Chapter 1: History of Psychology Flashcards
Another word for mental processes
Cognitive
Psychology
Scientific study of behavior and mental processes
What is behavior?
Anything you can observe (talking, facial expressions, movement), measure, (Frequency, duration, amplitude), or quantify (how often, how long).
What cant you do when observing behavior?
Cant make a cause and effect statement
Behavioral neuroscience
Studies the links among brain, mind, and behavior
Biological psychology
The study of the relationship between bodily systems and chemicals and how they influence behavior and thought
Personality psychology
The study of what makes people unique and the consistencies in people’s behavior across time and situations
Social psychology
The study of how living among others influences thought, feeling, and behavior
clinical psychology
The treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and the promotion of psychological healtj
Health psychology
The study of the role psychological factors play in regard to health and illness
Educational psychology
The study of how students learn, the effectiveness of particular teaching techniques, the social psychology of schools, and the psychology of teaching.
Industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology
Application of psychological concepts and questions to work settings
Sports psychology
The study of psychological factors in sports and exercise
Forensic psychology
Field that blends psychology, law, and criminal justice
Shamans
Medicine men or women who treat people with mental problems by driving out their demons with elaborate rituals, such as exorcisms, incantations, and prayers
Asylums
Facilities for treating the mentally ill in Europe during the Middle Ages and into the 19th century
Moral treatment
19th-century approach to treating the mentally ill with dignity in a caring environment
Psychoanalysis (Sigmund Freud the father of)
A clinically based approach to understanding and treating psychological disorders; assumes that the unconscious mind is the most powerful force behind thought and behavior
Empiricism
The view that all knowledge and thoughts come from ecperience
Psychophysics
The study of how people psychologically perceive physical stimuli such as light, sound waves, and touch
Structuralism
19th century school of psychology that argued that breaking down experience into its elemental parts offers the best way to understand thought and behavior
Introspection
The main method of investigation for structuralists; it involves looking into one’s own mind for information about the nature of conscious experience
Functionalism
19th century school of psychology that argued it was better to look at why the mind works the way it does than to describe its parts
Behaviorism
A school of psychology that proposed that psychology can be a true science only if it examined observable behavior – not ideas, thoughts, feelings, or motives
Humanistic psychology
A theory of psychology that focuses on personal growth and meaning as a way of reaching one’s highest potential
Positive psychology
Scientific approach to studying, understanding, and promoting healthy and positive psychological functioning
Gestalt psychology
A theory of psychology that maintains that we perceive things as wholes rather than as a compilation of parts
Softwiring
All biological systems involved in thought and behavior (genes, brain structure, brain cells) are inherited yet are still open to modification from the environment
Nature through nurture
The position that the environment constantly interacts with biology to shape who we are and what we do
Evolution
The change overtime in the frequency with which specific genes occur within a breeding species
Natural selection
A feedback process whereby nature favors one design over another because it has an impact on reproduction
Adaptations
Inherited solutions to ancestral problems that have been selected for because they contribute in some way to reproductive success
Evolutionary psychology
The branch of psychology that studies human behavior by asking what adaptive problems it may have solved for our early ancestors
What is fake psychology?
Astrology
How is psychology empirical?
Measured or observed from experience rather than theory or pure logic
Does psychology advance scientifically?
Yes
What are the mental processes?
Thinking, feeling, and remembering
Were the shamans prehistoric?
Yes
What did the shamans do when using trephination for clinical psychology?
They would drill a small hole in a persons skull to release spirits and demons
What were the ancient views of clinical psychology?
Focused on natural and physical explanations for disorders
What did the ancient egyptians and greeks do for clinical psychology?
Used narcotics (drugs) to treat pain
What was Hippocrates legacy in clinical psychology?
First person to document a phobia
What did the ancient chinese do for clinical psychology?
Made connections between bodily organs and emotions
What were the the medieval views on clinical psychology?
Supernatural causes were blamed. People mentally ill were thought to be possessed by demons, spirits, and the devil instead of physical disorders
What was the medieval practice of inquisition?
A float test for witchcraft. If you floated, you were deemed a witch
How were the medieval asylums like and what did it result in?
Conditions were deplorable and chaotic. Doctors wanted to put mentally ill out of sight, they were chained to walls and often left to die. It resulted in pioneers calling for the moral treatment of the mentally ill.
