Chapter 1- history of psychology

Question 1

what is psychology?

Answer 1

the scientific study of mental processes and behaviour

Question 2

what is a mental process?

Answer 2

things going on in our mind that are not observable to another
eg. thinking of what to say

Question 3

what is behaviour?

Answer 3

things that we are doing that can be observed by another
eg. riding a bike

Question 4

what are the 4 goals of psychology

Answer 4

description
explanation
prediction
controlling

Question 5

what is description?

Answer 5

describing what we observe

Question 6

what is explanation?

Answer 6

explain the observations

Question 7

what is prediction?

Answer 7

what leads to the expression of a specific behaviour

Question 8

what are the 3 levels of analysis

Answer 8

the brain
the person
the group

Question 9

the brain

Answer 9

structure and function

Question 10

the person

Answer 10

thoughts and feelings

Question 11

the group

Answer 11

family, friends, culture

Question 12

what is philosophy?

Answer 12

the study of knowledge and reality

Question 13

what is psychophysics?

Answer 13

the study of the relationship between physical stimuli and their psychological effect
pioneered in the 1800’s

Question 14

who is Wilhelm Wundt?

Answer 14

opened the first psychology lab in 1879
studied consciousness

Question 15

who is G. Stanley Hall?

Answer 15

credited with many firsts:
first psychology lab in North America (1883); launched the first psychology journal (1887); helped establish the APA (1892)

Question 16

who is james mark baldwin?

Answer 16

first psychology lab in Canada (1890)

Question 17

what is structuralism?

Answer 17

led by william james
sought to understand the function of the mind
led to other schools of though
influenced by Charles Darwin
died out and morphed into different fields

Question 18

What is Gestalt Psychologists?

Answer 18

said consciousness can’t be broken down into elements
perceive things as a whole perceptual unit
learning is tied to what we perceive

Question 19

perspectives on behaviour

Answer 19

different vantage points for analyzing behaviour and it causes

Question 20

what are the major perspectives in psychology?

Answer 20

psychoanalysis
behaviourism
humanistic psychology
cognitive psychology
psychobiology/ neuroscience

Question 21

what is psychoanalysis

Answer 21

founded by sigmund freud in the early 1900
focused on the role of the unconscious
drives, wishes, needs and desires
emphasized the importance of early childhood experiences

Question 22

what is behaviourism?

Answer 22

dominant school of thought on the early 1900’s
founded by John B. Watson
emphasized psychology’s focus on observable behaviour - disgusted with introspection
showed that phobias can be learned

Question 23

who is Ivan Pavlov?

Answer 23

a behaviourist
studied classical conditioning in dogs
found that dogs would salivate to a bell that reliably predicted the arrival of food

Question 24

who is Edward Thorndike?

Answer 24

studied operant conditioning in cats and came up with the law of effect
behaviours followed by good thing will more likely to be repeated in future (positive consequence)
behaviour followed by a bad thing, less likely to do again (negative consequence)

Question 25

who is B.F. Skinner?

Answer 25

studied operant conditioning in rats and pigeons
invented the skinner box, allowed detailed recording of behaviour over time
established some general laws about how behaviour changes in response to consequences

Question 26

who is albert bandura

Answer 26

described learning by social observation, others are models, highly adaptive
studied how children behaved with a bobo doll after a demonstration

Question 27

what is Humanistic psychology?

Answer 27

argued that psychoanalysis and behaviourism were dehumanizing
emphasized the unique qualities of humans (focused on freedom and personal growth)
led by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

Question 28

what did Abraham Maslow create?

Answer 28

the hierarchy of needs
theory of motivations

Question 29

what are the hierarchy of needs?

Answer 29

physiological needs
safety needs
belonging and love needs
esteem needs
self-actualization needs

Question 30

what sis carl rogers focused on?

Answer 30

client-centered therapy
creating a therapeutic environment in which clients can see themselves honestly
unconditional positive regard, empathy, genuineness

Question 31

what is cognitive psychology?

Answer 31

applied the scientific method to study the mind
became the dominant perspective in psychology
1950-1960: neisser, miller and chomsky

Question 32

what is cognition?

Answer 32

mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge

Question 33

what is psychobiology / neuroscience?

Answer 33

explained behaviour in terms of physiological processes-how brain structure and activity relates to behaviour

Question 34

who is Karl Lashley?

Answer 34

studied learning and memory changes in rats after removing different parts and amounts of their brain

Question 35

who is Donald Hebb?

Answer 35

described cell assemblies or how neurons in the brain form networks of connections based on out experiences

Question 36

who is Wilder Penfield?

Answer 36

showed that the mild electrical stimulation of different areas of the brain evokes different responsed

Question 37

who is Roger Sperry?

Answer 37

studied split-brain patients to uncover functions of each hemisphere of the brain
seen what functions was on what side of the brain