CH1: History of Psychology

Question 1

4 Main Goals of Psychology

Answer 1

1. Description of observation
2. Explanation of why behaviour is occuring
3. Prediction of circumstances that lead to outcome
4. Advice on how to control behaviour

Question 2

Levels of Psychological Analysis

Answer 2

Brain: Neuron activity, brain structure, genes
Person: Emotions, ideas, thoughts
Group: Friends, family, culture, population, enviroment

Question 3

Birth of Psychology

Answer 3

The mid 1800’s, psychologial ideas were being questioned by both physiologists and philosophers. However, Wilhelm Wundt, a physiologist is considered to be the first to create psychology as it’s own field.

Question 4

Structuralism

Answer 4

A philosophical approach that studies the structure of the consciousness, and breaks it down into its basic elements.

Question 5

Functionalism

Answer 5

The belief that psychology should be the investigation towards the function of the consciousness, emphasizing how the mind functions to changing environments.

Question 6

Gestalt Psychology

Answer 6

Arose in Germany during 1920’s. The study that we have inborn tendencies to fill in what we see in specific ways and structure our perceptions into broad perceptual units.

Question 7

Psychoanalysis

Answer 7

Psychological theory that the mental processes are in competition with the unconscious mind to come to awareness.

Question 8

Behaviourism

Answer 8

The belief that psychological research should only focus on behaviour that can be outwardly preceived.

Question 9

Humanistic Psychology

Answer 9

The belief that a person has the capacity for personal, positive growth, the freewill to choose his/her destiny, and that our perceptions of the world are all unique and more important than behaviour itself.

Question 10

Cognitive Psychology

Answer 10

Study of how mental processes store + process information and its operation in the mind.

Question 11

Today’s 3 Main Branches

Answer 11

Clinical: Therapists
Academic: Professors, teaching and doing research
Applied: schools, marketing firms, research institutions, applying psychological skills to real-life situations

Question 12

Wilhelm Wundt

Answer 12

Created the first Psychology lab at the Univeristy of Leipzig in 1879, established the first psychology journal in 1881, and studied the consciousness.

Question 13

G. Stanley Hall

Answer 13

Established the first psychology lab in US John Hopkins in 1883, the first US psychology journal in 1887, and APA in 1892.

Question 14

Introspection

Answer 14

A psychological study where you evaluate the thoughts from mental processes into complex ideas, literally just means “looking inward”.

Question 15

Ivan Pavlov

Answer 15

Discovered dogs could learn to associate the sound of a bell with automatic behaviour, drooling for food.

Question 16

John B. Watson

Answer 16

Empathsized on “nuture” over “nature” and conducted the “Little Albert” experiment, demonstrating that children could be classically conditioned.

Question 17

B.F. Skinner

Answer 17

Discovered operant conditioning, using reinforcemnt to change the frequency of certain behaviours. Positive reinforcement would increase behaviour, negative reinforcement would decrease behaviour.

Question 18

Albert Bandura

Answer 18

Described learning by social observation in children. This type of learning can be observed in several species.

Question 19

Carl Rogers

Answer 19

Developed “client-centred” therapy, believing that a client is an equal, their thoughts and feelings should be mirrored. Should carry unconditional support and positive regard in environment.

Question 20

Abraham Maslow

Answer 20

Developed a theory of motivation that consists of the heirarchy of needs.

Question 21

Cultural Psychology

Answer 21

The study of how cognitive processes vary across different populations due to social-cultural environments.

Question 22

Cross-Cultural Psychology

Answer 22

The study of the cognitive that are universal regardless of culture.

Question 23

Voluntarism

Answer 23

Theory that the will controls, the main source towards human behaviour.

Question 24

James Mark Baldwin

Answer 24

Developed the first Canadian Psychology Lab

Question 25

Sigmund Freud

Answer 25

Created the theory of personality and psychotherapy known as Psychoanalysis. He was loved and hated by many, critiqued in academic circles due to poor scientic rigor (Essentially cancelled).

Question 26

John Locke

Answer 26

Believed that the mind is a blank slate, “tabula rasa”, and aquires knowledge through experiences.

Question 27

Charles Darwin

Answer 27

Natural selection guy, proposed the theory of evolution claiming that all life on Earth was related and started from the same species.

Question 28

Neuroscience

Answer 28

The study of psychological functions through the biological foundation of those functions.

Question 29

Gustav Fechner

Answer 29

A german philospoher known to be one of the founders of experimental psychology, laid the foundation towards scientific methods and techniques in psychology.