Difference between revisions of "Mind"
(→Strucuturalism: finished structuralism.) |
(My memory is a bit rusty on functionalism, so I focused on Gestalt.) |
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| − | The '''mind''' is the most obvious thing which sets apart human beings from animals. Mind is not synonymous with '[[brain]]'. | + | The '''mind''' is the most obvious thing which sets apart human beings from animals. Mind is not synonymous with '[[brain]]', but it is sometimes used to refer to the activities of such. |
The mind has the capacity for [[thought]], including [[imagination]], [[foresight]], [[analysis]], and [[emotion]], which in various ways use the powers of the brain. | The mind has the capacity for [[thought]], including [[imagination]], [[foresight]], [[analysis]], and [[emotion]], which in various ways use the powers of the brain. | ||
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==Functionalism== | ==Functionalism== | ||
| − | + | Unlike Structuralism, Functionalism ceased comepletly to focus on the makeup of the mind. | |
==The Gestalt Movement== | ==The Gestalt Movement== | ||
| − | + | "The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" best summarises the Gestalt movement. This branch refered to Structuralism and Functionalism as "brick and mortar psychology", and saw the "whole" experience of the mind as a Gestalt. The primary characteristic of the Gestalt is the importancs of the consciousness, and the belief that wholes cannot be reduced to a listing with a description of the parts. The Gestalt movement proposed [[Principles of Perception]], which focus on how we tend to group objects. | |
| + | #Proximity - Similar objects group | ||
| + | #Similarity - Similar looking objects group, even despite proximity | ||
| + | #Pragnanz - The idea that we naturally attempt to make a "perfect shape" | ||
| + | #Closure - Our tendancy to complete incomplete shapes. | ||
==Psychoanalysis== | ==Psychoanalysis== | ||
Revision as of 22:11, December 14, 2008
The mind is the most obvious thing which sets apart human beings from animals. Mind is not synonymous with 'brain', but it is sometimes used to refer to the activities of such.
The mind has the capacity for thought, including imagination, foresight, analysis, and emotion, which in various ways use the powers of the brain.
The faculties such as compassion, empathy, and the desire for justice, point to man as God's greatest creation.
There are many held perspectives and branches that deal with the mind.
Contents
Voluntarism
Voluntarism is the theory of the mind formulated by Willhelm Wundt, and focuses on the aspect of the mind as elements. He believed that the elements were assembled through the power of the will. Chemistry played a significant role in Wundt's theory, as he attempted to use the concept of "the small makes the ultimate result". Wundt worked with Dimitri Mendeleev (The man who wrote the Periodic table of the elements.
Strucuturalism
Rather than focusing on how the mind works, Structuralism attempts to focus on what the mind is, although it shares a number of ideas with voluntarism, prohibiting it from doing so. This branch, formed by American psychologist Edward Bradfort Titchner focused on stimulus error, and contests that only well-trained observers are capable of introspecting concepts. Titchner offered no means by which a "well trained" observer could be recognised.
Like his predecessor, Wundt, Titchner listed the elements he believed made the mind function, a total of 44,000 sensational elements. He further broke these elements into four categories
- Quality - What seperates one sensation from another
- Intensity - How strong the sensation is
- Duration - How long a sensation lasts for
- Clearness - How detailed the sensation is
Functionalism
Unlike Structuralism, Functionalism ceased comepletly to focus on the makeup of the mind.
The Gestalt Movement
"The whole is greater than the sum of its parts" best summarises the Gestalt movement. This branch refered to Structuralism and Functionalism as "brick and mortar psychology", and saw the "whole" experience of the mind as a Gestalt. The primary characteristic of the Gestalt is the importancs of the consciousness, and the belief that wholes cannot be reduced to a listing with a description of the parts. The Gestalt movement proposed Principles of Perception, which focus on how we tend to group objects.
- Proximity - Similar objects group
- Similarity - Similar looking objects group, even despite proximity
- Pragnanz - The idea that we naturally attempt to make a "perfect shape"
- Closure - Our tendancy to complete incomplete shapes.
