Empiricism

Cognition Cognition is a faculty for the processing of information, applying knowledge, and changing preferences. Cognition, or cognitive processes, can be natural or artificial, conscious or unconscious.[4] These processes are analyzed from different perspectives within different contexts, notably in the fields of linguistics, anesthesia, neuroscience, psychiatry, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, systemics, and computer science.[5][page needed] Within psychology or philosophy, the concept of cognition is closely related to abstract concepts such as mind, intelligence. It encompasses the mental functions, mental processes (thoughts), and states of intelligent entities (humans, collaborative groups, human organizations, highly autonomous machines, and artificial intelligences).[3] Etymology[edit] Origins[edit] Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920) heavily emphasized the notion of what he called introspection; examining the inner feelings of an individual. Psychology[edit] Social process[edit] Serial position

Metaphysical naturalism Philosophical worldview rejecting 'supernatural' Metaphysical naturalism (also called ontological naturalism, philosophical naturalism and antisupernaturalism) is a philosophical worldview which holds that there is nothing but natural elements, principles, and relations of the kind studied by the natural sciences. Methodological naturalism is a philosophical basis for science, for which metaphysical naturalism provides only one possible ontological foundation. Broadly, the corresponding theological perspective is religious naturalism or spiritual naturalism. More specifically, metaphysical naturalism rejects the supernatural concepts and explanations that are part of many religions. Definition[edit] Carl Sagan put it succinctly: "The Cosmos is all that is or ever was or ever will be According to Arthur C. Philosopher and theologian Alvin Plantinga, a well-known critic of naturalism in general, comments: "Naturalism is presumably not a religion. Science and naturalism[edit] History[edit] Web

Verbal Behavior Psychology book Verbal Behavior is a 1957 book by psychologist B. F. Skinner, in which he describes what he calls verbal behavior, or what was traditionally called linguistics.[1][2] Skinner's work describes the controlling elements of verbal behavior with terminology invented for the analysis - echoics, mands, tacts, autoclitics and others - as well as carefully defined uses of ordinary terms such as audience. The origin of Verbal Behavior was an outgrowth of a series of lectures first presented at the University of Minnesota in the early 1940s and developed further in his summer lectures at Columbia and William James lectures at Harvard in the decade before the book's publication.[3] Functional analysis [edit] In the ascertaining of the strength of a response Skinner suggests some criteria for strength (probability): emission, energy-level, speed, and repetition. Emission – If a response is emitted it may tend to be interpreted as having some strength. Summary of verbal operants

The Birth of Behavioral Psychology - Author: Dave Grossman "Behavioral Psychology" The Birth of Behavioral Psychology Around the turn of the century, Edward Thorndike attempted to develop an objective experimental method for testing the mechanical problem solving ability of cats and dogs. Thorndike devised a number of wooden crates which required various combinations of latches, levers, strings, and treadles to open them. A dog or a cat would be put in one of these puzzle boxes and, sooner or later, would manage to escape. Thorndike's initial aim was to show that the anecdotal achievement of cats and dogs could be replicated in controlled, standardized circumstances. Thorndike was particularly interested in discovering whether his animals could learn their tasks through imitation or observation. John Broadhus Watson in his 1914 book, Behavior: An Introduction to Comparative Psychology, made the next major step in the development of behavioral psychology. In the 1920s behaviorism began to wane in popularity. © 1999 by Academic Press.

Edward N. Zalta Edward N. Zalta (/ˈzɔːltə/; born March 16, 1952) is a senior research scholar at the Center for the Study of Language and Information. He received his PhD in philosophy from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1980. Zalta has taught courses at Stanford University, Rice University, the University of Salzburg, and the University of Auckland. Zalta is also the Principal Editor of the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.[7] Research[edit] Zalta's most notable philosophical position is descended from the position of Alexius Meinong and Ernst Mally, who suggested that there are many non-existent objects. References[edit] Works cited[edit] Anderson, David J.; Zalta, Edward N. (2004). Zalta, Edward N. (1983). External links[edit]

Empirical research Research using empirical evidence In some fields, quantitative research may begin with a research question (e.g., "Does listening to vocal music during the learning of a word list have an effect on later memory for these words?") which is tested through experimentation. Usually, the researcher has a certain theory regarding the topic under investigation. Based on this theory, statements or hypotheses will be proposed (e.g., "Listening to vocal music has a negative effect on learning a word list."). From these hypotheses, predictions about specific events are derived (e.g., "People who study a word list while listening to vocal music will remember fewer words on a later memory test than people who study a word list in silence."). The term empirical was originally used to refer to certain ancient Greek practitioners of medicine who rejected adherence to the dogmatic doctrines of the day, preferring instead to rely on the observation of phenomena as perceived in experience. [edit]

