Can We Get in Someone’s Head?Lecture 2: History and Methods

1/26/04

On human nature…

Socrates, Plato, Aristotle: pleasure, pain, imagination, desire, good vs. evil, free will

>16th century: studied soul, spirit, the “psyche”Descartes: body = physical; mind= spiritual

Scientifically study body not mind

Hobbes- NO! Entire human experience comes from brain- even thoughts & feelings

Meanwhile…

German physiologists studied bodily sensations and our subjective awareness How are bodily sensations turned into mental

awareness? Are our perceptions of the world accurate reflections

or reality? How do the mind and body interact?

Pioneer #1: Wilhelm Wundtdiscovering the laws of consciousness

Father of Psychology • Estd. first psychology laboratory in 1879

“Color blue, sound of an E chord, Taste of smoked salmon, meaning of a sentence - all psychological”

Developed introspection. Report on conscious, moment-to-moment rxns.

Psychological Contrasts & Psychic Relations Love on the rebound Draw an apple

Structuralism: Mental

Pioneer # 2: William JamesPlagued by depressionPrinciples of Psychology, 1890

Habit formation, Stream of consciousness, individuality, link btw. Body & mind, emotions, the ‘self’,

• 1892: “Jimmy”

“Cash value” of an idea, not T vs. F Functionalism

• Darwin: natural selection; characteristics of species with survival advantage are ‘selected’--- consciousness must serve important purpose

“Lab is a waste of resources”

Structure vs. FunctionThe first great debate

Functionalism Investigate purpose of

consciousness, not structure

Stream of consciousness• Consciousness is a

continuous flow of thoughts, not static

Mental testing, development, education, individual differences

Structuralism Analyze consciousness into

basic elements

Introspection• Systematic, self-

observation in response to tones, optical illusions, fruit…

Sensation & Perception

Gestalt Psychology

The whole is greater than the sum of the partsStructuralism = wrong!

Mind perceives world in organized fashion, can’t be broken down into elements

• Phenomenological approach• Unstructured reporting of experience

***tspces***

Pioneer # 3: FreudWhat about the unconscious?

People are driven by UNconscious forces

Human mind is an icebergClinical practice for patients with

ailments with no physical basis “cured” with hypnosis and talking

The Interpretation of Dreams, 1900.• Psychoanalysis- Freud’s theory of personality and

method of psychotherapy,

Controversy strikes again: It’s not all in your head!

A psychology of observable behavior?

Controversy strikes again: It’s not all in your head!

Can a science be based on introspective reports of a subjective experience or mental processes that supposedly reside inside the unconscious?

“Psychoanalysis is voodooism”

Psychology should be a purely objective, experimental branch of natural science NOT the invisible and elusive mind

The Behaviorist AlternativeFrom mind-body to nature-nurture

John B. Watson defined psychology as study of behavior; mind is irrelevant

Vary a stimulus in environment, observe response

Behaviorism Dominated from the 1920’s to the 1960’s

“Sensations, thoughts, feelings, and motivations may fuel speculation for the curious philosopher, but if it can’t be seen, it has no place in psychology”

Talk about controversy…

From ministry to philosophy to psychologyLearning in rats on mazes…

How young could they learn? Dabbled in neurology… what about people? “Crazed scientist, killer of rats, toasts and eats them”

Meets Mary Ickes, Intro PSY student “Ode to John B. Watson”

‘Robbing Psych’- No difference between rats and people Interest in children…

Affair with research assistant Rosalie Raynor On to advertising… impulse buys

“Made not born”

“Children should be awakened at 6:30 A.M. for orange juice and a pee. Play 'till 7:30. Breakfast should be at 7:30 sharp; at 8:00 they should be placed on the toilet for twenty minutes or less 'til bowel movement is complete. Then follow up with a verbal report. The child would then play indoors 'till 10AM, after 10:00 outside, a short nap after lunch, then "social play" with others. In the evening a bath, quiet play until bedtime at 8:00 sharp.”

The “Cognitive Revolution”But thought processes do influence outcomes

Behaviorism was too restrictive. Studies of child development, animal behavior,

brain studies, ‘self-actualization’, computers…• Thoughts, expectations, ‘soft stuff’ counts

Cognition• Mental processes such as thinking, knowing, and

remembering

And social situations too...

Asch, 1955

Which of the comparison lines is the same as the standard line?

76% went along with the clearly incorrect majority at least once

In all, P’s conformed 37% of the time

However, 24% NEVER conformed

What did participants do?

Doing PsychologyGetting in someone’s head

LIFE Questionnaire

What did you think? Stream of consciousness Frequency of behaviors Social desirability?

Did you learn anything about yourself?Was anything missing?

Think about:

History of psychology has tried to come up with the best ways of understanding people What do you think are the best ways?

What do you think are interesting phenomena to study (mental activity, behavior)?