Psychology Notes 2 PDF

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1 Sheehan

01/12/18 Psychology in Context  Psychology- A way of gaining knowledge o Physics is the study of matter, energy and interactions between them o Geology is the study of the solid and liquid matter that makes up the earth o Biology is the study of life  Psychology is the study of the mind, actual physical brain, behavior, mental processing, the whole human psyche and inter-mental processing o If we think that psychology is the study of the brain it is essentially biology o If we think that psychology is the study of the mind it is essentially philosophy o If we think that psychology is the study of behaviors it is essentially its own unique independent science  The two types of Psychology o Psychology as a science: begins 1879 o Psychology as a service (counseling): Begins in great depression o Psychologist is PHD degree –talk therapy o Physiatrist is MD degree -Prescription doctor  History o Thales (640-546 BC): the father of science  First Greek to Focus on non-supernatural explanations for natural phenomenon o Hippocrates (460-370 BC): Successfully performed chest surgery (and developed many other medical advances)  The first person to claim that diseases are caused naturally not because of superstition and gods o Aristotle (384-322 BC): claimed the earth was a sphere based on empirical evidence o Eratosthenes (276-194 BC): estimated the circumference of the earth at around 240 BC o Greek natural philosophers cared about:  Ethics, persuasion, language, emotions, sensation, memory, dreams, conduct, learning and governance  The birth of modern science o The ancient Greeks relied on empirical evidence. But they felt that once you have evidence that X is true, that you have established X with 100% certainty. o In the 17th century the rules of natural philosophy/ science were rewritten by sir Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes –birth of modern science  Rene Descartes (1596-1650): famous for Cartesian coordinates system, theory of gravity, visual perception, dualism, rewriting the rules of the “scientific” method  Dualism: Human beings are composed of two separate types of things; body (natural universe) and soul or mind (Supernatural Universe)

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 Can’t have a science of psychology until people stop believing in dualism John Locke (1632-1704): Philosopher  Sensations + blank slate = simple ideas; simple ideas  Birth of a certain sub disiplines of science/ natural philosophy  Astronomy 1543 (Copernicus) or 1610ish (Galileo)  Physics 1620ish (Galileo)  Chemistry 1661 (Galileo)  Psychophysics 1834 (Robert Boyle)  Biology 1859(Weber)  Psychology 1879 Natural Philosophy- different sciences that split off of natural philosophy  Astronomy-physics chemistryo psychophysics Biology Psychologyo Philosophy- all of these sciences put together Did Psychology brake away from philosophy, or did philosophy break away from natural philosophy  Husserl’s logical investigations- 1900  Russel’s principles of mathematics- 1903  Wundt’s lab was running in 1879  The American psychological association had its first meeting in 1892 at the university of Pennsylvania Philosophy as we know it was formed after the formation of psychology

The Gods vs. The Earth Giants: Certain Knowledge vs. no certain knowledge  

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Gods; Plato, Descartes, Karl Popper Earth Giants; Aristotle, Francis Bacon, David Hume o In modern science, EVERYTHING can be changing o No claims are 100% certain, nothing is certain. Nothing is sacred o Science has sided with the earth giants o Geometry, the math’s and deductive logic are chilling with the gods though Why is psychology important to other sciences? o Admiral Sir Cloudesely Shovell vs. his navigator (1707) o David Kinnebrook vs. the reverend Nevil Maskelyn (1796)

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The methods of Psychology: Griggs Chapter 1  Slide 1: Methods o Fact  An objective statement  Sometimes based on direct observation  We can be 100% confident in any scientific fact o Theory  Explain existing facts  Make predictions about new facts that may be discovered  Important because without this, a theory cannot be attacked and disapproved o Hypothesis  A prediction about new facts  Based on a theory  Slide 2  Slide 3  Slide 4  Slide 5  Slide 6  Slide 7  Slide 8  Slide 9  Slide 10  Slide 11...