PSYCH101 Chapter 1: PSYCH 101 Chapter 1: An Introduction to Psychological Science > Module 1.2 (ONLINE Week 1): How Psychology Became a Science (Krause, Corts, Smith, Dolderman)

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH101
• Professor: Paul Wehr

Document Summary

Know the key terminology of psychology"s history. Understand how various philosophical and scienti c elds became major in uences on. Apply your knowledge to distinguish among the different specializations in psychology. Analyze how the philosophical ideas of empiricism and determination are applied to human behaviour. Doctors in ancient egypt noticed that damage to different parts of the brain resulted in different types of impairments, marked the rst step toward modern psychology. Science is a philosophy of knowledge that stems from two fundamental beliefs: empiricism: philosophical belief that knowledge comes through experience. Knowledge about the world is based on careful observation. Thinking and reasoning about observations are important: determinism: belief that all events are governed by lawful, cause-and-effect relationships. Psychologists recognize that behaviour is determined by both internal (eg. genes and brain chemistry) and external forces. Behaviour can only be understood by making observations and determining hypotheses. Behaviour occurs at several different levels ranging from cells to societies.