Historical and Conceptual Issues in Psychology by M. Brysbaert and K. Rastle (second edition) – Book Summary
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In the early 20th century, psychology is dominated by the unscientific methods mesmerism (1), phrenology (2) and spiritualism (3). Psychologists start to explicitly oppose pseudo-science and the scientificity of psychology becomes a theme.
Positivism states that science is the way to the truth and, therefore, the objectivity of knowledge must be guaranteed. Eugenics refers to a social philosophy which claims that the fate of a nation can be improved by selective breeding of the inhabitants. Intellectualism refers to obtaining knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
Einstein demonstrates that part of Newton’s theory was false. In a reaction to this, Bridgman introduces operationalization in physics. However, there are two objections to the use of operationalization in natural sciences:
Behaviourism was influenced by positivism (1), eugenics (2), a mistrust of intellectualism (3) and operationalization (4). It led to comparative psychology, the study of behaviour of animals with the intention to shed light on human functioning within the framework of the evolutionary theory. Behaviourism studies the relationships between stimuli and behaviour.
The behaviourist ideals of science are using mathematical laws (1), using operationalization (2), using independent and dependent variables (3) and striving for verification (4).
Watson has several important characteristics:
Pavlov invents the first learning model using a behaviourist approach and uses classical conditioning on dogs. He believed psychology could be reduced to physiology and that thinking consisted of reflexes. Thorndike formulates the law of effect – behaviour followed by a reward is more likely to be repeated – and discovers this through animal research using Thorndike’s puzzle-box. By doing this, Thorndike demonstrates operant conditioning. Pavlov and Thorndike’s research leads to the notion that human behaviour is equal to an animal’s behaviour.
Skinner has several important characteristics:
Tolman founded purposive behaviourism – behaviourism which sees behaviour as goal-related – through doubting Skinner’s radical behaviourism.
Behaviourism attempts to explain all behaviour, although this is not possible. For example, in Skinner’s theory of language, a child starts with mimicry and learns language through reinforcement and punishment. However, this is not the case.
Chomsky opposes Skinner’s radical behaviourism and his theory on language and has three counter-arguments against Skinner’s theory:
Skinner attempts to establish a lawful relationship between stimulus and response. However, this is not always possible. For example, if the stimulus is a red chair, then the response can differ between people (e.g. ‘red’, ‘chair’). The responses can differ for one stimulus, making the stimulus a personal property, rather than an objective stimulus
According to Chomsky, reinforcement is also too vague in a natural situation as it is impossible to pinpoint what the exact reinforcement is. In a natural situation, everything could potentially be a reinforcement.
Chomsky states that language capability requires mastery of grammar, although this cannot be learned inductively with stimulus-response associations. Therefore, grammar is a theory that cannot be derived from the data available to a child, meaning that a child must have innate knowledge of grammar. This is called the poverty of the stimulus argument.
Chomsky has several important characteristics:
The language acquisition device is controversial as it cannot be localized in the brain (1), it is possible to question how poor stimuli really are (2) and because it appears that aspects of grammar can be learned inductively (3).
Turing has several important characteristics:
Machines started using Boolean algebra which has a couple of rules:
Turing’s insights demonstrate that the mind could be implemented in the brain, giving a new twist to the dualism/materialism debate. It leads to the analogy of the brain as a machine and the mind as software. This analogy allows for the cognitive revolution, viewing humans as information processing systems.
The availability of computers changed research in psychology in three ways:
Information feedback refers to a mechanism in which the current performance level is compared to the desired end-state and the discrepancy is used to bring the performance closer to the end-state aimed for. Information processing refers to encoding mental representations, transforming them by means of algorithms and integrating them with existing knowledge.
Cognitive psychology introduced top-down processes, which refers to the fact that information from higher-processing stages is fed back to previous processing stages and influences processing at these stages. The models designed by cognitive psychology lead to predictions which could be tested in experimental settings.
Scientists have tried to convince society that scientific knowledge is superior to humanist knowledge. The reasons are that science is based on observation and experimentation, leading to true findings (1), scientific theories are summaries of empirical findings and are, therefore, true (2) and scientific knowledge is infallible and should be the motor of progress (3).
