Psychology 1001 The History and Philosophical Foundations of Psychology 2024 PDF

Psychology 1001 The History and Philosophical Foundations of Psychology By professor Frans Verstraten The School of Psychology acknowledges and pays respect to the traditional owners of the land, the Gadigal of the Eora Nation. It is upon their ancestral lands that the University of Sydney is built....

Psychology 1001 The History and Philosophical Foundations of Psychology By professor Frans Verstraten The School of Psychology acknowledges and pays respect to the traditional owners of the land, the Gadigal of the Eora Nation. It is upon their ancestral lands that the University of Sydney is built. Who am I? 1985-1990 MSc Experimental Psychology Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, The Netherlands (1990 Student Psicologia Universita di Trieste, Italy) 1990-1994 PhD Biophysics, Utrecht University, NL 1994 Post-doc Ophthalmology, McGill, Montreal, Canada 1995 Post-doc Vision Sciences Laboratory - Harvard, USA 1996-2001 Advanced Telecommunications Research Institute, Kyoto, Japan 1997-2000 Royal Society Academy Researcher Biology, Utrecht 1999 Visiting-professor Psychology, Toronto, Canada 2000 Professor of Psychonomics, Utrecht University, NL 2012 McCaughey Chair of Psychology, The University of Sydney Why do I show this? Studying the brain & behavior opens up many opportunities. Even in fields you never believed you would work when you started as a psychology student Psychology is so much more than ‘mental health’ See later what ‘lay people’ think about what psychology actually is. You learn to think critical and become analytical; these are very ‘sought after’ skills You know how to process lots of information, find the state of the art, and the ‘outstanding’ issues… and how to research that! Psychology is a very interdisciplinary enterprise Neuroscience, computer science, philosophy, biology, physics, chemistry, and more are all part of the ‘spectrum’. Lectures Lecture 1: Why is knowing about history important? Lecture 2: From very early history to today: in search of functional locations in the brain Lecture 3: From very early history to today: in search of functional locations in the brain Lecture 4: Philosophical positions, good & bad science. Lecture 5: History of main movements in Psychology Lecture 6: (a very short) History of Mental Health… How to reach me? The face-to-face lectures are a perfect place to ask me questions; Your tutors are the first source for your questions; If you still have questions: Email me: [email protected] Make sure that the topic in the mail reads: 1001 Psych Question Why is history important? George Santayana (1863 – 1952) a Harvard Professor wrote: “Those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it” Shows also that Having good scientific roots are important (in his case Harvard) When from prestigious universities, your words are ‘important’ History is often based on authority (we have to ‘believe’ someone). Is there a such thing as “THE History”? Fact: After WW2, Germany, and Berlin was divided in an eastern (Soviet Union) and western part (USA, France, UK). History being told: find a book that tells the history of what happened after the 2nd world war from a western point of view and one from the point of view of the east. You will find: Both books will give very different views. Fact: What about books, written after the Berlin Wall came down in 1989? Many examples of this… North South Korea / Biden versus Trump / Brexit / Quebec Independence movement / Nanking massacre / Natives versus settlers… and many more Yet: Who tells the ‘truth’, who to believe, in particular in 2024! History as propaganda Question: is this also relevant for the history of psychology? Other Problems? Understanding history is dependent on many variables We do forget: Hard to proof, but…we forget! How? Even if we stored the information perfectly, it can disappear. Memory is far from perfect. Interference by time, discussion, decay/forgetting, other later added (mis)information. The tendency to discuss and analyse past ideas, people and events in terms of the present. Presentist bias It is hard but try to put yourself in the times it happened (like lack of knowledge, no internet, mobile phones, MRI machines, but also little things like transportation, access health care, elitism, racism, etc.. See also Zeitgeist (spirit of the times). We have to believe someone! So is there such a thing as ‘historical truth’? History is (more or less) a consensus between scientists. We