Existential Psychology Overview

Study Notes

Existential Psychology/Humanistic Psychology

Heidegger's Dasein and Thrownness: Dasein refers to "being there," emphasizing the unique human existence by being aware of and questioning existence. Thrownness encompasses uncontrollable aspects like birth circumstances and historical context, shaping individual choices and existence. This highlights the tension between freedom and the constraints of one's circumstances.
May's Theory: Anxiety and Guilt: Anxiety arises from threats to values or existence. Normal anxiety is proportionate to the situation and fosters growth, while neurotic anxiety is disproportionate and hinders growth. Guilt results from failing to act authentically or meet one's potential. May connects anxiety and guilt as interconnected elements of existential concerns.
Third-Force Psychology: This is humanistic psychology, emphasizing human potential, freedom, and personal growth. It contrasts with psychoanalysis (overly deterministic) and behaviorism (overly mechanistic). Its goals include celebrating human creativity, self-actualization, and meaning.
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs: This theory structures human needs: Physiological, Safety, Love/Belonging, Esteem, Self-Actualization. The hierarchy isn't universal; priorities can evolve based on personal values and circumstances.
Conditions of Worth and Incongruence: Conditions of worth are expectations others place on behavior, making love or acceptance conditional. Incongruence occurs when a person's true self mismatches their behaviors, shaped by external conditions, leading to psychological distress.

Cognitive Psychology

Piaget's Concept of Schema: Schemas are mental frameworks used to organize and interpret information. These frameworks are dynamic, adapting through assimilation (integrating new information) and accommodation (modifying existing schemas).
Turing's Imitation Game: This aims to determine if a machine can exhibit intelligent behavior indistinguishable from a human's. It involves a human interrogator communicating with both a human and a machine through typed responses. If the interrogator can't reliably distinguish the machine, the machine passes the test.
Strong vs. Weak AI: Strong AI suggests machines can genuinely understand and possess minds like humans. Weak AI posits that machines merely simulate intelligence, lacking genuine understanding or consciousness.
Chinese Room Example: It illustrates the difference between syntax (manipulating symbols) and semantics (understanding meaning). The example involves a person in a room following rules to respond to Chinese characters without understanding the language, demonstrating that following rules doesn't equate to genuine understanding.
Neural Networks and Simulating Synaptic Changes: Neural networks are computational models inspired by biological neural systems. They process information by adjusting weights between interconnected nodes, similar to synaptic changes in biological brains. This process mimics learning by adapting based on input/output patterns.