Chapter 1: The Brain, The Mind, And Various Other Things

Okay....so here's my discussion questions about Chapter 1 and possibly the article on studying and testing...I don't know, I'm writing this before basketball practice so lets see how far I can get. 


First off we're going to talk about scans, but not just any kind of scans, we're talking fMRI scans. These things are incredible. They take pictures of your brain during various activities and then study it to see what parts and emotions are activated at given times. You've got to admit that's pretty cool, since it gives scientists and psychologists a better chance to push their theories and studies further.You know, since they can see brain activity and all. 

Psychology is an empirical science. For those of you who don't know what empirical means, or forgot....it means the ability to be observed or interpreted with our senses. So psychology is an empirical science because it allows us to use our senses, mainly sight, to study things, such as behavior and/or actions and reactions to a given scenario, etc....

The mind and adaptivity; evidently they go together. At least that's what my book told me, and usually the book's right.  Our brains have come quite a ways over a short period of time if you think about it. From creating fire by rubbing two sticks together, creating the lightbulb, then creating all these newfangled contraptions called Blackberries and iPods, our minds have learned to adapt and change the human lifestyle greatly.  


Psychology became a discipline around the 1870s, in Wilhelm Wundt's laboratory in Germany. Across the pond in America, William James became critical of Wundt's original structural theory. James claimed that the brain was far too complicated to break down. I'm inclined to believe him. 


Several professions use psychological science. However I'm only going to list two: Physicians, who need to know how to relate to their patients and how to study how the behavior of their patients affects the patients' health. According to the Bureau of Labor, psychology majors can get a job nearly everywhere. You can be a police officer, social worker, attorney's assistant, or eve a research assistant! Oh the possibilities. 


What is psychological science? That's a good question. I believe its the study of the mind, brain and behavior using science or scientific methods. This goes back to the whole "psychology is an empirical science" theory. We can use our senses to study people and what they do, and maybe a dive a little deeper into why they do things. 


The brain and the mind, are they related? Possibly. You see...there's this thing called Dualism. The idea, thought of by Rene Descartes, was that the mind and the brain are separate, yet intertwined. The mind, which controlled action, was divine and separate from the body. Most psychologists disprove that theory however, and instead believe the mind is what the brain does. 

Onto the levels of analysis. There are four of them; biological, individual, social, and cultural. Evidently, if you want to analyze something about the mind, you have to tackle one of these specific levels.  Music, studied across different cultures, affects emotions and thought processes greatly. Pleasant music, which varies according to its listener, releases serotonin in the brain, making one feel good and elevate mood. 


It's kind of sad to admit, but once again, women got cheated in history. Turns out they had a very strong impact on psychology, but the fact they were female brought them down. Consider Mary W. Calkins, who studied with William James at Harvard. She chose to dive into philosophical psychology, but had trouble because it was new to America. Nevertheless, she excelled at every test and should have earned a PhD from Harvard. However, it was refused. Margaret Washburn had better luck, earning her PhD and becoming the first woman to ever earn one in Psychology. Nowadays women have taken over, with 70% of all psychology majors being women. Good job ladies.

Critical thinking. A systematic way of evaluating information to reach reasonable conclusions. In order to be a critical thinker, you can't just accept something. You have to ask "Why?". When conducting an experiment, ALL aspects of the scenario have to be looked at, including holes in the experiment, seeing alternative conclusions, and using logic to explain things the best you can. Your critical thinking can be improved by studying and understanding psychology to better get a grip on the mind and brain, and how they function.