Unveiling the Science of Psychology: From Philosophy to Biology

1. Chapter 1 The Science of Psychology Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

2. The Philosophical Roots of Psychology The concept of “intelligence” is like the concept of “magic”, it only holds any validity when we don’t know how its done What about the will, the soul, or consciousness? Early in human history, humans would attribute souls or wills to almost anything … a behaviour termed “animism” In fact, we still fall into those habits today: > Zippy & Ralph > Thunder and Lightening Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

3. However, once we “understand” the true causes of certain events … the attribution of a soul often disappears So what of human behaviour? If we ever completely understand the causes of human behaviour, will there be room left for a human soul? Rene Descartes (1596-1560). Believed that the human body, and many of its responses, could be thought of as a highly complex machine However, Descartes also believed that humans possess a soul and free will … a concept called dualism > what if we assume no soul? No free will? Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

4. John Locke (1632-1704) went a step further then Rene in assuming that even the mind could be thought of as a machine He also strongly advocated the practice of empiricism, the pursuit of truth through observation and experience Contrary to the notion of innate ideas, Locke assumed that all knowledge was acquired through experience alone Basically, Locke and others (e.g., Berkeley, see text) were attempting to understand “learning”, and we are still trying to understand that today The notion that the mind can be thought of as a machine, and that humans are no different from animals, in one termed materialism (James Mill, 1773 - 1836) … and it remains the dominant scientific assumption to this date Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

5. The Biological Roots of Psychology Although Descartes notion of the body as a hydraulic machine did not hold up, Luigi Galvani (1737-1798) and several unnamed frog matyrs) did support the notion of the body as an “electric” machine Johannes Muller (1801-1858) was the first to systematically study human anatomy and in his “Doctrine of Specific Nerve Energies” noted that the basic message sent along all nerves was the same: an electrical impulse What differentiates between impulses is where they arise, and where they go Leads to the implication of specialized brain regions Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

6. The implications of Muller’s work were confirmed by ablation studies performed by Pierre Florens (1774-1867) … the result of removing part of the brain depends on which part is removed Paul Broca (1824-1880) was the first to apply this logic to humans when he performed an autopsy on a stroke victim and claimed to find the “speech center” of the brain > Check out “Broca’s Brain” by Sagan Gustav Fritsch & Eduard Hitzig (1870) added further evidence using electrical stimulation studies … body appeared to be mapped on the surface of the brain > Steve, Fig 2.8 from CD > mention the Phrenology phenomenon Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

7. Other “stage-setting” contributions Hermann von Helmholtz (1821-1894) championed the notions of objective investigation and precise measurement > speed of nerve impulses Ernst Weber (1795-1878) showed that people’s ability to discriminate between similar weights (or flashes of light) followed a natural function of the difference between the weights (or lights) > thus, subjective states could be measured and seem to follow natural laws … psychophysics Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

8. The Birth and Early Years of Psychology The first “Psychologist” was Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920). He believed that all things, including the mind, could be studied scientifically. His text book “Principles of Physiological Psychology” was the first ever Psychology textbook. Wundt believed that via introspection, one could come to understand the ideas and sensations that formed the building blocks of consciousness … this school of Psychology is called Structuralism His approach died out because of difficulties observers had in reporting low level sensations, unaffected by experience Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

9. Partially as a consequence of the ideas of Darwin (1809-1882) psychologists began to focus on process of conscious activity rather than on its structure This new school of Psychology was termed Functionalism as it assumed that thinking performed a function, that being to produce useful and adaptive behaviours One of the strongest proponents of functionalism was William James (1842-1910) … his ideas are still a major influence Differences from Structuralism > focus on mental operations, not mental structures > processes studied as part of the biological activity of the organism … evolutionary history and value > studies the relation between the environment and the response to it Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

10. During the rise of functionalism, another person was doing research largely on his own … despite this Hermann Ebbinghaus (1850-1909) had a large impact on experimental psychology Ebbinghaus wanted to study memory and forgetting with the same scientific rigor that others had studied sensation (e.g., Fechner) Used nonsense syllabus as stimuli (e.g., FIK, LOP) in order to prevent contamination by previously learning Specified procedures that would allow memory (and forgetting) to be measured in precise ways, rather than relying on introspection and common sense > e.g., unlearning procedure … contrast with structuralist Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

11. Into this mix we now add a young neurologist named Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) who became especially interested in behavioural and emotional problems … formulating his psychodynamic theory of personality This really marked the beginning of clinical psychology, and psychiatry. His influence in these areas is still huge today His work was based on observation of patients, not on experiments. The medical model is prevalent in his views of disfunction His ideas we a mix of structures and functions … and he strongly pushed the notion of unconscious influences on behaviour We’ll hear plenty more on his later in the course Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

12. The next trend or school in Psychology was behaviouralism, and it went much further in limiting the subject matter of psychology to only the relation between people’s environment, and their behaviour … argued that “mental events” which cannot be directly observed cannot be studied scientifically and had no place as part of psychology Examples Law of Effect Thorndike (1874-1949) Classical Conditioning Pavlov (1849-1936) Establishment as a School Watson (1878-1958) Behaviourism is still an active school of psychology, and one of the most famous behaviourists died quite recently (Skinner, 1904-1990) Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

13. Gestalt Psychology stressed the fact that sometimes the “whole” of a percept is more than the sum of its parts (Wertheimer, 1880-1943). Humanistic Psychology is a school of psychology that focusses on human experience, choice, creativity and positive growth Pushes a greater emphasis on understanding those qualities that make us human Problem … investigating these things in an objective manner Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

14. Breaking the Chains of Behaviourism Recently (i.e., since the 60s) researches began to again believe that the “mind” can be studied scientifically. This cognitive revolution relies strongly on the use of indirect methods of measuring cognitive processes and structures For Example: Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

15. Breaking the Chains of Behaviourism Recently (i.e., since the 60s) researches began to again believe that the “mind” can be studied scientifically. This cognitive revolution relies strongly on the use of indirect methods of measuring cognitive processes and structures For Example: REDGREENBLUERED GREENREDBLUEGREEN BLUEREDGREENBLUE GREENBLUEREDBLUE Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

16. Breaking the Chains of Behaviourism Recently (i.e., since the 60s) researches began to again believe that the “mind” can be studied scientifically. This cognitive revolution relies strongly on the use of indirect methods of measuring cognitive processes and structures For Example: REDGREENBLUERED GREENREDBLUEGREEN BLUEREDGREENBLUE GREENBLUEREDBLUE Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology

17. The New Biological Revolution Due to recent advances in brain imaging, biological factors underlying psychology have undergone a renaissance that continues on Some Cognitive Psychologists are skeptical of what is gained from these methods, whereas others are combining some of these techniques with cognition procedures … forming a new field of psychology termed Cognitive Neuroscience The contrast brings up an interesting distinction between “what” the brain does … and “where” in the brain it is done Chapter 1 - The Science of Psychology