PSYC 1030H Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Wilhelm Wundt, Psychometrics
10 Jan 2018
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Document Summary
Importance of math: for descartes, science had to be mathematical but he didn"t believe psychology could be a science because the mind cannot be studied by the methods of science, it can"t be reduced to mathematics. Mental phenomena: have no spatial dimension, are too short in time to be observed, cannot be experimentally manipulated. Physiological psychology: in providing the first genuine textbook for the new field, wundt established himself as its leader. Wundt"s psychology: psychology was the scientific study of the human mind, the goal was to uncover the universal laws of the human mind. Darwin"s influence: since all species are related, human psychology can no longer be viewed as isolated from animal psychology, the study of animals has a new importance. There isn"t complete agreement about definitions (although there are common themes: psychology is a science, psychology is about behaviour, psychology is about the mind/mental activity, studies how people change psychically, cognitively, and socially over their entire life span.
