Chapter 1: Psychology Yesterday and Today

Question 1

What is psychology?

Answer 1

The science of studying mental processes and behaviour

Question 2

What are mental processes?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

What is behaviour?

Answer 3

Observale actions

Question 4

What are the four goals psychologists have in mind when studying mental processes and behavouir?

Answer 4

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

Question 5

What is the definition of the “level of the brain”

Answer 5

Psychologists consieder the brain cell acitivty that occurs during the transmission and storage of information

Question 6

What is the definition of the “level of the person”

Answer 6

Psychologists anaylze how the content of mental processes form and influence behaviour

Question 7

What is the definition of the “level of the group”

Answer 7

Humans are shaped by their social environments and this environment varies over time

Question 8

What history does psychology orginate from? And what is the definition?

Answer 8

Philosophy: the study of knowledge and reality

Question 9

What did Hippocrates suggest?

Answer 9

Individuals pyshical and psychological health is influenced by humours; 4 boidly fluids; phlem, blood, yellow buile and black bile

Question 10

What did Psychopysics sought to understand?

Answer 10

How humans process sensory information

Question 11

What did Charles Dawrin propose?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

What is consciousness?

Answer 12

Behviours and mental processes that we re aware are happening

Question 13

What is Voluntarism? Who called it this?

Answer 13

Behaviour is motivated and that attention is foucased for an explicit purpose; Wundt

Question 14

What is Structuralism?

Answer 14

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

Question 15

What is Introspection?

Answer 15

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

Question 16

What is Functionalism?

Answer 16

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

Question 17

What is Gestalt Psychology?

Answer 17

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

Question 18

What is Psychonalaysis?

Answer 18

Psychology of the unconscious; psycholocal theory that human mental processes are influenced by the competition between unconscious forces to come into awareness

Question 19

What is the definition of unconscious?

Answer 19

Mental processes of which are are unaware happen in the unconscious mind

Question 20

What is Behavourism?

Answer 20

Psychology of adaptation; branch of psychological thught arugsing that psychology should only study behavouirs that are directly obersavable rather than abtrasctt mental processes

Question 21

What did early behaviourists foucs on?

Answer 21

Relashonship between stimuli and responses

Question 22

What is the ideal of Reinforcing?

Answer 22

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

Question 23

What is Humansitic Psychology?

Answer 23

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

Question 24

What is Cognitive Psychology?

Answer 24

Revitalization of study and mind; the study of INFORMATION PROCESSING ( the ways in which inofmration of store and opereated in our minds)

Question 25

What is Cultural Psychology?

Answer 25

the study in how cognitive processing may vary acoss diferent populations

Question 26

What is Cross- Cultural Psycholgy?

Answer 26

The study of what is generaly ture about humans regardless of culture

Question 27

What is Psychbiology/Neurosceince?

Answer 27

Neurosceinc e is the study of psychological functions by looking at biological foundations of those fucntions; previously known as psychobiology

Question 28

What is the definition of Behavioural genetics?

Answer 28

studies the influence of genes on cognition and behaviour

Question 29

Who are Sociobiologists?

Answer 29

theorsists who believe humans have genetically innate concept of how social behaviour should be organized

Question 30

What is Evolutionary Psychology?

Answer 30

field of study believing that the body and brain are largely products of evolution/ inheritance is key in shaping thought and behavouir

Question 31

What is Cultural Universaility?

Answer 31

behaviours and practices that occur across all cultures

Question 32

What are the three branches of psychology?

Answer 32

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

Question 33

What are the shared values between the three branches of psychology?

Answer 33

Theory driven, empirical, multi-level, contextual

Question 34

What is the definition of a collectivist?

Answer 34

a culture whose members foucs more on the needs of the group and less on individual desires

Question 35

What is the definition of an individualistic?

Answer 35

A culture that places the wants or desires of the person over the group

Question 36

What is Cognitive Neurosceince?

Answer 36

the study of mental processes and hwo they relate to the biololgical funtions of the brain

Question 37

What is Social Neurosience?

Answer 37

The study of social functioining and how it is tied to the brain