History Of Psychology PDF

COURSE OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY HISTORY OF Università Cattolica del PSYCHOLOGY Sacro Cuore MILAN Claudia Repetto TOC Precursors Wundt and Structuralism James and Functionalism Freud e Psychoanalysis Watson and Behaviourism Gesta...

COURSE OF EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY HISTORY OF Università Cattolica del PSYCHOLOGY Sacro Cuore MILAN Claudia Repetto TOC Precursors Wundt and Structuralism James and Functionalism Freud e Psychoanalysis Watson and Behaviourism Gestalt Penfield and the Biological Perspective Cognitivism TIMELINE OF THE MAIN EVENTS AND PEOPLE 1879 1900 1800 2000 Wilhelm Wundt founds the first experimental psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany. Historical date from which psychology is attributed the status of an autonomous scientific discipline  PRECURSORS 1758-1828 1596-1650 1879 1900 1800 2000 Cartesio Wundt F. J. Gall proposes a segmented view of psychic functions, which are linked to specific areas of the brain F. J. Gall and Frenology cognitive functions are located in specific brain areas the use or innate endowment of a faculty specifically develops the corresponding brain site, which deforms as it grows by evaluating the morphology of an individual's skull, it is possible to identify the regions that have peculiarities and deduce the individual's personality from them. F. J.Gall and Frenology  WUNDT and STRUCTURALISM psychology subject: non-mediated experience of the person this experience corresponds to the mental activity that occurs in parallel with objectively measurable stimuli and reactions the basic mental activity is apperception, defined as the process by which conscious sensation is identified, qualified and synthesized WUNDT and STRUCTURALISM purpose of the research: to capture the variation of the unmediated experience as the stimulus changes research method: introspection. through introspection Wundt claims it is possible to investigate states of consciousness: in the laboratory he presented subjects with a controllable and measurable stimulus and he asked them to describe in detail all their mental states (sensations, images, emotions,...) WUNDT and STRUCTURALISM WUNDT AND STRUCTURALISM WUNDT AND STRUCTURALISM Homer, Have you ???? ever thought about why you like donuts so much? Tell me what you feel when you eat donuts What images come to your mind? What emotions do you feel? WUNDT AND STRUCTURALISM ???? And now that I’ve changed the shape? WUNDT AND STRUCTURALISM ???? What about now, that the icing has changed? WUNDT and STRUCTURALISM The introspective method had some limitations: inaccessibility of the mind of certain categories of people (children, mentally- ill persons, etc...) subjectivity and impossibility to access other people's introspections  WUNDT and STRUCTURALISM Structuralism, therefore, aimed to break down the mind into the basic psychological processes (mental chemistry), from which the higher processes are then "constructed". Structuralists do not care about the mind as a substance, but as an activity, a set of processes  1758- 1890 1596- 1828 1866 1650 1879 1900 1800 2000 Cartesio Helmoltz Gall Wundt Williams James publishes Principles of Psychology, a reference text for contemporary psychology, and gives birth to the functionalist approach  JAMES and FUNCTIONALISM it is opposed to Structuralism: it is not interested in the content of thought but in its function consciousness as a dynamic and continuous flow (not segregated into minimal elements) à stream of consciousness psychology as a science that studies the function and causes of mental behaviors and processes JAMES and FUNCTIONALISM this attention to the "function" rather than to the nature of processes is inspired by Darwin's evolutionary studies Mental processes are the result of evolution, therefore they must be studied ”on the whole" and not fragmented into simpler elements, which are meaningless  JAMES and FUNCTIONALISM embracing the evolutionary perspective, functionalism has made important contributions in the field of evolutionary psychology and animal psychology Developmental psychologyà ontogenesis Animal psychologyà phylogenesis  JAMES and FUNCTIONALISM This approach is strongly pragmatic No longer a "pure psychology", as pointed out by the structuralists, but an applied psychology, committed to the impact on real life à construction of psychological tests (J. Cattell), work psychology (H. Münstenberg)  1758-1828 1890 1596-1650 1866 1860 1879 1900 1800 2000 James Fechner Cartesio Helmoltz Gall Wundt Sigmund Freud publishes The Interpretation of Dreams where