PSYC 100 Lecture 1: Chapter 1

• School: McGill University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Jens Pruessner

Document Summary

Psychology science of behavior and mental processes. History of research in psychology: represents the foundation of psychology, answers are sought using the methods of science, allows one to reach informed conclusions and generate new questions. Psychological research methods use insights and explanations to understand the world. What are the scientific foundations of psychology: psychology originated in philosophy, chinese/muslim philosophers and scientists speculated about human behavior, development of different schools of thought. In nineteenth-century europe, psychology emerged as a scientific discipline. The mind/body problem also has ancient roots: mind/body problem: are the mind and body separate and distinct, early scholars: the mind is entirely separate from and in control of the body. 1600s: cartesian dualism suggested body and mind were indeed separate but that some mental functions resulted from bodily functions. Experimental psychology began with introspection: early 1800s: john stuart mill argued psychology should be a science of observation and of experiment.