What is psychology?
Psychology is the science of human behaviour and its underlying mental processes.
→ Behaviour = observable actions of a person or an animal
→ Mind = individual’s sensations, perceptions, memories, thoughts etc
→ Science = all attempts to answer questions through systematic collection and
logical analysis of objectively observable data.
‘Why do people lie’ can be answered with scientific methods and ‘Will souls of liars go to
heaven’ can’t be answered, because you can’t observe a soul or heaven.
We will discuss questions in which we can observe things.
→ Behaviour = directly observable
→ Mind = not directly observable
You first have to understand normal behaviour before you can identify ‘ill’ behaviour ->
‘normal’ is cultury determined.
Foundations
1879 → Wundt
Three underlying ideas
1) Behaviour and mental processes have a material origin, you can’t take it serious
if it was supernatural
2) Individuals can change because of experiences
3) Humankind was shaped by evolution and natural selection. The same for all other
species. It is worth it to look at other species and how they act because we are
related.
Three controversies
1) Dualism vs Materialism
Descartes took the important step to see the body as a machine. You can study how
muscles work. Animals were totally mechanic, so you can study how they work.
Humans have both a body and conscious thought, so not totally mechanic. Where
does conscious thought take place? It exists somewhere separately from the body.
This laid down the foundation of Descartes body-soul dualism. They communicate
through the pineal gland. (The soul is housed in the pineal gland). Decartes believed
that even very complex behaviours can occur through purely mechanical means,
without involvement of the soul.
→ Body : Natural world, can be studied scientifically
→ Soul : Supernatural entity that operates according to its own free will,
cannot be studied scientifically.
→ Thought : Conscious deliberation and judgement.
Decartes’ theory is popular among nonscientists, because it acknowledges the roles of
sense organs, nerves and muscles in behaviour without violating people’s religious.
→ Psychology limits : theory sets stricts limits, which few psychologists would
accept today, on what can and cannot be understood scientifically
→ Philosophy limits : stumbles on the question of how a nonmaterial entity
(soul) can have a material effect (movement of body).
Psychology is the science of human behaviour and its underlying mental processes.
→ Behaviour = observable actions of a person or an animal
→ Mind = individual’s sensations, perceptions, memories, thoughts etc
→ Science = all attempts to answer questions through systematic collection and
logical analysis of objectively observable data.
‘Why do people lie’ can be answered with scientific methods and ‘Will souls of liars go to
heaven’ can’t be answered, because you can’t observe a soul or heaven.
We will discuss questions in which we can observe things.
→ Behaviour = directly observable
→ Mind = not directly observable
You first have to understand normal behaviour before you can identify ‘ill’ behaviour ->
‘normal’ is cultury determined.
Foundations
1879 → Wundt
Three underlying ideas
1) Behaviour and mental processes have a material origin, you can’t take it serious
if it was supernatural
2) Individuals can change because of experiences
3) Humankind was shaped by evolution and natural selection. The same for all other
species. It is worth it to look at other species and how they act because we are
related.
Three controversies
1) Dualism vs Materialism
Descartes took the important step to see the body as a machine. You can study how
muscles work. Animals were totally mechanic, so you can study how they work.
Humans have both a body and conscious thought, so not totally mechanic. Where
does conscious thought take place? It exists somewhere separately from the body.
This laid down the foundation of Descartes body-soul dualism. They communicate
through the pineal gland. (The soul is housed in the pineal gland). Decartes believed
that even very complex behaviours can occur through purely mechanical means,
without involvement of the soul.
→ Body : Natural world, can be studied scientifically
→ Soul : Supernatural entity that operates according to its own free will,
cannot be studied scientifically.
→ Thought : Conscious deliberation and judgement.
Decartes’ theory is popular among nonscientists, because it acknowledges the roles of
sense organs, nerves and muscles in behaviour without violating people’s religious.
→ Psychology limits : theory sets stricts limits, which few psychologists would
accept today, on what can and cannot be understood scientifically
→ Philosophy limits : stumbles on the question of how a nonmaterial entity
(soul) can have a material effect (movement of body).