he introduces his influential theory on human mind and behavior FREUD and PSYCHOANALISYS It is based on the concept of the unconscious Iceberg metaphor Here not revealed desires are hidden, passions, hidden faults, the ineffable wishes and conflicts between duty and pleasure  FREUD and PSYCHOANALISYS The mind is divided into three different instances, which develop at different stages in our life: ID EGO SUPER-EGO FREUD and PSYCHOANALISYS ID acts following the pleasure principle… It wants everything. Right now. FREUD and PSYCHOANALISYS Super-Ego is the moral part… It strives for perfection It knows what is right and wrong FREUD and PSYCHOANALISYS Ego acts as a mediator…  FREUD and PSYCHOANALISYS The unconscious for Freud is the real engine of the human psyche The unconscious manifests itself partly within dreams, in slips, in small "random" incidents and in irony Here you are a slip… Lisa, my love, bear Who the hell is with me, it is a Lisa? period that I keep making gaffes 1596- 16501758-1828 1890 1866 1879 1913 1900 1800 2000 James Cartesio Helmoltz Freud Gall Wundt J. B. Watson publishes an article announcing a complete turnaround for psychology: “The Psychology as the behaviorist views it”. The era of behaviorism is born WATSON and BEHAVIORISM Psychology subject: observable behavior (only in this way you can be sure of the objectivity of psychological research) Research method: observation and experimental manipulation (introspection cannot play any role since it is neither observable nor objective) WATSON and BEHAVIORISM STIMULUS ? BLACK BOX RESPONSE WATSON and BEHAVIORISM The main area of interest is learning (see Pavlov, Thorndike, Skinner) Mind as a blank slate, on which experience writes new knowledge WATSON and BEHAVIORISM How does experience determine the learning of new knowledge? conditioning and reinforcement An example…The little Albert 1596- 1650 1935 1758- 1866 1890 1913 1828 1860 1879 1900 1800 2000 James Watson Fechner Freud Helmoltz Cartesio Gall Wundt Kurt Koffka publishes "Principles of Gestalt Psychology " 'Gestalt' in German means "everything" or "essence". GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY It was born in Europe in the early 1900s It is inspired by the "act psychology " by Brentano (1874) Anti-elementary approach: psychic phenomena are considered unitary and not decomposable into single elements (against Structuralism) GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY According to this approach, therefore, psychological phenomena must be studied not as a series of elements, but as a coherent "whole" Main study areas: perception and thinking “the whole is more than the sum of its parts”! GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY Wertheimer is one of the main representatives à he made studies on apparent motion (stroboscopic) GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY Research method: experimental phenomenological It evaluates the change in the subject's perception (the phenomenon), as the physical characteristics of the stimulus vary à presentation speed of the frames (1/48 sec) to obtain perception of movement GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY The role of experience: it cannot determine the basic processes that lead to the structuring of the phenomenal field, but it affects the orientation of these processes in one direction rather than another Innatist theory: the experience imposes constraints that predispose to certain organizations rather than others Two examples… GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY Wolfgang Kohler studied the principles of learning from a Gestalt perspective and proposed the concept of learning by insight An intuition that reconfigures the phenomenal field and leads to the solution of the problem Insight: an example Insight…a video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPz6uvIbWZE 1596-1650 1935 1955 1866 1890 1758- 1913 1860 1879 1828 1900 1800 2000 James Koffka Watson Fechner Cartesio Helmoltz Freud Gall Wundt Wilder G. Penfield and the Biological Perspective W. Penfield and the Biological Perspective As a neuroscientist he is interested in looking for a link between the chemical activity of the brain and its effects on behavior and mental processes 1596-1650 1935 Da 1960 1866 1890 1758- 1913 1955 1860 1879 1828 1900 1800 2000 Penfield James Koffka Watson Fechner Cartesio Helmoltz Freud Gall Wundt Starting from “Plans and the Structure of Behavior” by George A. Miller Cognitivism came out on top Cognitivism It differs completely from the behaviorist approach by proposing a renewed interest in mental processes Mind not