Definition Of Psychology:

SCIENCE of the MIND & BEHAVIOR

Undefined Terms:*Science*Mind*Behavior

“SKINNER” BOX

MEMORY SPAN9 2 5 G M N8 6 4 2 S L R R 3 7 6 5 4 V O E P G6 2 7 4 1 8 X W D X Q O0 4 0 1 4 7 3 E P H H J A E1 9 2 2 3 5 3 0 Z D O F W D S V4 8 6 8 5 4 3 3 2 D T Y N R H E H Q2 5 3 1 9 7 1 7 6 8 K H W D A G R O F Z8 5 1 2 9 6 1 9 4 5 0 U D F F W H D Q D G E9 1 8 5 4 6 9 4 2 9 3 7 Q M R H X Z D R P P E H

CAT BOAT RUGRUN BEACH PLANT LIGHTSUIT WATCH CUT STAIRS CARJUNK LONE GAME CALL WOOD HEARTFRAME PATCH CROSS DRUG DESK HORSE LAWCLOTHES CHOOSE GIFT DRIVE BOOK TREE HAIR THISDRESS CLERK FILM BASE SPEND SERVE BOOK LOW TIMESTONE ALL NAIL DOOR HOPE EARL FEEL BUY COPE GRAPEAGE SOFT FALL STORE PUT TRUE SMALL FREE CHECK MAIL LEAFLOG DAY TIME CHESS LAKE CUT BIRD SHEET YOUR SEE STREET WHEEL

The most URGENT PROBLEMS OF OUR WORLD today are the problems we have made for ourselves. They have not been caused by some heedless or malicious nature, nor have they been imposed on us as punishment by the will of god. They are HUMAN PROBLEMS WHOSE SOLUTIONS will require us to CHANGE OUR BEHAVIOR AND OUR SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS (Miller, 1969).

We could SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS quickly enough if we could ADJUST THE GROWTH OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION as precisely as we adjust the course of a spaceship…or MOVE TOWARD A PEACEFUL WORLD with something like the steady progress with which physics has approached absolute zero (Skinner, 1971).

Psychology In An Historical Perspective

Survey of IDEAS with reference to PARTICULAR THINKERS (at some expense of facts). Focus will be on theories of

FREUD PAVLOV

PIAGET

LORENZ

SKINNERCHOMSKY

Behavioral vs. Cognitive Psychology

•Action vs. knowledge. We see action but not knowledge.

•Action underestimates knowledge. •Functionalism vs. artificial intelligence: -Human vs. computer memory.

-Human vs. computer perception (e.g., faces).

-Human vs. computer thinking (e.g., chess).•Do computers and robots have minds? Are they conscious?

Definition Of Psychology:

SCIENCE of the MIND & BEHAVIOR

Undefined Terms:*Science*Mind*Behavior

QUESTIONS RAISED BY A SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY:

WHAT IS THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD?

HOW DOES IT APPLY TO PSYCHOLOGY (As compared to astronomy, physics, chemistry and biology)?

HOW DOES PSYCHOLOGY COMPARE WITH OTHER SCIENCES?

- Psychology is the youngest science.

- Psychology as an emerging science.

ORIGINAL ASSUMPTIONS OF VARIOUS SCIENCES.

ASTRONOMY: The earth is flat and it is in the center of the universe.

PHYSICS: Inanimate objects move because of influence of animate forces, e.g., weather, planetary motion.

CHEMISTRY: Basic elements are fire, water, air and earth. Compounds explained by principles of alchemy

BIOLOGY: Vital forces of animals and plants define the subject matter. No mechanistic explanations were considered.

PSYCHOLOGY: Free will is the basic explanation of thought and behavior.

PSYCHOLOGY: THE MOST DIFFICULT SCIENCE

*PRIVACY OF SUBJECT MATTER: If subject matter is private, how can it be observed and made public?

*MEASUREMENT: Units of measurement of attitudes, intelligence, learning, memory, problem-solving, etc., differ from those used in traditional sciences: e.g., length, width, height, weight, force, acceleration, mass, electrical charge, etc.

WHAT UNITS OF MEASURMENT SHOULD PSYCHOLOGISTS USE

Physics: Mass, force, acceleration, sub-atomic particles Chemistry: Atoms, molecules Biology: Cells, nuclei, organs, speciesPsychology: ?

PSYCHOLOGY: THE MOST DIFFICULT SCIENCE

*PRIVACY OF SUBJECT MATTER: If subject matter is private, how can it be observed and made public?

*MEASUREMENT: Units of measurement of attitudes, intelligence, learning, memory, problem-solving, etc., differ from those used in traditional sciences: e.g., length, width, height, weight, force, acceleration, mass, electrical charge, etc.

*PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES:-Individual differences

Doctors came to see Natasha, both separately and in consultation. They said a great deal in French, in German, and in Latin. They criticized one another, and prescribed the most diverse remedies for all the diseases they were familiar with. But it never occurred to one of them to make the simple reflection that they could not understand the disease from which Natasha was suffering, as NO SINGLE DISEASE CAN BE FULLY UNDERSTOOD IN A LIVING PERSON; FOR EVERY LIVING PERSON HAS HIS INDIVIDUAL PECULIARITIES AND ALWAYS HAS HIS OWN PECULIAR, NEW, COMPLEX COMPLAINTS UNKNOWN TO MEDICINE--not a disease of the lungs, of the kidneys, of the skin, or the heart, and so on, as described in medical books, but a disease that consists of one out of the innumerable combinations of ailments of those organs." (Tolstoy, War and Peace)

PSYCHOLOGY: THE MOST DIFFICULT SCIENCE

*PRIVACY OF SUBJECT MATTER: If subject matter is private, how can it be observed and made public?

