PSYC1001 Lecture Notes - Encephalization, Karl Popper, James Vicary
2 Jul 2018
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13/03/2018 Modern Nativists
What is true for phenology?
a) The classification of brain processes by using hands
b) Phrenologists were very good at maths or language and had highly developed brain areas
for that
c) The classification of mental faculties/abilities based on how well specific brain areas
were developed
d) They were looking for the building blocks of thought by using introspection
e) Phrenology was based on the ventricles and they defined 3 chambers in the brain, one for
the senses, one for the equivalent of working memory and one for long term memory
“I supposed that all the objects (presentations) that had ever entered into my mind when
awake, had in them no more truth than the illusions in my dreams” – Rene Descartes
Psychophysics – focuses on sensory systems, the central idea: we are a product of evolution
in a physical environment… brain should obey physical laws
Gustav Theodor Fechner was the founder of psychophysics
Webers Law – the change in a stimulus that will be just noticeable is a constant ratio of the
original stimulus, Webers fraction is 5/100
E.g. if 5g is the noticeable difference between 100 and 105g, then for 1000g, it will be 1050g,
so 50g
Fact – based on direct observation
Theory – an idea as to how these facts can be explained (given what we already know)
Hypothesis – given this, one can make predictions based on what we already know
Test/Experiment – how do we test this in a methodologically sound way
Subliminal perception – stimulus is registered and processed without subjects awareness
Research shows that they can affect mood and bias memory retrieval but cannot trigger
complex behaviour
James Vicary: “Drink Coke” and “eat popcorn” – flashed these messages between frames in
a movie, too briefly to reach consciousness. Coke sales up by 18.1%, popcorn by 57.8%
Karl Popper – falsifiability = a statement, hypothesis, theory needs to be open to be tested in
the sense that it potentially can be proven to be false
E.g. by looking at the world you can induce that all swans are white. So if you hypothesise
this, it is a good one because it can be tested (falsified). So if you find one black swan you
can actually say for 100% that not all swans are white
Kuhn’s Revolution
Old Theory – well established, many followers, politically powerful, well understood
New Theory – few followers, untested, new concepts/techniques, accounts for anomalies
What does Popper’s example with the black swans tell us?
a) Science should focus on proving that a theory is wrong
b) Theories only change when you prove it to be wrong
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
I supposed that all the objects (presentations) that had ever entered into my mind when awake, had in them no more truth than the illusions in my dreams rene descartes. Psychophysics focuses on sensory systems, the central idea: we are a product of evolution in a physical environment brain should obey physical laws. Gustav theodor fechner was the founder of psychophysics. Webers law the change in a stimulus that will be just noticeable is a constant ratio of the original stimulus, webers fraction is 5/100. E. g. if 5g is the noticeable difference between 100 and 105g, then for 1000g, it will be 1050g, so 50g. Theory an idea as to how these facts can be explained (given what we already know) Hypothesis given this, one can make predictions based on what we already know. Test/experiment how do we test this in a methodologically sound way. Subliminal perception stimulus is registered and processed without subjects awareness.