The characteristics of knowledge in preliterate societies are know-how without theoretical understanding (1), fluidity of knowledge (2) and the existence of a collection of myths and stories (3). Animism, the explanation of the workings of the world and the universe by means of spirits with human-like characteristics are often used in preliterate societies.
Representation refers to when entities are denoted with symbols and relations between entities are represented with relations between symbols and this occurs in both language and numbers. Language allows a representation to be transferred from one person to another person and this requires the person to be physically present. Writing allows a representation to be transferred from one person to another person and the person does not need to be physically present. Language and writing allow for shared representations.
Pictograms are information conveying signs consisting of a picture resembling the object it represents. Phonograms are signs that represent sounds or syllables of spoken language and forms the basis of writing systems. Logographs are signs representing a spoken word which no longer has a physical resemblance to the word’s meaning.
Representations lead to a concept of truth, as some representations are correct and some are incorrect (e.g. 2+2=5). Shared representations allow for organised religion (1), a more complex economy (2), complex social structures (3). Writing allows for the accumulation of knowledge.
Agriculture allowed man to become sedentary (1), specialization of jobs (2) and societies having a more complex hierarchy (3). Scientific growth in society is made possible by political stabilisation (1), urbanisation (2), patronage (3) and the availability of a writing system (4).
Intentionality refers to thoughts relating to somethings (i.e. thoughts are about something). The sub-areas of philosophy in ancient Greece are ontology (1), epistemology (2), aesthetics (3) and ethics (4).
Heraclitus doubts whether something ever stays the same and proposes Panta Rhei; the only constant is change itself. In modern science, one of the main assumptions is the invariance principles (e.g. all electrons are interchangeable) making this discussion ever relevant.
There are two important philosophical positions on knowledge:
There are several relevant characteristics of Plato:
According to Plato, the ratio leads to superior knowledge compared to observation as only the ratio can lead to real knowledge.
In Plato’s allegory of the cave, he claims that real knowledge does not come from observation as people can only see imperfect forms (e.g. an imperfect circle). However, people do have an idea of perfect forms (e.g. a perfect circle)
.....read moreThe church is an authority on knowledge in the Middle Ages. During this period, there are different beliefs compared to modern beliefs; the earth is 6000 years old (1), the man is not an animal (2), the sun revolves around the earth (3), thinking takes place in the immaterial mind (4), the Greeks knew everything (5).
The belief that the Greeks knew everything led to the emphasis on the preservation of knowledge rather than the generation of new knowledge in Europe. However, science flourishes in the Middle East (e.g. mathematics and physics). The Middle East introduced Europe to Aristotle again in the 13th century. After Aristotle’s rediscovery, his knowledge was presumed to be correct until Galileo refuted some of his knowledge, proving that Aristotle was fallible.
Augustine of Hippo was a scientist from Algeria in the Middle Ages:
He introduces the argument from analogy as a solution to the problem of other minds and this problem is still relevant in modern science (e.g. AI research).
In Europe, during the Middle Ages, people believed in the Ptolemaic system, the idea that all celestial bodies orbit around the earth. This is a flawed model as it requires epicycles in order to explain retrograde motion, making this model mathematically complex. The heliocentric model, developed by Copernicus, refers to the idea that all celestial bodies orbit around the sun.
Copernicus published his book promoting the heliocentric model very late because of a fear of the church’s reaction (1) and because of uncertainties about his model (2). There were several objections to Copernicus’ heliocentric model:
The mechanistic view is the worldview according to which everything in the material universe can be understood as a complicated machine.
Galileo Galilei has several important characteristics:
In the Middle Ages, the idea that instruments could be better than the naked eye is revolutionary. The idea. The value of experiments is still relevant in modern science, as there are still discussions about ecological validity. Galileo’s conflict
.....read moreDescartes has several important characteristics:
The mind-body problem refers to the problem of the relationship between the (material) body and the (immaterial) mind. The interaction problem refers to how an immaterial substance can interact with a material substance.
