This paper provides a chapter-by-chapter summary of Psychology, by Henry Gleitman. It will focus on major concepts and contributors, with some attention to historical and contemporary developments.
Psychology is sometimes defines as the science of the mind, sometimes as the science of behavior. The phenomena that psychology deals with cover an enormous range. They include such things as: electrically triggered images, which arise when a brain exposed during surgery is electrically stimulated; ambiguous sights and sounds, such as paradoxes and puzzles; the perceptual world of infants; displays, which are instinctual signals of emotion; and complex social behavior in humans. As an example of the kinds of approaches psychology can take, Gleitman here considers dreams: as mental experiences, as behavior, as cognition, as social behavior, in terms of human development, and in terms of individual differences.
This first part focuses on overt behavior and its physiological basis, answering the question, ôHow do humans act?ö It begins by considering the biological underpinnings of human and animal action, leading to a discussion of the nervous system and its operation, and some phenomena of motivation. It then asks how organisms can modify their behavior to adapt to new circumstances, and goes on to discuss classical and instrumental conditioning, modern behavior theory, and more recent approaches that take a more cognitive slant.
Here Gleitman discusses the mechanistic theory of human behavior begun by Descartes with his reflex concept. He next discusses the basic nervous functions: reception, integration, reaction.
This section covers nerve cells and nerve impulses, including the nature and electrical activity of the neuron, with the resting and action potentials. On interaction among nerve cells, he covers the reflex, how synaptic functions can be inferred, and the synaptic mechanism. This includes discussion of trans...