Lecture 1 Notes

1. What is psychology?

    Science and practice in the study of mental phenomena (feelings, thoughts, emotions, intentions, beliefs, perceptions, attitudes, decisions, etc.) and the actions and other physical phenomena associated with them.

2. What is science?

    An attempt to use sound methods and principles to understand natural phenomena.
    Methods include controlled observation, experimentation, analysis, synthesis,     prediction, confirmation, etc.
    Science ultimately rests on being supported by empirical facts.
    Confirming quantitative agreement between theory and data often lends great support to the theory.

3. Standard theory--
Carnap, Hempel, Feigl

The "standard theory" presumes science progresses by consistent accrual of knowledge.
New information is added onto a reliable and valid conceptual base.
Scientific knowledge is justified by experience and reliable observation is definitive.

4. Normal and revolutionary science
Thomas Kuhn

According to Kuhn (1970) different people may have different models or paradigms to explain the same set of data.
In Psychology this led to the different systems of psychology.
Understanding implies finding causal relations, mechanisms, or "models" within which the observations make sense to you.

 
5. Classical Problems in Psychology

Mind-Body Problem
Reductionism and other explanatory principles
Nativism and empiricism

 
6. Mind-Body Problem

What is evidence for mind? for body?
What are they?
How do they relate?

 
7. There have been many proposed solutions to the mind-body problem. It is instructive to consider some of them.

7a. Interactionism—Descartes: Mind and body both causally affect one another

7b. Parallelism—Leibniz: Mind and body are causally separated. They seem to be together due to a "pre-established harmony"

7c. Materialism—Democratus, many modern psychologists (reductive materialism, eliminative materialism): There is only one kind of stuff, and that is material. Thus all cause necessarily is material

7d. Idealism—Berkeley: The counter to materialism, there is only one kind of stuff and that is like mind, sensations, feelings, etc. Thus whatever cause there is is mental on mental.

7e. Dual Aspect Theory—William James, Spinoza: There is only one substance, but it has two manifestations and neither is primary. Causality is a function of this substance which can be viewed by either manifestation

7f. Epiphenominalism—Thomas Hobbes, Thomas Huxley: All causality is physical or material. The body secretes mind.

8. Reductionism and other explanatory principles

Reductionism--explanatory principle is to explain a phenomenon by the dynamics of its parts. (physiology explains psychology)
Hierarchy of the sciences--explanation moves back from the more global to the more elementary
Other views--mechanism, functional relations (S-R, math models), sociocultural explanations, rational or irrational decision.

9. Nativism and Empiricism

Historically very important difference among psychologists and philosophers.
Is the major source of one’s experience or behavior primarily due to the experience that she has or is it inborn?