Summary Chapter 1 Psychology Peter Gray

Chapter 1
Psychology = the science of behaviour and the mind.
observable non-observable

3 ideas of behaviour:

1. Behaviour and mental processes have physical causes
2. The way people think, behave and feel is modified by experiences
3. The body’s machinery is a product of evolution and natural selection

 Behaviour and mental processes have physical causes
 Dualism : material body and immaterial soul
o Descartes
Behaviour occur trough mechanical means, not the soul
Everything by body, thinking by soul
pineal body

 Materialism : behaviour occurs by physical processes, especially the brain
o Hobbes
 better understanding of reflexes
 reflexology
 localization of the brain



 The mind and behaviour are shaped by experience
Empiricism : knowledge and thought derive from sensory experience
 tabula rasa

Association of contiguity : if one experiences 2 environmental events at the same time,
these will be associated when thinking about only one. (think of apple  red AND round)

Nativism : the basics of knowledge are native to the human mind and are inborn
(no experience)
o Counterpart of empiricism
o ‘Otherwise we wont be able to learn anything
o 2 types of knowledge
1. Priori knowledge  doesn’t have to be learned (= inborn)
2. Posteriori knowledge  gained from experiences
Priori knowledge is essential to gain posteriori knowledge



 The body’s machinery is a product of evolution and natural selection
Species evolve to their environment, from generation to generation
To promote survival and reproduction