as a passive receptor of stimuli, but as an active processor of information that verifies congruence between the intentional plan and the result of the action by making appropriate corrections Cognitivism: T.O.T.E. model Test-Operate-Test-Exit: iterative model of problem solving Test: I check how the system is at the time of the stimulus Test Exit arrival Operate: I perform some operation that produces a change Operate Test: I run another test Exit: I repeat until I am satisfied with the result, then the process is completed I ran out of milk Test Exit I am at home Operate I go out to buy it I ran out of milk I go back home Test Exit I found the milk Success! Operate I go out to buy it I ran out of milk Test Exit I did NOT find the milk Fail! Operate I change supermarket I ran out of milk I go back home Test Exit I found the milk Success! Operate I change supermarket Find an example yourselves…. Cognitivism Mind-computer analogy Human Information Processing (HIP) It is in fact on the processes that the attention of cognitivists is directed: mentalist psychology From Cognitivism to Cognitive Sciences The idea of assimilating men to computers comes into crisis On the one hand, there is a shift towards a more ecological approach (Neisser, Cognition and Reality, 1976) On the other hand, a movement called "Cognitive Sciences" (1977) is launched 1596-1650 1935 Da 1960 1866 1890 1758- 1913 1955 1977 1879 1828 1900 1800 2000 James Koffka Penfield Watson Cartesio Helmoltz Freud Gall Cognitivismo Wundt Foundation of the journal “Cognitive Science” by R. Schank, A. Collins, and E. Charniak Cognitive Sciences: two approaches MODULARISM COGNITIVE SCIENCES CONNECTIONISM J. Fodor and Modularism (1983) the activity of the mind consists in the elaboration of internal representations Representations are the format in which the external stimulus has been transformed in order to be processed by the mind The transformation from stimulus to representation is carried out by the modules J. Fodor and Modularism (1983) CENTRAL SYSTEM (cognition) representations INPUT SYSTEMS (modules) TRANSDUCERS (senses) SENSORY INPUT An example module: vision Luc W h i te cup pre a’s Central System sen t fragile Output = representations position colour shape modules transducer stimulus An example of module: language It integrates with semantics for ultimate Central System understanding Output = representation of the syntactic structure of the sentence Syntactic Module (parser) Transducer stimulus Get out of here! J. Fodor and Modularism The output of the modules is taken over by the central systems, which do not have these characteristics and have different purposes: – fixation of beliefs, acts of will, higher processes – slow – guided by awareness – not anatomically localized, but the result of diffuse brain activations Connectionism by Rumelhart & McClelland (1986) The objective is to model the neural structures of the brain It studies cognitive processes as the result of a series of information transfers between single units connected in a network Connectionist networks are also called neural networks Neural networks: feed forward e back propagation The neural network is built to simulate some cognitive processes (e.g. understanding a sentence, object recognition, image discrimination) Therefore, through simulation, we intend to build a model of human cognitive functioning From theory to the computational model A "verbal" theory is the starting point of the model A theory becomes a computational program when it is fully specified This highlights the "gaps" of the theory Model evaluation We «run» the model Do we get the same effects that we find in human behavior? If not, it means that the theory must be refined or rejected Connectionism by Rumelhart & McClelland (1986) Hidden OUTPUT layer layer INPUT layer Neural networks: feed forward e back propagation 3 layers: input-output- hidden Each unit is connected to other units through "weights" (transformation coefficients) The information passes from the input to the hidden units and from them to the output (feed forward) If the output does not match the target, the output is forced from the outside and this changes the weights of the previous units backwards (back propagation) Neural networks: applications Simulation of a cognitive process (evaluation of a theory or conflicting theories) Learning simulation Simulation of deficits  Neural networks: advantages They force us to formulate well-defined hypotheses They allow us to study rigorously internal mental processes They allow us to manipulate the process by studying its variations and also to build models of deficits