psy 305 questions
Discuss the importance of the discovery of imageless thought for the study of consciousness.
the reality of thought without sensation and images was impossible according to Wundt, who believed that all experiments done at Wurzburg, especially Buhler's were pseudo or mock experiments -Wundt Buhler was not using introspection correctly, since his subjects reported what happened as they tried to solve the problem rather than reporting the mental events themselves -Wundt though that their data were "highly subjective" and thus subject to bias and error
Discuss Wundt's studies of "Cultural Psychology."
were ignored? -studied cultures. customs, norms, and they were used to see higher mental processes by looking at evidence through literature and art -his main interest -could not research higher mental processes inside the lab, but it had to be observed in real life settings -wrote 700 pages of history of experimental psychology -spent 2 decades researching this stuff
What was functionalism and why is it the first uniquely American system of psychology?
Functionalism = concerned with how the mind functions or how it is use by an organism adapting to its environment -primary question = What do mental functions accomplish -study of the mind, not from the standpoint of composition, but as an accumulation of functions and processes that lead to practical consequences of the work *uniquely an american system bc of the rapid development of applied psychology in america is considered the most important legacy of the functionalist movement -the most significant ppl to influence the birth of functional psychology in America are Darwin and Galton
Describe Titchener's view of the mind-body problem as expressed in the excerpt form his A Text-Book of Psychology.
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What was "act psychology?" Describe its methods of study. How did this brand of psychology differ from that proposed by Wundt?
-Brentano's psychology 3 fundamental classes of mental acts: -ideating -judging -loving vs hating *mental acts may include as their objects past sensation, thus making it possible to have an idea of an object when the object is not present -the mind employs what Brentano termed as imagination that Locke termed as reflection -similarly is is possible to feel an emotion when the object of that emotion is not present -in this system, one mental act may have as its object another mental act; ex. ideas about ideas judgments of judgments, feelings about feelings -mental acts may mix -> one mental act may have as its object a menial act of a different class; ex. when we hear a harmonious sound we feel pleasure -> pleasure, according to Brentano, results from the mental acts of hearing not from the sensations themselves DIFFERENT FROM WUNDT? -Brentano proposed that instead of studying the products of our mental actions, he proposed that psychologists should study the mental actions and processes themselves -Brentano did not use introspection -> he believed that it is impossible to make inner observations out of our own consciousness Ex. in rage or terror we cannot observe these emotions and if we try to do so, the very act of observing changes, diminishes, or even destroys them IF REJECTING INTROSPECTION WHAT METHODS SHOULD BE USED TO OBSERVE MENTAL PHENOMENA?? -mental acts can be observed in memory and therefore can be studied "quietly and empirically"; ex. look back at the last time we were angry and observe the mental phenomena involved in that emotion -imagination = it is possible to intentionally arouse various mental phenomena for study -studies of mental lives of animals and children as well as examination of the disordered mental lives of idiots and the insane -Brentano was against wundt working mainly in laboratory settings
List and describe Titchener's four attributes of sensation.
-Titchener discovered 44,000 different characteristics -Characteristics of sensation that are conscious and distinct and can be combined to be more complex All sensations although distinct share common things: 1. Quality 2. Intensity 3. Duration 4. Clearness *structuralism died bc there was nothing else it could offer
Discuss the contextual forces contributing to the rise and fall of Wundtian psychology - both in Germany and elsewhere.
-Wundt severed ties with philosophy -attempted to experimentally look into consciousness -legacy was short-lived because of the lack of impracticality and america was extremely dominating in applying psychology -structuralism could only go so far in research and they ran out of things to study and experiment with RISE -prolific writer
Summarize the diversity of Sir Francis Galton's work in psychology. [Note: this question would include brief summaries of the research in questions 7 through 11 plus any other areas of research described in your text.]
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Discuss the contributions of structuralism.
-brought a strict empirical approach to psychology -titchener's experimental psychology was an important contribution that "helped speed the legitimization of the lab as a part of psychological instruction, and thus aided in the acceleration of psychologies separation from philosophy" -structuralism was the dominant approach to psychology in the US, but newer, broader, and more flexible movements which grew out of dissatisfaction with Titchener's system soon challenged and supplanted the structuralist approach -the more relevant to structuralism was measured against titchener's original view of structuralism (used it as a basis to continue research)
What evidence can you cite that indicates the controversy surrounding evolutionary theory continues today?
-creationism -ppl see darwin theory as a threat to the Bible -incompatible with geology
What factors contributed to the proliferation of Titchener's inaccurate version of Wundt's system of psychology?
