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PSY A01 > Chapter 1 > Flashcards

Chapter 1 Flashcards

The Science of Mind: The Discipline of Psychology

1
Q

behaviourism

A

a psychological approach that features the study and careful measurement of observable behaviours

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2
Q

biological psychology

A

a psychological perspective that focuses on the relationships between mind and behaviour, as well as their underlying biological processes, including genetics, biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology

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3
Q

clinical psychology

A

a psychological perspective that seeks to explain, define, and treat abnormal behaviours

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4
Q

cognitive neuroscience

A

a psychological approach that focuses on understanding the links between cognition and brain activity

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5
Q

cognitive psychology

A

a psychological perspective that investigates information processing, thinking, reasoning, and problem solving

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6
Q

cultural diversity

A

variations in the practices, values, and goals shared by groups of people

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7
Q

developmental psychology

A

a psychological perspective that examines the normal changes in behaviour that occur across the life span

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8
Q

evolutionary psychology

A

a psychological perspective that investigates how physical structure and behaviour have been shaped by their contributions to survival and reproduction

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9
Q

functionalism

A

a psychological approach that saw behaviour as purposeful and contributing to survival

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10
Q

Gestalt psychology

A

a psychological approach that saw experience as being different from the sum of its elements

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11
Q

humanistic psychology

A

a psychological approach that saw people as inherently good, and motivated to learn and improve

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12
Q

introspection

A

a personal observation of your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviour

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13
Q

the mind

A

the brain and its activities, including thought, emotion, and behaviour

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14
Q

natural sciences

A

sciences that study the physical and biological events that occur in nature

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15
Q

personality

A

an individual’s characteristic way of thinking, feeling, and behaving

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16
Q

philosophy

A

the discipline that systematically examines basic concepts, including the source of knowledge

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17
Q

psychology

A

the scientific study of behaviour, mental processes, and brain functions

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18
Q

social psychology

A

a psychological perspective that examines the effects of the social environment on the behaviour of individuals

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19
Q

structuralism

A

a psychological approach in which the mind is broken into the smallest elements of mental experience

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20
Q

voluntarism

A

a psychological approach that emphasizes the role of will and choice in determining thoughts, perceptions, and behaviours

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21
Q

two Greek words that make up the term “psychology”

A
  • psyche meaning “soul”
  • logos meaning “the objective study of
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22
Q

behaviour

A

any action that we can observe

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23
Q

Early efforts to study mental processes were unsatisfactory because they relied on…

A

introspection

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24
Q

when psychology first came about

A

1870s

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25
Q

the very first topic that would interest modern psychologists

A

Assyrians in 6000-5000 BCE reported dreams with many of the same themes

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26
Q

The two major roots of psychology are…

A

philosophy and the natural sciences

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27
Q

similar topics between psychology and philosophy

A
  • the nature of the self
  • the effects of early experience
  • the existence of free will
  • the origin of knowledge
  • relative balance of biological factors (nature) and environmental factors (nurture)
  • relationship between self-interest and community welfare
  • relationship between body and mind
  • relationship between humans and other species
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28
Q

the idea that flourished from Aristotle’s (384-322 BCE) belief that knowledge was gained through sensory experience

A

empiricism: the mind is viewed as a “blank slate” at birth, and is then filled with ideas through worldly observations

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29
Q

how ancient people may have attempted to cure headaches, seizures, or psychological disorders

A

by drilling holes in the skull

30
Q

how contemporary psychologists believe the mind is formed

A

experience interacts with inborn characteristics to shape the mind

31
Q

You rub your eyes and see a flash of light. What does this prove?

A

A single sensory nerve carries only one type of information.

The nerves serving the retina can’t process touch or pressure, and are only capable of producing one message - light - when stimulated.

32
Q

Hermann von Helmholtz’ (1821-1894) study of reaction time

A

He asked his participants to push a button when they felt touch. When a thigh was touched, participants reacted faster than when a toe was touched; more time was required to send signals from the toe to the brain.

33
Q

The gradual merger of philosophical questions and scientific reasoning led to the birth of…

A

contemporary psychology

34
Q

Gustav Fechner’s (1801-1889) sound experiment

A

He was able to identify the softest sound a person could hear by randomply presenting sounds of different intensities to which a participant would respond “yes” or “no”. When the “yes” responses reached 50%, he concluded that the sound was within the range that the human ear could detect.

35
Q

the first experimental psychologist

A

Wilhelm Wundt: he conducted the first documented psychological experiment in his laboratory at the Universitty of Leipzig in 1879

36
Q

a former research assistant to von Helmholtz who emphasized conscious will and choice

A

Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)

37
Q

Wundt’s reaction time experiment

A

He wanted to test how quickly after hearing a ball drop onto a platform could a person respond by striking a telegraph key.

