Day 1: Outline

   Techniques
      Inconsistencies in accounts of reported events
      Observes limits of personal experience
      Analysis of word meanings
      Logic & conceptual analysis: syllogiesms

   #1: Do we share the same reality?
      Superior Mirage
      Inferior Mirage

   #2: What is real?
      Mentalism
         handwriting analysis
         psychic powers
         crystal ball
         voodoo
      Materialism
         only things you can touch
         closely related to naturalism and sensualism
         nothing beyond it; all that exists is matter
         Democritus (460-370 BC): atomism. Atoms are:
            in constant motion
            indestructible
            tiny particles
            un-derived
            indivisible
            composed of exactly the same matter
            different in size, shape, and weight
            heavier atoms form the earth
            lighter ones form heavenly bodies

         Epicurius (341-270 BC)
            Greek philosopher: bought Socrates’ garden in Athens?
            pleasure as the highest and only good
            intellectual pleasures are better than bodily pleasures
            serenity (avoiding pain)
            be honest to avoid going to jail

   #3: Are the mind & body separate?
      The Mind-Body Problem: If your body dies, what survives?
         Dualism: the soul survives
            mind and body are different substances
            mind can exist without body
         Monism
            Physical monism: nothing survives
               mind is just one aspect of the body
               mind cannot exist without the body
           Spiritual monism: everything survives

      Descartes (1596-1650)
          Faced with how to integrate faith and science
          Believed:
             God created the universe & set it in motion; left it alone; 
                  Not involved in the day to day operations of the universe. 
                  Can study universe  without making theological statements
             The search for truth be an exercise in logic
             Don’t have to blindly accept validity of ideas based on  authority
            A mechanistic philosophy.
                  People are more like machines than mystical spiritual beings
            Dualist: both body and soul exist
               Body can impact the soul = conscious sensations
               Soul can impact the body = behavior
            Automatic response to external events; beginning of reflex theory
            Soul resides in the pineal gland
            Eyes connect directly to it; the “mirror of the soul”

      Physical Monism
         Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679)
             “The universe is corporeal; all that is real is material,
                  and what is not material is not real.” –The Leviathan
             Man is not naturally good; naturally a hedonist (selfish)
             Believes in the mortality of the soul; rejects free will
             Selfish by nature: our lives are “nasty, brutish, and short”;
                 our main concern is fear of violent death

         John Locke (1632-1704)

        James Mill (1773-1836)

   Neutral Monism
        Spinoza, Baruch (1632-1677)
            “Neutral” monism
            Excommunicated (cherem) in 1656;
                 God is nature in action; no personality
                 Bible (what Christians would call the “Old Testament”) is a
                    collection of metaphores and allegories
            Ultimate reality is neither mental nor physical

   Spiritual Monism
      George Berkeley (1685-1753)
         Knowledge is based on our perceptions; 
            No “real” object behind one’s perception; 
            What was “real” was the perception itself
         Need a mind in order to perceive; we share many perceptions; 
            The mind that generates perceptions is God’s. We exist in God’s mind
         Qualities are perceived, not things
         The perception of qualities requires a mind.
             Matter does not exist without perception
         Color & taste perceived in the human mind
         Extension and weight are independent of the human mind.
             So they must be in someone’s mind = the mind of God
         We know what the retina tells us; can’t tell real size from retinal size
         Our 2-dimension retinal vision can’t inform us of 3 dimensions
         We can’t know the real tree without making inferences 

PHYSIOLOGY
   Luigi Galvani (1737-1798)
      Discovery that nerves are electrical
      Electricity applied to the spinal cord of a frog
      Generated muscular spasms throughout body; 
          legs jump even not attached to the frog
      Electricity from a Leyden jar (rotating static electricity generator)
          “artificial electricity” = generated by friction (static electricity)
          “natural electricity” = lightning
          “animal electricity” = fluid secreted by brain
      Galvanization: derived from Luigi Galvani’s name
          someone suddenly jumps into action
          bonding zinc to steel with electricity

   Johannes Muller (1752-1809)
      Studied: voice, speech and hearing, lymph system, blood
      Law of specific energies
         Sensation depends on which organ is stimulated,
             Not on mode of stimulation
         Light, pressure, or mechanical stimulation
         Retina and optic nerve
         “. . . (T)he same cause, such as electricity, can simultaneously affect all
               sensory organs, since they are all sensitive to it; and yet, every
               sensory nerve reacts to it differently; one nerve perceives it as light,
               another hears its sound, another one smells it; another tastes the
               electricity, and another one feels it as pain and shock…”
      Vitalist: can’t reduce wonder of life
              More than chemical & physiological processes
         Life is qualitatively different; more than sum of its chemical processes
         Behavior is the result of the human spirit moving throughout the body
         God’s spirit can move instantaneously
         People are created in the image of God
         Human spirit moves through body; instantaneously
         Can’t measure speed of the human spirit