Cartesian doubt refers to systematically doubting all previous beliefs and reasoning back from what remains. Descartes did this by putting all beliefs on an imaginary table and getting rid of all fallible things. Observation is fallible and, therefore, is not certain. Reality is fallible as it is possible that everything is fed to us by an evil demon (i.e. simulation) and, therefore, is not certain. There is something which doubts and this is not fallible and is, thus, certain (i.e. “Cogito Ergo Sum / I think, therefore, I am”).
Descartes states that there is an idea of perfection (i.e. Plato’s ideal world) and this idea cannot be his own as he is not perfect, meaning that this idea has to be planted in him by a perfect being: God. This idea of perfection is innate.
Descartes’ dualism is opposed by modern physics as it violates the law of conservation; adding energy out of nothing. Rejection of dualism easily leads to materialism but does not necessarily lead to reductionism as holism is also a viable alternative. Reductionism is the view that theories of mental properties can be reduced to neuroscientific theories.
Locke has several important characteristics:
The idea of the tabula rasa has political implications as this implies that at birth everyone is the same, giving rise to natural rights, a predecessor of human rights. The idea of innate differences is often viewed as a threat to human rights.
It was believed that everything was nurture until well in the 20th century. This belief was changed by research into genetics which demonstrated that predispositions exist (1) and that different psychological properties were influenced by genes. Predispositions can be seen as a form of innate knowledge.
Berkeley has several important characteristics:
Wolff has several important characteristics:
Introspection refers to the study of the mind by using the mind (i.e. investigating one’s own mental states).
According to Comte, introspection is not a reliable observation as there is no difference between the observer and observation (1), objectivity is impossible because it is not possible to control results (2). The results from introspection are not public, which goes against scientific principles of positivism. Comte believed that the mind could only be studied scientifically through physiology.
According to Kant, introspection is not a good method as mental states do not have quantitative properties (1), consciousness never stands still and can thus not be observed at a single point in time (2), the observation of the mind changes the mind (3) and introspection cannot provide mathematical descriptions (4).
There were three problems with studying man scientifically:
The mind can be described mathematically, as mental chronometry – the study of reaction times of mental operations – provides a mathematical description of mental processes. This was demonstrated by Von Helmholz, who discovered the speed of transmission in the nervous system and Donders who studied the duration of mental processes.
Quetelet proposed that statistics should be applied to humans because individuals could not be lawfully described but groups of people can, resulting in quantitative sociology. The noise in research into humans – the result of humans being stochastic – allows for a quantitative approach in psychology. Fisher demonstrated that confounds could be factored out in statistical analyses.
Weber discovered that the fingers are the most sensitive body parts by investigating the limits of the tactile senses. He also demonstrated the importance of muscles and joints for weight discrimination. Fechner was inspired by Weber and realised there could be a Newtonian mathematical function connecting the magnitude of the sensation to the magnitude of the stimulus, birthing psychophysics.
In short, Von Helmholz (1), Donders (2), Quetelet (3), Fisher (4), Weber (5) and Fechner (6) demonstrated that humans could be mathematically described.
Darwin has several important characteristics:
The two processes of Darwin’s theory make that evolution is a blind and fully automatic system driven by a statistical principle.
.....read moreIn the early 20th century, psychology is dominated by the unscientific methods mesmerism (1), phrenology (2) and spiritualism (3). Psychologists start to explicitly oppose pseudo-science and the scientificity of psychology becomes a theme.
Positivism states that science is the way to the truth and, therefore, the objectivity of knowledge must be guaranteed. Eugenics refers to a social philosophy which claims that the fate of a nation can be improved by selective breeding of the inhabitants. Intellectualism refers to obtaining knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
Einstein demonstrates that part of Newton’s theory was false. In a reaction to this, Bridgman introduces operationalization in physics. However, there are two objections to the use of operationalization in natural sciences:
Behaviourism was influenced by positivism (1), eugenics (2), a mistrust of intellectualism (3) and operationalization (4). It led to comparative psychology, the study of behaviour of animals with the intention to shed light on human functioning within the framework of the evolutionary theory. Behaviourism studies the relationships between stimuli and behaviour.
