Psych Exam Review - Dualism and Monism

Introduction

• Presented by Michael Corayer
• Focus: Explaining key concepts in psychology

Dualism

• Definition: The belief that the mind (or soul) and body are two separate entities.
• René Descartes (1596-1650):
  • Advocated for dualism.
  • Believed the body operates mechanistically and has reflexes.
  • Viewed the mind as nonmaterial and separate, controlling the body.

Critique of Dualism

• Monism:
  • Definition: The belief that there is only one source for thoughts, behaviors, emotions, and traits - the physical processes of the body.
  • All mental experiences are rooted in physiological processes.
• Current Belief:
  • Most psychologists today favor monism over dualism.
• Why Discuss Descartes?:
  1. Intuition:
     • The mind feels separate, making dualism appealing.
  2. Learning from Errors:
     • Even brilliant minds like Descartes can be wrong.
     • Lesson: Don't trust intuitions about the mind's separation from the body.

Hermann von Helmholtz

• Lived about 200 years after Descartes.
• Background:
  • German physician known for research on reaction time.
• Key Study:
  • Found that responses to stimuli vary by distance on the body:
    • Stimulus on the thigh is responded to faster than on the toe.
    • This is due to the difference in distance the message must travel to the brain.
• Implication for Monism:
  • Mental life does not occur instantaneously; it has measurable delays.
  • Reinforces the idea that we can't trust our intuitions about subconscious processes.

Conclusion

• Overview of the concepts of dualism and monism.
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