PSYCH 7A Chapter Notes - Chapter 2-2: Urie Bronfenbrenner, Tabula Rasa, Edward B. Titchener

• School: UC-Irvine
• Department: Cognitive Sciences
• Course: PSYCH 7A
• Professor: V I L L A R R E A L

Document Summary

Structure of mind analyze basic elements of the min- functionalism. Influenced by charles darwin"s theory of natural selection. Mental abilities must have evolved because they were adaptive. Functionalism (what the mind does) emerged as an alternative to structuralism (how mind is structured) The nature-nurture question is an ongoing debate about whether nature (our genes) or nurture (our environment) is more responsible for who we are and how we behave. Human behavior and mental experiences are a product of evolution via natural selection. Human behavior and mental experiences are modified over time by experiences in the environment. Parents, neighborhoods, school, culture, societal norms, historical time and place. We are born with some degree of innate knowledge. To empiricist such as locke, the mind at birth is like a blank slate. Many mental disorder have been blamed on inadequate parenting, specifically the mother. Environment (but not cold mothering) also play a role. Neither fixed by nature nor totally under our own control.