PSYCH101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Wilhelm Wundt, Heredity, Psychophysics

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYCH101
• Professor: Paul Wehr

Document Summary

Science is actually a philosophy of knowledge that stems from two fundamental beliefs: empiricism: a philosophical tenet that knowledge comes through experience. Careful observation not common sense or speculation. Scientific theories must be logical explanations of how observations fit together: determinism: belief that all events are governed by lawful, cause and effect relationships. Behavior is determined by internal (ex: genes, brain chemistry) and external influences. Zeitgeist a general set of beliefs of a particular culture at a specific time in history. For instance, in the 1600s materialism was not acceptable and dualism was above all. Whereas in the 1800s this was not exactly the case, therefore psychology became scientific at this time and not before that. Psychophysics fechner (a physicist) coined this term, which is the study of the relationship between the physical world and the mental representation of that world. Major events in the history of psychology pg 15.