a history of psychology
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A History of Psychology. Chapter two: Philosophical Influence on Psychology. 1.The Spirit of Mechanism (17 th -19 th century Zeitgeist). Clocks and mechanical figures Influenced the direction of psychology Mechanism The universe as a great machine Feature of science - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
A History of Psychology
Chapter two: Philosophical Influence on Psychology
1.The Spirit of Mechanism (17th-19th century Zeitgeist)
Clocks and mechanical figures Influenced the direction of psychology
Mechanism The universe as a great machine
Feature of science Observation, experimentation, & measurement
Nature Philosophy = physics Newton: the universe is a clock, made by God. It is
measurable, predictable, and orderly
II. The Clock Universe Clock as metaphor for mechanism Determinism and reductionism Automata The calculating engine
II. The Clock Universe Clock as metaphor for mechanism
Available to all levels of society
Behaviors are Regular, predictable, precise
Harmony and order of the universe
II. The Clock Universe Determinism and reductionism
Determinism Every act is determined by past events. If universe = a clock, then we can predict change
because we know the order and regularity of a clock
Reductionism Like clock could be understood by reducing them to
their basic components to know its functioning Explain phenomena on one level (e.g., complex ideas)
in terms of phenomena on another level (e.g., simple ideas)
II. The Clock Universe
Automata People as Machine Automata as models for
human beings Bodies were like machines
made by God
Automaton figure of a Monk
II. The Clock Universe– The calculating engine
Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
Enrolled at Cambridge U. Knew about math more than
faculty Became a mathematic
professor at Cambridge Charles Babbage
II. The Clock Universe The calculating engine
Automata: human physical action Calculator: human mental action Babbage invited 300 people to his home to look
at his design Called “The difference engine” However, Government withdrew
fundingupset
II. The Clock Universe Calculator imitated
human mental actions
Influence modern computer, human cognitive process, a form of artificial intelligence
Babbage’s calculating machine
III. The beginnings of Modern Science Empiricism
The pursuit of knowledge through observation and experimentation
Rene Descartes (1596-1650) Applied the idea of the clockwork mechanism
to the human body
III. The beginnings of Modern Science
Rene Descartes (1596-1650) Inherited a lot money to travel and
intellectual pursuits Poor health Queen in Sweden requested him to
teach her philosophy in 1649 However, early morning lessons
and cold weather, he died after four months in 1650.
Rene Descartes
IV. The contribution of Descartes:
1. The Nature of the Body
Body is Matter,
Body is like Machine
Body is Involuntary Movement
IV. The contribution of Descartes:
Human behavior is predictable if input are known
Impact later on “classical conditioning” phenomena
Support from physiology Blood circulation; digestion
2. Reflect Action theory (S-R)
IV. The contribution of Descartes:
3. Localization of functions in brain
IV. The contribution of Descartes:
4. The Body-Mind Interaction
Mind thinks, perceives, and wills
Mind provided information about the external world
Mind influences and is influenced by the body
IV. The contribution of Descartes: 5. The Doctrine of Ideas
Derived Ideas (from the external source) from the direct application of an external stimulus The sound of bell
Innate Ideas (from the internal source) from the mind or consciousness Impact: Gestalt psychology—the principle of organization Depth perception
V. Philosophical Foundations of the New Psychology European philosophy: foundations of the
science of psychology
Positivism
Materialism
Empiricism (major role)
V. Philosophical Foundations of the New Psychology Positivism (August Comte, 1798-1857)
Recognize only natural phenomena or facts that are objectively observable
Only knowledge from science was valid Materialism
The facts of the universe could be described in physical terms and explained by the properties of matter and energy
V. Philosophical Foundations of the New Psychology Empiricism (major role)
How the mind acquires knowledge
Attributes all knowledge to experience
Knowledge is from sensory experiences and objective observation
John Locke, George Berkeley, David Hume, David Hartley, James Mill, and John Stuart Mill
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: John Locke (1632-1704)
John Locke (1632-1704) Studied at Universities in
London and Oxford Interested in politics;
impacted on American Independence
An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1690) started British empiricism
John Locke
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: John Locke (1632-1704)
1. How the mind acquires knowledge
At birth: individuals are blank and clean
Individual acquires knowledge through experience and leaning
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: John Locke (1632-1704)
2. Sensation and Reflection Ideas are the result of reflection and sensations
Sensation (impression): sense impressions
Reflection (idea): mind operates on the sense impressions to
form ideas
Combine the sense impresions to form abstractions and other higher-level ideas
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: John Locke (1632-1704)
3. Simple idea and complex idea Simple idea
Can not be analyzed or reduced to even simpler ideas
Complex Idea Combining simple ideas Can be analyzed and reduced to simpler
ideas
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: John Locke (1632-1704)
4. The theory of Association Rejected Descartes’ innate ideas
Simple ideas may be linked or associated to form complex ideas
Association (early) = learning (today)
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: John Locke (1632-1704)
5. Primary and secondary qualities
Primary: objective, exist independently of being experienced.
