What was the Enlightenment Age?
The era where hope for science really took off
Realism
What we see of the world is exactly how it is. (There are no influences) Brute realism is an extreme version of this view.
Sensation
A sensation is when we interact with a stimulus from the external world. For example, our skin comes into contact with a desk. At this moment, there is a bit of a miracle that science can’t fully describe as nerves then send signals to our brains about what is happening.
Perception
Perception is the way that we interpret sensations. Because of how our brains work, there is no way to really prevent the information we receive from being filtered or impacted by our own interpretations.
What is relativism?
Relativism is the belief that there is no absolute truth or fact, only the truths that particular individuals or cultures know. You can’t talk about external realities.
What is Social Constructionism?
Social Constructionism is how we name and talk about things.
What does it mean to have an external reality?
Humans are not the center of everything.
What advances were made during the Enlightenment?
The Scientific Method was created, realism
Serious missteps from the Enlightenment?
There were some flaws in the ways that information was gathered. Experiments that had been performed in labs were unable to be repeated and falsified. Science should be self-correcting, and we should be okay with getting things wrong, again and again, as it gets us closer to the actual truth. (This was not what occurred during the Enlightenment)
Who was one of the first psychologists?
Wilhelm Wundt. (1879) There was a long build-up that led us to the point of Wundt, but he was interested in the things that make us human. He wanted to establish psychology as a discipline, so he published his own scientific journal and established a lab with certain procedures.
Why should psychology experiments not be limited to labs?
There are so many variables that we miss out on within the confines of a lab. People should be studied in everyday life. (Volker Psychology) Humans make choices and are not things to be studied.
What are some benefits of lab procedures?
We are able to strip away a lot of variables that are found in everyday life and study humans a bit more systematically.
What is structuralism? Why didn’t it work?
People who were structuralists believed that the mind could be broken down into its basic elements. The problem is that our brains and minds are not just composed of static elements. Humans are so much more than just body parts. The human consciousness is so complicated.
How did the structuralists study their subjects?
They used a technique called “introspection.” In short, they would play a stimulus, like a bell, and then have highly trained objects (they could spend up to 100 hours training someone to be a part of this experiment) describe what thoughts and ideas went through their minds when they heard the bell.
Phi Phenomenon
What movies are based on.
Who was one of the first functionalists, and what did he believe?
William James was one of the first functionalists, and he believed that the features we see in animals have a purpose. (He was influenced by biology - Charles Darwin) He then applied this idea to humans and thought there must be a function to the consciousness that we as humans have evolved to have.
OR
An approach that emphasizes how processes in our minds have also adapted through natural selection.
What is psychoanalysis, and who was one of the original creators?
Sigmund Freud coined the term “psychoanalysis”. He thought that the human unconsciousness was super important and that by tapping into it, all sorts of other issues could be solved, such as hysteria. Psychoanalysis would give people insight into the hidden contents of the unconscious mind.
What does the unconscious do?
It influences thoughts, emotions, and feelings.
What are some key views about humans from psychoanalysis?
They believed that humans were not rational, as they were driven by thoughts and ideas that we are not aware of. Behaviour is the effect of or is determined by unconscious drives.
Give an example in how a psychoanalysis thinker would think our unconscious determines our behaviour.
We experience an unconscious drive (sex drive) - leads to a conflict with a social norm as this drive is not acceptable - we then force this thought and impulse down and out of our mind into our unconscious - then it compels our behaviour.
Benefits of psychoanalysis
The process was more humane and focused on nurturing humans.
- Freud was the first person to say that humans are developmental and change over time.
Cons of psychoanalysis
People were unable to prove any of these theories wrong. (Falsifiable) The unconscious cannot be tested. (Example = Oedipal Complex)
What is behaviourism?
Behaviourists, like Watson and Skinner, objected to the constant speculations about what is going on in the mind. They thought that we should study what is actually externally observable - behaviour
What is the process of studying behaviour according to behaviourists?
Scientists would present a stimulus and then see how the subjects responded. The put a heavy emphasis on nurture and felt that they could change behaviour through this. (They did not take nature/biology into account and missed key factors in development.
