AP Psych - Unit 1 Flashcards
What are the 7 Modern Perspectives?
- Psychodynamic
- Cognitive
- Behavioral
- Humanistic
- Biological
- Socio-cultural
- Evolutionary
What are the 5 Old School Perspectives?
- Structuralism
- Functionalism
- Gestalt
- Behaviorism
- Psychoanalysis
Definition of Psychology
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
Structuralism
Early school of psychology promoted by Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Bradford Titchener that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the mind
Functionalism
Early school of thought promoted by William James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish
Who wrote the first textbook on Psychology?
William James (“Principles of Psychology”)
First psychological laboratory
- December 1879
- Germany’s University of Leipzig
- 2 young men helping professor Wilhelm Wundt
- Experiment: machine that measured time lag between people hearing ball hitting platform and pressing telegraph key (responded quicker when pressing as soon as sound occurred, slower pressing once consciously aware of perceiving sound)
Mary Whiton Calkins
- admitted into James’ graduate seminar in 1890
- denied PhD due to gender
- APA’s first female president
Margaret Floy Washburn
- first female PhD in Psychology
- “The Animal Mind”
- second female APA president
Empiricism
The view that all knowledge is gained through experience, and that science should therefore rely on observation and experimentation (Francis Bacon and John Locke were early supporters of modern empiricism)
Francis Bacon (1561-1626)
- one the founders of modern science, his influence still lingers in modern psychology experiments
- fascinated by human mind and its failings
wrote about the mind’s tendency to perceive patters even in random events (“Novum Organum”)
John Locke (1632-1704)
- “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”
- argued that mind at birth is a “tabula rasa” or “blank slate” on which experience writes
What did Socrates and Plato think about the mind/body relationship and knowledge?
They claimed that the mind is separable from the body and continues after death. They also believed that knowledge is innate.
How was Aristotle’s approach different than Socrates and Plato? What did Aristotle think about knowledge?
Unlike Socrates and Plato, Aristotle relied on data over logic and derived principles through observations. He said knowledge isn’t pre-existing but instead grows through experience.
Rene Descartes (1595 - 1650)
Descartes agreed with Socrates and Plato about innate knowledge and the mind being completely separate from the body. (He had to conjecture about how the immaterial mind and physical body communicate, so he dissected animals and concluded that the brain’s cavities contained “animal spirits” that flowed from the brain through what we call “nerves” (which he thought were hollow) to the muscles to stimulate movement, and memories formed when experiences opened pores in the brain that the animal spirits flowed into)
Experimental Psychology
the study of behavior and thinking using the experimental method
Humanistic Psychology
a historically significant perspective led by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people
Levels of Analysis
The differing complementary views (biological, psychological, socio-cultural) for analyzing any given phenomenon
Cognitive Psychology
Scientifically explores the ways we perceive, process, and remember information
Cognitive Nueroscience
The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language)
Biopsychosocial Approach
An integrated perspective that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis
Natural Selection
The principle founded by Darwin that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those that lead to increased reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations
Nature-Nurture Issue
- “The biggest question in Psychology”
- the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors
- now pyschologists believe that nature and nurture work together (nurture acts on what nature provides)
Behaviorism
- The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2)
- Founded by American Psychologists John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner
- Said that science is rooted in observation and you can’t observe sensations or thoughts but you can observe behavior
Evolutionary Psychology
The study of the roots of behavior and mental processes using the principles of natural selection
Psychodynamic Psychology
- branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior, and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders
- Sigmund Freud
Behavioral Psychology
The scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning
Socio-Cultural Psychology
The study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking
Psychometrics
The scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits
Basic Research
Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
Developmental Psychology
A branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span
Basic Research Subfields
- Cognitive
- Developmental
- Educational
- Experimental
- Psychometric + Quantitative
- Social
Educational Psychology
The study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning
Personality Psychology
The study of an individual’s characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
Social Psychology
The scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
Applied Research
scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
Industrial-Organizational (I/O) Psychology
the application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces
Human Factors Psychology
the study of how people and machines interact and the design of safe and easily used machines and environments
Counseling Psychology
a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being
Clinical Psychology
a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders
Psychiatry
a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy
What are the helping professions of Psychology?
- Clinical
- Counseling
- Community
Community Psychology
the branch of psychology concerned with person environment interactions and the ways society affects individual and community functioning.
What are the applied research subfields?
- Forensic
- health
- (I/O)
- neuropsychology
- rehabilitation
- school
- sport
Positive Psychology
scientific study of human functioning, with goals of discovering/promoting strengths and virtues that help people and communities thrive
Which concept, though over 150 years old, is considered “biology’s organizing principle” and is very important to evolutionary psychology in particular?
