How do we study the mind

1
How do we study the mind?

• Descartes technique?
• Self observation- Analyze experiences through
  introspective reflection. Relies on memory

2
Titchener Structural Psychology

• Goal Analysis of mind into elementary units
• Embraced Cartesian assumption that mind is
  transparent to itself

3
Attempted to make introspection more scientific

• Internal perception- respond immediately to
  carefully controlled stimuli. Detailed reports of
  conscious events occurring while completing task
• Describe nature and number of basic mental
  processes. Identified 3 sensations, images and
  affections

4
INTROSPECTIONISM

• Heart of experimental psychology because
  conscious experience is primary concern
• Assumption about mental processes
• Images underlying element of all ideas
• Imageless thought did not exist

5
Problem with method of introspection?

• Name instance of category
• (what are effects of stimuli? How does it affect
  you? What does it bring to mind?)

6

• Weather?

7

• Money?

8

• Vegetable?

9

• Crime?

10

• Swear word?

11
Methodological problem?

• Impossible to have conscious experience and
  reflect on it at the same time

12
Titcheners solution

• Delay observation and describe from memory
• Break into stages, e.g., perceive word, search
  for response, find response, produce response
• Acquire introspective habit (can observe and not
  interfere)

13

• Taught not to describe stimuli but conscious
  experience resulting from stimuli

14
Resulted in long, boring and repetitive accounts

• observed enough this summer to find that I
  cannot find anything in it but organic and other
  sensation unpleasantly colored and, on the
  cognitive side, a cramp of apperception towards a
  small group of ideas related to the thing dreaded
  with certain resultants in instinctive act and
  thoughtWhen the storm became imminentthere would
  be cardiac and visceral symptoms to describe etc.

15
From someone studying the psychology of pain
first hand

• I let a horse throw me from his back, allowing me
  to drop on my shoulder and head. I showed a
  beautiful case of loss of consciousness before
  the actI not only do not remember mounting and
  the horse running, but I forgot almost everything
  that happened,,,from the time I got up in the
  morning till I regained complete consciousnessI
  can form no continuous series of events. My head
  was bad for a while but is all right now, but my
  arm has served the purpose of quite a number of
  experiments as it still continues quite
  painfulThe psychological side of my afflictions
  will form the basis of at least three lectures
  next fall.

16
Introspectionism failed as methodology

• Unreliable non-replication of results, training
  produced bias, e.g., imageless thought
  controversy.
• No independent way of testing.

17

• Watson Opposed view that conscious experience is
  concern of psychology.
• Take the case of sensation. A sensation is
  defined in terms of its attributes. One
  psychologist will state with readiness that the
  attributes of a visual sensation are quality,
  extension, duration and intensity. Another will
  add clearness. Still another that of order. I
  doubt if any one psychologist can draw up a set
  of statements describing what he means by
  sensation which will be agreed to by three other
  psychologists of different training.

18
Theoretical framework for introspectionism and
structuralism failed Mind is NOT transparent to
itself

• Introspection is irrelevant to many interesting
  processes, e.g., skills, athletic and in
  language..
• We are aware of outcome of mental operations, not
  operations themselves, e.g., exemplars, mental
  arithmetic

19
Watson proposed for methodology

• Scientific technique requires that data are open
  to inspection Behavior is public, consciousness
  is private.
• Scientific laws cannot be formulated by studying
  the mind
• Observable and measurable behavior is object of
  study
• Theoretical goal prediction and control of
  behavior

20
Theoretical position

• Specific contribution of organism is
  insignificant (e.g., mental structures,
  instinct).
• External factors (stimulation and reinforcement
  history) are significant determinants of behavior
• Processes are reflexes (physiological) and not
  concern of psychology

21
Watson

• Importance of animal work
• no dividing line between man and brute

22
Classical or Pavlovian conditioning

• CS (light)
• CR
• US (food) UR (salivation)

23
Operant or instrumental conditioning

• Stimulus Response reinforcement
• Increased probability of response given stimulus

24
Conditioning of emotional response

• Little Albert

25
Weakness of Behaviorism

• Confused method (introspection) with model of
  mind (mental events). Eliminated both instead of
  just former.

26

• Methodology supported by logical positivism
  knowledge of natural phenomena results from
  observation of measurable events.
• Unobservable concepts unavoidable positivists
  distinguish between observable and theoretical
  events, e.g., gravity
• Operationism- scientific concepts defined with
  reference to operations used to measure them
• Operational definitions defined non-observable
  concepts

27

• Skinner rejected non-observable concepts
• explanatory fictions
• e.g., word association- what causes response?

28

• What is felt or introspectively observed is not
  some nonphysical world of consciousness, mind or
  mental life, but the observers own body

29
Contributions of Behaviorism?