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Psychology: Historical Antecedents + Prevailing Themes - Coggle Diagram
Psychology: Historical Antecedents + Prevailing Themes
Definition of Psychology
Greek words:
"Psyche" - Soul/mind
"Ology" - Study
The scientific study of behaviour + mental processes
Requires objective data
Can't just study mental processes - They are hidden (occult)
Mental processes:
Subjective
Unobservable
Not directly measurable
Behaviour:
Objective
Observable
Measurable
Eysenck (2004) - "A science in which behavioural + other evidence is used to understand the internal processes leading people (+ members of other species) to behave as they do."
Philosophical Origins
Plato
Data from the senses is unreliable
Reason is key source of knowledge (Rationalism)
Knowledge of world is innate
Not physically present + immortal
Allegory of the cave
Men chained together inside cave
Shadow puppets on wall only thing known to men (ideal reality)
One man (philosopher) breaks free + goes outside to world - learns there is a 'greater reality'
Goes back into cave + tells other men about outside world
Men inside cave laugh, don't believe him, stuck believing in the ideal reality
Aristotle
Knowledge of world gained from observation/experience
Empiricist - Perceptions used to produce general truths
Body + soul same thing
Rene Descartes
Revised rationalism - body + soul are separate
"I think, therefore I am" - The only thing we are certain about is that we exist
Pineal gland allows mind + body to interact
Introduced concept of automatic stimulus-response actions (reflex actions)
John Locke
Modernised empiricism - "Father of Empiricism"
Tabula Rasa - humans are "blank slates"
Knowledge gained from experience
Immanuel Kant
United empiricism + rationalism
Mind can't passively receive info from environment
Knowledge orders new info
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
Opened first experimental psych lab - Leipzig, Germany (1879)
Founding father of modern psych
Combines methods of natural sciences + science of higher mental activity
Studied consciousness
Used introspection to study behaviour
Systematic + observation of standardised + reproducible stimuli
External + internal observation
Distinguished between 'sensation' + 'perception'
Core Assumptions
Axiom:
A statement that is considered to be true + can't be proven/falsified, used as a starting point for further reasoning + arguments
E.g. Euclid's Elements (geometry) - A straight line may be drawn between any 2 points
Nature vs Nurture
Nature: Behaviours are innate
Nurture: Behaviours are product of environment
Heredity:
The passing of genes from one generation to the next
Behaviour determined by person's genes
Empiricism:
Everything is learned via interaction with environment
Internal vs External
Internal: Behaviour caused by biological drives + mental states
External: Behaviour caused by external events/factors outside of body
Atomism vs Holism
Atomism: Behaviour broken down into smaller, simpler components (reductionism)
Holism: Behaviour is viewed as a whole, integrated experience
Free Will vs Determinism
Free will: People are in control of their behaviour
Determinism: Behaviour is predestined by prior occurrences
Monism vs Dualism
Monism: Mind + body are the same thing
Dualism: Mind + body exist separately
Structuralism vs Functionalism
Structuralism: Analysing behaviour in terms of its basic components (structure)
Functionalism: Analysing behaviour in terms of its purpose