundt focused on apperception. ii.Titchener focused on association. 1.Their subject matter, conscious experience, was clearly defined. Their research methods, based on observation, experimentation, and measurement, were in the highest traditions of science.

What are the similarities and differences between it and Wundt's psychology?

c. Differences i.Brentano opposed Wundt's idea that psychology should only study the content of conscious experience. ii.Opposed Wundt's psychology that mental processes involve contents/elements. iii.Wundt believed that mental processes involve elements. iv.The two had differing methods of study 1.Brentano's ways of study: 1. memory 2. imagination 2.Wundt: 1.experimental 2.social v.Brentano believed the primary method should be observation, not experimentation (empirical approach); believed that primary method for psychology should be observation, not experimentation d. Similarities i.Both wanted to make psychology a science ii.Both also used experimental (Brentano didn't totally reject experimental)

Introspection

method of observation used to examine the conscious experience, examining one's own mind to report on personal feelings and thoughts.

Apperception

process of organizing mental elements into a whole is a creative syntheses which creates new properties from the building up or combining of the elements