Psych Final Exam

Each era that contributed to psychology is important but today I will discuss the effect the Renaissance had on psychology. The Renaissance period was believed to be from 1450 -1600. The meaning to Renaissances is “rebirth” and during this time is when there was an increasingly interest in human beings, which was considered humanism (Hergenhahn, 2009).This period is known as the beginning of modern science and philosophy (Hergenhahn, 2009).There were many things that had set a foundation for the Renaissance and its effect it had on psychology since the 12th Century. One example being that the early psychology reflected on the study of the soul but modern psychology reflected more on the study of functions of the brain (Hergehahn, 2009). None the less, the Renaissance period was very important in providing treatment to the mentally ill so many mental hospitals were built during this period (Hergehahn, 2009).
During this time there were several philosophers who predominantly express the indication of humanism. Petrarch Francesco was one of them and he is considered the father of Renaissance and he believed that people religious associations should not get studied but the fact that they are human beings. His view on human potential made a path for many artistic and legendary accomplishments that branded the Renaissance (Hergenhahn, 2009). It was believed that the Renaissance exposed the good and bad of humanity and this is when modern science and philosophy emerged. This was a time when specialists such as Thomas Aquinas began to study the mind (Schuttleworth, 2008). He was an influential scholar that presented his beliefs about the mind and how it was divided into three faculties, organic, sensory and rational (Schuttleworth, 2008). The Renaissance period was also the time when Descartes introduced the mind-body relationship and studied the phenomena of the mind which was another item that was significant to psychology (Hergenhahn, 2009).

References
Shuttleworth, M. (2008) Psychology in the Middle Ages. Retrieved from http://explorable.com/middle-age-psychology-thomas-aquinas

Hergenhahn, B. R. (2009). An Introduction to the History of Psychology. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=iZwXnfYAo3oC&pg=PA335&lpg=PA335&dq=the+renaissance+period+and+psychology&source=bl&ots=cAiSnclKTj&sig=q3Qq7RCc2u3vM5Tj-dcVp2jQQUQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=pyGgUdDGJsH-iwKDiYH4CA&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=renaissance%20&f=false

One of Thorndike 's major offerings to Psychology was his work with animals. He is known for thoroughly researching animals and creating "puzzle boxes" (Reinemeyer, 1999). Thorndike was solely against mentalism so he criticized the ‘‘despised theory.’’ This theory stated that the animal’s reason was evident and the proof was in observing them (Malone, 2009). Thorndike studied learning in animals and he invented the puzzle box to experiment and test the laws of learning (McLeod, 2007). His experiment consisted of cats, dogs, and chicks. He put the cat or dog in his puzzle box or a chick in a simple maze and he timed how long it took for the animals to escape. When he put the cat in his box and timed them he noticed that after consecutive trials the cats would adopt this behavior and escape faster (McLeod, 2007). He suggested that the learning curves did not rapidly improve, but the amount of time the cat stayed in the box decreased (Reiniemeyer, 1999). The cat did not grasp the concept of the steps it had to take to get free, but the link among the animal 's state and the reaction that it gave to set it free was engraved. Those observations made Thorndike realize that certain responses to stimuli become associated with or detached from one another in accordance to his law of effect (Reinimeyer, 1999). His law of effect suggested that behavior that is followed by satisfaction will more than likely get repeated. On the contrary, if uneasiness is followed by the behavior then the situation will weaken and the behavior will less likely to occur when the situation is repeated Malone, 2009). He also went into detail how all but two of the cat’s behaviors were similar. The two cat’s behavior was different and did not imitate the rest. From the observations of the cats I will say they learned how to escape through trial and error.
References
Malone, J. (2009). Psychology: Pythagoras to Present. MIT Press, Cambridge: MA. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/apus/docDetail.action?docID=10282777

McLeod, S. A. (2007). Edward Thorndike - Simply Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/edward-thorndike.html

