ipl-logo

Rene Descartes Psychology

1202 Words5 Pages

Psychology is the scientific field where they study on mind and behavior. Psychology is a complex discipline and includes many sub-fields of study such areas as human maturity, sports, health, clinical, social behavior and thoughts.
Psychology is a subject that does not have a very long history, with most advances and improvements happening over the time of 150 years or so. However, the origins can be followed back to history Greece, 400 – 500 years BC. If the origins of psychology is understood in depth then you will be able to see that many philosophers had their hand in creating the foundation of psychology such as great thinkers known as Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Descartes had been involved. In understanding and debating about …show more content…

Although there have been many possible contributors to establishment of what is often called "advanced science," the ideas of the philosopher Rene Descartes are vital to science but especially to psychology. Descartes lived from 1596 to 1650, and usually wanted to find answers to the questions like Are the mind and body the same, or different?" His answers were started to be called as Cartesian Dualism, this concept say that mind and body are two different entities, but that the mind can influence the body and the body can influence the mind. So to research on this idea the church and the scientist divided the work among them. The church could still work to influence the mind of individuals, and the scientists of the day could study the body, each group having its own domain to some …show more content…

Phrenology was one solution to the mind-body issue that was studied by Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828) and subsequently became popular by his student then later became college, Joseph Spurzheim (1776-1832). The basic idea of phrenology suggested that one could discover and understand someone's personality traits by feeling and interpreting the bumps on the head. Although this idea may seem naive by today's standards of psychology or any science, but it was a popular idea at the time, and it was such a simple concept that could be understood easily by common people and accepted by them. Phrenology implied, that the shape of the skull was an precise representation of the fundamental core of the brain, that the mind can be meaningfully divided and labled into 37 or more different functions, and that certain personality triats or qualities that we have are found in certain exact locations in the brain. Therefore, by feeling someone's skull and detecting the location of an abnormal bump (too much) or groove or even a dent, an explanation could be made as to whether someone possessed an overabundance or shortage of the corresponding trait due to the shape of the

Show More
Related
495 Words | 2 Pages

1) Define psychology and trace its historical development. Psychology is the scientific research of the study of the human and animal behavior and mentalities. So in general the study is about how, what and why the human brain functions the way they do. As well as why mental illnesses exist.

Read More
201 Words | 1 Pages

What exactly is psychology? While it may seem like a very basic question, it is one of the most common questions asked by students new to the study of psychology. During your first lecture of an introductory psychology class, your instructor might spend some time going around the room asking students to explain what they think psychology involves. During my first psychology class, one girl made a dramatic point of waving her fingers over another student's head and pretending to read his thoughts. Unfortunately, such misconceptions about psychology abound and part of the confusion stems from stereotyped portrayals of psychologists in popular media as well as the diverse careers paths of those holding psychology degrees.

Read More
755 Words | 4 Pages

The presuppositions I had before taking this class concerning the history of psychology were based on the things I had learned previously about the founding fathers of psychology. The thoughts that I had were that many of the founding fathers were not very stable themselves. I also had learned that there was a lot of cocaine abuse in those early days, which added to my disrespect for some of the people who had been instrumental in launching psychology as a scientific study. In addition to the lack of faith in the character of these founding fathers, I had also come to the conclusion that they had very little solid data for their conclusions and even among their peers there was a lot of skepticism regarding their conclusions. Without measurable research based on solid data and controlled studies that the field of psychology has had to fight hard to become a reputable science.

Read More
2606 Words | 11 Pages

Notable psychologists namely Sigmund Freud, Melanie Klein and

Read More
1861 Words | 8 Pages

Introduction Psychological research and its findings have profound impact on people, relationships, and institutions in our society (Willig, 2013). However, as any other study, psychological researchers are faced with enormous limitations including inappropriate designs or methodologies due inadequacy of professionals (Wang, et al., 2015), geographical differences that impacts on generalizations (Smith, 2015), and time pressure that negatively affects the quality of a research (Punch, et al., 2014). Language barrier and lack of literature or poorly done review are other factors that affect psychological research (Willig, 2013). Limitations Limited number of professionals in the psychological research is one of the key limitations to this field of study. Psychological research depends on observations, experimentation, and evidence, hence the need for critical methodological designs (Shipman, 2014).