Behaviorism Behaviorism (or behaviourism), is the science of behavior that focuses on observable behavior only,[1] it is also an approach to psychology that combines elements of philosophy, methodology, and theory.[2] It emerged in the early twentieth century as a reaction to "mentalistic" psychology, which often had difficulty making predictions that could be tested using rigorous experimental methods. The primary tenet of behaviorism, as expressed in the writings of John B. Watson, B. F. Skinner, and others, is that psychology should concern itself with the observable behavior of people and animals, not with unobservable events that take place in their minds.[3] The behaviorist school of thought maintains that behaviors as such can be described scientifically without recourse either to internal physiological events or to hypothetical constructs such as thoughts and beliefs.[4] Versions[edit] Two subtypes are: Definition[edit] Experimental and conceptual innovations[edit] Relation to language[edit]

Theory of forms Philosophical theory attributed to Plato The theory of Forms or theory of Ideas[1][2][3] is a philosophical theory, fuzzy concept, or world-view, attributed to Plato, that the physical world is not as real or true as timeless, absolute, unchangeable ideas.[4] According to this theory, ideas in this sense, often capitalized and translated as "Ideas" or "Forms",[5] are the non-physical essences of all things, of which objects and matter in the physical world are merely imitations. Plato speaks of these entities only through the characters (primarily Socrates) of his dialogues who sometimes suggests that these Forms are the only objects of study that can provide knowledge.[6] The theory itself is contested from within Plato's dialogues, and it is a general point of controversy in philosophy. Nonetheless, the theory is considered to be a classical solution to the problem of universals.[7] Forms[edit] Plato explains how we are always many steps away from the idea or Form. Perfection[edit] Meno

Empirical sociology From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Empirical sociology is the study of sociology based on methodological methods and techniques for collecting, processing, and communicating primary sociological information. Describes the situation of the aspects of social life such as economy, law, family, and politics during the research. Empirical sociology is often concerned with aspects of everyday life with common sense, which it treats as a resource, a form of knowledge. Empirical sociology inductively studies how people appreciate and get along with each other. Empirical sociology is an American tradition with roots in the social reform movements of the Progressive Era. The task of empirical sociology is to conduct inductive research on a particular social phenomenon. Empirical sociology, like Parsons's systems theory, is defined and criticized as "positivism". Empiricism and positivism [edit] Footnotes Works cited

Rationalism In epistemology, rationalism is the view that "regards reason as the chief source and test of knowledge"[1] or "any view appealing to reason as a source of knowledge or justification".[2] More formally, rationalism is defined as a methodology or a theory "in which the criterion of the truth is not sensory but intellectual and deductive".[3] Rationalists believe reality has an intrinsically logical structure. Because of this, rationalists argue that certain truths exist and that the intellect can directly grasp these truths. That is to say, rationalists assert that certain rational principles exist in logic, mathematics, ethics, and metaphysics that are so fundamentally true that denying them causes one to fall into contradiction. Philosophical usage[edit] Rationalism is often contrasted with empiricism. Theory of justification[edit] The theory of justification is the part of epistemology that attempts to understand the justification of propositions and beliefs. The other two theses[edit]

Anti-realism Truth of a statement rests on its demonstrability, not its correspondence to an external reality There are many varieties of anti-realism, such as metaphysical, mathematical, semantic, scientific, moral and epistemic. The term was first articulated by British philosopher Michael Dummett in an argument against a form of realism Dummett saw as 'colorless reductionism'.[4] Anti-realism in its most general sense can be understood as being in contrast to a generic realism, which holds that distinctive objects of a subject-matter exist and have properties independent of one's beliefs and conceptual schemes.[5] The ways in which anti-realism rejects these type of claims can vary dramatically. On a more abstract level, model-theoretic anti-realist arguments hold that a given set of symbols in a theory can be mapped onto any number of sets of real-world objects—each set being a "model" of the theory—provided the relationship between the objects is the same (compare with symbol grounding.) [edit]

Molyneux's problem Philosophical thought experiment Molyneux's problem is a thought experiment in philosophy[1] concerning immediate recovery from blindness. It was first formulated by William Molyneux, and notably referred to in John Locke's An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689). The problem can be stated in brief, "if a man born blind can feel the differences between shapes such as spheres and cubes, could he, if given the ability to see, distinguish those objects by sight alone, in reference to the tactile schemata he already possessed?" The question was originally posed to Locke by philosopher William Molyneux, whose wife was blind.[2] It is known from the report of it in Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which is reproduced here: I shall here insert a problem of that very ingenious and studious promoter of real knowledge, the learned and worthy Mr. Early modern period [edit] Leibniz (German philosopher, 1646–1716) also discussed this problem, but derived a different answer.