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Explanation & Answer
Historical Influences on
the Field of Psychology
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Major Influences
Philosophical Influences
Physiological Influences
The New Psychology
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Philosophical Influences
The Spirit of Mechanism
The Clockwork Universe
The Beginnings of Modern Science
The Contributions of Descartes: Mechanism and the Mind-Body
Problem
Philosophical Foundations of the New Psychology: Positivism,
Materialism, and Empiricism
Contributions of Empiricism to Psychology
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The Spirit of Mechanism
England and Western Europe
• Machines used to enhance human power
• Allowed industry to not rely on the strength of humans
• Machines used for entertainment and amusement
• Mechanism – the universe is a machine
• Natural processes can be explained through physics and chemistry
– Led to the realization that accurate time-keeping instruments were needed
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The Clockwork Universe
Daniel Boorstin – labeled the clock the “mother of machines”
People became reliant on clocks because they are:
• Regular
• Predictable
• Precise
The clock became the basis for governmental structure and
political systems
The clock also became a metaphor for the universe
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The Clockwork Universe
Determinism – belief that all present and future actions are caused
by previous events
Reductionism – the belief that the operations of a phenomenon can
be best understood by breaking them down into their most basic
aspects
Automata – machines built to mimic human movement and action
precisely and regularly
People as Machines
• Human functioning and behavior were controlled by mechanical laws
• Experimental and quantitative methods can apply to human nature
• Began the belief that people are machines
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The Beginnings of Modern Science
Empiricism – the quest for knowledge through observing nature;
the belief that all knowledge comes from experience
Rene Descartes
• French philosopher
• Made hypotheses regarding behavioral conditioning
• Studied mathematics and philosophy
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Contributions of Descartes
Mind-Body Problem – questioned how to differentiate between
mental and physical characteristics
Descartes :
• Believed the mind and body are joined and influence each other
• Believed that the function of the mind was to think
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Contributions of Descartes
The Nature of the Body
• Proposed that since the body is physical matter it should have the same
properties of all physical matter
• Reflex Action Theory – the belief that an object can produce an
involuntary response (reflexive behavior)
The Mind-Body Interaction
• The mind influences the body, and the body influences the mind
• Founded from mechanistic terms
Doctrine of Ideas
• Derived Ideas – composed by the application of stimulus from the
external world
• Innate Ideas – produced by the mind or consciousness...