Aldo: #1-5
Meagan: # 6-10
Kristen: #'s 11-15
Vanessa: #16-20
100
In this journal article, Titchener compared psychology to biology by saying that Structuralism needs to be fully understood to study functionalism, like anatomy needs to be understood to study physiology.
What is "The Postulates of Structural Psychology"
100
A: The status of women in his group was not allowed. It was important that it was all men. B: The status of women in Titchener's laboratory at Cornell was that women were allowed. One-half of his graduate students were female. For years it was one of the only places a female could go to be an "offical student".
What was the status of women in (a) Titchener’s experimentalist group and (b) Titchener’s laboratory at Cornell?
100
Titchener saw psychology as a pure lab science.. systematic experimental introspection was its prime method, and he used highly trained individuals to participate in his studies. 2 implications of titcheners attitude of the “generalized adult mind” were that he did not take into account individual differences from one mind to another, and he excluded from this definition all studies on children, animals, and insane people because they could not properly introspect. He also did not include in his idea anything about industrial or educational psychology. His ideas were pretty narrow…but he did leave some lasting contributions in terms of promoting experimental psychology.
Titchener believed that psychology should be studying the “generalized adult mind.” What were the implications of this attitude?
100
Dewey took issue with the traditional manner of thinking about reflexes. He took the common belief and proposed a model of the reflex that substituted a functional for a structural analysis.
In his reflex arc article, what was Dewey’s main point?
200
This person spent most of his final year at Oxford in the physiology laboratory, and learned a new lab approach to physiological psychology at Leipzig. Completed a doctorate with Wundt in 2 years and returned to Oxford to teach.
Who is Titchener.
200
The three main goals were according to Titchener were to achieve a complete analysis of the "generalized adult mind," show how elements could be combined into more complex phenomena and provide an explanation of mental processes by understanding the workings of the brain and nervous system.
For Titchener, what were psychology’s three main goals?
200
In Titchener’s system, the three main elements of consciousness were sensations (basic elements of perceptions), images (basic elements of ideas), and affections (basic elements of our emotions). The attributes of sensations were quality (distinguishes one sensation from another..like hot from cold), intensity (strength of stimulus..like decibel) , duration (length of sensation), and clearness (“attribute which gives a sensation its place in consciousness”…more clear= more outstanding etc). The attributes of Images were the same 4 attributes as sensations, BUT images were more “faded” and “misty” than sensations…(intensity/duration way less too). And finally, The attributes of Affections were quality, intensity, and duration, but not clearness! (focusing on the feeling of pleasure itself and not the pleasure causing thing, makes the feeling go away) Affections had only 2 fundamental qualities: pleasant or unpleasant.
In Titchener’s system, what were the “attributes” of the three main structural elements of consciousness?
200
Dewey launched a movement known as progressive education. He wanted children to become more engaged in school rather than taking a conventional approach in which rote learning, strict discipline, drill and practice are emphasized. Therefore, he believed that children learn by interacting with their environment. An environment that encourages children to explore on their own and to think critically and creatively must be created in order to learn most effectively.
Describe Dewey’s ideas about the proper way to educate children.
300
In these practices, students would repeat the classic studies in pairs alternating between experimenter and observer, learned how to set up and work the "brass instruments" and in general became acclimated to the laboratory.
What is a Drill Course
300
Titchener would first fely on memory, delaying the introspective "observation until the process to be decribed has run it's course and then to call it back and describe it from memory. Next he would break the experience into stages using the fractionation method to help with memory load. Last he came up with the introspective habit. This was when the practiced observer gets into an introspective habit, has the introspective attitude ingrained in his system; so that it is possible for him not only to take mental nots but even to jot down writtten notes. A high level of trainning was need because they were to become introspecting machines, behaving so automatically that problems of memory and any biasing influences would presemably disapper.