Reinemeyer, E. (1999). Edward Lee Thorndike. Retrieved from http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/thorndike.htm Psychology as we know it has been around for thousands and thousands of years. Since the very beginning, psychology had developed massively and will continue to develop even further. Many have reason to believe that western history began with the ancient Greeks. There is an enormous amount of the modern psychology views that had been originated and influenced from the historical views so from my understanding, there are some very prominent people that had set the standards and helped to create, improve and shape the field of psychology. It has been said that for about a thousand years scientists had followed the traditions and teachings of the Pythagoras (Malone, 2009). However, as we know, overtime, even that has changed.
A trend that psychology has in the new millennium is that there has been a rise in the psychological research divisions merging as well as others disappearing. Freudianism and Jungian psychology is slowly disappearing while Adler has been “rediscovered” (Boeree, 2012). Gestalt psychology no longer has a separate approach. It has been divided into two fields, one being humanistic clinical psychology and the other being the field of social psychology (Boeree, 2012). Existentialism has merged with humanism and similar to Gestalt psychology, behaviorism has been sucked into the pit of mainstream psychology. Cognitive psychology started off promising but now it appears that the Neisser and AI scholars abandoned the program (Boeree, 2012). Boeree stated that the most dynamic portion of psychology is currently physiological psychology (2012). As of right now, psychology is considered to be split between humanistic applied psychology and biological psychology. So Boeree believes that a theory that unifies psychology is needed (2012). I hope in the midst of it all, psychology does not lose its position. Researchers had put a lot on the line to make psychology what it is today and tomorrow.

Reference
Malone, J. (2009). Psychology: Pythagoras to Present. MIT Press, Cambridge: MA. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/apus/docDetail.action?docID=10282777

Boeree, G. C. (2012). The History of Psychology. Shippensburg University. http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/historyofpsych.html

When psychology was separated from philosophy and biology and recognized as a science, the dispute over how to define and describe the human mind and behavior initiated (Cherry, 2013). Structuralism and functionalism were two of the many major schools that has increased our knowledge and understanding of psychology. Structuralism school was the very first school of psychology, and its focus was on breaking down mental processes into the simplest form (Cherry, 2013). A lot of the ideas linked with the structuralism school were encouraged by the originator of the first psychology lab, Wilhelm Wundt (Cherry, 2013). Structuralists used methods such as introspection to study the internal developments of the human mind. Introspection can be defined as the observation of one’s very own emotional and mental state (Cherry, 2013). Structuralism was based on the notion that the goal of psychology is to explore how the elements are related to each other by studying feelings sensations and images (Cherry, 2013).

Almost instantly other theories appeared to compete for supremacy in psychology. In response to structuralism, thinkers such as William James and Charles Darwin created their viewpoint known as functionalism (Cherry, 2013). Functionalists pursued to explain the mental developments in a more efficient and precise fashion. Instead of focusing on the foundations of consciousness, they focused more on the purpose of behavior and consciousness (Cherry, 2013). In 1906, a lady by the name, Mary Calkins published an article in belief that structuralism and functionalism were not so different. She claimed, since both are primarily concerned with the conscious self they are somewhat similar (Cherry, 2013). Despite her claim each side continued to criticize the other. At one point and time both school held some type of rank by as of now both schools of thought lost supremacy in psychology and were replaced by behaviorism, humanism and psychoanalysis schools (Cherry, 2013). I believe both schools will always be remembered because they set the foundation for the behaviorism, humanism and psychoanalysis schools.

Reference
Cherry, K. (2013). Major Schools of Thought in Psychology. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/historyofpsychology/a/schoolsthought.htm

