1. Introduction to History Edited.pptx

LECTURE 1 Week 1 and ii  Reference: Name of Text Book: An Introduction to the History of Psychology (6th Edition) by B.R. Hergenhahn.  Psychology’s Diversity Is it justified to have a single definition of Ps...

LECTURE 1 Week 1 and ii  Reference: Name of Text Book: An Introduction to the History of Psychology (6th Edition) by B.R. Hergenhahn.  Psychology’s Diversity Is it justified to have a single definition of Psychology? WHY STUDY HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY?  Ancients attempted to account for dreams, mental illness, emotions and fantasies, was that Psychology? Where to Did Psychology commence when explanations of human cognitive experience Start? such as those proposed by early Greeks became more systematic? Does Psychology begin when it became known as a separate science in 19 th Century? Psychology was a branch of philosophy until the 1870s, when it developed as an independent scientific discipline in Germany Problems in Writing History of Psychology and the United States. Psychology borders on various other fields including physiology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, sociology, anthropology as well as philosophy and other components of the humanities Do we include all causes of an idea? Do we include the history of everything? What to Do we include only those who were loud Include? and lucid enough?  Problems in What & How Much to Include. Literally Psychology means Maybe a way to write history study of the psyche or mind could be based on what is and this study is as old as the important now and tracing human species. events that lead to it. It is common to begin writing Stockings (1965) calls this history of Psychology from the approach presentism. point where it became a Historicism is the opposite of separate science. Presentism The problem with that will be: In Historicism we study the It ignores the vast past for its own sake without philosophical heritage that attempting to show the molded psychology in to the relationship between the past type of science that it and present. eventually became Coplestone (2001) describes It omits important aspects historicism as it applies to of psychology that are Philosophy outside the realm of Presentism, on the other science. Even though hand, implies that the state of  CLASS DEBATE. Presentism Historicism Attempting to understand Study past for its own the past through the sake without attempting present state of VS. to show the relationship discipline, supposing it to between the past and be the highest stage of present development and the past merely facilitating this stage. At present psychology is exploring many topics, methods and assumptions. Which of these would survive for inclusion in future history books is impossible to say. Using the present as a frame of reference, therefore does not necessarily assume that Psychology’s past evolved into its present or that current However, psychology norepresents matter how much the besthistoricism psychology.is emphasized, presentism cannot be completely avoided when reporting history. As Lovett puts it: “Without the present the very concept of ‘history’ would be meaningless” Moving Forward….  APPROACHES TO USE Zeitgeist Great Person Aka spirit of the time. Approach Emphasizing the influence of Emphasize the work of non-psychological factors such as individuals such as Plato, development in other sciences, Aristotle, Descartes, Darwin political climate, technological or Freud. Some say that advancement and economic History in fact resolves itself ECLECTIC conditions. very easily into the biography Historical Development Approachof few stout APPROACH and earnest Showing how various individuals or eventspeople. Choosing contributed to changes in an idea or whatever concept through the years. For example approach seems how the idea of mental illness has changed best able to over the years illuminate an aspect of WHY STUDY THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY? WHY STUDY THE HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY? 1. Perspective 2. Deeper Understanding 3. Recognition of Fads and Fashions 4. Avoiding Repetition of Mistakes 5. A Source of Valuable Ideas 6. Curiosity  Perspectives Deeper Understanding Seeing ideas in their historical With deeper perspective comes deeper perspective allows us to more fully understanding. Just as to understand a appreciate the subject matter of human their past experiences is of value so is modern psychology. studying a subject matter. As Boring (1950) said If psychology’s problems have been that without the knowledge of history worked on for centuries, should they not people may see present in distorted be solved by now? perspective, mistaking old facts and old Knowing our current studies have been views for new, remaining unable to contributed to by some of the greatest evaluate the significance of new minds in human history is exciting. movements and methods Why Study History of Psychology? Recognition of Fads and Fashions. It’s striking to know that a viewpoint didn’t just fade because it is incorrect; rather, some viewpoints disappear simply because they become unpopular. When Psychology emerged as a science the emphasis was on ‘pure’ science- on gaining knowledge without any concern for its usefulness. Later after Darwin’s theory became popular, psychology shifted its attention to human processes that were related to survival or to live more effective lives. Now one major emphasis is on cognitive processes in part due to recent advances in computer  Source of Valuable Avoiding Repetition Ideas of Mistakes Zeitgeist approach identifies Phrenology- Trying to understand that some conditions are better personality characteristics through suited than others. The notions of bruises and bumps in head was evolution, unconscious motivation something that was eventually found to be faulty. The entire school of thought of and conditioned responses had structuralism was found to be sterile and been proposed and re-proposed unproductive. It was important for several times before they were Psychology to make such efforts offered in an atmosphere that otherwise important lessons would have allowed their critical evaluation. been lost. Lateralization of brain Curiosity function; Instead of asking why study Many believe that the idea of the history, we could also ask two cerebral hemispheres why not? function in radically different ways is a new one. However, over 100 years ago Brown-Sequard’s Is Psychology a Science??? What Is Science???  