PSYC 221 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Determinism, Decision-Making, Behaviorism

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 221
• Professor: Thomas Spalek

Document Summary

Behaviorist: one who adheres to the perspective in psychology that focuses on observable behaviours. Representationalism: consider information from the world as being represented in some form in our minds, ex. We store a concept of what an armadillo is in our mind: the more we learn about the armadillo means we might change or add to this stored information. Embodied cognition: provides information about the world that allows us to do things in the world, such as walking through a doorway, evolved to allow us to interact with the world. Biological perspective: describes cognition according to the mechanisms of the brain: purpose theories based not on the manipulation of symbols but on networks of connections loosely analogous to networks of neurons. Research in cognitive psychology: relies heavily on research. Scientific method: gaining knowledge in a field that relies on observations of phenomena and which allows for tests of hypotheses about these phenomena: four core principles: empiricism, determinism, testability and parsimony.