Chapter 1

Question 1

What is Psychology

Answer 1

The scientific study of mental process and behavior

Question 2

Mental process

Answer 2

Things going on in our brain that is NOT observable

Question 3

Behaviour

Answer 3

Thing that we are doing that IS observable

Question 4

Four goals of psychologists

Answer 4

Description of what we observe
- What is depression?
Explanation of these observations
- What causes depressive symptoms
Prediction of the circumstances that lead to the expression of a specific behaviour
- When are we more likely to see depressive symptoms?
Controlling behaviour
- How can we prevent depressive symptoms in the future?

Question 5

Level of Analysis

Answer 5

The Brain structure and function
- How is the neurotransmitter serotonin related to depression
The Person thoughts and feelings
- How do our thought patterns influence our feelings of depression?
The Group family, friends, culture
-How does having a social support system influence depression?

Question 6

Early days of psychology

Answer 6

• Wilhelm Wundt
• G.Stanley Hall
• James Mark Baldwin

Question 7

Wilhelm Wundt

Answer 7

Opened first psychology lab in (1879)
Consciousness studied scientifically

Question 8

G.Stanley Hall

Answer 8

Credited with many firsts
Started american psychological association
Studied the mind and consciousness with science

Question 9

James Mark Baldwin

Answer 9

First psychology lab in canada (1890)

Question 10

Battle of the ‘schools’ – what should be the focus of psychology?

Answer 10

Structuralism-led by Edward Titchener
-Tried to understand consciousness by breaking down into parts
- What elements go into thoughts, feelings, sensations
Functionalism– led by William James
- Believed the mind has a function
- What is it used for? What do we do with it?
Gestalt psychologists - focused on ‘the whole’
- The whole is greater than the sum of its parts
- “ Whole is not sum of parts its more than that”

Question 11

Twentieth-Century Approaches

Answer 11

Perspectives on behaviour = different vantage points for analyzing behaviour and its causes

Major perspectives in psychology:
1. Psychoanalysis
2. Behaviourism
3. Humanistic psychology
4. Cognitive psychology
5. Psychobiology/neuroscience

Question 12

Psychoanalysis

Answer 12

• Founded by Sigmund Freud in early 1900’s
• Focused on unconsciousness- Drives, Wishes, needs and desires which were not focused on
• Emphasized the importance of early childhood experiences