Chapter 1 Flashcards
psychology
the scientific study of mind and behavior.
mind
the private inner experience of perceptions, thoughts, memories, and feelings, an ever-flowing stream of consciousness.
behavior
observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals, the things that we do in the world-by ourselves or with others.
emotions allow
us to react quickly to potentially dangerous events.
What is the mind for?
helps accomplish the goals of humans: to survive and reproduce.
each psychological process has a _________
function
nativism
the philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn.
Why does the mind fail?
the mind relies on well-learned habits that it executes without fully considering the context.
how do young children learn about the world?
Plato believed that certain kinds of knowledge are innate, whereas Aristotle believed that the mind is a blank slate on which experiences are written.
Plato was a strong proponent of________
nativism (the view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn)
Philosophical empiricism
the view that all knowledge is acquired through experience.
Aristotle was a strong proponent of____________, and that a child’s mind was a blank slate on which only experience could write.
philosophical empiricism
Rene descartes argued that body and mind are
fundamentally different things-that the body is made of material substance, whereas the mid (or soul) is made of an immaterial or spiritual substance.
dualism
how mental activity can be reconciled and coordinated with physical behavior.
Thomas Hobbes argued that
the mind and body aren’t different things at all. The mind is what the brain does.
What fundamental question has puzzled philosophers for over a millennia?
how the mind works and how humans acquire knowledge
how did work involving patients with brain damage help demonstrate the relationship between mind and brain?
French surgeon Paul Borca discovered that damage to a specific part of the brain impaired a specific psychologi cal function. This demonstrates that our mental lives are products of the brain.
reaction times
the time it takes to respond to a specific stimulus.
What was the useful application of Helmholtz’s results?
he recorded reaction times at the toe and at the thigh. reaction time at the toe was longer than the reaction time at the thigh. This showed that mental processes were not instantaneous, but have a reaction time.
consciousness
a person’s subjective experience of the world and the mind.
structuralism
the analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind.
how did the work of chemists influence early psychology?
chemists tried to understand the structure of matter by breaking down natural substances into basic elements, so Wundt developed the approach to psychology know as structuralism. (the analysis of basic elements that constitute the mind)
introspection
asks people to report on the contents of their subjective experience
functionalism
the study of purpose that mental processes serve.
natural selection
the features of and organism that help it survive and reproduce are more likely than other features to be passed on to subsequent generations.
How does functionalism relate to Darwin’s theory of natural selection?
the ultimate function of all psychological processes must be to help people survive and reproduce.
In the 1800’s, Paul Broca conducted research that demonstrated a connection between
A.animal and humans
B.the mind and the brain
C.brain size and mental ability
D.skull indentations and psychological attributes
B
What was the subject of the famous experiment conducted by Hermann von Helmholtz? A. reaction time B.childhood learning C.structuralism D.functions of specific brain areas
A
Wundt and his students sought to analyze that basic elements that constitute the mind, an approach called
a. consciousness
b. introspection
c. structuralism
d. objectivity
c
William James developed_________, the study of the purpose of mental processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environments.
a. empiricism
b. nativism
c. structuralism
d. functionalism
d
hysteria
temporary loss of cognitive or motor functions, usually as a result of emotionally upsetting experiences
sigmund freud theorized that
hysteria was caused by painful childhood experiences that the patient could not remember. these memories resided in the unconscious
unconscious
part of the mind that operates outside of awareness but that influences thoughts, feelings, and actions. this led to the development of psychoanalytic theory.
psychoanalytic theory
an approach that emphasizes the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. this led to the development of psychoanalysis. this theory suggests that the key to curing psychological problems is to help people remember the early experiences that were causing the problems.
psychoanalysis
bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness to better understand psychological disorders
how was freud influenced by work with hysteric patients?
by working with hysteria patients, he developed psychoanalytic theory and also psychoanalysis as a form of treatment.
why are freud’s ideas less influential today?
his ideas were difficult to test, and a theory that can’t be tested is of limited interest to scientists. Freud had a very pessimistic view on human nature
humanistic psychology
an approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings
to understand human behavior, jean-martin charcot studied people
a. who appeared to be completely healthy
b. with psychological disorders
c. with damage in particular areasof the brain
d. who had suffered permanent loss of cognitive and motor function
d
builing on the work of charcot and others. sigmund freud developed
a. structuralism
b. psychoanalytic theory
c. humanistic psychology
d. functionalism
b
behaviorism
the idea that psychology should restrict itself to studying objectively observable behavior
stimulus
sensory input from the environment
response
an action or physiological change elicited by a stimulus
reinforcement
the consequences of a behavior determine whether it will be more or less likely to occur again.
