CH 1 & 2 Test Review Flashcards
What is Functionalism? What’s an example?
A. Functionalism seeks the purpose of consciousness. More focused on what the conscious does, rather than what they are made up of. The study of how mental processes enable people to adapt to their environments.
Ex. Like a flowing stream that had a lot of individual components.
What’s Structuralism? What’s an example?
A. What the mind is made up of. The analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind.
Ex. Atoms, Molecules.
Who popularized Structuralism?
A. Wilhelm Wundt. He opened the first lab specialized just for psychology in Leipzig and also taught the first official psychology class.
Who popularized Functionalism?
A. William James. This was theorized after Structuralism. James agreed to Wundt on some degrees but didn’t agree that consciousness can be broken down to certain elements.
What is Introspection? Who popularized it?
A. The subjective observation of one’s own experience. Wundt used this method a lot in his class at Leipzig but Titchener (student of Wundt) popularized it when he taught to America at Cornell University.
Ex. Explaining a color of light to someone.
What’s Psychoanalytic Perspective?
A. Originated with the work of Sigmund Freud. Emphasizes the role of the unconscious mind, early childhood experiences, and interpersonal relationships to explain human behavior, as well to treat mental illnesses.
Ex. A breakup, child abuse, etc.
What’s Cognitive Perspective?
A. Human behavior can be expressed by examination of mental processes. Much like a computer. Learning is an example of cognition. The way our brain makes connection as we learn concepts in different ways to remember what we have learned.
Ex. No sleep vs more sleep.
What is Humanist Perspective?
A. An approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings. In counseling and therapy, this approach allows an psychologist to focus on ways to help improve an individual’s self-image or self-actualization - the things that make them feel worthwhile.
Ex. If someone says their life if boring, they are recommended to take on a hobby or find new friends.
What’s Behaviorist Perspective?
A. Behaviorism is different from most other approaches because they view people (and animals) as controlled by their environment and specifically that we are the result of what we have learned from our environment.
Ex. Rat pressing the switch to get food.
What’s Biological Perspective?
A. The three main causes of our thoughts and behaviors in a biological perspective are our genetics, hormones, and neurotransmitters. This means that our behaviors are not so much our choice, but a result of our genetic background, nervous system, and immune system.
Ex. Gender, Hormones, Genetics.
What’s Evolutionary Perspective?
A. The evolutionary perspective is based on Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection. So, an individual’s thoughts and behaviors are based on what would give them the best chance of survival; subsequently, the behaviors that give the best chance of survival are passed on to further generations.
Ex. If someone is outgoing and extroverted, they could make friends and allies who could protect them and increase their chance for survival.
What’s Dualism?
A. In the philosophy of mind, dualism is the theory that the mental and the physical – or mind and body or mind and brain – are, in some sense, radically different kinds of thing.
Ex. Body and Mind
What’s Behaviorism?
A. An approach that advocates that psychologists restrict themselves to the scientific study of objectively observable behavior.
Ex. When teachers reward their class or certain students with a party or special treat at the end of the week for good behavior throughout the week.
What’s Nativism?
A. Plato was a nativist. It’s the philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn.
What’s Empiricism?
A. Aristotle was an empiricist. The view that all knowledge is acquired thought life and experience.
