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    Psychology Notes

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    Catalina Guerra
    This document provides an overview of the field of psychology. It discusses how psychology began as a science in the late 19th century with pioneering thinkers exploring topics like learning, memory, emotion and perception. Early schools of thought in psychology included structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, behaviorism and psychoanalysis. The document also summarizes the nature vs nurture debate around whether human traits are influenced more by biology or experience. Modern psychology is defined as the science of both observable behavior and inferred mental processes. Critical thinking and a skeptical but open-minded scientific attitude are presented as important to understanding reality in psychology.

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    Psychology Notes

    Uploaded by

    Catalina Guerra
    667 views2 pages
    This document provides an overview of the field of psychology. It discusses how psychology began as a science in the late 19th century with pioneering thinkers exploring topics like learning, memory, emotion and perception. Early schools of thought in psychology included structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, behaviorism and psychoanalysis. The document also summarizes the nature vs nurture debate around whether human traits are influenced more by biology or experience. Modern psychology is defined as the science of both observable behavior and inferred mental processes. Critical thinking and a skeptical but open-minded scientific attitude are presented as important to understanding reality in psychology.

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    This document provides an overview of the field of psychology. It discusses how psychology began as a science in the late 19th century with pioneering thinkers exploring topics like learning, memory, emotion and perception. Early schools of thought in psychology included structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, behaviorism and psychoanalysis. The document also summarizes the nature vs nurture debate around whether human traits are influenced more by biology or experience. Modern psychology is defined as the science of both observable behavior and inferred mental processes. Critical thinking and a skeptical but open-minded scientific attitude are presented as important to understanding reality in psychology.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    667 views2 pages

    Psychology Notes

    Uploaded by

    Catalina Guerra
    This document provides an overview of the field of psychology. It discusses how psychology began as a science in the late 19th century with pioneering thinkers exploring topics like learning, memory, emotion and perception. Early schools of thought in psychology included structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, behaviorism and psychoanalysis. The document also summarizes the nature vs nurture debate around whether human traits are influenced more by biology or experience. Modern psychology is defined as the science of both observable behavior and inferred mental processes. Critical thinking and a skeptical but open-minded scientific attitude are presented as important to understanding reality in psychology.

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    Psychology

    Chapter 1
    Our consciousness mind somehow arising from matterremains a profound mystery. Our
    thinking, emotions, and actions (and their interplay with others thinking, emotions, and
    actions) fascinate us.
    When and how did psychological science begin?
    - To be human is to be curious about ourselves and the world around us.
    - Aristotle theorized about learning and memory, motivation and emotion, perception and
    personality.
    - December day in 1879, in a small, third-floor room at Germanys University of Leipzig.
    ()
    - Before long, this new science of psychology became organized into different branches, or
    schools of thought, each promoted by pioneering thinkers. These early schools included
    structuralism and functionalism and three schools: Gestalt, Behaviorism, Psychoanalysis.

    Thinking About the Minds


    - We have, so to speak, inside information
    - Consciousness serves a function. It enables us to consider our past, adjust to our present
    circumstances, and plan our future. As a functionalist, James encouraged explorations of
    down-to-earth emotions, memories, willpower, habits, and momentto-moment streams of
    consciousness.

    From the 1920s into the 1960s, American psychologists, initially led by flamboyant and
    provocative John B. Watson and later by the equally provocative B. F. Skinner, dismissed
    introspection and redefined psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior.
    After all, said these behaviorists, science is rooted in observation. You cannot observe a
    sensation, a feeling, or a thought, but you can observe and record peoples behavior as
    they respond to different situations.
    In the 1960s, another movement emerged as psychology began to recapture its initial
    interest in mental processes. This cognitive revolution supported ideas developed by
    earlier psychologists, such as the importance of how our mind processes and retains
    information.

    To encompass psychologys concern with observable behavior and with inner thoughts and
    feelings, today we define psychology as the science of behavior and mental processes.
    - Behavior is anything an organism doesany action we can observe and record. Yelling,
    smiling, blinking, sweating, talking, and questionnaire marking are all observable
    behaviors.
    - Mental processes are the internal, subjective experiences we infer from behavior
    sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.

    What is psychologys historic big issue?


    -The biggest and most persistent (and the focus of Chapter 4) is the nature-nurture
    issuethe controversy over the relative contributions of biology and experience. Do our
    human traits develop through experience, or are we born with them?
    - The Greek philosopher Plato (428348 B.C.) assumed that character and intelligence are
    largely inherited and that certain ideas are inborn.
    - Aristotle (384322 B.C.) countered that there is nothing in the mind that does not first
    come in from the external world through the senses.
    - John Locke rejected the notion of inborn ideas, suggesting that the mind is a blank sheet
    on which experience writes.
    - Ren Descartes disagreed, believing that some ideas are innate.

    To sift reality from fantasy, sense from nonsense, therefore requires a scientific attitude:
    being skeptical but not cynical, open but not gullible. To believe with certainty, says a
    Polish proverb, we must begin by doubting. As scientists, psychologists approach the
    world of behavior with a curious skepticism, persistently asking two questions: What do
    you mean? How do you know? Historians of science tell us that these three attitudes
    curiosity, skepticism, and humilityhelped make modern science possible.

    Critical Thinking
    - Smart thinking, called critical thinking, examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates
    -

    evidence, and assesses conclusions.


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