The behaviourist ideals of science are using mathematical laws (1), using operationalization (2), using independent and dependent variables (3) and striving for verification (4).
Watson has several important characteristics:
Pavlov invents the first learning model using a behaviourist approach and uses classical conditioning on dogs. He believed psychology could be reduced to physiology and that thinking consisted of reflexes. Thorndike formulates the law of effect – behaviour followed by a reward is more likely to be repeated – and discovers this through animal research using Thorndike’s puzzle-box. By doing this, Thorndike demonstrates operant conditioning. Pavlov and Thorndike’s research leads to the notion that human behaviour is equal to an animal’s behaviour.
Skinner has several important characteristics:
Tolman founded purposive behaviourism – behaviourism which sees behaviour as goal-related – through doubting Skinner’s radical behaviourism.
Behaviourism attempts to explain all behaviour, although this is not possible. For example, in Skinner’s theory of language,
.....read moreAncient Egyptian physicians knew the importance of the brain in behaviour as was shown by the Edwin Smith Papyrus. Plato believed the soul consisted of three parts and the brain was the most important part.
Aristotle, on the other hand, believed that thought was located in the heart because of the heart’s central location (1), its importance for emotion (2) and because all living organisms have a heart (3). According to Aristotle, the function of the brain was to cool the heat of the heart.
Galenus discovered a function of the nerve pathways and established the role of the brain as the hub of behaviour. He believed the brain communicated with the body through ventricles (1), animal spirits (2) and nerves (3). Vesalius created a functional division for the ventricles; common sense and fantasy (1), thoughts (2) and memory (3).
Descartes introduced mechanical ideas and viewed other organisms as automatons. His mechanical theory of reflex states that a sensory sensation travels through the nerves (1), this is bounced back like a mirror (2) and this leads to involuntary behaviour (3). According to Descartes, the soul remained spiritual in nature and the body and the soul interact in the pineal gland.
Gall founded two different subdisciplines:
Spurzheim formulated phrenology. Willis proposed that higher brain structures existed for more complex organisms and allowed for more complex functions and that the lower structures allowed for elementary functions. This means that a more complex animal has more brain structures and a less complex animal only has the lower brain structures.
In the 19th century, there are five breakthroughs which altered the model of brain functioning:
The mind refers to the faculties humans and animals have to perceive, feel, think, remember and want. Consciousness refers to the self-perception and the explicit experiences a person has of the world around them.
There are two mutually exclusive stances in the mind-body debate:
Property dualism states that there is not an autonomous mental substance but that there are autonomous mental properties. Materialism states that everything is material. Idealism states that everything is mental. Descartes proposed that the body was a machine (1), introduced the mind-body problem (2) and introduced the mind as causal director of the body (3).
There are three major issues with substance-dualism:
Dualism is not used often in scientific circles. According to the materialists, the mind is matter and follows the laws of nature, although tie concept matter is flexible (e.g. fields, states, processes). Materialism has several issues:
There are different types of materialism:
The identity theory states that mental states are brain states. This theory requires the answer to what is
.....read moreMental health treatment was seen as a medical treatment before the second world war, explaining why psychologists were not allowed to treat patients without supervision. After the second world war, there was an increased need for psychological help (e.g. shellshock patients) which led to a more psychological approach to mental disorders.
After the second world war, there was the rise of antipsychiatry (1), treatments requiring scientific evidence (2) and medication being used for mental disorders (3).
People tend to believe that mental disorders are rooted in the brain as a result of psychiatry’s origin in medicine. This view was strengthened by the discovery that certain drugs can alleviate the symptoms of mental disorders.
Charcot and Freud started to see psychiatric symptoms as expressions of diseases, positing psychological factors as the causes of symptomatology. Neurosis refers to unconscious conflicts which express themselves in symptomology.
