Definition Of Psychology: SCIENCE of the MIND

1
Definition Of Psychology
SCIENCE of the MIND BEHAVIORUndefined
Terms Science Mind Behavior
2
(No Transcript)
3
SKINNER BOX
4
MEMORY SPAN
9 2 5 G M N 8 6 4 2 S L R R 3
7 6 5 4 V O E P G 6 2 7 4 1
8 X W D X Q O 0 4 0 1 4 7 3 E P
H H J A E 1 9 2 2 3 5 3 0 Z D O
F W D S V 4 8 6 8 5 4 3 3 2 D T Y
N R H E H Q 2 5 3 1 9 7 1 7 6
8 K H W D A G R O F Z 8 5 1 2 9 6
1 9 4 5 0 U D F F W H D Q D G E 9
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 RUG RUN BEACH
PLANT LIGHT SUIT WATCH CUT STAIRS CAR JUNK
LONE GAME CALL WOOD HEART FRAME PATCH CROSS
DRUG DESK HORSE LAW CLOTHES CHOOSE GIFT
DRIVE BOOK TREE HAIR THIS DRESS CLERK FILM
BASE SPEND SERVE BOOK LOW TIME STONE ALL
NAIL DOOR HOPE EARL FEEL BUY COPE
GRAPE AGE SOFT FALL STORE PUT TRUE SMALL
FREE CHECK MAIL LEAF LOG DAY TIME CHESS
LAKE CUT BIRD SHEET YOUR SEE STREET WHEEL
5
(No Transcript)
6

• 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).

7
We could SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS quickly enough if we
could ADJUST THE GROWTH OF THE WORLDS POPULATION
as precisely as we adjust the course of a
spaceshipor MOVE TOWARD A PEACEFUL WORLD with
something like the steady progress with which
physics has approached absolute zero (Skinner,
1971).
8
Psychology In An Historical
PerspectiveSurvey of IDEAS with reference to
PARTICULAR THINKERS (at some expense of facts).
Focus will be on theories of

• FREUD

• PAVLOV

PIAGET
SKINNER
LORENZ
CHOMSKY
9

• 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?

10
Definition Of Psychology
SCIENCE of the MIND BEHAVIORUndefined
Terms Science Mind Behavior
11
QUESTIONS RAISED BY A SCIENCE OF
PSYCHOLOGYWHAT 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.
12
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 alchemyBIOLOGY Vital forces of
animals and plants define the subject matter. No
mechanistic explanations were considered.PSYCHOL
OGY Free will is the basic explanation of
thought and behavior.
13
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.
14
WHAT UNITS OF MEASURMENT SHOULD PSYCHOLOGISTS USE

• Physics Mass, force, acceleration,
  sub-atomic particles

Chemistry Atoms, molecules
Biology Cells, nuclei, organs, species
Psychology ?
15
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
16
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)
17
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
18
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.
19
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
20
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)
21
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-CANT HAVE IT
BOTH WAYS!
22
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
23
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
24
.
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
25

SCIENCE vs. ENGINEERING
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
26
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)
27
Science vs. ArtScientists and
artists emphasize different aspects of nature
scientists regular artists idiosyncratic.
Both enterprises are equally valid.
Similarities
Scientists 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.
28
SCIENCE AND ART AS METAPHORBlake
"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.
29
SCIENCE
TRUTHScientific 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
30
TURNER "Each new advance emits a spark of
certainty and then the certainty is gone."
NEWTON I stand on
the shoulders of giants.