PSYC1001 Lecture Notes - Edwin Smith Papyrus, Phineas Gage, Frontal Lobe
2 Jul 2018
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8/03/2018 The History and Philosophical Foundations of Psychology
Authorities have a big say in what history looks like
We know more than people in the past, when we try to learn more about it, we have to
retrace from the beginning
Ask: what they did, why they did it, which mistakes were made?
Mistakes/zero results are often not published
“Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come” Victor Hugo
Scientific Psychology started with Wilhelm Wundt by establishing the first psychological
laboratory in Leipzig
True psychology started in the stone age, skulls were found with holes on the top (demons
in the head, headaches, pain, etc)
According to Egyptian culture, the heart contained the soul (which would be taken to a
higher place after life)
The heart would stay in the body, other organs such as liver, kidneys, lung, stomach were
place in jars next to the body, yet the brain was discarded (removed before mummification
via nostrils and an iron hook)
Case Study: The Edwin Smith Papyrus:
It was translated, about head wounds of soldiers
Brain lesions lead to distal symptoms
Left side of the brain controls right side of the body and vice versa
The brain is responsible for speech
Touching the brain can lead to epileptic seizures
(But we aren’t sure whether Pharaoh Imhotep was the author
The fact that he had made these discoveries at this point in history is amazing
Cerebral localisation = thinking in terms of localised functions
In the brain…
Frontal lobe = thought, planning movement
Parietal lobe = touch, spatial relations
Temporal lobe = hearing, memory
Occipital lobe = vision
Ventricles are holes filled with fluid in your brain (humans have 4 ventricles)
Thinking in terms of localised areas also made people look different at the brain
The story of Phineas Gage – 1848 – iron rod through his head (frontal lobe) and they claim
he had a personality change
Paul Broca had a patient called Patient “Tan”, whose real name was Leborgne. Lost speech
and motor function but language comprehension was intact – basically, he understood what
was happening, but could not reply fluently
Karl Wernicke had a patient who would speak but none of what he said made any sense. So,
speech was intact but language comprehension was gone
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Authorities have a big say in what history looks like. We know more than people in the past, when we try to learn more about it, we have to retrace from the beginning. Nothing is as powerful as an idea whose time has come victor hugo. Scientific psychology started with wilhelm wundt by establishing the first psychological laboratory in leipzig. True psychology started in the stone age, skulls were found with holes on the top (demons in the head, headaches, pain, etc) According to egyptian culture, the heart contained the soul (which would be taken to a higher place after life) The heart would stay in the body, other organs such as liver, kidneys, lung, stomach were place in jars next to the body, yet the brain was discarded (removed before mummification via nostrils and an iron hook) It was translated, about head wounds of soldiers. Left side of the brain controls right side of the body and vice versa.
