Descartes And The Foundations Of Modern Psychology

Front 1

What is psychology?

Back 1

The scientific study of behavior & mental processes
- Science: making verifiable, objective predictions
- Behavior: observable acts
- Mental Processes: storing, recalling, using info/feelings

Front 2

Why is psychology different from other social sciences?

Back 2

- it focuses on individual behaviour

Front 3

What 2 subjects formed psychology?

Back 3

- Philosophy
- Physiology

Front 4

What year was psychology born?

Back 4

- 1879

Front 5

What is pre-scientific psychology? (1600-1850)

Back 5

- Mental philosophy

Front 6

What are the 2 Traditions of Reflexive Discourse?

Back 6

- Rationalism
- Empiricism

Front 7

What is Rationalism?

Back 7

- Questions about nature/knowledge/truth can only be answered by Reason (mathematics/Logic/Sc. Method/deductive – obv/Infer)

Front 8

What does Rationalism believe about Ideas?

Back 8

- They are innate

Front 9

What is a priori knowledge?

Back 9

- The term comes from the Latin phrase meaning "before" or "prior to" and is used to refer to ideas that appear to be true before - or regardless of -
experience

Front 10

What kind of focus does Rationalism have?

Back 10

- Nature focus

Front 11

What is another word for Empiricism?

Back 11

- Associationism

Front 12

What does Empiricism believe?

Back 12

- Mind is blank slate/learning and ideas from experience with
environment

Front 13

What kind of focus does Empiricism have?

Back 13

- Nurture focus

Front 14

Who are 2 Proponents of Rationalism?

Back 14

- Plato
- Descartes

Front 15

Who are 2 proponents of Empiricism?

Back 15

- Aristotle (a student of Plato)
- Locke

Front 16

What were psychological functions attributed to prior to Descartes?

Back 16

- psychological functions were
attributed to the soul (e.g.,
imagination, memory, etc.)

Front 17

What view did Descartes have of humans?

Back 17

- Mechanistic

Front 18

What 2 ideas did Descartes promote?

Back 18

- Rationalism
- Skepticism

Front 19

Who was the first to talk about the mind in a modern sense?

Back 19

- Descartes

Front 20

What 3 questions did Descartes contemplate?

Back 20

- how do we arrive at truth?
- what is the path to certain, universal knowledge?
- how do we differentiate between truth and illusion?

Front 21

What is universal doubt?

Back 21

- quest for certain knowledge through systematic experience
and reflection

Front 22

What did Descartes doubt?

Back 22

- Everything, except the fact that he was doubting

Front 23

How did Descartes believe we arrived at certain truth?

Back 23

- By doubting everything

Front 24

What 2 weird things did Descartes doubt?

Back 24

- The existence of his body
- The existence of a physical world

Front 25

What does "cogito ergo sum" mean?

Back 25

- I think, therefore I am

Front 26

What one thing is the mind responsible for?

Back 26

- Thought

Front 27

What does Descartes believe about the nature of body and mind?

Back 27

- They are of completely different natures

Front 28

What are the nature of the body?

Back 28

- Deterministic
- Mechanistic

Front 29

What are the nature of the mind?

Back 29

- The soul receives sensations and commands the body by acts of will

Front 30

What is consciousness?

Back 30

- dualistic position of interactionism.
- The mind and body separate but interact
- The mind controlled the body and the body also controlled
the mind.

Front 31

What important contribution to psychology did Descartes make?

Back 31

- the rational, thinking mind is something separate from the
soul; it is a thing in its own right, so to speak.

Front 32

What are the 2 types of ideas according to Descartes?

Back 32

- Derived ideas
- Innate ideas

Front 33

What is a derived idea?

Back 33

- produced by the direct application of an external
stimulus

Front 34

What is an innate idea?

Back 34

- arise directly from the mind or consciousness; no
experience necessary

Front 35

How did Descartes come upon the mechanistic view of the body?

Back 35

- he examined various physiological functions (ie: circulation, digestion)
- he found these functions appear to occur mechanically

Front 36

What did Descartes believe about the brain?

Back 36

- The brain has several empty cavities filled with a clear liquid
- liquid = “animal spirits,” small particles in the blood that flow
through the hollow nerve tubes to activate muscles in the body

Front 37

What did Descartes believe about movement?

Back 37

- Movement is caused by the liquid filling parts of the brain and emptying from others

Front 38

What is the Reflex Action Theory?

Back 38

- external objects (stimuli) induce involuntary responses

Front 39

What is a reflex?

Back 39

neurophysiological sequence in which a specific
- a stimulus from the external world automatically elicits a specific response in the organism

Front 40

Where did Descartes believe the mind and body interact?

Back 40

- the pineal gland

Front 41

What did Descartes believe about the soul?

Back 41

- it is the essential ingredient differentiating the living from the
nonliving.

Front 42

What is an animal soul?

Back 42

- Animals were said to have “sensitive souls,” which provided the more complex functions of locomotion, sensation, memory, and
imagination

Front 43

What is a rational soul?

Back 43

- Human beings were thought to be unique in that they had
“rational souls,” the ability to reason and take on the highest moral
values.

Front 44

What is a vegetative soul?

Back 44

- It was believed that all organisms, including plants, had “vegetative souls,” the ability to nourish themselves and reproduce.

Front 45

What lasting impact did Descartes have on Psychology?

Back 45

- mind-body issue
- consciousness: body is machine-like and mind is not, therefore, mind probably can't be studied by science but the body can

Front 46

Who did Descartes influence?

Back 46

- Queen Christina
- Locke
- Leibniz