Introduction
A common issue persisting throughout the history of psychology is the ongoing debate on the relation of the cognitive mind and physical body. Inquiry surrounding this issue deals with the perceived entities of mind and body and concerns their nature, existence, and interaction. It is important to the field because physiology and psychology are generally seen as interacting and the outcome of this interaction has consequences on both, one influencing the other.
The Ancients
The issue was first considered by the ancient Greeks. Pythagoras noted a distinction between body and an immortal reincarnating soul. While Democritus, explored materialism, positing only the existence of atoms and void, and thus indicating a reduction of the …show more content…
In a sweeping skeptical move, he rejected his standing beliefs and attempted to find unquestionable truths through reason. Perhaps influenced by Augustine, he arrived at “I think therefore, I am,” which he saw as establishing him as a thinking entity with a mind. He further concluded that his perceived interactions with the physical world implied a body. Descartes considered the mind to distinct from the body, not subject to death, or material qualities, for him, it was an unextended substance-less entity, possessed only by humans. The body, however, had substance and extension, it was restrained and functioned by virtue of mechanical principles. The existence of the two entities produced Descartes mind-body dualism, which he further distinguished by separating psychology and physics into the Galilean system secondary qualities of sensation that dwelled in the mind and the spatially extended body that moved thought the real world. The two could influence each other and interact. Descartes critic, Gassendi, rejected the necessity of an unextended mind, and spoke on the mind-body problem: how can an immaterial mind interact with the material body, where is their point of contact? Descartes responded, pineal gland, but that just extended the question. La Mettrie, another critic, thought the medicines direct relation between physical factors and mental states could do away with …show more content…
So they focused on delivering punishment and reward and seeing what happens. Nonetheless, Edward Tolman recognized that learning was only partially shaped through reinforcement, latent learning and an organism’s knowledge of the world could also play a part, but they would become experimentally accessible only once displayed. Skinner, a main proponent of behaviorism, had a positivistic approach to the discipline, he warned against premature theorization and advocated the description of a behavior over a search for its explanation. Accordingly, he devoted his time to studying responses and only observable behavior. He didn’t make presumptions about internal entities, taking an "empty organism" approach, where, although mental events may exist, they were of no use to
A common issue persisting throughout the history of psychology is the ongoing debate on the relation of the cognitive mind and physical body. Inquiry surrounding this issue deals with the perceived entities of mind and body and concerns their nature, existence, and interaction. It is important to the field because physiology and psychology are generally seen as interacting and the outcome of this interaction has consequences on both, one influencing the other.
The Ancients
The issue was first considered by the ancient Greeks. Pythagoras noted a distinction between body and an immortal reincarnating soul. While Democritus, explored materialism, positing only the existence of atoms and void, and thus indicating a reduction of the …show more content…
In a sweeping skeptical move, he rejected his standing beliefs and attempted to find unquestionable truths through reason. Perhaps influenced by Augustine, he arrived at “I think therefore, I am,” which he saw as establishing him as a thinking entity with a mind. He further concluded that his perceived interactions with the physical world implied a body. Descartes considered the mind to distinct from the body, not subject to death, or material qualities, for him, it was an unextended substance-less entity, possessed only by humans. The body, however, had substance and extension, it was restrained and functioned by virtue of mechanical principles. The existence of the two entities produced Descartes mind-body dualism, which he further distinguished by separating psychology and physics into the Galilean system secondary qualities of sensation that dwelled in the mind and the spatially extended body that moved thought the real world. The two could influence each other and interact. Descartes critic, Gassendi, rejected the necessity of an unextended mind, and spoke on the mind-body problem: how can an immaterial mind interact with the material body, where is their point of contact? Descartes responded, pineal gland, but that just extended the question. La Mettrie, another critic, thought the medicines direct relation between physical factors and mental states could do away with …show more content…
So they focused on delivering punishment and reward and seeing what happens. Nonetheless, Edward Tolman recognized that learning was only partially shaped through reinforcement, latent learning and an organism’s knowledge of the world could also play a part, but they would become experimentally accessible only once displayed. Skinner, a main proponent of behaviorism, had a positivistic approach to the discipline, he warned against premature theorization and advocated the description of a behavior over a search for its explanation. Accordingly, he devoted his time to studying responses and only observable behavior. He didn’t make presumptions about internal entities, taking an "empty organism" approach, where, although mental events may exist, they were of no use to