PSY 3360 Historical Perspectives on Psychology
CGS 3325 Minds and Machines Since 1600
Midterm Study Guide – Spring 2016
Final version
Key Terms:
Zeitgeist
interactionist dualism
psychophysical parallelism
reductionism
epistemology
introspection
kinesthesis
psychophysics
teleological explanation
paradox of the basins
localization of function
aphasia
principle of association
pineal gland
monads
hedonism
nativism
place theory of hearing
complementary colors
speed of nerve transmission
double aspect monism
categorical imperative
just noticeable difference
action potential
psychic determinism
Hobbes' Leviathan
unconscious inference
trichromatic theory of color vision
pitch perception
doctrine of specific nerve energies
tabula rasa
physical realism
apperception
choice reaction time
Weber's Law
Major figures:
Descartes
Spinoza
Leibniz
Kant
Berkeley
Locke
Hume
Hobbes
Helmholtz
Fechner
People to associate with one concept / discovery / theory:
Müller
Fourier
Gassendi
Molyneux
Donders
Bacon
Weber
Compare and contrast:
rationalism and empiricism
inductive and deductive method
Locke vs. Descartes on Molyneux's question
Berkeley vs. Descartes on distance perception
primary and secondary qualities
vitalism and mechanism
Hume vs. Kant on causality
pitch of sine wave and complex wave
noumena and phenomena
a priori vs. a posteriori statements (Kant)
analytic vs. synthetic statements (Kant)
absolute threshold vs. differential threshold
Medium-length questions:
1) Compare the strengths and weaknesses of competing solutions to the mind-body problem. Include
one dualist (e.g. Descartes or Leibniz) and one monist (e.g. Hobbes, Berkeley or Spinoza) in your
answer.
2) What was Molyneux's question? Given their philosophical positions, describe how each of the
following would have responded to the question: (a) Descartes (b) Leibniz (c) Locke.
3) What is the paradox of the basins? Describe Locke’s interpretation of this phenomenon and explain
how it differed from the position taken by Berkeley.
4) What is causality? How did Hume's view of causality differ from that of Kant? Present arguments
in support of each position.
5) What is unconscious inference? What are some of the sources of evidence (list at least four) that
led Helmholtz to postulate that unconscious inference plays an important role in human
perception?
6) How did Helmholtz measure the speed of nerve conductance? What impact did his findings have
on the future of neuroscience and psychology?
7) Outline the history of the concept of localization of function in the brain, providing examples of
opposing views (see Fancher and Rutherford, Chapter 3 - Physiologists of Mind: Brain Scientists
from Gall to Penfield).
8) What is the just noticeable difference (jnd)? What was the important experimental finding made by
Weber concerning the jnd? Why did Fechner regard this discovery as important?