John Broadus Watson proposed that psychologists should instead study ____________
behavior-what people do, rather than what people say-because behavior can be measured reliably and objectively.
how did behaviorism help psychology advance as a science?
behaviorism led to the development of stimulus-response psychology
what did Skinner learn by observing the behavior of hungry rats?
he learned that people and animals can be trained using reinforcement ( the consequences of a behavior determine whether it will be more or less likely to occur again)
Which of Skinner’s claims provoked an outcry?
skinner claimed that our subjective sense of free will is an illusion and that when we think we are exercising free will, we are actually responding to present and past patterns of reinforcment. We do things in the present that have been rewarding in the past, and our sense of choosing to do them is nothing more that an illusion.
Behaviorism includes the study of
a. observable actions and responses
b. the potential for human growth
c. unconscious influences and childhood experiences
d. human behavior and memory
a
the experiments of Ivan Pavlov and John Watson centered on a, perception and behavior b.stimulus and response c.reward and punishment d.conscious and unconscious behavior
b
who developed the concept of reinforcement?
a. b.f. skinner
b. ivan pavlov
c. john watson
d. margaret floy washburn
a
psychological illusions
errors of perception, memory, or judgment in which subjective experience differs from objective reality.
Wertheimer argued that
during perception the mind brings many disparate elements together and combines them into a unified whole, which in German is called a gestalt
Geslalt psychology
a psychological approach that emphasizes the active role that the mind plays in generating perceptual experience.
construal
how people perceive, comprehend, and interpret the world around them
Kert lewin argued that
people react to the world as they see it and not to the world as it is
cognitive psychology
the scientific study of mental processes, including perception, thought, memory, and reasoning.
how did the advent of computers change psychology?
both computers and the human brain process information. They both register, store, and retrieve information. This led to the development of cognitive psychology (the study of mental processes)
what did psychologists learn from pilots during world war II?
it showed that a limited capacity to handle incoming information is a fundamental feature of human cognition and that this limit could explain many of the errors that pilots (and other people) made.
behavioral neuroscience
an approach to psychology that links psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily processes.
cognitive neuroscience
the field of study that attempts to understand the links between cognitive processes and brain activity
evolutionary psychology
explains mind and behavior in terms of the adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over time by natural selection.
the study of mental processes such as perception and memory is called a. behavioral determinism b Gestalt psychology c. social psychology d. cognitive psychology
d
during world war II, cognitive psychologist discovered that many of the errors pilots make are the result of
a. computer errors in processing detailed information
b. limited human cognitive capacity to handle incoming information
c. pilot inattention to incoming information
d. lack of behavioral training.
b
the use of scanning techniques to observe the brain in action and to see which parts are involved in which operations helped the development of
a. evolutionary psychology
b. cognitive neuroscience
c. behaviorism
d. cognitive accounts of language formation
b
central to evolutionary psychology is the__________function that minds and brains serve.
a. emotional
b. adaptive
c. cultural
d. physiological
b
social psychology
the study of the causes and consequences of sociality. Also studies how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals can be influenced by the presence of others
how did historical events influence the development of social psychology?
the rise of Nazism in Germany gave a lot of points for social psychology to flourish. ie. conformity, saying something they know to be untrue because other people are, and doing something they believe to be immoral if ordered by an authoritative figure
cultural psychology
the study of how cultures reflect and shape the psychological processes of their members. Also studies similarities and differences in psychological processes that arise between people living in different cultures
social psychology differs most from other psychological approaches in its emphasis on
a. human interaction
b. behavioral processes
c. the individual
d. laboratory experimentation
a
cultural psychology emphasizes that
a. all psychological processes are influenced to some extent by culture.
b. psychological processes are the same across all human beings, regardless of culture
c. culture shapes some but not all psychological phenomena
d. insights gained from studying individuals from one culture will only rarely generalize to individuals from other cultures, who have different social identities and rituals.
a
how has the face of psychology changed as the field has evolved?
there is a growing role of women and minorities. used to be more researched based but now 70 percent of the current APA members work in clinical and health-related settings instead of colleges and universities
Mary Whiton Calkins
a. studied with Wilhelm Wundt in the first psychology laboratory
b. did research on the self-image of African American children
c. was present at the first meeting of the APA
d. became the first women president of the APA
d
Kenneth Clark
a.did research that influenced the supreme court decision to ban segregation in public schools
b. was one of the founders of the APA
c.was a student of William James
d.did research that focused on the education of African
American youth
a
