1.5 Isms Flashcards
Behaviourism
Focus on what people do, not what they say because it’s objectively observable
Watson’s approach
Pavlov
Philosophical empiricism
All knowledge is acquired through experience
Structuralism
The analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind
Consciousness
A person’s subjective experience of the world and the mind
Introspection
Wundt’s subject
Asks people to report on their subjective experience
Functionalism
William James’s approach
The study of the purpose that mental processes serve
Psychoanalytic theory
Approach emphasizing the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings
Humanistic psychology
Emphasizes human potential in understanding human nature
Reinforcement
The consequences of a behaviour determine whether it will be more or less likely to occur again
Free will is a myth - we are responding to patterns of reinforcement
Gestalt psychology
The mind plays a role in generating perceptual experience
Cognitive psychology
Study of mental processes, incl. perception, thought, memory, reasoning
Behavioural neuroscience
Links psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily processes
Cognitive neuroscience
Attempts to understand the links between cognitive processes and brain activity
Evolutionary psychology
Explains mind and behaviour in terms of the adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over time by natural selection
Critics say many current traits of people and animals probably evolved to serve different functions than those they currently serve
Social psychology
Studies causes and consequences of sociality