38
Q

Wundt’s approach to psychology

A

voluntarism

39
Q

Titchener’s approach to psychology

A

structuralism

40
Q

one of Wundt’s students who expanded on Wundt’s views

A

Edward Titchener (1867-1923)

41
Q

Canadian structuralist who developed a program of army recruits that served as the first case of mass psychological testing worldwide

A

John Wallace Baird (1869-1919)

42
Q

founders of Gestalt psychology

A

early 20th-century German psychologists, including Kurt Koffka, Max Wertheimer, and Wolfgang Köhler

43
Q

why Gestalt psychology was founded

A

Gestalt psychologists challenged structuralism; they believed that breaking a “whole” perception into its building blocks would result in the loss of important information

44
Q

Gestalt principles

A
  • proximity principle: states that things that are near one another seem to belong together
  • similarity principle: states that people tend to group stimuli that are alike
  • continuity principle: states that people tend to connect points that result in straight or gently curved lines that create smooth paths
  • closure principle: states that people tend to ignore gaps in figures to create a sense of closure or completeness
  • simplicity principle: states that people tend to organize and interpret forms in the simplest way possible
45
Q

textbook written partly in response to the publication of Darwin’s The Origin of Species in 1859 and The Descent of Man in 1871

A

Principles of Psychology
(William James, 1890)

46
Q

founder of functionalism, and the term “stream of consciousness”

A

William James (1842-1910)

47
Q

all contemporary psychologists are this at heart

A

functionalists

48
Q

established the first psychology research laboraty in North America at Johns Hopkins University in 1881, and studied under Wundt and James

A

G. Stanley Hall (1844-1924)

49
Q

founded the first psychology laboratory in the British Commonwealth at the University of Toronto in 1891

A

James Mark Baldwin (1861-1934)

50
Q

the first Canadian woman to complete her doctoral dissertation on a psychological topic (colour perception and aesthetics)

A

Emma Sophia Baker (1856-1943)

51
Q

the most common view of psychological disorders throughout history (excepting the Egyptians and Greeks)

A

the supernatural approach: psychological disorders resulted from the actions of evil spirits or other, external magical forces

52
Q

the two scientific approaches for psychological disorders that emerged between the 17th-19th centuries

A
  • the medical model: psychological disorders emphasized physical causes of abnormal behaviour and medical treatments (e.g. medication)
  • the psychological model: abnormal behaviour can result from life experiences, leading to fear, anxiety, and other counterproductive emotional responses, and treatments take many forms (i.e. offering support, applying cognitive/behavioural methods to help people think)
53
Q

played a dominant role in psychology during the first half of the 20th century with his work on consciousness, sexuality, abnormal behaviour, and psychotherapy

A

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)

54
Q

controversy behind Freud

A

His methods were not scientific and non-experimental, but were based on observations of his patients (mostly upper-class Viennese housewives, who weren’t typical of the human population).

55
Q

contributed a theory of motivation and ideas about exceptional people to the growing humanistic psychology movement

A

Abraham Maslow (1908-1970)

56
Q

Before humanistic psychology, Freud, James, and behaviourists all believed that human behaviour was in relation to…

A

animal behaviour

57
Q

new approach to therapy developed by humanistic therapist Carl Rogers (1902-1987)

A

client-centred therapy: people receiving treatment are called “clients” rather than “patients”, and were on equal standing with the therapist as there was an emphasis on active listening

58
Q

classical conditing
(Pavlonian conditing)

A

earning that occurs when a neutral stimulus (e.g., a tone) becomes associated with a stimulus (e.g., food) that naturally produces a behaviour

59
Q

founder of Pavlovian conditing

A

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936)

60
Q

Pavlov’s dog experiment

A

While studying digestion in dogs, he realized that the dogs’ salivation in response to the arrival of the handler or to being harnessed for an experiment, rather than just to the food itself, indicated that the dogs had associated these signals with the arrival of food.

61
Q

behaviourist who used rats to come to many of same conclusions as Pavlov

A

John B. Watson (1878-1958)

62
Q

Watson’s advertising research

A

He believed that a product would sell better if it were paired with an appealing image (e.g. a Justin Bieber-inspired collection of nail polish sold over 1 million bottles within the first two months of its launch).

63
Q

the law of effect

A

behaviours followed by pleasant or helpful outcomes would be more likely to occur in the future, whereas behaviours followed by unpleasant or harmful outcomes would be less likely to occur

64
Q

founded the law of effect through observation of cats’ behaviour in a puzzle box

A

Edward Thorndike (1874-1949)

65
Q

founder of cognitive neuroscience, and author of the 1967 book Cognitive Psychology

A

Ulric Neisser (1928-2012)

66
Q

new source of technology that gave psychologists new ideas about how the mind might process information

A

computers

67
Q

the five major perspectives of psychology

A
  1. biological psychology (behavioural neuroscience)
  2. cognitive psychology
  3. developmental psychology
  4. social and personality psychology
  5. clinical psychology
68
Q

need for cognition

A

level of how much someone enjoys mental challenges (e.g. solving difficult puzzles)

69
Q

repression

A

traumatizing experiences are more difficult to remember due to this process

70
Q

examples of how the five perspectives of psychology are integrated within romantic relationships

A
  1. biological psychology: the “bonding” hormone, oxytocin
  2. cognitive psychology: automatic thought
  3. developmental psychology: relationships change over time
  4. social and personality psychology: understanding different cultural and social contexts, and individual traits
  5. clinical psychology: the effects of psychological disorders (e.g. borderline personality disorder)
71
Q

Students who study psychology in university learn how to apply psychological knowledge in order to…

A
  • solve problems
  • think critically
  • write effectively
  • act ethically
  • collaborate with others
  • organize and interpret empirical data
72
Q

differences between therapists with doctoral degrees in psychology (PhD/PsyD) and psychiatrists (MD)

A
  • only psychiatrists can prescribe medication
  • in Canada, healthcare plans cover only the cost of a psychiatrist

PSY A01 (8 decks)

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