Chapter 1

Question 1

psychology

Answer 1

scientific study of mental processes and behaviour (thinking and doing)

Question 2

mental processes

Answer 2

activities of our brain when thinking, observing and using language

Question 3

behaviour

Answer 3

observable activities of an organism

Question 4

3 levels of analysis

Answer 4

1.) the brain - brain structure and function
2.) the person - thoughts and feelings
3.) the group - family, friends, culture

Question 5

what did wilhelm wundt do?

Answer 5

• opened the first psychology lab in 1879 in germany
• made psychology a science
• studied consciousness

Question 6

what did G. Stanley Hall do?

Answer 6

• established the first psychology lab in North America
• launched America’s first psychology journal
• a major played in establishing the American Psychology Association (APA

Question 7

what did James Mark Baldwin do?

Answer 7

• established the first psychology lab in Canada at U of T
• birth of psychology in Canada
• was influenced by the scientific perspective

Question 8

battle of the schools

Answer 8

structuralism vs functionalism

• structuralism – led by Edward Titchener = sought to understand the basic elements of consciousness and Relied on introspection
• functionalism – led by William James = sought to understand the function of the mind and led to other schools of thought

Question 9

what did gestalt psychologists do?

Answer 9

• said consciousness cannot be broken down into elements
• We perceive things as whole perceptual units
• learning is tied to what we perceive

Question 10

5 major perspectives in psychology

Answer 10

• Psychoanalysis
• Behaviourism
• Humanistic psychology
• Cognitive psychology
• Psychobiology/neuroscience

Question 11

behaviourism perspective

Answer 11

• dominant school of thought in early 1900’s
• founded by John B Watson

Question 12

psychoanalysis perspective

Answer 12

• focused on the role of the unconscious (drives, wishes, needs, and desires of which we are not aware)
• emphasized the importance of early childhood experiences

Question 13

contribution of John B. Watson on behaviourism perspective

Answer 13

• emphasized psychology’s focus on observable behaviour from mental processes
• disgusted with introspection
• showed that phobias can be learned (Little Albert)

Question 14

contribution of Ivan Pavlov on behaviourism perspective

Answer 14

• studied classical conditioning in dogs
• Found that dogs would salivate to a bell that reliably predicted the arrival of food

Question 15

contribution of Edward Thorndike on behaviourism perspective

Answer 15

• studied operant conditioning in cats and came up with the Law of Effect
• behaviours that are followed by good things will more likely be repeated in the future, and behaviours that are followed by bad things will less likely be repeated in the future

Question 16

contribution of B.F skinner on behaviourism perspective

Answer 16

• showed how consequences of behaviour can influence future behaviour → what comes after a behaviour affects what you do next time
• studied rats and pigeons

Question 17

contribution of Albert Bandura on behaviourism perspective

Answer 17

described learning by social observation → you can watch other people and determine consequences from others

Question 18

humanistic psychology perspective

Answer 18

• led by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers
• argued that psychoanalysis and behaviourism were de-humanizing
• emphasized the unique qualities of humans (focused on freedom and personal growth)

Question 19

contributions of Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers on humanistic perspective

Answer 19

Abraham Maslow = developed term “self actualization” and the needs we need to fill

Carl Rogers = revolutionized therapeutic methods, client centered therapy, how to make them comfortable

Question 20

cognitive psychology perspective

Answer 20

• cognition = mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge
• Neisser, Miller and Chomsky applied the scientific method to study mind/mental processes (language, memory, decision making, intelligence)
• became the dominant perspective in psychology

Question 21

psychobiology/neuroscience perspective

Answer 21

explained behaviour in terms of physiological processes and highly dependent on technology

Question 22

contribution of Karl Lashley to psychobiology/neuroscience perspective

Answer 22

• observed behavioural changes in rats after removing parts of their brain
• believed that memory is found in one part of the brain but is actually distributed across the brain in a network

Question 23

contribution of Donald Hebb to psychobiology/neuroscience perspective

Answer 23

• cell assemblies describe neural networks
• discovered changes in the brain at a cellular level when you learn

Question 24

contribution of Wilder Penfield to psychobiology/neuroscience perspective

Answer 24

mild electrical stimulation of different areas of the brain evokes different responses

Question 25

contribution of Roger Sperry to psychobiology/neuroscience perspective

Answer 25

• split brain cell
• discovered that the human brain has specialized functions on the right and left, and that the two sides operate practically independently