The size and shape of a building
Secondary: subjective, exist if experienced (perceived)
Color Water: cold, hot, warm
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: George Berkeley (1685-1753)
Born and educated in Ireland An Essay Towards a New Theory
of Vision (1709) & A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge (1710)
Taught at Trinity College in Dublin One school in California named
“Berkeley” in honor of himGeorge Berkeley
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: George Berkeley (1685-1753)
1. Perception is the only reality Mentalism: all knowledge is a function of mental
phenomena and dependent on the perceiving or experiencing person
One can only rely on one’s perception of the physical nature of objects
Impact the phenomenology of the humanistic school, focus on the individual’s unique experiences
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: George Berkeley (1685-1753)
2. The Association of sensations
Knowledge: composition of simple idea, held together by association
Depth perception: is learned and is the result of the association or synthesis of sensations.
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: David Hume (1711-1776)
If no God, one has no way of knowing
1. Impression and Ideas Impression: like sensation and
perceptions Idea: images of impression Both may be simple or
complexDavid Hume
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: David Hume (1711-1776)
2. Law of Association Resemblance (similarity)
The more alike two ideas are, the more readily they will be associated
Contiguity in time and space The more closely linked two ideas are in time and
space, the more readily they will be associated
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: David Hartley (1705-1757)
Was prepared to be a minister, but later turned to medicine
Observations on Man, His Frame, His Duty, and His Expectations (association)
David Hartley
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: David Hartley (1705-1757) 1 Association by contiguity and repetition
Contiguity: explains memory, reasoning, emotion, voluntary and involuntary actions
Repetition: the more frequently two ideas occur together, the more readily they will be associated.
Infant (no knowledge)Children (rely on sensory experiences and mental connections) -adult (rely on thinking, judging, & reasoning)
The first to apply a theory of association to explain all types of mental activities.
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: David Hartley (1705-1757)
2. The influence of mechanism Explain psychological process in terms of
mechanical principles and explain their underlying physiological processes
Impulses, vibration (human brain and nervous system)
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: James Mill (1773-1836)
Educated at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Worked at church
Was a writer
Analysis of the Phenomena of Human Mind
James Mill
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: James Mill (1773-1836)
1. The mind as a Machine
No place for free will
Mind can be studied by it’s elements
Mental elements: sensations and ideas
Complex ideas solely due to association
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
His father is James Mill
Received private tutoring: Greek, Latin, algebra, history, political economy….
John could read Plato in Greek at 3; wrote scholarly paper at 11; master university curriculum at 12; suffered depression by 21.
Fell in love with Harriet Taylor
Equality of sex
John Stuart Mill
Empiricism and Association: Acquiring knowledge through Experience: John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)
1. Mental chemistry Mental chemistry: Complex ideas are more than the
sum of the simple ideas
Creative Synthesis: a combination of mental elements created something greater than or different from the sum of the original elements
Argued it is possible to make a scientific study of mind