-he teaches (presentations, lectures) -differences in structuralism (more strict in his ideas) -responsible for bringing a refined version of Wundt's system to america -analyze conscious experience into pieces (Titchener's goal) -Titchener was qualitative and Wundt was quantitative
Describe the subject matter and method of study in Titchener's structuralism.
-introduced Wundt experimental psychology to America -> no applicability -Titchener: Structuralism = analysis of conscious experience in basic element; focused on elements and structure of mind; highly mechanical Subject Matter: -content of conscious experience -highly dependent on the experiencing person vs the observer -stimulus error = often when ppl describe things in everyday language focus too much on the stimulus instead what they are experiencing about the stimulus -consciousness = what you are capturing at that moment vs mind = summation of experiences that accumulated to that point in your mind -his view of structure psychology = the only legitimate purpose of psychology is to study the elements of experience and had no intent of anything applied -Titchener's introspection (systematic experimental introspection) = qualitative subjective reports, highly atomistic; experience consciousness and then go back to analyze the cognitive process of it 2 Steps of Introspection 1. Experience something through senses and reflect on that experience post hoc 2. Trying to capture what is going on in your head as you experience something
Summarize the criticisms of the method of introspection, indicating Titchener's responses to each. In your educated opinion, what criticisms caused the most difficulty for introspection as a valid method?
-rigid and limiting method and was regarded as inward staring 1. Introspections are always retrospections, with a time of as much as 20 minutes intervening between the experience and the report; sic delays suggest the possibility of distortion 2. Introspective reports of consciousness seem remote from consciousness as it is actually experienced. They are dull and irrelevant and certainly not of any functional value 3. Introspection itself is a conscious process and so must interfere with the consciousness it aims to observe -> titchener could only point out that Kant was not an enthusiast on the subject of psychology
What conflicts were generated by evolutionary theory by its linkage of humans with other animal species?
-stated that man are far from being a special creation and that man shows in his anatomical structure, physical features, and biological processes, his relation to lower species and his immediate descent from lower primates -Darwin argued that natural selection governs the development of human mental powers, moral sense, culture and religion; everything that characterizes humankind is the product of a random biological process
Describe Wundt's rules for the proper use of introspection.
-this is the way he sees that it is possible to use self-report -ppl are thoroughly trained in how to detect how ppl perceive the world 1. Observers must be able to determine when the process is to be introduced 2. Observers must be in a state of readiness or strained attention 3. It must be possible to repeat the observation several times 4. It must be possible to vary the experimental conditions in terms of the controlled manipulation of the stimuli *purpose of introspection under stringent experimental conditions is to produce accurate observations that are capable of being replicated, the way external perceptions yields observation for the natural sciences that can be repeated independently by other researchers -introspection = examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings
Compare and contrast the theories and methodologies of Morgan and Romanes in their work in comparative psychology.
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What was Darwin's influence on psychology?
1. A focus on animal psychology, which formed a basis for the development of comparative psychology 2. An emphasis on the functions rather than on the structure of consciousness 3. The acceptance of methodology and data from many fields 4. A focus on description and measurement of individual differences
Discuss the importance of Galton's work on association.
2 forms of association tests: -galton found that 40% of individual associations derived from childhood experiences, an empirical conclusion strikingly consistent with Freud's emphasis on the important of the early years as determinants of adult behavior (Association of ideas) -repeated test = Galton went on two walks, let his mind run freely, and he realized that he made the same associations as he did originally on his first walk (association of imagery)
Describe and give examples of Titchener's elementary states of consciousness?
3 elements of consciousness: 1. Sensations = "feels" of our perceptual world; basic elements of perception that occur (Sight, sound, taste) *both sensations and images, according to Titchener, have particular qualities, the "blueness" of a light, the "highness" of a tone, the "sweetness" of a taste, and so on 2. Images = come from objects that are not physically present; elements of ideas; they are found in the process that reflects experience 3. Affective States (feelings)= emotions reactions to experiences such as love, hate, etc 3 Essential Problem for Psychology: 1. Reduce consciousness to its most basic elements (reductionism) 2. Determine law and how things are associated (mechanistic) 3. Connect elements to physiological components
Describe the relationship between Darwin's concept of natural selection and the Malthusian doctrine of population and food supply.
Darwin formulated the "survival of the fittest" idea after reading Essay of the Principles of Populations by Thomas Malthus, who noted that the world's food supply increase arithmetically whereas the human population increase geometrically -the result is that human being will live under near starvation conditions -only the most forceful, cunning, and adaptable will survive -Darwin extended the Malthusian principle to all living organisms to develop his concept of natural selection -simply put, those organisms that do prevail transmit to their offspring the skills and advantages that enable them to thrive -because variation is one of the general laws of heredity, offspring all show variation among themselves; some will possess the useful qualities developed to higher degree than their peers (a point Galton coined regression to the mean)
What was Wundt's doctrine of apperception and how was it related to the elements of experience?