*MEASUREMENT: Units of measurement of attitudes, intelligence, learning, memory, problem-solving, etc., differ from those used in traditional sciences: e.g., length, width, height, weight, force, acceleration, mass, electrical charge, etc.

*PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES:-Individual differences

-Ethical problems-Sheer number of independent variables-Folk Psychology

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING ARE TRUE?

For the first week of life, a baby sees nothing but a gray blur regardless of what he or she "looks at."

Slow learners remember more of what

they learn than fast learners.

Children learn to talk more quickly if the adults with whom the child spends time habitually repeat the word he or she is trying to say, using proper pronunciation.

PSYCHOLOGY: THE MOST DIFFICULT SCIENCE

*PRIVACY OF SUBJECT MATTER: If subject matter is private, how can it be observed and made public?

*MEASUREMENT: Units of measurement of attitudes, intelligence, learning, memory, problem-solving, etc., differ from those used in traditional sciences: e.g., length, width, height, weight, force, acceleration, mass, electrical charge, etc.

*PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES:-Individual differences

-Ethical problems-Sheer number of independent variables-Folk Psychology

-Freedom & Autonomy

Let (the child) believe that he is always in control, though it is always you (the teacher) who really controls. There is no subjugation so perfect as that which keeps the appearance of freedom, for in that way one captures volition itself. The poor baby, knowing nothing, able to do nothing, having learned nothing, is he not at your mercy? Can you not arrange everything in the world which surrounds him? Can you not influence him as you wish? His work, his play, his pleasures, his pains, are not all these in your hands and without his knowing? DOUBTLESS HE OUGHT TO DO ONLY WHAT HE WANTS; BUT HE OUGHT TO WANT TO DO ONLY WHAT YOU WANT HIM TO DO; HE OUGHT NOT TO TAKE A STEP WHICH YOU HAVE NOT FORESEEN; HE OUGHT NOT TO OPEN HIS MOUTH WITHOUT YOUR KNOWING WHAT HE WILL SAY. (Rousseau, Emile)

•

IS BEHAVIOR FREE (i.e, AUTONOMOUS)?

Terms “freedom” and “autonomy” are inherently contradictory. (B. F. Skinner - Beyond Freedom and Dignity)

We are prone to take credit for good achievements (with dignity) but not bad behavior.

-Good:"I wanted to" "I had a brilliant idea""My generosity led me to..."

-Bad:“I was poor”“It was political pressure”“I was ill”

-CAN’T HAVE IT BOTH WAYS!

PSYCHOLOGY: THE MOST DIFFICULT SCIENCE

*PRIVACY OF SUBJECT MATTER: If subject matter is private, how can it be observed and made public?

*MEASUREMENT: Units of measurement of attitudes, intelligence, learning, memory, problem-solving, etc., differ from those used in traditional sciences: e.g., length, width, height, weight, force, acceleration, mass, electrical charge, etc.

*PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES:-Individual differences-Ethical problems-Sheer number of independent variables -Folk Psychology

-Freedom & Autonomy

Key Features of Science:

*Science seeks to explain only reproducible

phenomena. Errors of memory or perception, temper tantrums, etc., are reproducible. Visions, insights, etc. are not. *Scientific phenomena must be

verifiable by others.- Independent vs. dependent

variables.- Control experiments.

*Testable theories are the goals of all sciences.

*Medewar: “Science is the art of the soluble”

.

EXAMPLES OF INDEPENDENT & DEPENDENT VARIABLES.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLES:

DEPENDENT VARIABLES:

Distance between bodies Gravitational pull

Height of parent Height of offspring

Stimulus energy Neural response

Stimulus energy Loudness (psychological response)

Time between study and test

Number of items retained

Number of pairings of bell & food

Amount of conditioned salivation

SCIENCE: ENGINEERING:Theory of Gravitation Dropping objects at

different heights

Theory of Molecular Weights

Fermenting wines

Theory of Evolution Breeding race horses

Theory of Color Vision Rules of additive and subtractive color mixture

Theory of Behavior Animal training, Mnemonics

SCIENCE vs. ENGINEERING

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LEVELS OF EXPLANATION IN SCIENCE

“WHAT?”“HOW?”“WHY?”

LEVELS OF ANALYSIS IN PSYCHOLOGY

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT (STIMULI)INTERNAL ENVIRONMENT (PHYSIOLOGY-

NEUROSCIENCE)COGNITION (MEMORY, PERCEPTION,

THINKING)BEHAVIOR (SKIING, WRITING, SINGING A

SONG)

Science vs. ArtScientists and artists emphasize different aspects of nature; scientists: regular; artists: idiosyncratic. Both enterprises are equally valid.

SimilaritiesScientists and artists produce creative reconstructions of the world.

Scientists and artists are selective in focus.Differences

Science is public. -Data cannot be altered for aesthetic (cf. Lysenko) or religious reasons (cf. Galileo). -Data are scrutinized for replicability, not for aesthetics.

Science is cumulative.

Science deals only with reproducible phenomena.

SCIENCE AND ART AS METAPHOR

Blake: "Metaphor is unity in variety.”

Shakespeare - "Juliet is the sun." Toricelli - "The atmosphere is like a spring."

Watson & Crick - “DNA is like a double helix.”

SCIENCE & “TRUTH”

Scientific theory conveys no special truth. It can exist side by side with other points of view.

-Painting of a “lovely” rainbow-Theory of diffraction of white light

Scientific theories are not permanent. Each new scientific theory provokes scientists to disprove it and replace it with another theory. This is inevitable, as one theory seeks to cover more phenomena than previous theories.

Examples of discredited theories:-The earth is the center of the universe-Space consists of ether-Combustion requires phlogiston

TURNER: "Each new advance emits a spark of certainty and then the certainty is gone."

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NEWTON: “I stand on the shoulders of giants.”