PSYC85H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Opponent Process, Temporal Lobe, Social Darwinism
Document Summary
Transformation of psychology: with the effects of many people in the 19th century, the possibility that psychology could be a truly scientific discipline seemed much more plausible. Herbart (1776-1841: attempted to cast a psychological theory in purely mathematical terms. First to apply psychology to practical problems by showing how his psychology implied a particular approach to education: threshold of consciousness: the point below which events are unconscious and, under the right circumstances, can become conscious. Herbart was interested in what was below the threshold and how it mathematically related to ?: herbart"s psychology. Rests on the assumption that all mental life is the result of the action and interaction of elementary ideas. Elementary ideas: entirely simple concepts or sensations. Suggested that ideas may be opposed to one another and act like forces upon each other, and such inconsistent ideas will tend to reduce the intensity with which each one is experienced.
