History of psychology
CH1
Reasoning Socrates trough Plato
- People already have knowledge in their soul nativism
- We acquire knowledge by reasoning and thinking rationalism
- Idealism true knowledge does not come from senses but from the ideal form, it resides in
your soul not the world around you
- Your mind is made up from different elements
1-appetites striving for lustful things (want)
2- duty things you don’t like but you learned that are good. (should)
Task of reason to guide these in the same direction
Aristoteles a student of Plato
- Epirism knowledge consists of observation and your mind organizes this to create an
image, you automatically start classifying things. (Mind acts as a filter and knowledge comes
from outside)
- Different souls;
1- Vegetive souls nourishment and reproduction (plants)
2- Sensitive souls sensation, locomotion(walk), memory and imagination (animals)
3- Rational souls logical reasoning (humans)
- Difference is that Aristoteles says knowledge comes from the outside in and Plato says it
comes from the inside out.
Alhazen
- Is seeing something active or hearing? Out or in?
- Eye works like a camera obscura.
Avicenna
- Describes the interior senses, common sense, imagination, memory, and estimation
(opportunity or threat) and appetition (avoid or approach) this is an elaboration on
Aristoteles.
- Something that is independent from the senses self-awareness.
CH2
Theme 1 what is the relationship between body and mind?
Theme 2 how do we acquire knowledge about the world?
Descartes
Theme 1
- Wanted to have true knowledge, noticed that books and teacher co9uld not be trusted, his
way is the only way.
- He should be co0nvinced by what is true of not started doubting everything
BvH
, - Search for simple natures fundamental properties of simple nature that you could not
doubt.
- Knowledge was more about thinking (deduction) above sensory experiences (induction)
- Physical world had two properties that cannot be doubted: extension and motion
Relates to Galileo primary qualities (shape, quantity, motion) - physical objects
secondary qualities (sights, sounds, feelings) - interacting with these physical objects
Physics
- Whole universe is filled with particles, no empty space.
these particles have extension and motion.
- You can see the human body as an object mechanistic physiology the body as a
machine.
Nerves are hollow, filled with animal spirit (cerebrospinal fluid)
Reflex = - stimulus (external world) +
- response (organism behavior) > burning? Automatically pull back
Particles move into the nerves moves the animal spirit (fluid) moves upwards into the
brain flows back through motor nerves activate the muscles
- Acquired reflexes = reflexes you learn (driving)
learning means that the structure of the brain changes such that the same stimulus can
lead to a different or even automatic response.
- With this the emotions can be explained (anger fluid go quickly through your body)
Theme 2
- Interaction body and outside world, no soul needed (Aristoteles soul)
Retained one type of soul rational soul
- You can doubt your senses (colors or shapes are maybe not there)
But I cannot doubt that there is somebody doubting, Cognito ergo sum (I think therefore I
am)
- Innate ideas = soul has ideas, independent of senses and the outside world.
- Body and mind are different things (Plato)
- Elizabeth Bohemia hoe the material body and the immaterial mind interact?
Descartes answered not how but where pineal glands
Body is double, soul is one (interactive dualism) - explained with vision
Locke
- How does knowledge emerge?
- Picked up from idea Descartes learn things from the outside world (mechanistic,
automatic way)
- Soul is not necessary for knowledge (rejects interactive dualism)
- There are two things: - sensations (input) and reflections (combinations of sensations)
these create memories in your mind
- Three types of knowledge:
1- Intuitive- experience
2- Demonstrative- explainable knowledge
3- Sensitive- knowledge you get from interacting with the world through senses
Simple ideas (red, round)
Complex ideas (apple, hunger)
- Association of ideas:
Contiguity- if two things cooccur in time, you tend to associate them
Similarity- if two things look alike, you treat them alike
BvH
, - Molyneux supports Locke, blind person experience world through feeling, you don’t
recognize by sight what you know by senses.
Leibniz
- Mind being active in constructing knowledge about the world
- Inspired by idea of pantheism god is not a person, god is everything
idea of the microscope, whole world consists of living things at different levels
idea of monad world consist of entities who have the capacity to be aware
1 Bare monads- resemble someone in deep sleep
2 Sentient monad- capacity of perception
3 Rational monad- perception and apperception (you can consciously be aware)
4 Supreme nomad- god aware of everything
- World as one interconnected organism
- Minute observations what you now experience is not all that you have, you have
unconscious observations
CH3
Theme: localization where in the brain are psychological characteristics?
Relationship between brain and psychology
Franz Joseph Gall:
- Studied brain anatomy neurons, white/grey matter, commissures (Willis)
- Commissures relationships between two sides of the brain (elaborated by Gall)
- Does specific characteristics relate to the structure of the brain
- If a larger brain means more complex behavior, people with certain characteristics have
larger brain is certain areas phrenology
- Can feel from the skulls if you have more brain (lump on the skull)
- Physiognomy can read somebody’s characteristics from peoples faces
Pierre Flourens
- Behavioral consequences of brain damage ablation systematic damage the brain to
observe consequential behavior.
- Conclusion: no localization of psychological characteristics?
Broca and Wernicke
- Bouillaud: aphasia speech disorder because of brain injury (not taken seriously because
phrenology was rejected)
- Broca: had acces to a patient ‘Tan’ was the only thing he could say, could understand
language though had damage on the specific point of the brain (motor aphasia)
- Wernicke: other areas of the brain related to different types of aphasia third type of
aphasia conduction aphasia (repeat sentence)
- Sensory aphasia (understanding language)
BvH