Hist&Systems

Population grows at an exponential rate; resources grow at a linear rate; therefore it comes a time when the population outgrows the food supply resulting in competition for limited resources

States that traits that aid in the survival of an organism are more likely to be passed on to future generations

Level of fit between an organism and the environment

Influenced by Lamarck's teological theory, which proposes that evolution has purpose or goal--perfection. Every species is evolving towards perfection. This assumes that there is a perfect form of every species, including humans

The concept of association is the foundation of all learning. We learn by forming associations between ideas.

Became known as social darwinism

Spencer said that some people are better fit to survive than others

Initially argued successful people tend to be related to other successful people. and intelligence was probably necessary to achieve this level of success.

Found that identical twins were similar to each other intellectually, proving that there was a trace of heritability of intelligence

Set up the first anthropometric labratory to study individual's features and appearance as it related to intelligence

Stated that society is moving towards a perfect state. (utopia) Individuals who are unfit for society are in fact dragging society down, and hindering the betterment of human civilization by passing on their unfit genes onto their children

Felt that large, poor, working-class families were reversing the "natural law" so he openly opposed social programs to help them survive

Criticized Henry Goddard's approach to immigration testing policy, saying that it was a self-fulfilling prophecy: they have never held a pencil or pen, they cannot speak the language, and their failure may have been a result of testing conditions

The idea that it is possible to create a race of superior humans over a sufficient span of generations involving controlled, selective breeding (such as used by Nazi's)

First american to earn a PhD with Wundt

Set up the oldest continually operating psychology department at the university of Pennsylvania in 1887

Worried about the validity of intelligence testing, and said that if a series of tests were valid measures of the same thing, they must be intercorrelated

Found that Galton's tests were not correlated with one-another, and thus, not valid--intelligence may not be inheritable

Used to test a wide range of cognitive abilities

Mental exercises that could strengthen the mind and increase intelligence

The results of intelligence tests were determined in terms of one's ______ _______.

IQ=(mentalage/actualage)*100

Developed factor analysis to break down the intercorrelations between items on an intelligence test, allowing statiticians to break down the intercorrelations among the items and determine how many factors are being measured in a given test

Found that there are 2 factors in IQ tests

Represents a person's overall intelligence, tending to be stable over the lifetime

Corresponds to specific abilities that can be improved with training, showing not all intelligence is genetically determined

Believed at there is a correlation between physical appearance and intelligence (physiognomy) He used Binet-Simon Scale at Ellis Island to test immigrants because there was a belief that a large number of them were mentally deficient. This resulted in a large number of individuals who were deported. Equated mental deficiency with criminal deviancy

Published a book on the Kallikaks

Claimed that poor results on the test may have been nothing more than a self-fulfilling prophecy--not actually a result of them being stupid

May be considered the first American Psychologist, and set up a psychology lab four years before Wundt

Wrote the Principles of Psychology, which was the first psychology textbook

Treated the idea of habit as being a learned modification of instinctual behavior. Neural connections become stronger through conditioning/repetition

A philosophy that holds that ideas can be judged or weighed by the extent to which they are practical

James' 5 facts of Consciousness

First American to receive PhD in psychology

Played a key role in the creation of the APA: 1st president of the APA

Founded the American Journal of Psychology; which was the first English Psych Journal

Founded the 1st psychology department at John Hopkinds University

Took over the psychology lab for William James at Harvard University

Taught Mary Whiton Calkins in the psychology laboratory, but she was not given a PdD

An unofficial means by which Harvard faculty provided private classes to women

Eventually, Harvard Annex became so popular that it became this.

Sub-dividing a reflex into a S-R approach is nonsensical: the reflex is an indivisible coordination, for the response cannot be a response without a stimulus, and a stimulus cannot be a stimulus without a response

Rejected the reductionis approach. Argued that the only way to view the mind was as a functioning instrument that guides and coordinates behavior

The function of the mind is the means by which mankind interacts with the environment; a mind that has a use and function is fundamental to the struggle for human life

Believed that the mind is a mediator in behavior. In the S-O-R approach, the mind is the organism, the O, regulates responses to environmental stimuli

Thought that responses were adaptive acts.
Also introduced motivation into psychology and said that behavior, as the adaptive act, begins with the motivating stimuli, followed by a sensory situation, and then a response that satisfies the motivating stimulus

an idea that the faster one moves, the less accurate these movements are.

In order to be more precise, one must ___ _____

Pioneered techniques for analyzing human movements

Speed/Accuracy Tradeoff:
Motivation was seen as a _______ _______

Devised a puzzle box, wherein hungry cats were placed and left to figure out how to get food on the outside.
Motivating stimulus?
Sensory Situation?
Response?

Found that once the cats learned what techniques opened the box, they repeated these behaviors. He concluded that responses that satisfied the motivating condition were functional and an association was made between the sensory situation (the box) and the response (pulling a lever)

Any action followed by a satisfying (functional) consequence is repeated; actions followed by unsatisfying consequences are not repeated

Law of Exercise

The more often the association is made between a response and its consequences, the stronger the association becomes

The longer the association goes unused, the weaker the association becomes

Argued that it would be more parsimonious (simpler) to put the same explanation for what appears to be the same purposeful behavior in humans and animals

A single psychology that allows direct comparison between human and animal behavior

Used the anecdotal and observational approach, noting how animal sometimes appear to behave with complex intentions

Attributed animal behavior to human-like emotion, appealed to a growing public interest in the possibility that animals were more like us than previously though

Idea that is is okay to assign higher cognitive abilities to animals if such ability is required to explain their behavior.
however, the simplest explanation is best by default

Thought that every behavior in plants and animals could be thought to a simple tropism, which is behavior directed at light

Argued that all behavior could be broken down into simple S-R Chains

Observed the behavior of protozoa, and found that their behavior was variable and modified by experience--they learned. He didn't disagree with the existence of mindless reflexes, but he did say that they did not account for the bulk of goal-directed behavior

Found that basic reflexes do not even require the brain, and are localized entirely to the spine and peripheral nervous system

He discovered that cats with a removed cerebrum still exhibited reflexes on their feet--the cerebrum wasn't even involved