Rogers introduced humanistic psychology based on the acceptance of patients. In humanistic psychology, a good therapist has unconditional positive regard (1), empathetic understanding (2) and congruence. Congruence refers to the therapist being genuine in his support and understanding. Cognitive behavioural therapy is based on a psychological approach to mental disorders.
The medical and psychological view of mental disorders naturalizes mental disorders as they both view mental disorders as a part of nature which can be systematically studied and understood. This got rid of supernatural explanations for mental disorders.
Extreme naturalization refers to the idea that mental disorders deviate from the norm and that the norm itself might be flawed rather than the patients. Antipsychiatry states that mental disorders do not exist and only norms for normal exist. However, increasing prevalence of mental disorders might indicate a change in society rather than a change in people.
The psychological test is an instrument that probes a person and the person’s response is used to infer a psychological state or attribute. It needs to take reliability (1), validity (2), bias (3) and random measurement error (4) into account. A test contains the condition of intent (1), is administered as an indication of some condition (2) and involves a difference in status between the test-giver and test-taker (3).
There are three types of psychological test:
An achievement test (i.e. the form of the qualifying test) is a standardised test which measures the knowledge of a particular topic or set of topics. Tests were created to prevent bias and unfairness as tests are more reliable and less biased than teacher judgements.
Meritocracy refers to a society based on ability. Educational tests serve meritocracy
.....read moreBacon suggested systematic research in which all information on the topic was gathered and put into three tables:
Pragmatism has four methods of information gathering:
Science makes use of the correspondence theory of truth. Its claim of intellectual superiority is based on realism (1), objectivity (2), truth (3) and rationality (4). Postmodernism refers to a group of people who question the special status of science and see scientific explanations as stories told by scientists. They state that science is a social construction and that the truth of statements depends on how well they fit in with the paradigm rather than whether they represent reality.
Russell’s paradox demonstrates that the naïve set theory results in a contradiction, meaning that something is correct and false at the same time. Wittgenstein concludes that this paradox stems from a lack of clarity in what makes something meaningful. He makes several statements:
It is possible that a thought is false but meaningful and language poses limitations on science as language cannot express anything other than a state of affairs (e.g. ethics are impossible). The focus of science on language is called the linguistic turn.
The Wiener Kreis sought demarcation criteria to distinguish science from pseudo-science and philosophical traditions. Wittgenstein’s meaningful sentences were used for this and this demoted philosophy to clarifying language and assessing whether sentences are meaningful.
Later, the Wiener Kreis used the verification
.....read moreThe scientific method is used because it allows for systematicity and accumulation of knowledge (1), it makes use of well-defined methods (2), it provides clarity (3), it is useful for predictions (4) and it makes knowledge revisable (5). However, there are several reasons why psychology might not be a science:
Dilthey criticized scientific psychology:
There are three levels of understanding according to Dilthey:
Critical psychology refers to a movement in psychology that criticizes mainstream psychology for failing to understand that knowledge does not refer to an outside reality and that scientific knowledge is not cumulative but consists of social constructions. Social constructivism states that knowledge is a social construction. According to social constructivism, it is difficult to say whether knowledge is cumulative, thus theories should not be judged on truth but on their ability to generate new openings for action.
Constructivism comes with a responsibility as the questions and categories that are deemed more relevant are more important as it is not possible to hide behind the idea of revealing the truth. Sokal demonstrated the political consequences of a relativist view.
There are several points of criticism towards experimental psychology:
Feminist psychology made several objections to traditional psychology:
Quantitative research methods refer to research methods based on quantifiable data and the findings can be represented as numbers because their magnitude or frequency can be measured. It makes use of several assumptions:
The quantitative approach has several strengths:
The quantitative approach also has several weaknesses:
Quantitative research makes use of descriptive (1), relational (2) or experimental research (3). The research is designed nomothetically and searches for general laws. In quantitative research, people are considered interchangeable (i.e. assumes that cognitive processes are universal).
