Chapter #1: The Evolution of Psychological Science Flashcards
Dualism
the view
that the mind and body are fundamentally different things. (Mind has no effect on body; two seperate things)
Materialism
The view that all mental phenomena are reducible to physical phenomena. (the mind is what the brain does)
Realism
Perceptions of the physical world are produced entirely by information from the sensory organs. (How we view the world is entirely out of our control)
Idealism
Perceptions of the physical world are the brains interpretation of information from the sensory organs. (How we view the world is based on our brain’s interpretation)
Empiricism
The view that all knowledge is acquired through experience. (mind is a tabula rasa on which experiences are written on) (nurture)
Nativism
The view that certain knowledge is innate rather than acquired (nature)
Structuralism
approach that isolates and analyzes the minds basic elements
Introspection
analysis of subjective experiences by trained observers
Functionalism
an approach that emphasized the adaptive significance of mental processes (what is the mind for?)
What is functionalism based on?
natural selection that adaptive mental abilities will survive
Psychoanalytic Theory
Emphasizes the influence of the unconscious on feelings, thoughts and behaviours.
Psychoanalysis
A therapy technique that aims to give people insight into the contents of their unconscious mind
Behaviourism (Stimulus-Response Theory)
The scientific study of objectively observable behaviour
Principle of Reinforcement
Consequences of behaviour determined likeliness of reoccurrence. (eg. The more a metronome is paired with dog food, the more a dog expects food when hearing a metronome)
What are “teaching machines”?
A machine that gives the student a more difficult question after a successful answer, or an easier question after an incorrect answer
