| Chapter 1: Historical Perspective Philosophers have considered questions related to human mind for thousands of years using reason and logic. Turns out humans are not very reasonable nor very logical due to several biases: Availability heuristic: we tend to believe that whatever comes to mind first is the right answer. Introspection: can analyze contents of consciousness but not psychological processes. Cultural influences: shape our worldview, beliefs, and expectations. Personal beliefs/confirmation bias: only look for information that confirms held beliefs. Expectancy: unconscious behaviors can lead to self-fulfilling prophecy. Psychologists separated from philosophy to adopt the scientific method and be more objective, but the hard sciences didn't welcome them. This led to "physics envy" and eventually to the emergence of behaviorism with its emphasis on the study of observable behaviors and the rejection of any mental activity. However, behaviorism had more and more problems explaining some experimental data: Kohler's problem solving through insights Emergence of computers and information technology Festinger's cognitive dissonance Thus, cognitive psychology took over. Its main assumptions are: Mental processes exist and are fairly similar across individuals They can be studied scientifically, yet indirectly We are active information processors As researchers, it is very important to expose our assumptions in order to be honest and clarify what our prior beliefs and expectations are. |
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