Chapter 1: Psychology Yesterday and Today Flashcards
What is psychology?
The science of studying mental processes and behaviour
What are mental processes?
Mental processes describe the acitivty of our brains when we are engaged in thinking, observing, and using language, it also includes complex experiences such as love and joy
What is behaviour?
Observale actions
What are the four goals psychologists have in mind when studying mental processes and behavouir?
Descrption: describe the things they observe
Explanation: telling what, where, when and how, answering the question of why?
Predicition: predict the circumstances ther behaviours and mental processes are likely to occur
Control: limit or increase certain behaviours or mental processes
What is the definition of the “level of the brain”
Psychologists consieder the brain cell acitivty that occurs during the transmission and storage of information
What is the definition of the “level of the person”
Psychologists anaylze how the content of mental processes form and influence behaviour
What is the definition of the “level of the group”
Humans are shaped by their social environments and this environment varies over time
What history does psychology orginate from? And what is the definition?
Philosophy: the study of knowledge and reality
What did Hippocrates suggest?
Individuals pyshical and psychological health is influenced by humours; 4 boidly fluids; phlem, blood, yellow buile and black bile
What did Psychopysics sought to understand?
How humans process sensory information
What did Charles Dawrin propose?
Theory of Evolution and Natural Selection -> N.S proposes that although all kinds of variations can be passed down from parent to offspring, some variations are adaptive, better suited to an organisms environment; help the organzism thrive
What is consciousness?
Behviours and mental processes that we re aware are happening
What is Voluntarism? Who called it this?
Behaviour is motivated and that attention is foucased for an explicit purpose; Wundt
What is Structuralism?
Looking for compenets of consciousness; the belief that the mind is a collection of sensory experiences and that its study should focus on mental processes rather than the explanation of mechanisms underlying those processes; Tichener
What is Introspection?
To study the consciounes mind, strucalist relied on introspection; looking inward; evalution of mental processes and how they expand from simple thoughts to complex ideas
What is Functionalism?
Toward the practical application of psychology; the beleief that mental processes have purpose and focus of study should be on how the mind adapts those purposes to chaning environments; James
What is Gestalt Psychology?
More than putting together building blocks; field of psychology arguing that we have inborn tendencies to structure what we see in particular ways and to structure our preceptions into broad perceptual units EX/ TV picture and pixels
What is Psychonalaysis?
Psychology of the unconscious; psycholocal theory that human mental processes are influenced by the competition between unconscious forces to come into awareness
What is the definition of unconscious?
Mental processes of which are are unaware happen in the unconscious mind
What is Behavourism?
Psychology of adaptation; branch of psychological thught arugsing that psychology should only study behavouirs that are directly obersavable rather than abtrasctt mental processes
What did early behaviourists foucs on?
Relashonship between stimuli and responses
What is the ideal of Reinforcing?
It is central to behaviourism; the consequence resulting from a particular behaviour serves to either increase or descrease the likelihood of that an indivula will perform that same behaviour again in the future; if the consequence of agiven behanvouir is rewarding it is regarded as REINFORCING; the individual will be more likely to repeat the behavouir down the road; a behaviour is positively reignforcing when it brings about a desired outcome and negatively reignforcing when it helps an organism avoid undersearble outcomes
What is Humansitic Psychology?
A new direction; alternative theory; sought to give greater prominence to special and unique features of human functioning ; foucased on the potential of individuals; Rogers developed a humanistic alternative to the psychoanalytic approach which was called CLIENT- CENTRED THERAPY= client is an equal and positive gains are made by mirriong cliutens thoughts and feeling in an atompshere of unconditional positive regard
What is Cognitive Psychology?
Revitalization of study and mind; the study of INFORMATION PROCESSING ( the ways in which inofmration of store and opereated in our minds)
What is Cultural Psychology?
the study in how cognitive processing may vary acoss diferent populations
What is Cross- Cultural Psycholgy?
The study of what is generaly ture about humans regardless of culture
What is Psychbiology/Neurosceince?
Neurosceinc e is the study of psychological functions by looking at biological foundations of those fucntions; previously known as psychobiology
What is the definition of Behavioural genetics?
studies the influence of genes on cognition and behaviour
Who are Sociobiologists?
theorsists who believe humans have genetically innate concept of how social behaviour should be organized
What is Evolutionary Psychology?
field of study believing that the body and brain are largely products of evolution/ inheritance is key in shaping thought and behavouir
What is Cultural Universaility?
behaviours and practices that occur across all cultures
What are the three branches of psychology?
Academic: foucses on research and instruction/ work in colleges and universities, teaching and conduction rearsh in their particular field of intrest
Applied: appliues psycholical prinicples to practical problems; education, markting; adervisters may consult with this psychologists to cinduct research to determine how to best market products to teens
Clinical and Consuelling: help individuals cope more effiecvtly or to overcome abodnromal functioning; CLINICAL: provide psychotherapy, modify thopughts, feeling causing distress, may admintister psychological tests to provide further treatment. COUNSELLING: psychotherapy for people with psychological problems/ social workers. PSYCHIATRISTS: may also provide guidance and therapy, attned medical school and earn an M.D. can prescribe medication
What are the shared values between the three branches of psychology?
Theory driven, empirical, multi-level, contextual
What is the definition of a collectivist?
a culture whose members foucs more on the needs of the group and less on individual desires
What is the definition of an individualistic?
A culture that places the wants or desires of the person over the group
What is Cognitive Neurosceince?
the study of mental processes and hwo they relate to the biololgical funtions of the brain
What is Social Neurosience?
The study of social functioining and how it is tied to the brain