While Freud worked at Brucke’s laboratory he met a man named, Josef Breuer, which was a highly respected, well-known researcher in physiology. Freud was captivated with his cleverness, and soon after they became friends (Malone, 2009). Breuer presented a case of hysteria to Freud and stated that he had treated it and knew what the real causes of hysteria were. The woman Breuer claimed he treated went by an alias of “Anna O” and she suffered paralyses and mental confusion. Breuer started hypnosis and made her communicate to him the things that were bothering her whenever an attack occurred. When she was not hypnotized she could not connect the events and her symptoms but when she was hypnotized she immediately connected the two (Malone, 2009). Breuer was able to shine some light on the traumatic acts responsible and he claimed the symptoms disappeared (Malone, 2009). Eager to get an update on Anna O, Freud pushed Breuer for details of her case but at the final stage of his treatment there was a patch of uncertainty and Freud felt Breuer was keeping a secret. Come to find out, Freud knew the patient Anna O, had not been cured (Malone, 2009). Several years later, records from a Swiss hospital, showed that Anna O was an admitted patient there soon after her treatment with Breuer (Malone, 2009). Records indicated that over the years she had several relapses with the same symptoms that were claimed to be cured (Malone, 2009). One Breuer retired and they separated, Freud took it as Breuer was reluctant to criticism for his studies not knowing all the while Breuer was having relations with this patient, Anna O and his claim about her symptoms disappearing were lies. She fell in love with Breuer, and she ended her treatment with him, pregnant (Malone, 2009).

Reference
Malone, J. (2009). Psychology: Pythagoras to Present. MIT Press, Cambridge: MA.http://site.ebrary.com/lib/apus/docDetail.action?docID=10282777

Throughout history, psychology has progressed from the early traditions of Plato and Socrates of beliefs that the mind separated from the body. Those traditions were kept alive through John Locke which is said to be the father of enlightment (Boree, 2012). This early empiricist of past science degraded the mind completely but believed that ideas and information originated from people’s senses and experiences (Boeree, 2012). Locke was one of many that helped develop the study of the human mind, how we experience things and how it function (Baum, 2011). Throughout the progress of empiricism, psychology today studies human behavior through observation and testing which are key codes of empiricism (Baum, 2011). Empiricism can be defined as the understanding that knowledge originates from experience through the senses, and that science flourishes through observation and experiment (Baum, 2011). Locke believed that we developed thoughts and ideas in our minds, but that we also developed thoughts and ideas when we hear, taste or feel something (Baum, 2011). He overall felt that thoughts and ideas were unified with sensation (Baum, 2011). Locke believed that people were capable of having a positive nature so he even took people beliefs and morals into account and he established that it was impossible for those things be inherent (Baum, 2011). He disclosed that there are reactions and natures but those were just physiological series of movement and not ideas (Baum, 2011). There are some thoughts and ideas that are learned from skill but he believed that they are learned early and reinforced so regularly, that they take on the charisma of being inherent (Baum, 2011). Behaviorist views psychology as a morally unbiased experimental branch of natural science (Boree, 2012). Its goal is the control and prophecy of behavior. Watson preceived psychology as the science of motivation and reaction (Boeree, 2012). According to Watson, brain developments are insignificant and he often termed the brain a "mystery box" (Baum, 2011). He took things a step further by insisting that emotions are the body’s reaction to stimuli, thought as just a sub vocal speech and consciousness as nothing in his eyes (Baum, 2011).

References
Boeree, G. C. (2012). The History of Psychology. Shippensburg University. http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/historyofpsych.html

Baum, W. (2011). What is Radical Behaviorism? Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3014776/

B. F. Skinner was the founder of radical behaviorism (Malone, 2009). This is the behavioral approach to psychology that is at the heart of experimental analysis. It focuses on the idea that all of our human behaviors can be addressed in functional terms as means of relating to our environment and circumstances. It has been believed that radical behaviorists perceive behavior as a natural occurrence and as part of valuing the endurance of events which, accumulates as a natural history (Baum, 2011). However just like cognitive science behaviorism is a nonspecific term as well (Malone, 2009). An alternative to cognitive psychology is radical behaviorism, which differentiates intensely with all methods of cognitive psychology (Malone, 2009). This is because it declines the need for mediators, while all methods of cognitive psychology depend on mediation (Malone, 2009). Nonetheless, there are several behavioral views and some of them support the use of mediators which were defined Skinner as methodological behaviorism (Malone, 2009).

