chapter 1

Question 1

What is psychology?

Answer 1

the study of behaviour and factors that influence it

Question 2

What is behaviour?

Answer 2

includes directly observable activity and non-observable mental processes

Question 3

What are the four goals of psychology?

Answer 3

1) describe behaviour and mental processes
2) explain/understand causes of these behaviours
3) predict how people will behave under certain conditions
4) influence/control behaviours through knowledge

Question 4

Describe basic research

Answer 4

it is research done purely for the quest for knowledge

GOALS: describe how people behave and identify factors that influence or cause behaviour

Question 5

Describe applied research

Answer 5

research designed to solve specific practical problems

often takes knowledge gathered from basic knowledge and attempts to apply them

Question 6

What are the 6 perspectives on behaviour?

Answer 6

BIOLOGICAL: eg brain processes and genes

COGNITIVE: thought processes

PSYCHODYNAMIC: unconscious processes

HUMANISTIC: striving to achieve

BEHAVIOURAL: learned behaviour and affected by environment

SOCIOCULTURAL: beliefs and values of culture and social level

Question 7

Explain mind-body dualism

Answer 7

Early biological perspective.

Viewed the mind as a spiritual entity not subject to physical laws ad therefore could not be studied

Question 8

Explain monism

Answer 8

Came after mind-body dualism.

Mental events are a product of physical events and therefore can be studied

Question 9

Who were the 2 early supporters of monism and what did they do?

Answer 9

LUIGI GALVANI: severed leg of frog moved when an electrical current was passed through it

KARL LASHLEY: studied learning and memory before and after specific, quantified, induced brain damage in rats.

Inspired studies of mapping brain areas

Question 10

Explain structuralism and functionalism.

Answer 10

early schools of thought for the cognitive perspective that emerged with experimental psychology

STRUCTURALISM: analyzed the mind in terms of basic elements

FUNCTIONALISM: what structuralism developed into. The study of the functions of consciousness rather than the structure. Asks why’s not what’s.

influenced by darwin

Question 11

What does modern evolutionary psychology emphasize?

Answer 11

the adaptability of behaviour.

Question 12

Explain sociobiology in terms of modern evolutionary psychology.

Answer 12

complex social behaviours that increase one’s ability to pass on ones genes to the next generation are favoured

EX. aggression, competitions, dominance in males

cooperative, nurturing behaviour in females

Question 13

What is behavioural genetics?

Answer 13

the study of how behaviour is influenced by genetic factors

Question 14

What is the focus of the cognitive perspective?

Answer 14

how do mental processes influence motives, emotions, and behaviours

Question 15

Who were the founders of structuralism? What did they manage to accomplish?

Answer 15

Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener

established psychology as its own branch of science

Question 16

Who was the founder of functionalism? What did he accomplish?

Answer 16

William James

Wrote first psychology text book

Question 17

What perspective did the gestalt psychology school of thought fall under?

Answer 17

the cognitive perspective

Question 18

What is the gestalt psychology school of thought?

Answer 18

it examined how the mind organizes elements of experience into a unified or whole perception (gestalt means whole).

“whole is greater than the sum”

mind is studied in terms of large meaningful units instead of small units of structuralism

Question 19

who was the leader of the gestalt school? What did he achieve/believe.

Answer 19

Kohler

defined intelligence as the ability to perceive relationships

defined insight as a sudden perception useful to a relationship or solution

His work led to a focus on perception, problem solving, and intelligence

Question 20

What perspective did Piaget work under?

Answer 20

cognitive

Question 21

What did Piaget’s theory entail?

Answer 21

theories differentiated children from adults and determined that specific stages of cognitive development unfold as children mature.

He was one of the 100 most influential scientists of the 20th century

Question 22

How did the cognitive approach influence opinions on psychological disorders?

Answer 22

How we think affects dysfunctional behaviours such as depression, irrational thoughts, mental distortions.

ELLIS AND BECK

Question 23

What are two fields of psychology that modern cognitive science has taken on?

Answer 23

artificial intelligence (memory and reasoning)

cognitive neuroscience (electrical recording and brain imaging that brings cognitive and biological perspectives together

Question 24

Explain social constructivism.

Answer 24

Reality is our own mental creation

our world is our subjective interpretation of a shared world view among a social group

Question 25

What perspective does the work of Freud fall under?

Answer 25

psychodynamic

Question 26

What do Freud’s theories believe?

Answer 26

motives in the part of the mind we are unaware of are defined as unconscious thoughts

these can stem from unresolved past conflicts and develop defence mechanisms to cope

struggle between impulses and defence

Question 27

What influence did Freud’s work lead to?

Answer 27

had influence on:

biological perspective: brain mechanisms which produce emotional reactions we are unaware of

cognitive perspective: aspects of information processing outside of our awareness (self-concept, social stereotypes influence behaviour)

Also led to the development of PSYCHOANALYSIS: analysis of subconscious psychological forces

Question 28

Who led the way for the behavioural perspective and what theories did they develop?

Answer 28

WATSON AND SKINNER

• observable behaviour was important, not mental events. Therefore should only study behaviour
• behaviour is controlled by environment
• if you can control the environment you can control the behaviour

It was the beginning of behavioural modification therapy

Question 29

Explain cognitive behaviourism.

Answer 29

believes human beings are thinking creatures that do not simply react to the environment.

new behaviours are gained by observing others, but it is 2 way; environment influences us, we influence the environment

it linked cognitive and behavioural perspectives

Question 30

What does the humanistic perspective emphasize?

Answer 30

conscious motives
freedom
choice
self-actualization (reaching potential)

also concerned with questions of life and death and the views that people construct in order to shield themselves from the anxiety associated with it

Question 31

What is culture?

Answer 31

enduring values, beliefs, behaviours, and traditions that are shared by a group of people and passed on to the next generation

Question 32

What are norms?

Answer 32

rules that specify what behaviour is acceptable and expected for members of that group

Question 33

What are the three things that the sociocultural perspective focus on?

Answer 33

the role of culture on behaviour

manner in which culture is transmitted

similarities and differences between people in different cultures

Question 34

what are the two views that different cultures emphasize to different degrees?

Answer 34

INDIVIDUALISM: emphasize personal goals, self-identity based on one’s own attributes/achievements

dominant in north America and Europe

COLLECTIVISM: Individual goals subordinate to the group, identity defined by ties to family

dominant in Asia, Africa, and South America.

Question 35

What are the three levels of analysis and what perspectives fall under each?

Answer 35

BIOLOGICAL level: biological perspective

PSYCHOLOGICAL level: Cognitive, psychodynamic, humanistic, sociocultural

ENVIRONMENTAL level: sociocultural and behavioural