PSYCH 2H03 Lecture 1: Human Learning and Memory
9 Mar 2017
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Document Summary
History of cognitive psychology: introspectionism, psychophysics, behaviourism, the cognitive revolution, the computer metaphor of mind. Quantitative examine between physical stimuli and human responses. Psychophysics gave mechanism credibility as a way to study the mind. Kantian logic: transcendental method: determine underlying causes that lead to observed effects. The amount of physical energy necessary to produce a change in sensation is proportional to the original level of physical energy. Mathematical theory based on weber"s discovery: physical energy and the psychological experience of that energy are related by a logarithmic function. Theoretical constructs in any science are meaningful only to the extent that they can be observed. Conscious experience is subjective, and therefore unreliable and unveri able. It is not necessary to refer to psychological processes to understand. Proponents: bf skinner 1904-1990 & john watson 1878-1958. Out of the shadows: the emergence of cognitive psychology.