Cognitive psychology is also known as cognitive science and there are several definitions of the term. Its roots were founded in the mid-1950s at the time that researchers from different fields began to cultivate theories of the mind based on difficult demonstrations and computational measures (Baum, 2011). Cognitive psychology studies the mental and our ability to reason, remember, learn and perceive things (Baum, 2011). it addresses mental states that are internal to us. This is in contrast to radical behaviorism which only tends to the external behaviors (Baum, 2011). The two fields are similar in their use of research (Baum, 2011). A cognitive scientist is defined as someone that tracks the computer based view of cognition and emphasizes computer simulations as oppose to data produced from a human (Malone, 2009). Baum had mentioned that cognitive science has several speculative ideas and psychological experiments that cautiously approach mental acts from different areas are vital for cognitive science to be logical (2011).

References
Baum, W. (2011). What is Radical Behaviorism? Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3014776/

Malone, J. (2009). Psychology : Pythagoras to Present. MIT Press, Cambridge: MA.http://site.ebrary.com/lib/apus/docDetail.action?docID=10282777

We all know that psychologists and scientists differ in one way or another. Burrhus Frederic Skinner was considered to be one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century (Malone, 2009). He invented the operant conditioning apparatus and perceived his own philosophy of science which he called radical behaviorism (Baum, 2011). This meant his impression of the science of behavior was the way that people act and reacted. Skinner believed that a person 's behavior is sustained from one situation to another through the same consequences depending on the situation. The essence of his theory states that behaviors are causal factors that are influenced by consequences. Skinner’s research and beliefs became the foundation for other scientists (Malone, 2009). One of his well-known inventions was the Operant Conditioning Chamber, which is most commonly referred to as the Skinner Box (Malone, 2009). This box measured the responses of a subject and their reactions to the environment they were in (Malone, 2009). Tolman was different from Skinner in a way because he was a neobehaviorists that took a more general approach to behavior studies (Baum, 2011). Instead of talking in terms of atomistic and isolated stimuli and responses, Tolman stressed these fundamentals with the environment (Baum, 2011). He did this by referring to them as "Stimulating Agencies" and "Behavior Acts." One of the significant influences he provided was that he claimed that purpose and cognition were vital to behavior and should be taken as externally observable features (Baum, 2011).

With that being said, Hull was also a neobehaviorists and between the three he was often said to be the most ambitious one when it came to constructing a formal theory of behavior (Baum, 2011). He believed that he found the fundamental law of learning, which is also known as habit formation in which he called it the Law of Stimulus Generalization (Baum, 2011). In accordance to this law, a response may be called forth by an unconventional stimulus as long as that stimulus is the same one that usually calls forth the response. His laws of behavior explained how learning took place without resorting to unimportant ideas like the soul or free will which he believed did not have a place in science. Hull built what he called an ‘‘automatic memory machine’’ for the study of the evolution of concepts. Hull assumed three things concerning psychology and the way of doing science. First, he was convinced that we and other organisms must be viewed as biological machines, or automata. When we dispense with romantic illusions, we see that we are muscle, bone, blood, nerves, visceral organs, and similar stuff, and we must not lose sight of that fact. Hull’s second assumption was that it is absolutely essential to quantify, to measure and attach numbers, even if the basis for scaling is shaky. Much of his time was spent in assigning numbers to represent the degree of learning or the amount of motivation that is present under different conditions. Third, Hull emphasized the importance of clearly stating basic assumptions in a way that permitted testing them. This was required both to give order to the field and to act as a guide to research. In 1943 he listed sixteen postulates, each followed by theorems and corollaries, in language meant to be unambiguous.

References
Malone, J. (2009). Psychology : Pythagoras to Present. MIT Press, Cambridge: MA.http://site.ebrary.com/lib/apus/docDetail.action?docID=10282777

Boeree, G. C. (2012). The History of Psychology. Shippensburg University. http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/historyofpsych.html

Baum, W. (2011). What is Radical Behaviorism? Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3014776/

References: Malone, J. (2009). Psychology : Pythagoras to Present. MIT Press, Cambridge: MA.http://site.ebrary.com/lib/apus/docDetail.action?docID=10282777 Boeree, G. C. (2012). The History of Psychology. Shippensburg University. http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/historyofpsych.html Baum, W. (2011). What is Radical Behaviorism? Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3014776/