Qualitative research methods are directed at understanding phenomena in their historical and socio-cultural context. It makes use of several assumptions:
The qualitative approach has several strengths:
The qualitative approach also has several weaknesses:
The qualitative approach makes use of several methods:
Method | Explanation |
Grounded theory | This is the systematic analysis of a problem based on structured and semi-structured interviews. The researcher writes a problem analysis and it is strongly |
There is a reciprocal interaction between psychological science and society. Aberrant cognition, affect and behaviour used to be explained by bizarre theories and the treatments were ineffective and inhumane. Each culture has a symptom pool and patients with psychological problems gravitate towards the symptoms that are thought to be a legitimate indication of a mental disorder. Clinical practice is changed by societal changes if these changes influence the symptom pool.
It is important to interpret psychological research with care because:
Systematic empirical psychology has led to scepticism regarding adventurous claims. One important function of psychology is debunking nonsense.
Psychological categories are not static but change because of research and societal influences. The categories are prone to subjective conceptions of what these psychological categories hold. Foucault states that scientific categories order society, making these categories political.
Hacking formulates the looping effect of social kinds which states that social kinds can start as arbitrary but acquire causal power in our social system. This occurs for psychological categories because they become part of people’s conceptualization of their own identity (e.g. “I act like this because I have ADHD”). Psychology shapes reality through the label it creates a society adapts to the label, making the label real.
Foucault states that society needs outcasts and mental disorders are used for this goal. Science employs psychology to exert power over the population through surveillance (e.g. psychological tests). Diagnosis of mental disorders steers social reality as people may interpret their behaviour differently after diagnosis. In addition to that, society treats people differently after diagnosis making the category real in a process of social interaction.
Several requirements allow others to evaluate claims and present counter-evidence. These requirements serve as demarcation criteria for science:
These requirements make scientific knowledge trustworthy. Scientific racism might exist through hidden racism; advancing one’s race by non-conspicuous biases against other groups.
The characteristics of knowledge in preliterate societies are know-how without theoretical understanding (1), fluidity of knowledge (2) and the existence of a collection of myths and stories (3). Animism, the explanation of the workings of the world and the universe by means of spirits with human-like characteristics are often used in preliterate societies.
Representation refers to when entities are denoted with symbols and relations between entities are represented with relations between symbols and this occurs in both language and numbers. Language allows a representation to be transferred from one person to another person and this requires the person to be physically present. Writing allows a representation to be transferred from one person to another person and the person does not need to be physically present. Language and writing allow for shared representations.
Pictograms are information conveying signs consisting of a picture resembling the object it represents. Phonograms are signs that represent sounds or syllables of spoken language and forms the basis of writing systems. Logographs are signs representing a spoken word which no longer has a physical resemblance to the word’s meaning.
Representations lead to a concept of truth, as some representations are correct and some are incorrect (e.g. 2+2=5). Shared representations allow for organised religion (1), a more complex economy (2), complex social structures (3). Writing allows for the accumulation of knowledge.
Agriculture allowed man to become sedentary (1), specialization of jobs (2) and societies having a more complex hierarchy (3). Scientific growth in society is made possible by political stabilisation (1), urbanisation (2), patronage (3) and the availability of a writing system (4).
Intentionality refers to thoughts relating to somethings (i.e. thoughts are about something). The sub-areas of philosophy in ancient Greece are ontology (1), epistemology (2), aesthetics (3) and ethics (4).
Heraclitus doubts whether something ever stays the same and proposes Panta Rhei; the only constant is change itself. In modern science, one of the main assumptions is the invariance principles (e.g. all electrons are interchangeable) making this discussion ever relevant.
There are two important philosophical positions on knowledge:
There are several relevant characteristics of Plato:
According to Plato, the ratio leads to superior knowledge compared to observation as only the ratio can lead to real knowledge.
In Plato’s allegory of the cave, he claims that real knowledge does not come from observation as people can only see imperfect forms (e.g. an imperfect circle). However, people do have an idea of perfect forms (e.g. a perfect circle)
.....read moreThe church is an authority on knowledge in the Middle Ages. During this period, there are different beliefs compared to modern beliefs; the earth is 6000 years old (1), the man is not an animal (2), the sun revolves around the earth (3), thinking takes place in the immaterial mind (4), the Greeks knew everything (5).