Knowledge in the past was dependent on: Superstitions Abstract Thought Process Past Authorities Church Dogma Later, Science came into existence as a way of answering questions about nature by examining nature  From science’s inception its ultimate authority has been empirical observation Empirical Observation= Direct Observation of Nature (Is it Enough?) But there is more to science than simply observing nature. To be useful, observations must be organized or categorized in some way, and the ways in which they are similar to or different from other observations must be noted. After noting similarities and differences among observations, many scientists take the additional step of attempting to explain what they have observed. These steps further led to the idea of Science having two components:  COMPONENTS OF SCIENCE Empirical Theoretical Observation Explanation  According to Hull (1943): Men are ever engaged in the dual activity of making observations and then seeking explanations of the resulting relation. All normal men in all times have observed the rising and setting of the sun and the several phases of the moon. The more thoughtful among them have then proceeded to ask the question, why? Why does the moon wax and wane? Why does the sun rise and set, and where does it go when it set? Here we have the two essential elements of modern science: The making of observations constitutes the empirical or factual component, and the systematic attempt to explain those facts constitutes the theoretical component. As science has developed, specialization or divisions of labor has occurred, some men have devoted their time mainly to the  REVIEW….: ✘ What is Science? ✘ What is Science Made of: * Empirical Observation * Theoretical Explanation ✘ Ways of Attaining Knowledge in Science?  What makes science such a powerful tool is that it combines two ancient methods of attaining knowledge: RATIONALISM EMPRICISM any view appealing knowledge comes to reason as a only or primarily source of from sensory knowledge or experience. justification". Apply the rule of logic  RATIONALISTS EMPIRICISM have claimed that the ultimate starting The notion of tabula rasa ("clean slate" or point for all knowledge is not the senses "blank tablet") connotes a view of mind as but reason. an originally blank or empty recorder on They maintain that without prior categories which experience leaves marks. and principles supplied by reason, we This denies that humans have innate couldn't organize and interpret our sense ideas. experience in any way. Empiricists have always claimed that sense We would be faced with just one huge, experience is the ultimate starting point for undifferentiated, whirl of sensation, all our knowledge. signifying nothing. The senses, they maintain, give us all our Rationalism in its purest form goes so far raw data about the world, and without this as to hold that all our rational beliefs, and raw material, there would be no knowledge the entirety of human knowledge, consists at all. in first principles and innate concepts Perception starts a process, and from this (concepts that we are just born having). process come all our beliefs. They talked about introspection Knowledge is acquired through empirical evidence. Observation and experimentation.  After centuries of inquiry it was found that by themselves rationalism and empiricism had little usefulness. It was science that combined the two positions and knowledge has been accumulating at an exponential rate ever since.  The rationalist’s aspect of science prevents it from simply collecting an endless array of disconnected empirical facts. Because the scientist must somehow make sense out of what he or she observes, theories are formulated. A scientific theory has two main functions: 1) It organizes empirical observations 2) It acts as a guide for future observations. This generates confirmable propositions. A theory suggests propositions that are tested experimentally. If proposition is confirmed through experiment, the theory gains strength, if the proposition is not confirmed, it loses strength. Thus scientific theories must be testable otherwise they are either revised or abandoned based on erroneous propositions. In science, then, the direct observation of nature is important, but such observation is often guided by theory.  REVIEW….: ✘ What is Science? ✘ What is Science Made of: * Empirical Observation * Theoretical Explanation ✘ Ways of Attaining Knowledge in Science? *Empiricism Vs Rationalism ✘ Scientific Laws Another feature of science is that it seeks to discover lawful relationships. Therefore a scientific law would mean: SCIENTIFIC LAW a consistently observed relationship between two or more classes of empirical events. For example, when X occurs, Y also tends to occur. Science, then, uses theories to find and explain lawful, empirical events  By stressing lawfulness, science is proclaiming an interest in the general case rather than the particular case. Traditionally, science is not interested in private or unique events but in general laws that can be publicly observed and verified. That is, a scientific law is general and, because it describes a relationship between empirical events, it is amenable to public observation. The concept of public observation is an important aspect of science. All scientific claims must be verifiable by any interested person. In science, there is no secret knowledge available only to qualified authorities.  