Chapter 1 Flashcards
Psychology
the scientific study of mind and behavior; an attempt to use scientific methods to address fundamental questions about the mind and behavior that people wonder about
Mind
the private inner experience of perceptions, thoughts, memories, and feelings
Behavior
observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals, the things we do in the world by ourselves or with others
What are the bases of perceptions, thoughts, memories, and feelings, or our subjective sense of self?
The brain
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
MRI that allows scientists to scan a brain to determine which parts are active when a person reads a word, sees a face, learns a new skill, or remembers a personal experience
How does the mind usually allow us to function effectively in the world?
Psychological processes are adaptive, promoting the welfare and reproduction of organisms that engage in those processes
What does PERCEPTION allow us to do?
Allows for recognizing our families, seeing predators before they see us, and avoiding stumbling into oncoming traffic
What does LANGUAGE allow us to do?
Allows us to organize our thoughts and communicate them to others, enabling us to form social groups and cooperate
What does MEMORY allow us to do?
Allows us to avoid repeatedly solving the same problems and to keep in mind what we are doing and why
What do EMOTIONS allow us to do?
Allows us to react quickly to events that have life/death significance, and enable us to form strong social bonds
Name and explain the two types of psychologists.
- Structuralists: try to analyze the mind by breaking it down into its basic components
- Functionalists: focus on how mental abilities allow people to adapt to their environments
Nativism
the philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn
Philosophical empiricism
the view that all knowledge is acquired through experience
Phrenology
a now defunct theory that specific mental abilities and characteristics, ranging from memory to the capacity of happiness, are localized in specific regions
Physiology
the study of the function of biological processes
Stimulus
Sensory input from the environment
Response
an action/physiological change elicited by a stimulus
Reaction time
amount of time taken to respond to a specific stimulus
Consciousness
a person’s subjective experience of the world and the mind
Structuralism
the analysis of basic elements that constitute the mind; involves breaking down consciousness into elemental sensations and feelings
Introspection
the subjective observation of one’s own experience
Functionalism
the study of the purpose mental processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment
Natural Selection
theory that the feature of an organism that help it survive and reproduce are more likely than other features to be passed on to subsequent generations
Hysteria
a temporary loss of cognitive or motor functions, usually as a result of emotionally upsetting experiences
when put in a trance via hypnosis, the symptoms people had of this disease went away.
Unconscious
the part of the mind that operates outside of conscious awareness but influences conscious thoughts, feelings, and actions
Psychoanalytic theory
an approach that emphasizes the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts, and behavior
Psychoanalysis
a therapeutic approach formed by Freud that focuses on bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness to better understand psychological disorders
Human psychology
an approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potentials of human beings; offers a more optimistic view of the human condition than Freud
Behaviorism
an approach that advocates that psychologists restrict themselves to the scientific study of objectively observable behavior
Principle of reinforcement
states that the consequences of a behavior determines whether it will be more or less likely to occur again
Illusions
errors of perception, memory, or judgement in which subjective experience differs from objective reality
Gestalt psychology
a psychological approach that emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts
Cognitive psychology
the scientific study of mental processes, including perception, thought, memory, and reasoning
Behavioral neuroscience
an approach to psychology that links psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily processes
What does brain scanning allow us to do?
allows us to observe the brain in action and to see which parts are involved in which operations
Cognitive neuroscience
the field of study that attempts to understand the links between cognitive processes and brain activity
Evolutionary psychology
a psychological approach that explains mind and behavior in terms of the adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over time by natural selection
Social psychology
the study of the causes and consequences of sociality
Give an example of social psychology.
People work out more efficiently when in a group than individually
Cultural psychology
the study of how cultures reflect and shape the psychological processes of their members
What are the two principles that govern human behavior? Explain what they are.
- Absolutism: holds that culture makes little to no difference for most psychological phenomena
- Relativism: holds that psychological phenomena are likely to vary across cultures and should be viewed only in the context of a specific culture
In the 1800s, French biologist Marie Jean Pierre Flourens and surgeon Paula Broca conducted research that demonstrated a connection between
a. animals and humans
b. the mind and the brain
c. brain size and mental ability
d. skull indentations and psychological attributes
b. the mind and the brain
What was the subject of the famous experiment conducted by Hermann von Helmholtz?
a. reaction time
b. childhood learning
c. phrenology
d. functions of specific brain areas
a. reaction time
Wilhelm Wundt is credited with
a. coining the phrase “philosophical empiricism”
b. setting the terms for the nature-nurture debate
c. the founding of psychology as a scientific discipline
d. conducting the first psychological experiment
c. the founding of psychology as a scientific discipline
Wundt and his students sought to analyze the basic elements that constitute the mind, an approach called
a. consciousness
b. introspection
c. structuralism
d. objectivity
c. structuralism
William James and ____ helped establish functionalism as a major school of psychological thought in North America.
a. G. Stanley Hall
b. René Descartes
c. Franz Joseph Fall
d. Edward Titchener
a. G. Stanley Hall
The functional approach to psychology was inspired by
a. Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”
b. James’s “The Principles of Psychology”
c. Wundt’s “Principles of Physiological Psychology”
d. Titchener’s “An Outline of Psychology”
a. Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”
To understand human behavior, French physicians Jean-Martin Charcot and Pierre Janet studied people
a. who appeared to be completely healthy
b. with psychological disorders
c. with damage in particular areas of the brain
d. who had suffered permanent loss of cognitive and motor function
b. with psychological disorders
Building on the work of Charcot and Janet, Sigmund Freud developed
a. psychoanalytic theory
b. the theory of hysteria
c. humanistic psychology
d. physiological psychology
a. psychoanalytic theory
The psychological theory that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings is known as
a. structuralism
b. psychoanalytic theory
c. humanistic psychology
d. functionalism
c. humanistic psychology
Behaviorism involves 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. observable actions and responses
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. stimulus and response
Who developed the concept of reinforcement?
a. B.F. Skinner
b. Ivan Pavlov
c. John Watson
d. Margaret Floy Washburn
a. B.F. Skinner
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. cognitive psychology
During World War II, cognitive psychologists discovered that many of the errors pilots make are the results 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. limited human cognitive capacity to handle incoming information
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. cultural psychology
d. cognitive accounts of language formation
b. cognitive neuroscience
Central to evolutionary psychology is the _____ function that minds and brains serve.
a. emotional
b. adaptive
c. cultural
d. physiological
b. adaptive
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. human interaction
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
c. culture shapes some, but not all psychological phenomena
Mary 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 woman president of the APA
d. became the first woman president of the APA
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. did research that influenced the Supreme Court decision to ban segregation in public schools