tend to believe those we consider experts, smart, and trustworthy. What makes them smart? Famous University? Many citations? Grant money? Many students? But we can also try and find ‘evidence’ ourselves. It often requires interpretation. New findings and evidence? The story of ‘Alhazen’ Also known as ‘Ibn Al-Haytham’ (al-Hasan ibn al-Haytham) Born 965 in Basra, Iraq Died 1040 Cairo, Egypt Alhazen’s books are translated by the late professor Abdelhamid Ibrahim ("Bashi") Sabra (1922-2013): The m ost significant translation: Sabra, A.I. (1989). The O ptics of Ibn al-Hay tham. Books I-II-III: O n Direct Vision. English Translation and Com m entary (2 volum es). London: The Warburg Institute., The correct answer to all the questions is "none of the above". All these observations can be found in the Book written in the eleventh century by the Arabic scholar Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn alHasan ibn al-Haytham, better known by his Latin name Alhazen. Is this a scientific title for a book? Question: Look up on the internet: Ibn al-Haytham, aka Alhazen and see what he is known for! Under which academic discipline would you place him? Attendance check We can only understand the present with (some) understanding of the past. So We often like to know What they did? Why they did it? How they did it? Which mistakes were made? And were they mistakes they could have known? Which information they had access to… Translations, discoveries, etc. More Bias: Perspective of the West We saw the story of Al Hazen. That is possibly an example of “perspective of the west” (Greek, Roman, later German, British, and American…). The excuse could be that there wasn’t a translation. The ‘why’ question is often related to “Zeitgeist” Zeitgeist = spirit of the times (German: Zeit = time / Geist = spirit or ghost) Philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel actually wrote: “no man can surpass his own time, for the spirit of his time is also his own spirit” “Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come” Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885) Zeitgeist in Politics and movements… * Kennedy and others * Martin-Luther-King and others A zeitgeist example in Psychology: “on/off” versus “1/0” and the ‘cognitive revolution in the ’ (after behaviorism) ‘Zeros’ and ‘'Ones’ are used for coding information. (bits and several bits could make a byte… a higher form of representation, etc.) Neurons appeared to communicate with ‘On’ and ‘Off’. Historical names and terminology and time Baby boomers, generation X, millennials… Time pretty short Many names are made much later. Today, we found out that we can make tools from Bronze… “Ah, we now live in the Bronze Age”. (approximately 3300 BCE to 1200 BCE). The same is true for psychology and philosophy (and other domains). An example… The first world war was The Great War until we had The Second World War (World War 2) The history of Psychology and it’s philosophical foundations … And the many other foundations Medicine Biology Physics Optics Mathematics Computer science Chemistry Humanities Linguistics And more…. Where does the history of Psychology start Most (hand)books on Psychology will state: It started with Wilhelm Wundt (1832– 1920), when he established the first psychological laboratory in Leipzig in 1879. This event is generally considered the official start of psychology as a separate and distinct scientific discipline Often William James is mentioned as well as one of the founders of the field. Jet, Wundt was the first. Wilhelm Wundt’s lab * place * staff Wundt and Structuralism (vs Functionalism) The goal of psychological research is to study the structure of the mind and consciousness. Used a technique known as ‘Introspection’. A technique to ‘look into the brain’. What are the (ultimate) building blocks of our conscious experience? The mental elements! Goal of Introspection: The search of the primitive experiences that constitute thought So What are the building blocks of our conscious experience? The mental elements! Have a good look at your own conscious experience in search for the basic elements that built up this experience. Introspection was complicated Name the building blocks of an object. Observers needed to be highly trained. Pure sensations, auditory, visual (e.g. color, form), tactile (e.g. pressure, temperature, pain), time (temporal events) Very subjective, self reports on sensations, feelings, emotions etc. Volunteer needed… “The observer is to report the characteristics of, say, a