Chapter 1 flashcards
Biological psychological approach
How the body and brain enable emotions and memories
How genes combine with the environment to influence individual differences
The biological view looks at how our physical make up and the operation of our brains influence our personality, preferences, behavior patterns, and abilities.
According to biological view, our behavior is a result of heredity, the nervous system and the endocrine system and environmental impacts (insults) such as disease.
QUESTION: To what extent are traits such as intelligence, personality, sexual orientation, depression linked to our genes?
Behavioral psychological approach
How we learn from observation and experience
QUESTION – How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? What is the best way to alter our behavior (i.e. lose weight, quit smoking)
Cognitive psychological approach
Focuses on how we think (or encode information)
How do we see the world?
How do we learn to react to sad or happy events
How we take in, process, store and retrieve information
Investigates memory, language, perception, problem solving…
According to the cognitive view, our actions are a direct result of the way we process information from our environment.
Cognitions are thoughts, expectations, perceptions, memories and states of consciousness.
Humanistic psychological approach
Focuses on positive growth
Attempts to seek self-actualization
Promote health and self-growth
How we meet our needs for love and acceptance and achieve self-fulfillment
QUESTION – How can we work toward fulfilling our potential? How can we overcome obstacles to our personal growth?
Psychodynamic psychological approach
Fathered by Sigmund Freud
Our behavior comes from unconscious drives
Usually stemming from our childhood
How behavior comes from unconscious drives and conflicts
QUESTION: How can someone’s personality traits and disorders be explained in terms of sexual and aggressive drives or as the disguised effects of unfulfilled wishes and childhood traumas?
Sociocultural psychological approach
How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures
QUESTION – How are we humans alike as members of one human family? As products of different environmental contexts, how do we differ?
Evolutionary psychological approach
How the natural selection (Charles Darwin: survival of the fittest) of traits promoted the survival of genes
Our neural circuits were designed by natural selection to solve problems.
Our modern skulls have been adapted to the environment all the way back to our ancestors.
If this behavior exists it must have been caused by _____.
Explains behavior without fixing it!
In this theory, genetics are not used a way to show how people are different, but rather the ways in which we have evolved.
Gestalt psychology
Gestalt psychology is a school of thought that seeks to understand how the human brain perceives experiences
According to Gestalt theory, our brains organize visual information into patterns and wholes, rather than simply perceiving individual elements.
Applied research
Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
Biopsychosocial approach
An integrated perspective that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis
introspection
the examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes.
Psychometrics psychology
Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally covers specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and related activities
Example: George is creating a survey to see how people in Connecticut feel about gun control laws. He is practicing
Basic research
Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
Developmental psychology
Developmental psychology is the study of how people grow, change, and adapt throughout their lives. It is a diverse field that examines how people develop physically, cognitively, socially, emotionally, and intellectually
Example: Peter is researching how mental abilities change throughout the lifespan.
Educational psychology
a branch of psychology that studies children in an educational setting and is concerned with teaching and learning methods, cognitive development, and aptitude assessment.
Example: Tim is trying to find new techniques to help elementary students memorize spelling words.
Personality psychology
Example: Dr. Edwards would like to research why some people are introverts while others extraverts.
Social/applied psychology
Example: Angela is designing an experiment which measures when people are most likely to help others in a public setting.
Industrial-organizational psychology
Example: Tina is designing an assessment which will inform a company of the most qualified workers to be promoted to management.
Human factors psychology
Example: Brett is an engineer who is designing a smartphone which is more user friendly.
Counseling psychology
A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being
Example: Alex is visiting this type of psychologist to help with feelings of increased stress at work.
Clinical psychology
A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders
Example: Dr. Jones is treating clients with various mental illnesses only with the use of talk therapy.
Psychiatry
A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy
Example: Dr. Pratt combines drug treatments and psychotherapy to best help clients.
Psychodynamic
Focus: Unconscious mind, early childhood experiences, interpersonal relationships
Key concepts: Defense mechanisms, psychosexual stages, ID, ego, superego
Example: A therapist helping a patient understand their childhood trauma and how it affects their current relationships
Behavioral
Focus: Learned behaviors, conditioning, reinforcement
Key concepts: Classical conditioning, operant conditioning, positive and negative reinforcement
Example: A teacher using a reward system to encourage students to complete their work.
Cognitive
Focus: Mental processes, memory, thinking, problem-solving
Key concepts: Attention, perception, language, decision-making
Example: A therapist helping a patient identify and change negative thought patterns.
Biological
Focus: Physical and biological bases of behavior
Key concepts: Brain structure, neurotransmitters, genetics
Example: A researcher studying the effects of a new drug on brain activity.
Sociocultural
Focus: How culture influences human behavior
Key concepts: Cultural norms, values, beliefs
Example: A researcher comparing the parenting styles of different cultures.
Evolutionary
Focus: How the theory of evolution can explain psychological processes
Key concepts: Natural selection, adaptation, survival of the fittest
Example: A researcher studying the evolution of mating preferences.
Humanistic
Focus: Motivation, self-actualization, personal growth
Key concepts: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, unconditional positive regard
Example: A therapist helping a patient develop a stronger sense of self-worth.
Levels of analysis
The multiple viewpoints can be confusing, but it is called levels of analysis.
Looking at one issue from multiple perspectives.
Ex. a criminal robs a bank at gunpoint and shoots a bank teller.
Does the shooter have a brain disorder?
Does the shooter have a genetic tendencies towards violence?
Have they been rewarded for violent behavior?
Are we a society that supports violence?
Does the shooter have social/emotional trauma?
Looking at an issue from one perspective is like looking at a 2D view of a 3D object. Each perspective is useful, but by itself fails to give us a complete picture.
Behavior
The actions by which an organism adjusts to its environment
Behavioral data
Observational reports about the behavior of organisms and the conditions under which the behavior occurs or changes
Behaviorism
A scientific approach that limits the study of psychology to measurable or observable behavior
Cognitive psychology
Example: Alice is interested in learning peoples’ thought process when solving complex math problems.
Biological psychology
Example: Dr. Smith is running a study looking into the effects of a drug on treating Alzheimer’s.