The belief that the Greeks knew everything led to the emphasis on the preservation of knowledge rather than the generation of new knowledge in Europe. However, science flourishes in the Middle East (e.g. mathematics and physics). The Middle East introduced Europe to Aristotle again in the 13th century. After Aristotle’s rediscovery, his knowledge was presumed to be correct until Galileo refuted some of his knowledge, proving that Aristotle was fallible.
Augustine of Hippo was a scientist from Algeria in the Middle Ages:
He introduces the argument from analogy as a solution to the problem of other minds and this problem is still relevant in modern science (e.g. AI research).
In Europe, during the Middle Ages, people believed in the Ptolemaic system, the idea that all celestial bodies orbit around the earth. This is a flawed model as it requires epicycles in order to explain retrograde motion, making this model mathematically complex. The heliocentric model, developed by Copernicus, refers to the idea that all celestial bodies orbit around the sun.
Copernicus published his book promoting the heliocentric model very late because of a fear of the church’s reaction (1) and because of uncertainties about his model (2). There were several objections to Copernicus’ heliocentric model:
The mechanistic view is the worldview according to which everything in the material universe can be understood as a complicated machine.
Galileo Galilei has several important characteristics:
In the Middle Ages, the idea that instruments could be better than the naked eye is revolutionary. The idea. The value of experiments is still relevant in modern science, as there are still discussions about ecological validity. Galileo’s conflict
.....read moreDescartes has several important characteristics:
The mind-body problem refers to the problem of the relationship between the (material) body and the (immaterial) mind. The interaction problem refers to how an immaterial substance can interact with a material substance.
Cartesian doubt refers to systematically doubting all previous beliefs and reasoning back from what remains. Descartes did this by putting all beliefs on an imaginary table and getting rid of all fallible things. Observation is fallible and, therefore, is not certain. Reality is fallible as it is possible that everything is fed to us by an evil demon (i.e. simulation) and, therefore, is not certain. There is something which doubts and this is not fallible and is, thus, certain (i.e. “Cogito Ergo Sum / I think, therefore, I am”).
Descartes states that there is an idea of perfection (i.e. Plato’s ideal world) and this idea cannot be his own as he is not perfect, meaning that this idea has to be planted in him by a perfect being: God. This idea of perfection is innate.
Descartes’ dualism is opposed by modern physics as it violates the law of conservation; adding energy out of nothing. Rejection of dualism easily leads to materialism but does not necessarily lead to reductionism as holism is also a viable alternative. Reductionism is the view that theories of mental properties can be reduced to neuroscientific theories.
Locke has several important characteristics:
The idea of the tabula rasa has political implications as this implies that at birth everyone is the same, giving rise to natural rights, a predecessor of human rights. The idea of innate differences is often viewed as a threat to human rights.
It was believed that everything was nurture until well in the 20th century. This belief was changed by research into genetics which demonstrated that predispositions exist (1) and that different psychological properties were influenced by genes. Predispositions can be seen as a form of innate knowledge.
Berkeley has several important characteristics:
Wolff has several important characteristics:
Introspection refers to the study of the mind by using the mind (i.e. investigating one’s own mental states).
According to Comte, introspection is not a reliable observation as there is no difference between the observer and observation (1), objectivity is impossible because it is not possible to control results (2). The results from introspection are not public, which goes against scientific principles of positivism. Comte believed that the mind could only be studied scientifically through physiology.
According to Kant, introspection is not a good method as mental states do not have quantitative properties (1), consciousness never stands still and can thus not be observed at a single point in time (2), the observation of the mind changes the mind (3) and introspection cannot provide mathematical descriptions (4).
There were three problems with studying man scientifically:
The mind can be described mathematically, as mental chronometry – the study of reaction times of mental operations – provides a mathematical description of mental processes. This was demonstrated by Von Helmholz, who discovered the speed of transmission in the nervous system and Donders who studied the duration of mental processes.
