PSYC 2330 Chapter 1: Chapter 1 - Introduction.docx
Document Summary
Learning: is one of the biological processes that facilitate adaptation to one"s environment: i. e. reproduction, which is central to the survival of species, is significantly improved by learning. Learning to withhold responses is just a important as learning to make responses: i. e. a child learns to not cross the street when the light is red. Prior to descartes, most people thought of human behaviour as entirely determined by conscious intent and free will: not by external stimuli. From descartes mind-body dualism spawned two intellectual traditions: mentalism: concerned with the contents and workings of the mind, reflexology: concerned with the mechanisms of reflexive behaviour. Historical developments in the study of the mind. Nativism: the philosophical approach that assumes we are born with innate ideas about certain things. British philosopher thomas hobbes proposed that voluntary behaviour was governed by the principle of hedonism: this principle states that people do things in the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain.