Chapter 1 Flashcards
Psychology
scientific study of mind and behaviour
Mind
private inner experiences of preceptions, thoughts, memories and feelings
Behaviour
observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals
Plato (428-347 BCE)
Nativism
Nativism
the philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn
Aristole (384-322 BCE)
Philosophical empirism
Philosophical Empiricism
the view that all knowledge is acquired through experience
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
body & mind are fundamentally different things
suggested mind influences the body through the pineal gland
Dualism
Dualism
mental activity can be reconciled & coordinated w/ physical behaviour
Franz Joseph Gall ( 1758-1828)
Phrenology
thought brains and minds were linked by size rather than glands
size of bumps in the brain and by feeling them, you could tell what the person was like
Phrenology
defunct theory that specific mental abilities & characteristics ranging from memory to the capacity for happiness are localized in specific regions of the brain
Physiology
the study of biological processes, especially in the human body
Wilhem Wundt (1832-1920)
Structuralism
believed that scientific psychology should focus on analyzing consciousness (subjective experiences)
Structuralism
the analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind
- involved breaking down consciousness into elemental sensations and feelings
Introspection
the subjective observation of one’s own experience
William James
Functionalism
examined the structure of mental processes and set out to understand the functions of those mental processes
Functionalism
the study of the purpose that mental processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment
Charles Darwin
Natural selection - the features of an organism that help it survive and reproduce are more likely than other features to be passed onto subsequent generations
Jean-Martin Charcot & Pierre Janet
hysteria - temporary loss of cognitive or motor functions usually as a result of emotionally upsetting experiences
Sigmund Freud
Psychoanalytic theory & psychoanalysis
studied the unconscious
Psychoanalytic theory
an approach the emphasizes the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts and behaviours
Psychoanalysis
a therapeutic approach the focuses on bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness to better understand psychological disorders
recall past experiences
Abraham Maslow & Carl Rogers
Humanistic psychology
viewed people as free agents who have an inherent need to develop, grow and attain their full potential
Humanistic psychology
an approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings
John Watson
Behaviorism
- proposed that psychologists focus entirely on the study of behavior
- goal of psychology should be to predict and control behaviors in ways that benefit society
Behaviorism
an approach that advocates that psychologists restrict themselves to the scientific study of objectively observable behaviour
Watson - see only behaviour
Skinner - environment is everything
B.F. Skinner
Behaviorism & reinforcement
- made the skinner box
- claims that when we’re using free will, it’s actually an illusion and we’re just responding to present and past patterns of reinforcement
Principle of reinforcement
the consequences of a behavior determines whether it will be more or less likely to occur again
Max Wertheimer
Gestalt psychology
Illusions
- the mind imposes organization
Illusions
errors of perception, memory, or judgement in which subjective experience differs from objective reality
Gestalt psychology
a psychological approach the emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts
Sir Fredic Bartlett
suggested that memory isn’t photographic reproduction, it is powerfully influenced by our knowledge, beliefs, hopes, aspirations, and desires
Jean Piaget & Kurt Lewin
Cognitive psychology
Cognitive Psychology
the scientific study of mental processes, including perception, thought, memory and reasoning
George Miller
we can pay attention to and briefly hold in memory about 7 pieces of information
Karl Lashley
Behavioural Neuroscience
brain scanning is invaluable bc it allows us to observe the brain in action & to see which parts are involved in which operations
Behavioral Neuroscience
an approach to psychology that links psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily processes
Cognitive neuroscience
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
complications: doesn’t have a record of our ancestors thoughts, feelings and actions
Social psychology
the study of the causes and consequences of sociality
Gordon Allport
studied in stereotyping, prejudice and racism in the american civil rights movements
Cultural psychology
the study of how cultures reflect and shape the psychological processes of their members
