PSYC 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: American Psychological Association, B. F. Skinner, Radical Behaviorism

• School: UBC
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 101
• Professor: Janel Fergusson

Document Summary

Psychology is a scienti c study of behavior and the mind. Psychology"s roots: roots in philosophy(philosophers have always been interested in issues of the mind)! * compare with physiology, philosophy is study of human nature, more theoretical. The mind and the body are separate entities! The body is material(memory, prediction, dreaming, emotions are all properties of the body. ) Study of the inner workings of the human body and its reactions! Physiologists were often concerned with thought, sensation, perception, etc. Application of systematic and empirical methods to understanding the brain! Thought the thing coordinating our movement was not physical! Couldn"t be subjected to experimentation or measurement! vs. ! Measured speed of nerve impulses poke diff. parts of body and saw reaction! mental events, etc! Found huge variation in reaction times, which lead to investigation of individual differences, No scienti c or empirical perspective: physiology:! Psychology is a separate discipline, not a sub-discipline of philosophy or physiology!