Rationalism Overview and Key Thinkers

Rousseau's concept of the collective good, to which individuals must surrender their freedom.

Fundamental concepts (e.g., unity, time, cause and effect) used by the mind to understand the world.

A philosophical approach emphasizing reason and innate ideas as primary sources of knowledge.

Rousseau's ideal human, unspoiled by civilization, inherently good and altruistic.

The world as it objectively exists, independent of our perception.

The mind doesn't passively receive sensory information but actively shapes it into knowledge.

The belief that certain mental abilities exist from birth, essential for understanding the world.

The world as we experience it, shaped by our minds and perceptions.

A German literary movement emphasizing passionate, opposing forces of life.

A process where a thesis (idea) generates its opposite (antithesis), leading to a new synthesis (combined understanding).

Schopenhauer's idea that the fundamental drive of humans is the desire to live.

Deriving specific conclusions from general principles.

The ultimate truth or reality, progressively revealed by the dialectic process.

Schopenhauer's concept of the inner essence of reality, driving the 'will'.

The belief that God is everything and everything is God.

The idea that mind and body are different facets of the same thing.

Philosophical approach emphasizing free will, personal freedom, and finding meaning in life.

The idea that ideas interact and influence each other based on their compatibility.

Existential stage where individuals seek excitement but don't fully grasp their ability to choose.

Ultimate units of reality, energy-laden and soul-invested.

Herbart believed psychology could help improve teaching and memory.

Monads closest to God, associated with human reason.

Kierkegaard's idea that faith is like a passionate love, involving both joy and pain.

Knowledge organized according to principles (e.g., history, physics).

A holistic education that develops the individual's character.

Kierkegaard's belief that truth is found in personal experience and feeling.

Monads making up souls of living, non-human beings (not humans).

Monads that make up organic and inorganic matter with little conscious perception.

A movement emphasizing emotion, faith, and intuition over reason.

The act of focusing and understanding an object.

A philosophy focusing on individual existence, freedom, and responsibility.

A philosopher who saw society as artificial and detrimental to human nature.

Categories of thought not based on experience but inherent to the mind.

Kant's perspective bridged empiricist and rationalist viewpoints on knowledge.

James believed our emotions are a reaction to our physiological responses, not the other way around.

James saw consciousness as personal, ever-changing, continuous, selective, and distinct from external influences.

James viewed experimental psychology as dull and lacking in emotional depth.

Mary Calkins established a psychology laboratory and introduced experimental psychology into the curriculum.

A memory technique where pairs of items are learned, then one is presented to recall the other.

Hall's theory proposed that individuals repeat the evolutionary stages of humans throughout their lives.

Stanley Hall established developmental psychology as a crucial discipline.

Sumner's focus was on countering racist theories, demonstrating how bias affects them.

Dewey's reflex arc suggests a stimulus triggering a sensation, leading to a specific response.

Helmholtz measured nerve conduction speed in frog legs, finding approximately 90 feet per second. The result was lower than expected due to the limitations of his instruments.

Hering proposed that color vision was based on three types of receptors: red-green, yellow-blue, and white-black. Red, yellow, and white have a catabolic effect; green, blue, and black have an anabolic effect.

Ladd-Franklin's theory of color vision proposed that color vision evolved from monochrome vision. The fovea, the most evolved part of the eye, has the highest visual acuity and color sensitivity, especially in daylight.

A theory suggesting that the bumps on the skull could indicate mental abilities and character traits.

A portion of the left cortical hemisphere associated with speech articulation or production.

A cortical area near Broca's area, responsible for speech comprehension, located on the left temporal lobe.

The minimum distance on the skin at which two separate points of stimulation are perceived as distinct.

The smallest difference between two stimuli that can be detected.

A generalization of Weber's theory, addressing the relationship between physical and psychological sensations.

A school of thought in psychology focused on understanding the functions of the mind, its purpose, and how it helps organisms adapt and survive.

Functionalists aimed to apply psychological knowledge to improve everyday life, education, and work, unlike pure science which just observes.

Functionalists included animals, children, and mental health issues in their studies, expanding the field's focus.

Functionalists investigated the motives behind actions and mental processes, not just describing occurrences.

Functionalists saw both mental processes and observable behaviors as important areas for psychological study.

Functionalists were more interested in understanding what makes individuals unique and different, rather than what they have in common.

A prominent figure in psychology who incorporated evolutionary theory and broadened the field's scope.

The idea that the value of a belief or process is determined by its practical consequences.

William James's contrasting personality types based on differing approaches to knowledge (rational vs. empirical)

James broadened psychology to encompass behavior, cognition, emotions, will, and personal experience, not just conscious thought.