Two kinds of Scientific Laws: Causal Laws Correlational laws How events are causally related. How classes of events vary E.g. if we knew the causes of a together in some systematic way. disease we could predict and E.g. scores on intelligence tests control that disease-preventing the tend to correlate positively with disease from occurring. scores on creativity tests REVIEW….: ✘ What is Science? ✘ What is Science Made of: * Empirical Observation * Theoretical Explanation ✘ Ways of Attaining Knowledge in Science? *Empiricism Vs Rationalism ✘ Scientific Laws *Causal- Correlational Laws ✘ Scientific Determinism Because a main goal of science is to discover lawful relationships, science assumes that what is being investigated is lawful. For example, the chemist assumes that chemical reactions are lawful, and the physicist assumes that the physical world is lawful. The assumption that what is being studied can be understood in terms of causal laws is called determinism. the doctrine that all events, including human action, are ultimately determined by causes  DETERMINISM The philosophical doctrine that ‘states that for everything that ever happens there are conditions such that, given them, nothing else could happen.’ (Taylor, 1967) A scientific assumption that states that everything that occurs is a function of finite number of causes and that, if these causes were known these events could be predicted with complete accuracy. What’s the opposite of Determinism?  FREE WILL/NON DETERMINISM Free will is the idea that we are able to have some choice in how we act and assumes that we are free to choose our behavior, in other words we are self determined. What School of Thought Can be Called as based on Free will? Which could be based on determinism? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYWiIWpcCIM  HARD DETERMINISM & SOFT DETERMINISM ✘ With hard determinism, the causes of human behavior are thought to function in an automatic, mechanistic manner and thus render the notion of personal responsibility meaningless. ✘ With soft determinism however, cognitive processes such as intentions, motives, beliefs, and values intervene between experience and behavior. ✘ The soft determinist sees human behavior as resulting from thoughtful deliberation of the options available in a given situation. ✘ Because rational processes manifest themselves prior to actions, the person bears responsibility for those actions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xS8rSJr9bhI SO….. To sum up, SCIENCE is: ▪ The traditional view is that science involves; 1. empirical observation, 2. theory formulation, 3. theory testing, 4. theory revision, 5. prediction, 6. control, 7. the search for lawful relationships, 8. and the assumption of determinism. Some claim Psychology is not a science while others say it is. However, it is widely agreed upon that Psychology if not a hard science, it is in fact a soft science. PERSISTENT QUESTIONS IN PSYCHOLOGY  Yes, say Are we inherently aggressive? Freudians. Is Human Nature basically good Yes, say and non-violent? Humanistic What is the nature of human nature? Yes, say Is Human Nature existential neither good nor psychologists, Do Humans bad but shaped Yes, say no say the possess free by experience? Behaviorists scientifically will?. oriented psychologist.  Materialists- explain everything in Idealists- everything can be physical terms. Mental events are just explained in terms of physics and chemistry. consciousness. Even the so- Matter is the only reality, therefore everything in the universe, including called physical world consists of behavior must be explained in terms of ideas.(Idealists Monists) matter(Materialist Monists) Inclination towards-Mind Inclination towards-Body How Are The Mind & Body Related? Psychological Parallelism Interactionism Environmental experience causes both Mind influences body mental events and bodily responses Dualists-there are and body influences simultaneously and the two are physical events and mind hence they independent of each other. mental events. How Harmony-minds and bodies are set in interact motion and coordinated from the are the mind and beginning of time by a divine being body related then? that creates the universe  Nativists- emphasize human attributes to be determined by heredity To what extent are human attributes determined by heredity as opposed to experience? Empiricism- emphasize human attributes to be determined by experience.  Rationalist- Postulate an active mind, where data is transformed from experience in some important way. Information is organized, pondered, understood or valued. Mind adds material to the physical environment. What is the origin of human knowledge? Empiricists- Have a passive mind where they feel environment helps shape behavior, we take in whatever we see.  Objective versus Subjective Reality The difference between what exists physically and what is experienced mentally Problem of Reification- tendency to believe that because something has a name it also has an independent existence. Souls, minds, gods, demons, spirits and selves?  Universalism versus Relativism Are there knowable universal truths about the world in general or about people in particular or must truth always be relative to individuals or group perspective