Natural Selection
What is the name of the section of the neuron that sends messages?
Axon
What was Free Association and who was the technique most utilized by?
In free association, psychoanalytic patients are invited to relate whatever comes into their minds during the analytic session, and not to censor their thoughts. This technique was utilized by Freud.
Validity
It is the extent to which an instrument measures or predicts what it is supposed to
Confounding variables
influences that interfere with an accurate measurement between the independent and dependent variable.
Who is most associated with the concept of objective introspection?
Wilhelm Wundt (and his student Edward Titchener)
Which behaviorist developed the concept of operant conditioning?
B.F. Skinner
Self-Actualization
Achieving one’s full potential (most associated with Humanistic Psychology)
Gestalt Psychology
Early school of psychology that believes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts and therefore looks at the human mind and behavior as a whole. Gestalt psychology suggests that we do not simply focus on every small component. Instead, our minds tend to perceive objects as elements of more complex systems. (Ex. closure concept)
Random Assignment
Process of dividing participants into experimental or control groups
What are the two main types of statistics used in research?
Descriptive and inferential statistics - Descriptive statistics describes and summarizes a set of data, while inferential statistics allows researchers to draw conclusions from the data that descriptive statistics describes.
Double-blind process
When neither the participants nor the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment. This procedure is utilized to prevent bias in research results. Double-blind studies are particularly useful for preventing bias due to demand characteristics or the placebo effect.
Placebo Effect
The placebo effect is when a person’s physical or mental health appears to improve after taking a placebo or ‘dummy’ treatment. Placebo is Latin for ‘I will please’ and refers to a treatment that appears real, but is designed to have no therapeutic benefit.
G. Stanley Hall
Wundt’s student who established the first American psychology lab (at John Hopkins University)
Ivan Pavlov
Ivan Pavlov was a Russian physiologist best known in psychology for his discovery of classical conditioning. (Famous experiment where he conditioned dogs to salivate just from hearing a bell)
What two fields did psychology develop from?
Philosophy and physiology
Wilhelm Wundt
- distinguished psychology as a science from philosophy and biology and was the first person ever to call himself a psychologist
- widely regarded as the “father of experimental psychology”
- in 1879, at the University of Leipzig, Wundt founded the first formal laboratory for psychological research
- founded structuralism (which was further developed by Titchener)
Biological Psychology
a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior
Testing Effect
enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information. Also sometimes referred to as a retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning
SQ3R
Study method with five steps:
1. Survey (scan text, headings, module organization, etc.)
2. Question (try to answer learning objective)
3. Read. (read actively and critically, try to search for the answer to the question, don’t read too much at once)
4. Retrieve (After reading a section, retrieve its main ideas and test yourself)
5. Review (read over notes and review module)
William James
- “Father of American Psychology”
- published first psychology textbook “Principles of Psychology” in which he introduced the idea of stream of consciousness and the theory of emotion
- Founded Functionalism
Sigmund Freud
- famous for inventing and developing the technique of psychoanalysis and articulating the psychoanalytic theory of motivation, mental illness, and the structure of the subconscious
- his theory suggests that human behavior is influenced by unconscious memories, thoughts, and urges.
John B. Watson
- played an important role in developing behaviorism
- remembered for his research on the conditioning process
- also known for the Little Albert experiment where he demonstrated that a child could be conditioned to fear a previously neutral stimulus
B.F. Skinner
- believed that all learning was the result of conditioning processes
- his theory suggested that children learn as a result of the consequences of their behavior
- introduced term “reinforcement” (if children experience a positive consequences after a behavior, they are more likely to repeat that behavior again in the future)
- founded operant conditioning
Carl Rogers
- one of the founders of humanistic psychology
- best known for developing the psychotherapy method called client-centered therapy
Jean Piaget
- Swiss biologist
- last century’s most influential observer of children
Charles Darwin
- Evolutionary psychology is inspired by the work of Charles Darwin and applies his ideas of natural selection to the mind
- Darwin’s theory argues that all living species, including humans, arrived at their current biological form through a historical process involving random inheritable changes.
Dorothea Dix
campaigned for the fair treatment of patients with mental health disorders
Four questions early thinkers wondered
-How do our minds work
-How do our bodies relate to our minds
-How much of what we know comes built in
-How much is acquired through experience
What is the difference between Cognitive Psychology and Cognitive Nueroscience?
While cognitive psychology focuses on thinking processes, cognitive neuroscience is focused on finding connections between thinking and specific brain activity.
