PSYC 100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Psychophysics, Empiricism, Wilhelm Wundt

• School: Queen's University
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 100
• Professor: Jordan Poppenk

Document Summary

Ex: optical illusions: uses finite observation, how we generate hypotheses. Structuralism: the pursuit of knowledge through breaking down complex phenomena into small components and then study these components: wundt was a structuralist. Functionalism: knowledge through understanding utility: influenced by charles darwin, william james wanted to understand the purpose of behavior (i. e. , the purpose of anger, happiness, etc. ) A structuralist would say when you look at an apple you perceive its components (e. g. , redness, roundness, etc. ). However, a functionalist would think about why we perceive apples in the first place. Psychophysics: how our perceptual organs gain information about the world: ex: how one perceives brightness. Examining one"s own conscious thoughts and feelings. Relies on observations of one"s own mental state. A researcher will examine what is known about a subject, develop an educated prediction then test the prediction. Answered from a functional or evolutionary perspective. Any action that can be observed, recorded, or measured.