Doctrine of apperception = law of psychic results -> describes how elements are organized -elements can come together to make something distinctive (like creative synthesis) -today it is similar to selective attention
What is eugenics? Describe Galton's research and accomplishments in this area. What happened to the eugenics movement? Does it exist today? If so, in what ways?
Eugenics = view that the origin of knowledge is that who you are with what you are born with (100% heredity, no nurture) Galton's research and accomplishments: -used statistics and measurement to quantify large sets of data -Correlation coefficient -IQ testing -Everyone else tried to measure something who succeeded him (pearson r) -questionnaires Does it exist today? -yes, some ppl don't think others should procreate if they are poor or low in IQ or abilities (because of misinformation and guidance; too much dependability on genes)
Describe Galton's contributions to statistics. In your educated opinion, what problems did the concept of regression to the mean cause for Galton's hopes for eugenics.
It meant that anyone could procreate and everything would eventually even out even when wealthy ppl procreate it will all average out -regression of the mean = even though there are some distinct qualities of a person, the person can still pass down qualities that will eventually level out as average (ex. height) -this defeats the purpose of eugenics because states that even the smartest ppl will eventually through many generation generate those of an average IQ
What was Morgan' law of parsimony and why was it an important contribution for animal psychology?
Law of Marsimony = notion of animal behavior must not be attributed to higher mental processes when it can be explained through lower mental processes (morgan's law; behaviorism) -why resort to things that are more complex when there is a simp reason for it -through the law, scientists were able to use animals and compare them to humans with the simple explanations without inferring higher mental processes
Compare and contrast the psychologies of Leipzig and Würzburg, both in method and theory.
Leipzig ->Wungt -first lab for Wundt -systematic introspection Wurzburg -> kulpe -was one of Wundt's prominent students -imageless thought -they questioned subjects about the associations that came freely in their minds during thinking -associations were complex and detailed, unlike those by Wundt What are things that Wungt what have never thought do kulpe is more open to variety of experiences
What was the distinction between immediate and mediate experience?
Mediate experiences = tells you how much you see; experiences provide information about something other than its elements of that experience -ex. measuring the wavelength of the light reflected from the paper or a sound spectrogram to measure the frequency and intensity of the tone; these instruments mediate our experiences EX. to say that "the rose is red" implies that our primary interest is in the flower itself and not in the fact that we are "feeling" redness EX. I have a toothache Immediate Experiences = us; how much you actually see/perceive; own subjective experience of something (conscious experiences) *goal of psychology (Wundt) was to study "conscious processes" which he considered to be a part of immediate experience as opposed to mediate experience - the greenness of the paper 0r the highness or lowness of the tone are described as immediate experience -immediate is what we see right away and mediate is what lies underneath; creation of the immediate experience EX. immediate experience of looking at a flower is not in the object itself but instead in the experience (objective and hardcore and not about feelings) of red (Wundt focuses on these)**
Some authors say that Ebbinghaus's research was the "first venture into a truly psychological problem area." Explain the statement. Discuss Ebbinghaus's contributions to psychology.
NOT ON TEST LOOK UP WHY THEY SAID QUOTE 1st person to systematically and experimentally investigate learning and memory *all done in his house, not at a school and he did it all himself (had no one under him) -forgetting curve = after you learn something -> you quickly forget it -did research on nonsense letters -> used repition to see how many times you need to repeat to get it perfect -also studied overlearning -metacognition = thinking about what you are thinking about (self-aware)
Discuss Wundt's elementary forms of experience.
Sensations: one of two elementary forms of experience; sensations arise whenever a sense organ is stimulated and impulses reach the brain; they can be classified by intensity, duration, and sense modality Feelings: aka perceptions; other elementary form of experience; Wundt considered feelings to be the subjective complements to sensations, but do not directly arise from a sense organ
How did Romanes derive his findings on the nature of animal intelligence?
Study animal IQ and Behavior; selected by Darwin to study evolution of the mind Anecdotal Method: -use of observation about animal behavior to infer IQ, cause and effect behavior; ex. apes and dogs have some ability of morality Introspection by Analysis: -technique for studying animal behavior by assuming the same mental processes that happen in the observer's mind to the animal's mind Wrote Animal Intelligence (1st book in comparative Psychology) 1. Demonstrated high level of IQ in animals 2. Demonstrated similarity in animal intelligence and human mental capacity 3. Contiguity in mental development
Describe Stumpf's research and contrast his approach of that of Wundt.