   Franz Gall (1758-1828)
      One of the first comparative anatomists; 
          Compared brains & skulls of several species
      Concluded that brain size and mental capacity were correlated.
          Larger-brained animals performed more complex & varied tasks.
      Argued for brain localization:
         Each region of the brain has its own skill, ability, faculty or trait.
          Founder of “cranioscopy”; better known as phrenology
      Phrenology = shape of the skull reveals internal characteristics
         Personal character, intellectual ability, emotional stability
      Brain is like a muscle;
           Examine topography of skull, describe the brain areas
      No theoretical rationale for number of brain regions used by phrenology
           Gall identified 26 areas of the brain
           His followers expanded it to 35.

   Pierre Flourens (1794-1867)
      French physiologist
      brain surgery
      anesthesia
      Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte ordered Academy of Sciences of Paris to
          study Franz Gall’s claims. The Academy asked Flourens to investigate
      Used lesions to study brain function
         Destroyed small part of brain (ablation), rabbits and pigeons,
         Observed effects
         First to show main divisions of the brain had different functions
         Loss of cerebral hemispheres; lost perception, motor, and judgment
         Loss of cerebellum; lost equilibrium & motor coordination
         Loss of brainstem (medulla oblongata), death

   Hermann Helmholtz (1821-1894)
      The leading scientist of his time
      1. Wrote on Law of Conservation of energy;
           Used physiological examples;
           Provided physics with additional evidence of the law’s existence
      2. Invented the ophthalmoscope; used to look into eye & examine retina
      3. Revived Young’s theory of color vision
      4. Showed ear’s basilar membrane vibrates sympathetically to stim.
      5. Measured the speed of a nerve impulse;
           Previously thought to be impossible.
           Student of Muller; rejected vitalism; 
           Believed behavior is the result of natural causes
           In 1850, invented the myograph; 
           Used it to measured the speed of a nerve impulse
               Surprisingly, the speed is quite slow
                   Light travels at 186 thousand miles per sec
                  A nerve impulse travels only 90 ft. per sec;
                     (60 mph; some are up to 200 mph)

THE BIRTH OF PSYCHOLOGY
   Experimental (scientific) method
      Observations = what your senses tell you
      Inferences = what conclusions you draw
      Theories are composed on constructs
      Models are composed of variables
      Operational Definitions
         Define in terms of operations (what is done)

   4 Levels of Measurement
       Nominal
         Name = nom
         Number shape
         No math
      Ordinal
         Ranking
         Unequal units
         Elastic tape measure
      Interval
         Equal units
         Zero not absolute
         0 not mean can’t
         0 not mean absence
      Ratio
         Time
         Weight
         Distance
         Temperature (if on Kelvin scale)

   Organize data
      Data table = rows & columns

   Descriptive Statistics
      Mean = average
      Median = middle-most
         Not middle score of unorganized numbers
         Middle of distribution (organized low to high for example)
      Mode is most common

   Impact of outlying scores
      Means are fast to calculate
         Sensitive to outlying scores
      Median and mode not impacted by outlying score

   Pattern of chance and not-chance

   Normal Curve
      Mean, median & mode all agree
      Central tendency
      Symmetrical

   Chance

   Skewed Distributions
      Positively Skewed
      Negatively Skewed
      Bimodal = 2 modes

   Percentiles = Cumulative percentages
      2 percent can be from anywhere
      2^nd percentile is at far left of distribution
      50^th percentile is at the mean
      Most people at center of distribution
      Most percentiles at center of distribution
      Moving from 45^th to 55^th percentile is a small shift

   Whilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
      Major contribution was practical
      Created a new science
      Approached the matter systematically
      First lab exclusively dedicated to experimental study of psychology
      Interlocking studies, held together by his theory of volition
      2 major accomplishments:
         1. Established experimental psychology
             Methods of experimental physiology; questions of philosophy
         2. Developed a non-experimental psychology
             Social psychology or cultural anthro;
             Called it Volkspsychology (folk psychology)
             Study of thought , art, myths, rituals and stages of development

 5 Paths To Truth
      Religion             revelation
      Wisdom             insight
      Philosophy        logic
      Science             systematic observation
      Tangen              dumb luck

 

Copyright © 2009 Ken Tangen