Describe Titchener’s approach to introspection and what he meant by the introspective habit. Why was a high level of training needed in order to introspect properly? (p. 219)
300
Herbert spencer promoted social Darwinism and invented the phrase “survival of the fittest”..however, the way spencer used this phrase was different than how Darwin used it. Spencer said that survivors were winners of battles for resources. Social Darwinism implied that evolutionary forces were natural and inevitable and people should not try to change them….like losers in business, and poor people were that way for a reason= they were “unfit” and there was nothing they could do to change that, and government shouldn’t help them. On the other hand, social Darwinism implied that rich people shouldn’t be taxed/penalized because their wealth was a sign of their fitness… “if fit, therefore successful….if successful, therefore fit”. This idea was a way to rationalize the huge gap between the rich and the poor in the late 19th century..and it maintained a belief that white males were superior over all others.
What was social Darwinism and how was it used to justify life for the “privileged” in the late nineteenth century?
300
Angell compared structuralism and functionalism by stating that structuralism “is interested in the mental concepts, the “what?” of conscious experience”. On the other hand, functionalists study the “mental operations, the “how?” and “why?” of consciousness.”
How did Angell compare structuralism and functionalism in his APA presidential address?
400
In these manuals published in 1901 and 1905, Titchener explains how to conduct experiments in perceptual, sensory, and affective content in one, and on the other he explains how to conduct studies dealing with numerical data such as stimulus intensities or times to respond in reaction time experiments.
What are qualitative and quantitative laboratory manuals
400
A high level of training needed in order to introspect properly was because they need to act as machines and beahve automatically so that problems of memory and any biasing would disappear. Training was also important to avoid stimulus error. Stimulus error was a tendency to report events by describing the stumuli presented rather than the conscious experiences.
Why was a high level of training needed in order to introspect properly? Be sure to work the concept of stimulus error into your answer.
400
Titcheners major lasting contribution in the field of psychology was that he promoted an experimental laboratory psychology with strict controls. He insisted on the importance of laboratory research in psychology to provide the foundation of knowledge in the field. This idea led to labs being created in all colleges/universities with psychology programs. He brought into light that psychology is scientific/psychology is a Natural science, and labs and controlled experiments should be utilized. The analysis of component parts (behavior, cognitive processes, brain function) is still a fundamental aspect of most modern psychology.
What was Titchener’s lasting contribution to psychology?
400
The study of abnormal psychology shows an interest "in how some individuals adapt better than others", which shows the possible differences between everyone. This shows how there are different methods of learning and adapting for each person, which brought a lot of interest to American psychologists of the time.
In his presidential address, explain how Angell provided a rationale for studying the topics that were of interest to American psychologists (e.g., child psychology, abnormal psychology). (p. )
500
After leaving the APA association, Titchener created this club for experimental psychologists to provide a better means for research, discuss research in progress, tinker with apparatuses, and try to keep the spirit of pure laboratory psychology alive.
What are "The Experimentalists"
500
Sensations were the basic elements. They had arrtibutes in the Dallenbach study, quality, intensity, duration and clearness.
According to Titchener, what were the basic elements of human conscious experience? How were they illustrated in the Dallenbach study (Close-Up)? (p.220 )
500
Structuralism ultimately failed as a system mostly because titcheners introspection method had shortcomings, and also because titchener was not willing to accept as correct any idea but his. There was an internal debate (between structuralists) that assisted in the demise of structuralism, and it was the “imageless thought controversy”. In titcheners lab studies, his participants always reported mental imagery FIRST when asked to report their immediate conscious experiences…BUT in Kulpes lab, he found that conscious thoughts can occur in the absence of imagery (imageless thoughts!) titchener wrote kulpe off and attributed his findings to poor lab control. There was also an external force that was involved in why structuralism failed: William james (the functionalist who said that asking someone to report their immediate conscious experiences inturrupts the flow and direction of the stream of consciousness…and structuralists’ studies did just that)…so james’ ideas sparked questions, and structuralism eventually failed.
Describe the fate of structuralism.
500
Carr contributed to the evolution of Chicago functionalism through his influence on students and by the publication of his textbook named “Psychology: A study of Mental Activity
Describe Carr’s contribution to functional psychology.
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