Psychology is a new field that is how many years old?
125
How did Aristotle (384-322 BC) view psychology?
The relationship between the soul and the body
How did plato view psychology?
The soul could exist separately from the body?
Rene Descartes believed in interactive dualism, which means
The mind and the body are separate entitied
John Locke believed in Tabula rasa (or blank slate) which meant
Everyone is born into the same status or blank slate, no superiority
Ernest weber, gustav fechner and hermann vin helmholtz were the first?
Experimental psychologists
Wilhelm Wundt was a ‘what’ psychologist and the first to do?
Open a psychology labratory in leipzig germany
Wilhelm Wundt main interests?
Sensory reaction time and interested in consciousness, trying to teach people introspect where people examined objects
Edward Titchener’s, a ‘what’ psychologist that advanced Wilhem Wundts introspect ideas, logic of structuralism was about?
Breaking down an experience to its elemental parts offers the best way to understand thought and behavior
William James, a ‘why’ psychologist that started the first psychologist classes, was interested in what and what did his belief in functionalism mean?
Interested in how minds adapted instead of consciousness like Wilhem Wundt.
Functionalism ideas were that it was better to see how the mind works the way it does than to describe its parts. How does the mind allow people to function?
Why was Sigmund Frueds modern view, psychoanalysis, popular?
Him and his colleagues cured illnesses such as blindness with mental tactics
Who were William James students and what were their accomplishments?
G. Stanley hall (first phd in psychology awarded in US), Mary Whiton Calkins (first woman elected as president of APA, created psychological laboratory in wellesley college), Margaret Floy Washburn (first AMERICAN woman to earn phd in psychology)
What did Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis emphasize?
Human behavior motivated by unconscious conflicts (sexual or aggressive) in nature.
Past experiences like childhood, as critical to formation of adult personality and behavior
What were behaviorists against and what did it support?
Were against The study of unconsciousness.
Supported empirical science and behavior proven things
How did behaviorists deal with phobias and used behavioral technique?
Instead of using thoughts or feelings, they attacked the problem by managing it such as making a person who fears heights experience taller heights
Behaviorists wanted to discover the fundamental principles of?
Learning
What was behaviorist John Watson’s Little Albert experiment?
Made babies afraid of white fluffy materials
What did john watson apply behavioral techniques to?
Advertising
was B.F skinner a behaviorist?
Yes
Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers specialized in what psychology?
Humanistic
Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi specislize in what psychology?
Positive
Describe the tree of psychology
Roots - origins, school of thought
middle - time
Branches - major perspectives of psychology
What is the biological perspective?
Study of the physical bases of human and animal behavior
What is the psychodynamic perspective?
Emphasizes the importance of unconscious influences, early life experiences, and interpersonal relationships
The behavioral perspective
How behavior is acquired by environmental forces
The humanistic perspective?
Focuses on the motivation of people to grow psychologically
Fredrick bartlett specialized in what psychology?
Cognitive
What was Gestalt psychology?
Theory of psychology that maintains that we perceive things as wholes rather than as a compilation of parts
(Ex an open circle still seen as circle)
Cross cultural perspective
Studies the differences among cultures and the influences of culture on behavior
Whats a clinical psychologists credentials?
Doctorate in psychology and training in treating psychological disorders
Psychiatrist credentials?
Medical doctorate (M.D) degree and can prescribe medicine in addition to therapy (only ppl who can prescribe medicine or drugs, not psychologists)
Psychoanalyst credentials
Either psychiatrist (m.d) or psychologist(phD, psyd or ed.D) that has special training of sigmund freud theories and method of psychoanalysis
Doctoral degrees are dominated by which psychology field?
Clinical
What is the nature vs nurture debate about?
Nature (environmental cause behavior) vs nurture (hereditary cause behavior)
Todays consensus on nature vs nurture?
Both (n vs n) interact to produce specific developmental patterns and outcomes.
Question evolved: how and to what degree do environment and heredity both produce their results?
What is the difference between structuralism and functionalism?
Structuralism - using introspection to break down ‘experience’ into parts
Functionalism - look at WHY the mind works the way it does
Psych comes from the Greek word meaning
Mind
William James was the first
American psychologist
