Psychology 1001 Lecture 2: The History and Philosophical Foundations of Psychology PDF

Psychology 1001 Lecture 2 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...

Psychology 1001 Lecture 2 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. Why is history important? Role of new findings/discoveries/translations (see example of Alhazen. Concept of ‘Zeitgeist’ So last lecture The ‘start of psychology’ Wilhelm Wundt, his lab, and Introspection Structuralism and Functionalism (Titchener vs James) Weber and Fechner and Psychophysics. So if “Psychology” didn’t really start with Wundt, where did it? History is multi-disciplinary History is a (re)construction Here I will use an example... Searching for functional locations over time. Keep in ‘mind’: There are many places in the body that were considered important (heart, liver, and brain) There is a difference between looking for the location of the mind as in a religious entity that will leave the body after death (the seat of the soul) and the mind as a product of the brain activity. What is happening here? Lecture 2: From very early history to today: in search of functional locations in the brain Skulls found as far back as 6500 BC in France Some tools (Inca’s in Peru) Did they survive? Trypanon = a drill turned by hand or with a string. Question: What could be the reason for doing this? And what does it tell us about the possible relevancy for the history of psychology? Trepanation was used in ancient times for various purposes, including (from MedicineNet): Treatment of head injuries, including wounds and fractures Healing symptoms of diseases, such as epilepsy and headaches Ritual reasons Spiritual reasons Letting out evil spirits in people who were thought to believe abnormally (mental disorders) Increasing the blood flow and preventing the development of degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s So from that perspective it is part of the history of psychology. If you think, well they don’t do that anymore, think of this Gusii-man (Kenya)… in the 1940=1950ties. He had a recurring headache. Wundt / First lab / introspection 1879 Fechner/Weber /Psychophysics 1860 Ibn al-Haytham Which field? Psychology (as a science) Physics Medicine Pre-hist. 0 Time line.. 1000 1800 1900 1950 2000 Attendance check INTERMEZZO: Psychology is… Study of the brain, mind and behavior (see next lecture) What are we looking for when we say ‘functional specialized areas" Brain: Neuro-biological processes that generate mental processes and states Mind: Individual sensations, perceptions, memories, thoughts, dreams, incentives, emotions and all subjective experiences. Behavior: A wide variety of actions by men (and animal) that can be observed. Understanding the relationship between Brain, Mind and Behavior. An example of ‘intelligent’ behavior. Can we look for a ‘functional location’ The moth likes the moon (and nowadays ‘artificial lights’) So the moths ’thinks’ ”Aha, light… let’s go there because all my friends are there… party-time!” Seems rather intelligent, even ‘intentional’ behavior, right? Maybe not…. Make a smart car? Braitenberg vehicle! left: photophobic - right: photophilic Lego’s vehicle. Is it intelligent and if so,where does this intelligence come from? From 1.16 sec on.. photophobic and photophilic What about this one? A robot playing Air-hockey? Just to make sure: We will look at functional localization in biological systems, humans and other animals. Back to history: localisation in the brain/body So, trepanation can be seen as part of the history of medicine, but also of mental health or psychology Localisation of what? The Soul, the Brain, the source of thinking, memory storage? Difference between Brain function and Soul Ancient times: Brain versus Soul, Egypt Heart was the seat of the soul (Hegemonikon) Feelings, thinking etc. came from the heart not the brain. Heart stayed in body. The liver, kidneys, lungs, stomach were placed back or stored in jars, next to the body. So what about the brain? Common The brain was discarded (Excerebration: Removing the brain before mummification; via nostrils using an iron hook or from the back of the skull) But there is also evidence that they left it in the mummy. Fact is that the brain was not considered a very crucial part. That, however, had more to do with the ‘afterlife’. At least for some time they new that the brain was important. How? Remember this one? Imhotep… High priest under Pharaoh Seti I. Made it to ‘half God’ Architect (pyramid of Sakkara) Medical doctor… So, why does it show the Egyptians had ideas about the functional role and locations of the brain functions. And why is this important for the history of psychology? The Edwin Smith Papyrus (scroll of about 4.68 meters). Here a fragment. Bought by Smith, translated by Breasted The story of the acquisition of the Papyrus by Mr. Smith is of no little interest. Edwin Smith was an American who was greatly interested in Egypt and had studied Egyptian hieratic writing. In 1858 he settled in Luxor, and there came into intimate contact with many of the leading Egyptologists of the day. In the year 1862, he bought from an Egyptian native a papyrus roll which, so he was informed, had been found in a tomb. The outer part of the roll was in tatters as if some of the layers had been stripped off. Mr. Smith studied the roll and appreciated that it dealt with a medical subject. A few months later, the same native brought him another roll, and Smith recognized that the outer part of this second one consisted of tattered fragments from the first papyrus, which had been pasted around the surface of a dummy. This second papyrus was also bought by Mr. Smith. It was fortunate that he did so, for in the fragments which he removed from this second roll, there was an