PSYCH 240 Study Guide - Quiz Guide: Mental Chronometry, Little Albert Experiment, Chronometry
Psych 240 Quiz 1 Study Guide
Introspectionism
•Looking inside one’s own mind
•Conscious access to emotional states
•Problems:
•Difficult to verify.
•Private events, not public.
•End product of cognitive processing, not the process itself.
Behaviorism
Pavlov: Stimulus/Responses
Watson- behaviorist who thinks unobservable mind shouldn’t be studied
Skinner- Reinforcements/Rewards
Problems:
oLimiting science to just the observable disregards thoughts and
emotions
oCan’t account for diversity of human behavior
Example: language.
Shaping: teaching new behaviors through reinforcing every step someone takes
Cognitive approach: inferring what’s going on inside the mind through controlled
experiments
Computational view of mind: the mind is somehow like a computer program
Information processing
Variables:
Independent variable: is manipulated
Dependent variable: is measured/analyzed
Little Albert (example of classical conditioning) Watson saw if he could
induce phobia, put a white rat in front of Albert and made a loud noise every
time so eventually Albert developed a fear of white rats, his fear generalized
to other objects such as rabbits, fur coat, santa claus mask
Mental chronometry (Donders): The study of the time course of mental processes.
Types of Mental Chronometry:
Simple reaction time: the motion required for an observer to respond to the
presence of a stimulus. (e.g. you are seated in front of a panel that contains a light
bulb and a response button. When the light comes on, you must press the button.)
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Document Summary
End product of cognitive processing, not the process itself. Watson- behaviorist who thinks unobservable mind shouldn"t be studied. Problems: limiting science to just the observable disregards thoughts and emotions, can"t account for diversity of human behavior. Shaping: teaching new behaviors through reinforcing every step someone takes. Cognitive approach: inferring what"s going on inside the mind through controlled experiments. Computational view of mind: the mind is somehow like a computer program. Mental chronometry (donders): the study of the time course of mental processes. Simple reaction time: the motion required for an observer to respond to the presence of a stimulus. (e. g. you are seated in front of a panel that contains a light bulb and a response button. When the light comes on, you must press the button. ) Choice reaction time (donders): tasks require distinct responses for each possible class of stimulus.