Quetelet proposed that statistics should be applied to humans because individuals could not be lawfully described but groups of people can, resulting in quantitative sociology. The noise in research into humans – the result of humans being stochastic – allows for a quantitative approach in psychology. Fisher demonstrated that confounds could be factored out in statistical analyses.
Weber discovered that the fingers are the most sensitive body parts by investigating the limits of the tactile senses. He also demonstrated the importance of muscles and joints for weight discrimination. Fechner was inspired by Weber and realised there could be a Newtonian mathematical function connecting the magnitude of the sensation to the magnitude of the stimulus, birthing psychophysics.
In short, Von Helmholz (1), Donders (2), Quetelet (3), Fisher (4), Weber (5) and Fechner (6) demonstrated that humans could be mathematically described.
Darwin has several important characteristics:
The two processes of Darwin’s theory make that evolution is a blind and fully automatic system driven by a statistical principle.
.....read moreIn the early 20th century, psychology is dominated by the unscientific methods mesmerism (1), phrenology (2) and spiritualism (3). Psychologists start to explicitly oppose pseudo-science and the scientificity of psychology becomes a theme.
Positivism states that science is the way to the truth and, therefore, the objectivity of knowledge must be guaranteed. Eugenics refers to a social philosophy which claims that the fate of a nation can be improved by selective breeding of the inhabitants. Intellectualism refers to obtaining knowledge for the sake of knowledge.
Einstein demonstrates that part of Newton’s theory was false. In a reaction to this, Bridgman introduces operationalization in physics. However, there are two objections to the use of operationalization in natural sciences:
Behaviourism was influenced by positivism (1), eugenics (2), a mistrust of intellectualism (3) and operationalization (4). It led to comparative psychology, the study of behaviour of animals with the intention to shed light on human functioning within the framework of the evolutionary theory. Behaviourism studies the relationships between stimuli and behaviour.
The behaviourist ideals of science are using mathematical laws (1), using operationalization (2), using independent and dependent variables (3) and striving for verification (4).
Watson has several important characteristics:
Pavlov invents the first learning model using a behaviourist approach and uses classical conditioning on dogs. He believed psychology could be reduced to physiology and that thinking consisted of reflexes. Thorndike formulates the law of effect – behaviour followed by a reward is more likely to be repeated – and discovers this through animal research using Thorndike’s puzzle-box. By doing this, Thorndike demonstrates operant conditioning. Pavlov and Thorndike’s research leads to the notion that human behaviour is equal to an animal’s behaviour.
Skinner has several important characteristics:
Tolman founded purposive behaviourism – behaviourism which sees behaviour as goal-related – through doubting Skinner’s radical behaviourism.
Behaviourism attempts to explain all behaviour, although this is not possible. For example, in Skinner’s theory of language,
.....read moreAncient Egyptian physicians knew the importance of the brain in behaviour as was shown by the Edwin Smith Papyrus. Plato believed the soul consisted of three parts and the brain was the most important part.
Aristotle, on the other hand, believed that thought was located in the heart because of the heart’s central location (1), its importance for emotion (2) and because all living organisms have a heart (3). According to Aristotle, the function of the brain was to cool the heat of the heart.
Galenus discovered a function of the nerve pathways and established the role of the brain as the hub of behaviour. He believed the brain communicated with the body through ventricles (1), animal spirits (2) and nerves (3). Vesalius created a functional division for the ventricles; common sense and fantasy (1), thoughts (2) and memory (3).
Descartes introduced mechanical ideas and viewed other organisms as automatons. His mechanical theory of reflex states that a sensory sensation travels through the nerves (1), this is bounced back like a mirror (2) and this leads to involuntary behaviour (3). According to Descartes, the soul remained spiritual in nature and the body and the soul interact in the pineal gland.
Gall founded two different subdisciplines:
Spurzheim formulated phrenology. Willis proposed that higher brain structures existed for more complex organisms and allowed for more complex functions and that the lower structures allowed for elementary functions. This means that a more complex animal has more brain structures and a less complex animal only has the lower brain structures.
In the 19th century, there are five breakthroughs which altered the model of brain functioning:
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