Chapter 1 Flashcards
what is the best definition of psychology?
the study of mental processes and behaviour
when studying mental processes what are the 4 goals psychologists have in mind?
descriptive, explanation, prediction, control
what are the 3 levels of analysis?
the brain, the person and the group
who was hippocrates?
greek physician who believed that disease had a physical and rational explanation
who believed that someones health was influenced by humours?
hippocrates
who studied whether the mind and body function together?
socrates and plato (concluded they were distinct)
what did Aristotle conclude?
humans are closely related to animals
who caused the disappearance of the roles of magic and mysticism in psycology, and that the brain controlled the body by moving fluids?
leahey 2000
what is empirism and who created it ?
all knowledge originates in expierence, francis bacon
who popularized the scientific method
francis bacon
who believed that the natural world could be understood by science and mathematics?
rene descartes
who believed that we learn by experiences?
john locke
who studied the relationship between physical stimuli and their psychological affects?
johannes muller
who was first to measure the speed of nerve impulse?
hermon von helmoltz, led to understanding that thought and movement are linked. contributed to foundation of modern psychology and neuroscience.
who was gustav fechner
psychology had the potential to become a quantified science
what does natural selection propose?
chance variations are passed down from parents to offspring, some of these are adaptive.
what did William wundt observe?
studied the content and processes of conciousness
who developed voluntarism?
wundt
who created structuralism?
edward titchner
what is structuralism?
the structure of a concious expierence
what is introspection?
evaluation of mental processes and how simple thoughts expand into complex ideas
what was william james’s approach?
functionalism
what is functionalism?
how mental processes function to adapt to changing environments.
what is gestalt psychology?
we have inborn tendencies to structure, these tendencies cause us to see things as broad perceptual units rather than individual sensations.
what is the main difference between structuralism and functionalism?
functionalism was based on the main belief that scientists should examine the purpose of consciousness
what was sigmand freud involved in?
many of our thoughts and feelings exist beyond the realm of awareness, focused on patients involved with histeria
what is the psychoanalytic theory and from did it originate from?
freud, mental processes are influenced by the competition among unconscious forces to come into awareness.
what is behaviourism?
psychology should only be studied on observable behaviours
what did behaviourists tend to focus on?
stimuli and responses
what idea did behaviourism bring on?
conditioning (associate stimuli with each other and respond the same way)
who was a functionalist that helped transition psychology toward that animal findings could help explain human behaviour?
Edward thorndike
who is credited with pioneering the school of behaviourism?
John Watson
what did BF skinner observe?
internal and mental processes may be at work when observing behaviourism.
what is a central idea of behaviourism?
consequence resulting from a behaviour
how does punishment differ from reinforcement?
punishment causes the decrease of an action to be preformed again, while reinforcement increases the likely of a response
what is humanistic psychology?
gave grater prominence to special and unique features to human functioning.
who were the founding humanistic theorists?
carl rogers and abraham maslow
what does humanism focus on?
potential of individuals, conciousness, free will and personality
what theory did carl rogers develop?
client centred theory, help clients experience positive regard, clients are equals
what is cognitive psychology?
mental processes as forms of information processing, ulric neisser (information processing)
what is cultural psychology?
how cultural practices shape behaviour and influence human behaviour
what is cross-cultural psychology?
what is generally universal about humans regardless of cultural
who developed cell assembly?
Donald hebb
what is behavioural genetics?
subfield of psychology that looks at genes on the influence of human behaviour
what are social biologists?
humans have an innate concept of how social behaviour should be organized
what is evolutionary psychology?
how evolution has shaped the body and brain through our genes and environment
what are the 6 major perspectives in psychology today?
psychoanalytic, behaviourist, cognitive, evolutionary, humanist, neuroscience
which theorist is most likely associated with psychoanalytic theory?
Freud
what are the three current branches of psychology?
academic, clinical and counceling, applied psycology
what does academic psychology involve?
research and instrution
what is applied psychology?
applying psychological principles to practical problems
what is clinical and councelling psychology?
helps individuals to cope more effectively and overcome abnormal functioning
what are the main shared values of psychology?
theory driven, empirical, multi level, contextual
what does cultural psychology divide in?
collectivist and individualist
what is the difference betweencollectivist and individualist
focuses on needs of group, wants or desires of person rather than group
what is cognitive neuroscience?
mental processes and how they relate to the functions of the brain
what is social neuroscience?
social functioning and how it relates to brain activity
