Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and problems for Psychology and Sociology

A] Creative Imagination

The Imagination and Fantasy

Fantasy, as opposed to reality, is a fundamental element of our psyche. Freudian psychoanalysis emphasized the importance of the pleasure principle, and his disciple, Roheim, highlighted the role of fantasy in this principle, particularly the fantasy of magic. This magical thinking appears to be the earliest form of imagination in children and is crucial for development. Fantasy plays a significant role not only in the structure of imagination but also in personality development. Kant referred to fantasy as the imagination's unintentional production of images.

B] Definitions

• Evocation: The ability to reproduce past situations or states of consciousness without specific reference to past time.
• Eidetic

Understanding Identity and Emotions

Identity Statuses and Development

Identity formation is a crucial aspect of human development. While complex, certain patterns emerge in how individuals approach commitment and exploration regarding their identity. Here are some key identity statuses:

• Foreclosure: Individuals in this status commit to an identity without much exploration, often adopting values and goals set by others, such as parents. For example, a person might decide on a career path solely because their parents expect it.
• Identity Diffusion: Characterized by a lack of commitment and exploration. Individuals avoid making decisions about their identity, often feeling aimless or unconcerned about their future direction.
• Identity Moratorium: This

The Nature of Science

Science is a way of knowledge derived from empirical facts. It aims to formulate laws and theories with objectivity. Rigor and precision in formulation, preferably mathematical, are its characteristic features, contrasting with subjective reality. It operates on the assumption of the constancy of events.

Types of Sciences

Sciences can be broadly categorized into the following types:

• Formal Sciences

  These include logic and mathematics. Their claims are universal and necessary, representing a priori knowledge which is independent of experience. The criterion of truth for formal sciences is consistency, and their primary method is deduction. Deduction starts from general principles and proceeds in a necessary way to a particular

Short-Term Memory

Short-term memory is the center of consciousness, encompassing all thoughts, experiences, or information within a given period. Its duration is typically 15 to 20 seconds, or a maximum of 30 seconds. After this period, information is lost if not consolidated.

Information must be consolidated from short-term memory to long-term memory. Conversely, retrieving information from long-term memory requires transferring it back to short-term memory for use.

Long-Term Memory

Long-term memory is the lifelong repository of all the information we accumulate. Due to its unlimited capacity and duration, it is the richest and most complex memory structure, but also the most challenging to investigate.

While short-term memory is based on the physical... Continue reading "Understanding Memory: Short-Term, Long-Term, and Disorders" »

Philosophy of Mind: Mental States and Reality

Functionalism and the Mind-Body Problem

Beyond dualism and monism, Functionalism proposes that mental states are defined by their functional role—their causal relations to sensory inputs, other mental states, and behavioral outputs.

Dualism, Monism, and Emergent Properties

The theory of Emergent Properties attempts to synthesize the most attractive ideas of monism and dualism. Monism holds the view that human beings are formed of a single substance or reality.

Personalism: Unity of Body and Spirit

Personalism corrects previous philosophical thoughts by emphasizing the unity of the human body as simultaneously physical and spiritual.

Understanding Human Behavior

Defining Behavior

Behavior is the observable... Continue reading "The Philosophical Foundations of Human Behavior and Motivation" »

Psychology

Psychology is the science of behavior and activity of organisms and also because of the internal mechanisms...

a) Basic Psychology:

A part of psychology is devoted to the study of basic psychological processes (perception, tension, feeling, emotion...) general memory.

b) Applied Psychology:

Those aspects of psychology take inf. Psicol. basic, applied knowledge to solve specific people's problems.

1.3 Evolutionary Psychology (Study of Human Development):

Concept: Science that collaborates in different stages: adolescence, maturity. Areas: - Biosocial: development of physical and social effects that affect - Cognitive: mental processes, thinking subject, learning, communication. - Psychosocial: emotions, personality traits, relations with... Continue reading "Psychology: The Science of Behavior and Human Development" »

Scientific Hypothesis Formulation and Feyerabend's View

A hypothesis is an assumption about what happens in the world. The scientific method does not establish how a scenario arises or how it occurs to the scientist. In the formulation of hypotheses, factors come into play that may seem unscientific:

• Imagination
• Invention
• Chance
• Luck

Paul Feyerabend extends the influence of the imagination to all scientific procedure. He argues that the revolutionary discoveries of modern science are made possible by the freedom and spontaneity of scientific activity. To constrain scientific activity to a series of fixed steps makes science rather dogmatic and sterile. Feyerabend argues it is an illusion to think that these scientific discoveries are the result... Continue reading "Scientific Method Challenges: Feyerabend, Popper, and the Physics Crisis" »

Brain Structure and Function

The brain is the most important organ of the nervous system. Weighing approximately 1200 grams, it consists of two hemispheres. It is responsible for motor actions in response to stimuli and hormonal reactions. The brain comprises:

Neocortex (Cerebral Cortex)

Processes information, prepares responses, and is responsible for reasoning. It is divided into 4 lobes with distinct features:

• Frontal (association)
• Temporal (auditory)
• Occipital (visual)
• Parietal (sensory, motor)

Mesocortex (Limbic System)

Plays an important role in psychic life and in regulating functions that affect emotional life in general.

Paleocortex

Governs the operation of very basic aspects such as sleep or appetite.

Philosophical Views: Dualism

Dualism believes... Continue reading "Brain Structure, Mind, and Philosophy" »

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's own culture is the center of the world, in the sense that all other cultures are classified according to their degree of approximation to the mainstream culture. Ethnocentrism has sometimes been presented as a scientific doctrine, as the Nazis attempted to establish rigorous biological criteria to distinguish different races. A graphic illustration of the critique of ethnocentrism is provided by the anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss when he says that "The savage is he who calls another savage."

Although ethnocentrism is a critical concept, not all human cultures are comparable because there are significant differences between their cultural traits. While no culture... Continue reading "Ethnocentrism and Cultural Evolution: Understanding Differences" »

Cognitive psychology is a discipline that studies processes such as perception, memory, language, attention, and other processes involved in the handling of information by the subject.

Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

Jean Piaget is known for his genetic theory of cognitive development, which proposes that children actively construct their understanding of the world through interaction.

Intelligence, according to Piaget, is the ability to maintain a constant adaptation of the subject's schemas to the world in which they operate.

Adaptation explains the development process of learning and is divided into two sub-processes:

• Assimilation: Integrating new information or experiences into existing schemas. For example, understanding a new concept