Chapter 1: Introduction to Psych Flashcards
Psychology:
is the scientific study of the mind and behavior
Psych is based on…
empiricism which means based on observation, investigation, or experiment instead of abstract reasoning
Wilhem Wundt
- 1832-1920
- German scientist who was the 1st person to be named as a psychologist
- established the first lab and used the scientific method
- viewed psych as a conscious experience and we had to identify those components to combine and result in the conscious experience
- believed in introspection (internal perception) looking at oneself and examining personal thoughts and emotions
- experimental introspection: measured rxn time
Voluntarism:
that people have free will and should know the intentions of a psychological experiment they are participating in (believed by Wundt)
Structuralism:
- thought by Edward Titchener (Wundt’s student)
- used introspection
- self observation of conscious
- focus on the content of mental processes rather than their function
- seeks to analyze the elements of mental experiences, such as sensations, mental images, and feelings, and how these elements combine to form more complex experiences
- perception of sensations vs sensations
- highly subjective
William James
- looked at psych through the theory of natural perspective and adaption, he saw the purpose was to study the function of behavior in the world
- the above is aka functionalism
Functionalism:
how mental activities helped adaption and was interested in the whole mind instead of parts like structuralism
G. Stanley Hall
- Founder of Psych in America
- Developed a lab at JHU
- Founded the APA
Sigmund Freud
- Austrian neurologist
- theorized hysteria and neurosis arose from the unconscious mind
-Developed the psychoanalytic theory - Developed the importance of childhood experiences in adult motivation and the importance of personality development
Psychoanalytic theory
focuses on the role of a person’s unconscious and how it reflects into the conscious
- psychoanalysis treatment: therapy basically just talk
Wertheimer, Koffka, Kohler
- the 3 German psychs who introduced the US to Gestalt (aka whole)
- explained that even thought these sensory experiences can be broken down into separate parts how they relate to each other as a while is often what the person repons to in perception
- which contradicted the idea of structuralism
Ivan Pavlov
- learning behavior can become a conditioned reflex basically an unconscious response to a stimulus which leads to having the same response to a different stimulus that was associated with the og stimulus (aka as classical conditioning)
John B. Watson
- Shifted the focus of psych from the mind to behavior which lead to behaviorism
Behaviorism:
- Ivan Pavlov and BF Skinner was a behaviorist but Watson developed it
- study of observable behavior (focuses on how people learn through their interactions with the environment)
- based on the idea that behavior is acquired from conditioning (reinforcement and punishment)
- responsible for establishing psych as a scientific discipline through objective methods and experimentation (animals)
BF Skinner
- positive and negative reinforcement and punishment
- conditioned learning
- focused on operant conditioning through consequence (reinforcement or punishment)
The early 20th century was dominated by…
- behaviorism and psychoanalysis
Humanism
- developed by Maslow and Rogers
- a perspective that emphasizes looking at the whole individual and stresses concepts such as free will, self-efficacy, and self-actualization
- emphasized human growth and potential
- Focused on healthy individuals
Abraham Maslow
- higher level needs relate to self actualization where we will achieve full potential
- Maslow’s hierarchy of needs:
(from hgihest to lowest) self-actualization, esteem, social, security, and physiological
Carl Rogers
- developed client centered therapy where the patient takes the lead role
Cognitive Revolution
- Humanism redirected the human as whole and as a conscious self aware being
- Chomsky was very influential during the movement
- Piaget –> cognitive development
Francis Cecil Sumner
1st African American to receive a PhD in psych
George I. Sanchez
challenged segregated educational practices
Mamie Phipps Clark and Kennetch Clark
research on AA children and doll preference as well as the 1st child guidance center in Harlem
Margaret Floy Washburn
1st women to have a doctoral degree in psychology
Mary Whiton Calkins
Harvard refused to award her DD and wrote about how structuralism and functionalism explained self psych
APA
American Psychologcal Association
- 56 divisions
Biopsychology
- explores how our biology influences our behavior (how body influences behavior)
- is the science of the brain and nervous system and how they influence behavior
- focuses on the immediate causes of behavior while evolutionary psych seeks to study the ultimate biological causes of behavior (will demonstrate adaptation to its surroundings which we can make predictions based based on the evolutionary theory but sinces these traits evolved under environmental and social conditions from a long ago that we aren’t definite about its difficult to demonstrate if it is naturally selected)
Evolutionary Psych
- cognitive traits that were passed down
- evolutionary psych seeks to study the ultimate biological causes of behavior (will demonstrate adaptation to its surroundings which we can make predictions based based on the evolutionary theory but sinces these traits evolved under environmental and social conditions from a long ago that we aren’t definite about its difficult to demonstrate if it is naturally selected)
- Adaption, mutation, fitness, etc…
Cognitive Psych
- focused on understanding the mind and mental processes that underlie behavior
- studying cognitions/thoughts and relationship to our experiences and actions
Developmental Psych
- development across a lifespan (physical and mental changes associated with aging)
- Jean Piaget (young vs. adult of object permanence)
Personality Psych
- patterns of thoughts and behaviors that make someone unique
- Freud proposed that personality arose as conflicts between the conscious and the unconscious parts of the mind throughout a lifespan
- but now focuses on personality traits and determine how these traits interact to determine who someone will act in a given situation
- personality traits are relatively consistent patterns of thoughts and behavior
What are the Big FIVE
- Openness
- Conscientiousness
- Extroversion
- Agreeableness
- Neuroticism
Social Psych
- how we interact with and relate to others (how we explain out behavior vs how others explain it)
- Stanley Milgram (inflicting pain just by order) used deception and potential emotional harm which developed ethical guidelines for conducting psychological research not deception unless no harm
Industrial-Organizational Psych
applies psych theories in an industrial setting like issues related to personnel management (hiring decisions)
Health Psych
how health is affect by the interaction of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors (biopsychosocial model)
Sport and exercise psych
study of the psych aspects of sport performance like motivation, performance, and anxiety
Clinical Psych
- focuses on diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders (counseling psych is similar)
- behaviorism and cognitive Revolution have shaped clinical practice in the forms of behavioral therapy and cognitive therapy
Forensic Psych
questions of psych as they arise in the context of the justice system used injury selection and ability to stand trial