Stumpf -known for his work in music (composer at age 10) -found out horse was responding to Han's (experimenter's) head nods -Phenomenology = examination of unbiased experience -most influential in perception of hearing -nativist view of depth perception in contrast to Wundt -mind body view is different from Wundt -published psychology of tone Stumpf -organized societies that supported studies of children, especially of children's mental life; he thought to directly observe children rather than using questionnaires Brentano = advocated such studies ^^
Discuss examples of evolutionary thinking prior to Darwin's. What factors led to the construction and acceptance of Darwin's theory of evolution?
The Greeks and especially Aristotle were the first ones to think and develop the idea of evolution -Aristotle believed that all species are immutable and fixed in their form; while variation is possible within species, the forms themselves are static and unchanging -then the enlightenment notion of progress influenced the idea of evolution = suggested that if human nature and human living are affected and altered by the social environment, so the natural environment must affect organisms -Chain of being model = was discredited in geology by showing that several independent lines of development exist in nature (idea that became important to Darwin later)
While structuralism with its reliance on introspection avoided the study of infrahuman animals, functionalism did not. Discuss the work of Darwin, Romanes, and Morgan in setting the stage for comparative psychology.
They used animals and compared them to humans for they had very similar anatomical structure??? -romanes = used mainly anecdotal methods -Spalding = pioneering experimentalist -Morgan = law of parsimony *these three men were among the most important founders of comparative psychology, the division of psychology dealing with comparisons between different species
Discuss the impact of Darwin's theories on psychology.
Transformed the Prevailing view of Nature: 1. enthroned the concept of change in natural processes: nature was henceforth to be seen as dynamic rather than static 2. Demonstrated that nature is ecological: organisms stand in dynamic interdependence upon one another 3. The evolutionary process was seen as determined: nature operates under rules of law in the biological as well as the physical sphere 4. Humankind and human culture were now seen as integral parts of nature *the theory of evolution raised the intriguing possibility of continuity in mental functioning between humans and lower animals
Compare and contrast the views of learning held by Ebbinghaus and Georg Müller.
WUNGT TITCHENER DARWIN, GALTON NOT ON TEST
What were the topics of investigation in the Leipzig laboratory? How were these related to Wundt's goals for psychology?
Wundt's goals of psychology: 1. Analyze conscious processes into their basic components 2. Discover how these elements are synthesized or organized 3. Determine the laws of connection governing the organization of the elements LEIPZIG: -Wundt' psychology was to become very much an experimental science of tachistoscopes, chronoscopes, electrical simulators, pendulums, timers, and sensory mapping devices - a "brass instrument" psychology *his first course was on physiological psychology
What difference exsisted between the psychologies of Wundt and Titchener?
Wundt: -mind and body should be studied together -denied the mind-body dualism -mental experience must be studied in term of both mind and body Titchener: -for mind-body dualism -thought the mind and body were separate and should be studied separately
Compare the publication output of Wundt and Ebbinghaus. How is the research of each man viewed in contemporary psychology?
Wundt: -published Principles of Physiological psychology = book on experimental psychology Ebbinghaus: -
Describe Galton's studies of individual differences. Why did most of his tests measure sensory abilities?
believed in direct processes in the brain and everyone is different in which determines the IQ of a person, physical abilities, and strengths in subjects -tested sensory abilities to detect these differences of individuals even though they are composed with the same matter they are not identical
Discuss the parallels between the mechanistic philosophy of the British empiricists and Titchener's structuralism.
both see the mind as a machine -reflective in associationism bc there is mechanical links -association is very mechanical but titechener treats ppl like a machine for it responds to things through the method of introspection; thought everyone would respond the same to introspection and that is what made them like machines John Stuart Mill -philosopher that emphasized chemical rather than mechanical principles Mechanistic features lead to titchener and structuralism -both James and Titchener wrote in an understandable language for anyone to read, even beginners
Using examples, describe the difference between experience that is independent of the experiencing person and experience that is dependent on the experiencing person.
introspection = examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings (dependent on the experiencing person) vs retrospection = the action of looking back on or reviewing past events or situations, esp. those in one's own life.
Why did Wundt believe it was impossible to experimentally study the higher mental processes?
methodology that he used (introspection), quantitative, could not capture higher mental process -has to tie into his cultural psychology to study the groups which could not be done in a laboratory
Discuss Titchener's definition of mind "as the sum-total of human experience considered as dependent upon the experiencing person.
mind = sum of human experience from that person conscious = experience at that moment; you can't observe the conscious as it is right here right now
How does Titchener relate consciousness and mind?
mind is the sum of experiences in time -consciousness = right here and right now -James criticized bc time is different and there are different types of sensations