Ch 1 Flashcards
Applied psychology
Branch of psychology concerned with everyday practical problems
Behaviour
Any observable response or activity by an organism
Clinical psychology
Branch concerned with diagnoses and treatment of psychological problems and disorders
Behaviourism
Theoretical orientation based on premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behaviour
Cognition
Mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge
Critical thinking
Use of cognitive skills and strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome
Culture
Widely shared customs, beliefs, values, norms, institutions, and other products of a community that are transmitted socially across generations
Empiricism
Premise that knowledge should be acquired through observation
Evolutionary psychology
examines behavioural processes in terms of their adaptive value for individuals in a species over generations
Functionalism
based on the belief that psychology should investigate the function or purpose of consciousness rather than its structure
Structuralism
based on the notion that the task of psychology is to analyze consciousness into its basic elements and investigate how these are related
Introspection
careful, systematic self-observation of one’s own conscious experience
Natural selection
heritable characteristics that provide a survival or reproductive advantage are more likely to be passed on to the next generation
Humanism
theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth
Positive psychology
uses theory and research to better understand the positive, adaptive, creative, and fulfilling aspects of human experience