extraordinary discussion of the heart and its vascular connections. The Edwin Smith Papyrus It is among other things, about head wounds of soldiers Brain lesions lead to distal symptoms Left side of the brain controls right side of the body and vice versa The brain is responsible for speech Touching the brain can lead to epileptic seizures. Truth be told, it is debated whether Imhotep was the author. There is no real evidence, but it makes a good story… What did it tell us? The seat of the soul was clearly different than the source of our (motor)behavior. Edwin Smith papyrus: specific functions look localized in the brain. That is, there are areas that seem to be highly specialized in a specific task. Wundt / First lab / introspection 1879 Ibn al-Haytham Fechner/Weber /Psychophysics 1860 Psychology (as a science) Edwin Smith Papyrus - Imhotep Physics trepanation Time line.. 2000 1950 1900 1800 1000 0 Pre-hist. -3000 Which field? Medicine Nowadays we know this… but it took a long time… Lobes Specific functions Next: How did ideas develop about specific locations? How was evidence collected? Thinking in terms of localised functions: discovery of the ventricles Description of the Ventricles (Herophilus of Chalcedon, around 300 BC): Lateral ventricle (left and right (# 1 and # 2) The third ventricle in the center The fourth (discovered later) below. Gave rise to the 3-cell doctrine. 3-Cell Theory / Doctrine Drawing by Leonardo da Vinci Cell 1; collection of information from senses Cell 2; cognition/thinking Cell 3: memory 3 Cell doctrine Gregor Reisch, Margarita philosophica (1504) Wundt / First lab / introspection 1879 Psychology (as a science) Edwin Smith Papyrus - Imhotep Discovery of ventricles 3-cell doctrine Fechner/Weber /Psychophysics 1860 Ibn al-Haytham Physics trepanation Time line.. 2000 1950 1900 1800 1000 0 Pre-hist. -3000 Which field? Medicine Towards a ‘modern’ functional localisation Double dissociation: In cognitive neuroscience, double dissociation is an experimental technique by which two areas of neocortex are functionally dissociated by two behavioral tests, each test being affected by a lesion in one zone and not the other. In a series of patients with traumatic brain injury, one might find two patients, A and B. Broca’s patient Wernicke’s patient Both highly specialized brain areas. Paul Broca (1824 – 1880) and Broca’s area: highly specialised Karl Wernicke (1848 -1905) Broca’s Area and Wernicke’s Area Other scientific areas working on the functional localisation issue: e.g. Jean Pierre Flourens (+ 1867) And then things can get crazy: PHRENOLOGY Feel it with your hands… Franz Josef Gall (17571828) But especially his student Spurzheim (1775-1832) Find the ‘math bump’ or language bump’ (if you had flair for math or language). Faculties: affective & intellectual Apparently some internal ‘growth’ reflects how we look, with some serious implications Tools…. If you think ‘stupid ideas only last that long’ Think again! The case of phinnias Gage Seems to show that even personality is very localized in the brain. * After the accident he was ‘different’. Not organized, foul mouthed. But several have questioned this. You might want to read up on this. Targeting specialized areas: Lobotomy So we have highly localized funcdtions in our brain. Like language understanding, and production. Localised but… what about this? Plasticity is the answer and that is age related. New ways to look at functional localisation fMRI, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Tong et al. in Neuron. Looking at the Fusiform Face Area (FFA) and the parahippocampal place area (PPA) Neuro-imaging: Modern day phrenology? A network: Highly specialized area’s but connected Can you study a motor of a car by looking at the individual components? The connections between the highly specialized components can tell you how they communicate… DTI imaging (Diffusion Tensor Imaging) gives insight in the way areas are connected? Wundt / First lab / introspection 1879 fMRI scanning Edwin Smith Papyrus - Imhotep Discovery of ventricles 3-cell doctrine Gall/Spurzheim: Phrenology Broca/Wernicke Fechner/Weber /Psychophysics 1860 Ibn al-Haytham Physics trepanation Time line.. Psychology (as a science) 2000 1950 1900 1800 1000 0 Pre-hist. -3000 Which field? Medicine Practice questions What does trepanation potentially tell us about what people in the stone age were thinking about the structure that we now call ‘the brain’? Does behaviour always require a brain and intention? Why was the Edwin Smith Papyrus so significant? The Egyptians kept the heart and threw away the brain? What does that tell us (keep in mind the difference between Brain, Soul (mind))? Why was the discovery of the ventricles important for thinking in terms of specialized and localised brain areas? What is meant by Phrenology? Who were the key players in this movement? Why do you think it was appealing to many persons (think in terms of cerebral specialisation/localisation)? What did Flourens do? Practice questions What happened to Phineas Gage and why is this case (kind of) considered an example of cerebral specialisation? What is lobotomy and why could it become so popular. Reflect on the Zeitgeist of the time. What is Broca (with patient Tan) known for? What about Wernicke? What was his patient still able to and not? Would you rather be a Broca patient or a Wernicke patient? And why? (think also in terms of possible future use of Brain Computer Interaction (BCIs) What is meant by brain plasticity and what role does age play? What is meant by neuro-imaging in (very) general terms. Why do some consider/criticize neuro-imaging as ‘modern day phrenology’? Some say ‘the brain is a network of highly specialised areas that need to talk to each other’ do you agree and why or why not?