Historical and Conceptual Issues in Psychology by M. Brysbaert and K. Rastle (second edition) – Summary chapter 1

The characteristics of knowledge in preliterate societies are know-how without theoretical understanding (1), fluidity of knowledge (2) and the existence of a collection of myths and stories (3). Animism, the explanation of the workings of the world and the universe by means of spirits with human-like characteristics are often used in preliterate societies.

Representation refers to when entities are denoted with symbols and relations between entities are represented with relations between symbols and this occurs in both language and numbers. Language allows a representation to be transferred from one person to another person and this requires the person to be physically present. Writing allows a representation to be transferred from one person to another person and the person does not need to be physically present. Language and writing allow for shared representations.

Pictograms are information conveying signs consisting of a picture resembling the object it represents. Phonograms are signs that represent sounds or syllables of spoken language and forms the basis of writing systems. Logographs are signs representing a spoken word which no longer has a physical resemblance to the word’s meaning.

Representations lead to a concept of truth, as some representations are correct and some are incorrect (e.g. 2+2=5). Shared representations allow for organised religion (1), a more complex economy (2), complex social structures (3). Writing allows for the accumulation of knowledge.

Agriculture allowed man to become sedentary (1), specialization of jobs (2) and societies having a more complex hierarchy (3). Scientific growth in society is made possible by political stabilisation (1), urbanisation (2), patronage (3) and the availability of a writing system (4).

Intentionality refers to thoughts relating to somethings (i.e. thoughts are about something). The sub-areas of philosophy in ancient Greece are ontology (1), epistemology (2), aesthetics (3) and ethics (4).

Heraclitus doubts whether something ever stays the same and proposes Panta Rhei; the only constant is change itself. In modern science, one of the main assumptions is the invariance principles (e.g. all electrons are interchangeable) making this discussion ever relevant.

There are two important philosophical positions on knowledge:

1. Rationalism
   This position states that all knowledge comes from reason.
2. Empiricism
   This position states that all knowledge comes from sensory experience.

There are several relevant characteristics of Plato:

• Rationalist; real knowledge cannot be obtained through observation and real knowledge can only be obtained through the ratio.
• Nativist; the soul is immortal and has to remember the real knowledge.
• The soul consists of reason (1), sensation and emotions (2) and appetite and lower passions (3).

According to Plato, the ratio leads to superior knowledge compared to observation as only the ratio can lead to real knowledge.

In Plato’s allegory of the cave, he claims that real knowledge does not come from observation as people can only see imperfect forms (e.g. an imperfect circle). However, people do have an idea of perfect forms (e.g. a perfect circle) and, therefore, people must remember these ideas from the divine origin. In the cave, people only see ‘shadows’ of the true knowledge (i.e. imperfect forms) and people have to escape the cave in order to ‘see’ the real, ideal world.

In modern science, nativism still exists and it claims that there is innate knowledge. However, nowadays, innate knowledge is seen as the result of evolution rather than ‘remembering’ knowledge from the immortal soul.

There are several relevant characteristics of Aristotle:

• Empiricist; knowledge lies in observation, there is value in systematic observation
• Belief in axioms; therefore not a ‘pure’ empiricist
• Knowledge is based on sensory experiences (1), induction (2) and logic (3).
• Three types of knowledge; productive knowledge (e.g. farming) (1), practical knowledge (e.g. ethics) (2) and theoretical knowledge (e.g. natural science) (3).
• Three types of soul: vegetative soul (1), animal soul (2) and rational soul (3).
• Rejects Plato’s two-world idea; there is only one world
• Everything consists of forms and matter

Axioms refer to self-evident truths about nature that cannot be rejected by observations. However, these axioms are acquired through observation. The theoretical knowledge consists of axioms from which the remaining knowledge is derived by means of logic. The forms are the essence of the objects and cannot exist without matter. The matter cannot exist without forms. Matter has no potentiality only actuality.

According to Aristotle, logic provides a theoretical framework for how to go from a premise to a conclusion. Plato and Aristotle introduced the nature-nurture debate.

The peripatetic principle states that knowledge (including axioms) has to come through the senses and this later became the tabula rasa theory. The correspondence theory of truth states that true statements correspond with the state of affairs in reality.

There were other schools of thought in the antiquity:

1. Stoicism
   This school of thought states that it is best to minimize emotion.
2. Epicureanism
   This school of thought states that happiness is the ultimate pursuit and this can be achieved by living life as balanced as possible.
3. Scepticism
   This school of thought states that it is imperative to refrain from judgement and that knowledge is intrinsically uncertain.

Pyrrho states that it is impossible to have certain knowledge and this originates from attempts to justify knowledge claims. Scepticism is still relevant in modern science, as research conclusions should be questioned.

The reformed church stressed the need for education and critical thinking more than the Roman Catholic Church during the renaissance, aiding scientific thought. The development of the press aided scientific growth and led to four changes:

1. Knowledge became more accessible.
2. Preservation of books became the norm.
3. Errors in books were less likely (e.g. manually copied books often contained errors).
4. Scholars could work together on the same copy of a book.

The limitations of history writing are centration on persons rather than the zeitgeist (1), the hindsight bias (2), ethnocentrism (3) and the Matthew effect (4). The Matthew effect refers to the tendency to give more credit to well-known scientists than they deserve, leading to an increased perceived impact of these scientists.