Origins of Mechanism in Psychology and the Defecating Duck

Apuntes

Study Guide: The Defecating Duck Chapter 2 – Philosophical Influences on Psychology This was a time of growing interest in science, machinery, reason, and innovation. Machines were beginning to influence how people understood nature, life, and the human mind. A mechanical duck (automaton) made of levers, cogs, and springs. It was not alive, but closely imitated living behavior. At the time, nothing like it had been seen before. People were amazed that a machine could replicate life-like behaviors. Admission cost was one week’s wages, yet crowds came from across Europe. The duck raised important questions that influenced psychology and philosophy: These ideas contributed to later mechanistic views of the mind, which became important in psychology. Voltaire – philosopher who praised the duck as a symbol of French glory. Hermann von Helmholtz – later scientist who called it “the marvel of the last century.” These reactions show how seriously the duck was taken by major thinkers. Complex behavior can be explained by physical mechanisms Automaton: A self-operating machine designed to imitate life Mechanism: The belief that natural processes can be explained by physical causes Enlightenm...