Chapter 1 Flashcards
What is psychology?
The scientific study of behavior, thought, and experience, and how they can be affected by physical, mental, social, and environmental factors.
What does psychology do?
Examines the individual as a product of multiple influences, including biological, psychological, and social factors. (Biopsychosocial model)
Psychology from the biological perspective
Focus: genes, brain anatomy and function, and evolution
Ex) Genetics of behaviour and psychological disorders, drug effects
Psychology from the psychological perspective
Focus: Behavior, perception, thought, and experience
Ex) Language, memory, personality, decision making
Psychology from the social-cultural perspective
Focus: interpersonal relationships, families, group societies, ethnicities
Ex) Attraction, attitudes, stereotypes, conformity
What is the scientific method?
A way of learning about the world through collecting observations, developing theories to explain them, and using the theories to make predictions.
Theories
Generate hypothesis, explain a phenomenon
(not the same as opinions or beliefs)
Hypotheses
A testable prediction about processes that can be observed and measured. Cannot technically be proven…(falsifiable) 
What does scientific literacy involve?
-> Knowledge gathering -> scientific explanation -> critical thinking -> application ->
How did psychology become a science?
Empiricism: Knowledge about the world is gained by careful observation
Determinism: events are governed by lawful, cause-and-effect relationships
(A -> B = C)
What are the 4 temperaments?
- Sanguine
- Choleric
- Melancholic
- Phlegmatic
Earliest known form of psychology
Circa 1500 BCE: ancient Egyptian doctors describe behavioural changes following damage to the head
Materialism
Believe that humans and other living things are composed exclusively of physical matter (has become more popular today) 
Dualism
There are properties of humans that are not material, such as a mind or soul separate from the body
(less popular today)
Gustav Fechner (1801-1887)
Introduced psychophysics: Study of the relationship between the physical world and the mental representation of the world.
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
Evolution by natural selection:
Genetically inherited traits that contribute to survival and reproductive success are more likely to be passed onto the next generation. (also true for behaviour)
Localization of brain function
Idea that certain parts of the brain control specific mental abilities and personality characteristics
Phrenology
Mental traits and dispositions could be determined by examining the surface of the skull
Ex) phineas gage-frontal lobe damage = impulsive, childlike behaviour
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
Introduced psychoanalysis:
attempts to explain how unconscious processes influence behaviour and personality.
Impact:
Recognition or unconscious mental activity, importance of early life experiences
Sir Francis Galton (1822-1911)
Interested in individual differences in people.
(Nature vs. Nurture : how do Hereditary and environment influence behaviour and mental processes?)
Heavily believed nature > nurture
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
First laboratory dedicated to studying human behavior. Studied sensation, perception, and reaction times.
Measured how experimental manipulation affected mental events.
Edward Titchener (1867-1927)
Introduced structuralism:
Analysis of conscious experience by breaking it down into basic elements, and to understand how these elements work together.
William James (1842-1910)
Wrote the first psychology textbook: “The Principles of Psychology”
Studied behaviour in context: Interested in how our thoughts and actions help us adapt to our environment.
Functionalism: study of the purpose and function of behaviour and conscious experience. (Why do you behave the way that we do?)
Edwin Twitmyer (1873-1943)
Studied classic conditioning
Ex) the office computer sound/altoid prank