Read More
1006 Words | 5 Pages

There are several similarities and differences between behaviorism (skinner) and psychoanalysis (Freud). Both behaviorism and psychoanalysis do not believe in the concept of free will in humans and they are both deterministic. Behavioral approach assets that the environment and the consequences of behavior control people while psychoanalysis believe that people are controlled by their unconscious drives. Through his observations, Freud believed that childhood experiences could lead to emotional problems in adulthood. Skinner in his experiment proved that behavior that produces pleasurable consequences is likely to be repeated whilst that which produces negative consequences is stamped out.

Read More
1231 Words | 5 Pages

Psychology is the scientific study of how human think, how they feel about issues and their behaviour in this research we will learn the meaning of perspectives in Psychology, dwelling on the biological and behavioural approach, I will discuss the difference and commonalities between the two perspectives. WHAT’S PERSEPCTIVE IN PSYCHOLOGY In contemporary psychology perspective simply implies an approach that involves some assumptions about how people behave, how they function and the best way to define this seeming behaviours. There is no one way to approach this perspectives, one is not above the other, though for a long while the behavioural approach was holding the ace being assumed to be the only scientific one.

Read More
1648 Words | 7 Pages

And the other reason was that they realized that psychological processes must have a physiological basis. In the past, researches were carried regarding the

Read More
526 Words | 3 Pages

Various philosophers and scientists have inquired about the mind and body issue for a long time. The mind-body philosophies try to explain the way a person’s mental state and processes are linked to the physical state. The core of the mind and body is that individuals have a biased experience of an inner life that appears detached from the physical world. Although they are separated, they need to work together in some way. Individuals may appear to have physical properties and mental properties.

Read More
814 Words | 4 Pages

When it comes to the science of psychology psychologist are looking deeper into what affects ones behavior and mental health. Looking at the environment, health issues, cognitive, learning, and etc… How does everything affect the overall mental health of a person? 2. Distinguish between a theory, a hypothesis, and an operational definition.

Read More
701 Words | 3 Pages

Contributions to Psychology Sigmund Freud was the first who use the term psychoanalysis in 1896. From that point his theories blossomed. Freud did not invent the terms unconscious, conscious or conscience. However he was successful in making them popular. Freud attained this through his theory of psychological reality, id, ego, and superego.

Read More
1431 Words | 6 Pages

His theories contribute several areas of psychology such as cognitive psychology, social psychology and developmental psychology. However his major influence the development of psychology and comparative psychology is originate from this theory of mental continuity of animals and human beings. Darwin’s theory of evolution speeded up animal studies in psychology. Before Darwin published his theories, there is no reason for scientist to study animals. Opposite to Darwin’s founding, there is clear distinction between animal and human being.

Read More
1161 Words | 5 Pages

Sigmund Freud. He introduced the psychodynamic theory. It stated that human behavior is motivated by one’s aggressive and sexual drives and that childhood experiences form our personality. The clear weakness in this theory, however, is the fact that it lacks any scientific credibility. You cannot test one’s mind processes with the scientific method.

Read More
935 Words | 4 Pages

Psychology is defined as “the scientific study of the mind and behavior” (Introduction to Psychology, 2015). Psychology provides an overview of biology and behavior, sensation and perception, learning, memory, intelligence, language, motivation, emotion, abnormal psychology, and therapy (PSY 102 Course Syllabus, 2018, pg 1). Because psychology allows for a better understanding of how the mind and body work, this knowledge can be beneficial for any field of study or career. The theoretical and practical understanding of the basics of psychology can help with decision-making, critical thinking, stress management, time management, better understanding of others, improving communication, and even achieving goals and objectives, all components that allow someone to be more successful throughout their life. Throughout this course I hope to gain a greater understanding of historical and theoretical perspectives of human behavior and development (PSY 102 Course Syllabus, 2018, pg 2).

Read More
702 Words | 3 Pages

Are you afraid of sharing your thoughts? Do you believe that they can tell about your actions? Would you like to have someone you could talk to with no shame of being judged? Well, there is a profession were people listen to others and at the same time, thousands of thoughts are being connected in their minds with a purpose of understanding and helping you. This profession is called psychology, the profession I chose to practice when I grow up and by the end of this speech I will prove to you that psychology is great, that my characteristics match the profession and that I have a plan to follow to get there.

Read More

More about Rene Descartes Psychology

Related Topics

Open Document