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Transformation of Psychology in the 19th Century

Explore the advancements in psychology during the 19th century, including J.F. Herbart's mathematical approach, G.T. Fechner's psychophysical parallelism, and Hermann von Helmholtz's theories on perception.

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Transformation of Psychology in the 19th Century

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  1. Chapter 4: The Nineteenth-Century Transformation of Psychology A History of Psychology (3rd Edition) John G. Benjafield

  2. Psychology in the Nineteenth Century • Beginning of nineteenth century: • Many believed psychology could never be a science • End of nineteenth century: • Possibility that psychology could be a scientific discipline seemed more plausible

  3. J.F. Herbart (1776–1841) • Attempted to cast a psychological theory in purely mathematical terms • Interested both in what was above and below the threshold of consciousness • Below the threshold of consciousness = unconscious events that could become conscious

  4. J.F. Herbart • Assumption that all mental life is the result of the action and interaction of elementary ideas • Elementary ideas: entirely simple concepts or sensations • Ex. red, sour

  5. J.F. Herbart • Some ideas facilitate each other, while other ideas inhibit each other • Process of inhibition can be put into mathematical terms: • No matter how much B is inhibited by A, it will never be less than zero

  6. J.F. Herbart • Apperceptive mass: the set of ideas that assimilates ideas consistent with it and rejects ideas inconsistent with it • All concepts strive against suppression • This striving for expression in consciousness is the source of the emotions • Herbart’s psychology is dynamic

  7. Herbart and Educational Psychology • Goal of education: instill the values of the established order • Steps for instruction: 1. Preparation 2. Presentation 3. Association 4. Generalization • Fifth step added later: Application

  8. Herbart’s Contributions to Psychology • Notion that ideas can move back and forth across a threshold of consciousness • Attempt to apply mathematics to psychology • Attempt to apply psychological ideas to education

  9. G.T. Fechner (1801–1887) • Studied medicine at Leipzig, Germany • Moved to literary field • Studied physics • Became professor of physics at University of Leipzig • Responsible for creating an approach to psychology that was seen as truly scientific

  10. Psychophysical Parallelism • Panpsychism: the notion that the mind permeates everything in the universe • Intimate relationship between mental and physical • Relationship is one of psychophysical parallelism: a strict parallelism between body and soul such that from one, properly understood, the other can be constructed

  11. Psychophysics • Inner psychophysics: the study of the relationship between mind and brain • Outer psychophysics: the study of the connection between stimulus magnitudes and the intensity of the resulting sensations

  12. Weber’s Law • Weber’s Law: the relation between a stimulus magnitude and the amount by which that magnitude must be changed in order for the subject to perceive a Just Noticeable Difference (JND) • Requires that we regard our basic experiences, or sensations, as quantifiable • Quantity objection: a refusal to accept this assumption of psychophyics

  13. Fechner’s Psychophysical Methods • Method of just noticeable differences • Method of right and wrong cases • Method of average error

  14. Experimental Aesthetics • Experimental aesthetics: psychology of beauty • Aesthetics from above: evaluate art according to standards derived from some theory of what art should be • Aesthetics from below: depends on obeservations of spectators’ responses to art in order to try to understand the effects that art has on people • Empirical

  15. Hermann von Helmholtz (1821–1884) • One of the greatest scientists of the 19th century • Career marked by his ability to bring the fields of physiology, physics, and mathematics to bear on any one subject • Influenced by Johannes Müller • Advanced a theory of specific energy of nerves

  16. Hermann von Helmholtz • All nerves operate in the same way and transmit impulses at the same speed • Different experiences arise when nerves connect different sense organs to different places in the brain

  17. Helmholtz on Perception • Young-Helmholtz Theory of Colour Perception: the degree to which each cone in the eye is stimulated determines the colour we see • Red, green, and blue receptors • Also: Trichromatic Theory of Colour Perception • Place theory: nerves located at different places in the cochlea are responsible for the perception of different pitches

  18. Unconscious Inference • Unconscious inference: we infer, on the basis of previous experience, that particular objects in the world have given rise to the images on our retinas. • The result of this process is the three-dimensional world we experience

  19. Ewald Hering (1834–1918) • Formulated a competing theory to Helmholtz’s theory of colour perception • Opponent process theory of colour vision: • The visual system is based on three pairs of antagonistic processes • Light acts on each pair to yield one of its component colours but inhibit the other • The pairs are yellow-blue, red-green, and white-black

  20. Christine Ladd-Franklin (1847–1930) • Trained for a PhD in logic and mathematics at Johns Hopkins University • Not awarded the degree because she was a woman • Unable to hold a regular university position for most of her career because she was married

  21. Ladd-Franklin’s Theory of Colour Perception • Evolutionary-based theory • Stage 1: vision sensitive only to achromatic colours ranging from white to black • Rods represent the earliest stage of the development of vision • Stage 2: emergence of cones sensitive to yellow and blue • Stage 3: some of the cones sensitive to yellow undergo a further specialization to become cones sensitive to red and green • Evidence for her theory comes from the study of colour blindess • Studied people unable to see red and green but able to see yellow and blue • Law of progressions and pathologies: the last system to evolve is the first to show effects of degeneration

  22. The Localization of Function • Localization of function controversy: controversy over the attempts to locate particular psychological functions in the cortex of the brain • Phrenology • Study of brain injuries

  23. Phrenology • Franz Joseph Gall (1758–1828) and J.G. Spurzheim (1776–1832) • Believed the more highly developed a function, the larger it would be • The larger a function, the more it would protrude from the skull • Thus, one could divine a person’s strengths and weaknesses by examining the shape of skull • Phrenological chart: chart of the skull representing the locations of various psychological functions

  24. The Study of Brain Injuries • Paul Broca (1824–1880) • Investigated the loss of the ability to express ideas by means of speech (Broca’s aphasia) • Autopsy of patient showed severe damage to a part of the left hemisphere (Broca’s area) • Karl Wenicke (1848–1905) • Studied 10 cases of patients who could speak but could not understand what was said to them (Wernicke’s aphasia) • Found lesions in the left hemisphere (Wenicke’s area)

  25. Study of Brain Injuries • Studies of the relationship between the loss of psychological function and brain damage: • Can be a very suggestive source of evidence • Are seldom definitive or complete

  26. Francis Galton (1822–1911) • Born in England • Cousin of Charles Darwin • One of the most versatile and prolific scholars in the history of psychology • Many of his opinions are still controversial

  27. Hereditary Genius • Galton developed the hypothesis that ability and genius are hereditary • Galton’s Law: the two parents contribute one-half of the total heritage of the offspring, the four grandparents one-quarter, etc.

  28. Eugenics • To Galton, the implication of his studies was that society should encourage selective breeding of humans • Eugenics • Eugenic movement became influential in the early twentieth century

  29. Galton and Statistics • Normal distribution: a symmetrical distribution, with an equal number of events on the left as on the right • Regression towards the mean: occurs as a mathematical necessity whenever two variables are not perfectly correlated

  30. Galton and Memory • Examined his own memory in great detail • Employed techniques that have developed into widely used experimental procedures • Autobiographical memories: memories of events in one’s life

  31. Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) • 1852: coined the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ • Evolutionary theory applied to the inorganic, organic, and super-organic (ie. societies) • Law of evolution: evolution is a process by which a system moves from an indefinite, incoherent homogeneity, to a definite coherent heterogeneity

  32. Social Darwinism • Social Darwinism: individuals should be left to their own devices • (Ex. the state should not interfere with the evolutionary process) • Some successful American business people took up social Darwinism: • Ex. John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie

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