PSYC 2000 Chapter : Psyc Notes Ch 1
Document Summary
De nition of psychology: the scienti c study of behavior and mental processes: behavior: any action (observed, mental processes: perceptions, thoughts, feelings. Goals of psychology: describe, explain, predict, control. A brief overview of the history of psychology: pre-psychology (ancient philosophy) Believed the human mind is a blank slate, which experience writes upon . Disagreed with aristotle and tabula rasa and believed that minds pre-exist. A mix of both (a product) of genetics and environment. Wednesday, january 20, 2016: pre-psychology (modern philosophy) Rationalist (can"t trust our senses and can only trust logic and mathematics) Cartesian dualism (physical vs. mental) the mind is fundamentally different than (separate from) the body. Empiricists (only way to obtain knowledge is through observation) Hume just because the sun has risen every morning for millions of years does not mean it will rise tomorrow . Berkley (the world around us is nothing but thought) Our perceptions are not absolute (weights, 5 vs 10 and 205 vs 200)