pencil (color, length, etc.). The subject would be instructed not to report the name of the object (pencil) because that did not describe the raw data of what the subject was experiencing”. Describe a pencil only using the ‘ultimate’ building blocks… Building blocks could be colour, hue, luminance, shape, length, texture, (may the ‘feel’ of it). Building blocks? Naming colors, forms? The problems with introspection and the advent of Functionalism. Edward Titchener (1867-1927): A student of Wundt (British and moved later to Cornell University in the USA) and introduced Structuralism and Introspection to the Americans William James at Harvard… Considered as the founder of Functionalism as opposed to Structuralism. See next slide Functionalism (USA) William James (1842-1910) Harvard University The ‘Godfather’ of Psychology Book: Principles of Psychology (published 1890) Problem with structuralist approach is the ‘Stream of consciousness’. You can’t just freeze/divide current thoughts to analyse them to little building blocks. Simply because there is a continuous arrival of new thoughts that must interfere… so bad method! The structure might not be so important. The important question is ‘what do you use it for’, what is the function? The aim of Psychology is understanding the purpose of the mind and consciousness. That is, the function! The establishment of the Wund’s lab: This is considered the start of Scientific or Academic Psychology. Wundt / First lab / introspection 1879 Ibn al-Haytham Which field? Psychology (as a science) Pre-hist. 0 Time line.. 1000 1800 1900 1950 2000 In sum… Wilhelm Wundt First experimental lab in Leipzig 1879, so controlled experiments But unlike most students now (you…), at the time he wasn’t really interested in mental health or psychological problems. He wanted to know how our mind / brain works. Fundamental questions. Students came from everywhere and went everywhere. In general, successful scientists join successful labs. Still a fact! Parents and Children. Who trained Wundt? So Wundt also had supervisors… who had supervisors… Ernst Heinrich Weber (24 June 1795 – 26 January 1878) was a German physician who is also considered one of the founders of experimental psychology. Gustav Theodor Fechner (1801-1887) Fechner is considered the Godfather of Psychophysics. Is seen as experimental psychologist, philosopher, and physicist. Focus on sensory systems. The central idea: We are a product of evolution in a physical environment so, why shouldn’t our brain, as a product of this process, not obey physical rules? (Btw: this is not a citation) Weber and Fechner’s law published in 1860 in ‘Elemente der Psychophysik’ (In German, translates to ‘elements of psychophysics’) Weber’s law (originally from lifting weights (1834)) Ernst Weber (1795-1878) Important Concept: a Just noticeable difference: a JND If 5 gram is the noticeable difference between 100 en 105 gram, then for 1000 gram, it will be 1050 gram, so 50 gram. Weber fraction is 5/100 (for this task). So you won’t notice a difference for 100/104 or 1000/1049 grams) (not noticeable difference) Weber’s law: “the change in a stimulus that will be just noticeable is a constant ratio of the original stimulus”. Wundt / First lab / introspection 1879 Fechner/Weber /Psychophysics 1860 Ibn al-Haytham Which field? Psychology (as a science) Physics Medicine Pre-hist. Timeline.. 0 1000 1800 1900 1950 2000 Intermezzo: Many of us go back to Wundt as a great, great, grand parent… Lorentz But as you can see: Wundt also had ‘supervisors’ So where does the history of ‘Psychology’ really start? Philosophy? Medicine? Physics? Chemistry? And when did it all start? Practice questions Why is understanding of history important? What are potential problems with historical accounts? What does the case of Alhazen tell us about the history of a scientific field? What do we mean by Zeitgeist? The establishment of Wundt’s lab is often seen as the start of psychology, is that correct? What would be the correct way to describe it? Weber and Fechner are known for Psychophysics. What do we mean by that? What is a Just Noticeable Difference (JND) Why is the ‘Weber Fraction’ interesting if one likes to think in terms of ‘laws’ that rule the ‘mind’. What is introspection. What in very general terms is the difference between Structuralism and Functionalism. Who was Titchener? Can you describe introspection based on the perception of a pencil? Why was according William James, ‘the stream of consciousness’ a problem for the structuralist approach?