Chapter 1: Introduction to Psychology Flashcards
psychology is?
the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
what is behavior?
anything an organism does
the mind (mental processes)?
internal, personal experiences that we infer from behavior
- sensations, dreams, feelings, beliefs, etc…
what is hypothesis?
educated guess to explain something; needs to be tested
- evidence can support/refute a hypothesis, but can never prove a theory
what is empirical method?
way of answering questions based on observation/experimentation
- not just logically thinking through it
psych teaches critical thinking; what is it?
doesn’t blindly accept conclusions
- examines assumptions, considers biases, evaluates evidence, acessess conclusions
to think critically, a scientist must have what 3 things?
curiosity, skepticism, humility
curiosity
to have enthusiasm and willingness to question and explore the world around us
skepticism
don’t take anything at face value
- needs data, has to approach the things they examine w/ a certain extent of skepticism
humility
must be able to accept that the ideas we form may not always be right
critical thinking helps us do what?
helps students communicate better/helps students understand themselves/others
What/When did Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Tichener discover
the idea of structuralism in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany
structuralism
tried to explain the stucture of thought
- Wundt looked to describe the “atoms of the mind”; believed that psych was the science of how we consciously experience the world around us
introspection
trained observers described thoughts, feelings, memories, etc… when exposed to stimuli
- wundt’s views fell out of favor b/c the limitations of introspection
functionalism
adaptive value of beh/men processes
- how did they contribute to survival over our genetic past
the school of psych was formed as a reactin to what and was influenced by who?
the structuralism; influenced by work of william james and theory of charles darwin
- darwin wanted to learn about physical evolution
who did william james accept into his graduate program
a woman: mary whiton calkins
sigmund freud was influenced by psych and __ theory
psychoanalytic
psychoanalytic theory
early childhood experiences are important, we don’t have access to a lot of who we are
gestalt psychology
central principle summarized by Kurt koffka; “the whole is other than the sum of the parts”
-researchers: max wertheimer, kurt koffka, wolfgang kohler
behaviorism
view that psych
- should be objective science
- make no reference to mental processes
– researchers (ivan pavlov, john b. watson, b.f. skinner)
— watson/skinnet thoight thats pyshc was the stduy of observing since they cpundnt oberbse internal behaviors, therefore led to behaviorism
—- watson believed he could mold any baby into anything regarldess of background/genetics
humanism
humasn are basically “good”
- focused on individual growth/potential/need for love/acceptancr
- researchers (abraham maslow/carl rogers belive that its focused too hard on tragic emotions or too little on personal choice
- maslow has a hierarchy of needs
- fundamental belief is that people are good and that mental/social problems come from deviaitions from this natural tendency
cognitive revolution
began in 1960s and is apart of the field of neuroscience
- important researchers (noam chomsky/ulric neisser)
cognitive psych
how we perceive, process, remember
- similar to structuralism
cognitive neuroscience
study of brain activity linked w/ cognition
- diff sciences work together to see how observable brain activity is linked w/ thought processes
culture
distinct customs, values, beliefs, knowledge, art, and language of a society
- common way of life and language of a society
- shapes our specific attitudes and behaviors
W.E.I.R.D. cultures
Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democratic
- over-represented in research, not giving us a true picture of humanity
biopsych
bio basis of beh/thoughts/emotions and reciprocal relations b/w bio and psych processes
- topics like beh-changing brain lesions chemical responses in brain/brain-related genetics
- focuses on relationship between biological makeup and our beh/experiences
evolutionary psych
attempts to explain useful mental/psych traits (memory, perception, language, as adaptations: functional products of natural selection
natural selection
individuals w/ specific adaptations survive and out-breed those who don’t
developmental psych
the study of how/why humans change over the course of their life
- these psychs. are interested in what changes about people as a function of development
personality psych
how personality develops/influences way we think/behave
personality traits
mostly consistent patterns of thoughts/behs
social psych
how thought, feelings, and behs. of individuals are influenced by actual, imagined, implied prescence of others + stereotyping
imagined/implied prescences
internalized social norms are influenced even when they are alone
- ex: stereotyping
Industrial-organizational psychology
study of human beh in organizations and work place
principles of individual, group, and organizational beh
applying this info to solution of problems at work
health psychology
factors that allow people to be healthy, recover, from an illness or cope w/ a chronic condition
biological influences
includes areas like genetic predispositions/influence of hormones/neurotransmitters on thoughts/beh
psychological influences
areas like our emotional responses, and how our perceptions of the world influences thoughts/beh
social-cultural influences
being in companies of others changes our beh
- how culture/social structures influences how we think/beh
biopsychosocial model
looking at all three areas of influences (biological/psychological/social-cultural) when trying to explain cognition/behavior
sport/exercise psychology
psych/mental factors that influences participation in sport, exercise and physical activity
clinical psychology
asessment/treatment of mental illness/disability
counseling psych
same, but usually treat less serious problems
forensic psychologist
application of psych to legal settings
