PSY-2012 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Falsifiability, Empiricism, Human Behavior
Document Summary
Scientific study of mind, brain, and behavior: mind - abstract, brain - anatomic & concrete. William james - founder of american psychology. Fmri - location/activation: measures blood flow. Theory - explanation for findings in world. Fear of spiders & snakes from ancestry. Can"t study one aspect - elephant metaphor. Human behavior is difficult to predict: actions are multiply determined. People influence one another: reciprocal determinism - hard to draw conclusions about causation. Pages 2-9: explain why psychology is more than just common sense, explain the importance of science as a set of safeguards against biases. William james (1842-1910) - founder of american psychology. Scientific study of the mind, brain, and behavior. Spans multiple levels of analysis: lower rungs - close to biological influences, higher rungs - close to social influences, molecules & brain structures > thoughts, feelings & social/cultural influences. Wh(cid:455) we ca(cid:374)"t alwa(cid:455)s trust our co(cid:373)(cid:373)o(cid:374) se(cid:374)se. Gut intuitions about how the social world works.
