What are some things in psychology that scientists have disproven? - correct answer - Aristotle: the
brain was for cooling the blood; the heart was for thinking.
- We can run just 1 study and figure out the absolute truth of human cognition and behavior (reliability
test)
Why is science messy? - correct answer 1. Philosophically: Nothing discovered through experience is
guaranteed to be true.
2. Everything we discover through science we discover through experience.
Therefore: Nothing discovered through science is guaranteed to be true.
Remember: Scientists are people first
All observations are theory-laden. The scientific process helps us overcome our biases.
What is gradual triangulation? - correct answer - Measures, observations, methods, and reasoning
can all have different strengths, weaknesses, and error
- We "triangulate" through multiple techniques, testing different ideas in different ways, always
questioning, and learning from history
What are the origins of psychology? - correct answer Word is Greek and means: the study of the soul
- No distinction between the mind and the soul or spirit
- Originally, topics related to psychology were considered to be part of philosophy
- In the 1800s, psychology became its own proper area of academic interest
What is structuralism? - correct answer - Created in 1870s by Wilhelm Wundt (the father of
experimental psychology)
, - It is the study of the structure or characteristics of the mind
- An early scientific study of conscious experience that relied on introspection (the process by which
people carefully instruct on how to analyze their own thoughts under strict training)
- A problem with structuralism is that it failed to replicate, people were very different from person to
person and it was hard to quantify
- Also studied reaction times (studied how long it takes someone to react to a stimulus), people would
press a button when they saw a light turn on and the time it took to press the button would be the
reaction time
What is functionalism? - correct answer - Created in late 1800s and early 1900s by William James (the
father of American psychology)
- It is the study of how the mind helps an organism behave within its environment
- Studied the functional role of behavior by studying mind and behavior as a whole rather than by
isolating (like structuralism)
- Combined introspection and objective measures (like reaction time and physiology)
- He studied how the inner ear affects the vestibular sense (staying up right)
- He claims: Truth was a belief that helped people to adapt to their environment
What is psychoanalytic theory? - correct answer - Freud came up with this theory.. not going to study
him this semester
What is behaviorism? - correct answer - Emerged from related work by a variety of researchers in the
early to middle 1900s
- Behaviorism: the study of observable, measurable behavior
- Rejected any study of internal processes
- Typically focused on learning, especially classical and operant conditioning
- Often focused on studying animals
Explain Behaviorism paradigms: Classical conditioning - correct answer - You begin with an
unconditioned response (salivation of a dog in response to food)