PS101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Edward B. Titchener, Gestalt Psychology, Mendelian Inheritance
Document Summary
Lecture 1 - the study of the mind. Psychology is the study of behavior and mental processes such as thought and emotion. When studying why a certain behavior or mental process occurs, one can study the influences of: Wilhelm wundt conducted the first documented psych study. Conducted experiments, but not like today: questioned experience, immediateconscious, belief that all experience could be reduced to basic elements. Goal: understand how the simplest elements of structure of conscious experience combine to create more complex perceptions and behaviors. So what did they do in their experiments o reactiontimes: attention span, perception of visual stimuli, touch and hearing. Titchener student of wundt continues the tradition. Belief that all experience could be reduced to basic elements. Could identity the structures (e. g. , chemical water = h2o. Used introspection: the careful reflective and systematic observation of the details of mental processes and how simple thoughts combine into complex ideas.
