Chapter 1 Flashcards
Evolutionary
Adaptive organisms survive and transmit their genes to future generations
Biological
Biological processes influence behavior and mental processes
Cognitive
Perceptions and thoughts influence behavior
Humanistic
People make free and conscious choices based on their unique experiences
Psychoanalytic
Unconscious motives influence behavior
Learning
Personal experiences and reinforcement guide individual development
Sociocultural
Sociocultural, biological and psychological factors create individual differences
Biopsychosocial
Metal processes are influenced by the interaction of biological, psychological and social factors
Psychology
The scientific study of human behavior and mental processes
What are the goals of psychology
Explain behavior, predicting and controlling, psychological research, and psychological theories
Explain behavior
1st: observe and describe behavior
2nd: explain behavior in terms of feelings of anxiety and performance
Predict and control
A. Do best when anxiety is moderate
B. Positive visualization=imagine a difficult situation and a positive outcome
Psychological research
A. Surveys=method of collecting data that involves asking questions
B. Experimentation= controlled environment with humans/animals
Psychological theories
Theory=statement that attempts to explain why things are the way they are and why they happen the way they do
B. Principle=basic truth or law that governs behavior and metal processes
What are the major fields of psychology
Clinical, counseling, school, educational, developmental, personality, social, and experimental psychology
Clinical psychology
- Largest group of psychologists
- Specialties:child and adult mental health, learning disabilities, geriatrics and general health
- Evaluate problems through interviews and psychological tests
- Try to change ineffective and harmful behavior
- Different from psychiatrists=medical doctor who specializes in the treatment of problems and can prescribe medications to patients
Counseling psychology
- Use interviews and tests to identify problems
- Treat people with adjustment disorders( not more serious )
- Help clients clarify goals, overcome adjustment problems and meet challenges
Educational psychology
- Focus on course planning and instructional methods for all students
- Ways in which learning is affected are:
Psychological factors: motivation, emotions, creativity and intelligence
Cultural factors: religious beliefs and language
Economic factors: level of income earned by family
Instructional methods used in the classroom
School psychology
- Identify and help students who have problems that interfere with learning
- Identify students by talking to the teacher and student, by tests, and observe them in the classroom
- Make recommendations regarding class placement
Developmental psychology
- Study the changes that occur throughout the life span
Physical: height and weight, adolescent growth, sexual maturity and physical aspects of aging
Emotional: developmental of concept and self-esteem
Cognitive: changes from childhood to adulthood mental image of outside world and how children learn right from wrong
Social: formation of bonds between parents and children, relationships with peers or intimate relationships between adults
Personality psychology
- Identify human characteristics or traits(shyness)
- Look for the traits development
- Looking for origins of psychological problems
Social psychology
- Concerned with people’s behavior in social situations
- Focus on external influences on behavior
- ways women and men typically behave in settings
- physical and psychological factors of attraction
- reasons people conform to group standards/expectations
- reasons people conform to group standards/expectations
- how behavior changes when a member of a group
- reasons for and effects of prejudice and discrimination
- situations in which people are hostile/help others
Experimental psychology
- Conduct research into basic processes
- Explore the biological/psychological reasons for cognitive behavior
- Basic research=research that has no immediate application and is done for its own sake( ideas put into practice by others )
What are the applied fields of psych
Industrial and organizational, human factors, community, forensic, health, rehabilitation, and cross-culture
Industrial and organizational psychology
- Focus on people and work
- Try to improve working conditions and increase worker output
- May assist in hiring, training, and promoting employees
Human factors psychology
- Attempt to find best ways to design products for use
- Consider the following:
- how people will use it
- how the product affects people in their daily life
- shape, look and feel of the product
- how to engineer the product so that it is safe and comfortable
Community psychology
- Study and help create social systems that promote and foster individual well-being
- Focus on:
- promoting change in the social environment rather than in the individual
- preventing threats to mental health in the social environments
Forensic psychology
- Work within the criminal justice system
- Identify competence of defendants and explain how certain psychological problems give rise to criminal behavior
- Help police:
- assist in the selection of police officers
- help police officers cope with job stress
- train police officers to handle dangerous situations
Health psychology
- Examine the ways in which behavior and mental processes are related to physical health
- Work with health professionals
- Study the effects of stress on health problems
Rehabilitation psychology
- Work with patients who are struggling with a disability
2. Help patients develop strategies to compensate for the disability and live meaningful life
Cross-culture
- Study behavior and mental processes under different cultural conditions
- Examine depression and anxiety to gauge differences in different cultures
Who are the pioneers of psych
Wilhelm Wundt( structuralism), William James( functionalism ), and Sigmund Freud ( psychoanalysis )
Wilhelm Wundt (structuralism)
- Structuralism=discover the basic elements of consciousness
- objective sensation=reflect the outside world
- subjective feelings=include emotional responses and mental images - Introspection=looking inside oneself
William James (functionalism)
- Focused on relationship between experience and behavior
- Functionalism=concerned with how mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment
- Adaptive behaviors are learned and maintained because they are successful
Sigmund Freud (psychoanalysis)
- Emphasis the importance of unconscious motives and internal conflicts in determining and understanding
- People are driven by hidden impulses(verbal slips and dreams) behavior
- Verbal slips and dreams represent unconscious wishes
- Psychodynamic thinking=most of mind is unconscious and consists of conflicting impulses, urges and wishes
What are the modern developments in psychology
John Watson ( behaviorism ), bf skinner ( reinforcement ), and gestalt school
John b. Watson and behaviorism
- Agreed with functionalism about importance of learning
- Conscious is a private event know only to individual
- Behaviorism=psychology must be limited to observable and measurable
- Can be conditioned by external events
Bf skinner and reinforcement
- Added the idea of reinforcement to behaviorism
- If animal is reinforced or rewarded, it will perform the action again
- People learn because of positive or/and negative reinforcement
- Focused on external causes of behavior
Gestalt school
Wertheimer, Koffka, and Kohler
Gestalt psychology
Our perceptions of objects are more than the sum of their parts
Gestalt principles
- Similarity=when objects look similar, people recognize a pattern and see them as a whole
- Closure=people fill in missing information when enough of the shape of an object is indicated
Reject behaviorist ideas in gestalt
- Psychologists should focus only on observable behavior
2. Learning is mechanical
Gestalt beliefs
- Learning is accomplished by insight
2. Reorganization of perceptions that enables individual to solve a problem
