Chapter 1: The Evolution of Psychology

Question 1

Who was Wilhelm Wundt?

Answer 1

• Considered psychology’s founding father
• Set up the first research lab in 1879 in Germany
• He aruged that psychology should be the scientific study of consciouness

Question 2

Based on the notion that the task of psychology is to analyze consciousness into its basic elements and investigate how those basic elements are related

Answer 2

Structuralism

Question 3

Based on the belief that psychology should investigate the function or purpose of consciousness, rather than its structure.

Answer 3

Functionalism

Question 4

Attempts to explain personality, motivation, and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behaviour

Answer 4

Psychoanalytic theory

Question 5

Who was Sigmund Freud?

Answer 5

• An Austrian physician whose theories made him one of the most influential and controversial intellectual figures of the 19th century

Question 6

Founded by John B. Watson, asserts that psychology should study only observable behaviour
Stresses the importance of environment over heredity, and pioneered animal research

Answer 6

Behaviourism

Question 7

Who was B.F Skinner?

Answer 7

• Harvard psychologist who emphasized animal research, a strict focus on behaviour, and the importance of the environment
• Generated controversy by arguing that free will is an illusion

Question 8

A theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth
Advocates include Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

Answer 8

Humanism

Question 9

Stimulated by the demands of WW1, ____grew rapidly as a profession, starting in the 1950s.

Answer 9

Clinical psychology

Question 10

In the 1980s, Western psychologists developed an increased interest in how ____ influences behaviour. This trend was stimulated by the increased ____ in Western societies and by growing global interdependence.

Answer 10

Culture and cultural diversity

Question 11

Behaviour patterns in a species are the product of evolution, just like anatomical characteristics. ____ argue that natural selection favours behaviours that enhance an organism’s reproductive successes.

Answer 11

Evolutionary psychology and evolutionary psychologists

Question 12

Uses theory and research to better understand the positive, adaptive, creative, and fulfilling aspects of human existence

Answer 12

Positive psychology

Question 13

The science that studies behaviour and the physiological and cognitive processes that underlie it, and it is the profession that applies the accumulated knowledge of this science to practical problems.

Answer 13

Psychology

Question 14

The premise that knowledge should be acquired through observation

Answer 14

Empiricism

Question 15

Who established the first psychology laboratory in 1879?

Answer 15

Wilhelm Wundt

Question 16

Structuralists argued that psychological research should focus on the study of _____.

Answer 16

The elements of consciousness

Question 17

Early topics of interest to the ____ included mental testing and the effectiveness of various educational practices.

Answer 17

Functionalists

Question 18

Who argued against the study of mental processes, claiming that they could not be studied scientifically?

Answer 18

John Watson

Question 19

B.F Skinner argued that behaviour is goverened by ____.

Answer 19

Introspection

the examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional process

Question 20

The advent of the computer spurred on research in the field of ____ psychology.

Answer 20

Cognitive

Question 21

Which perspective has dominated the psychological literature since the mid 1970s?

Answer 21

Cognitive perspective

Question 22

Natural selection favours behaviours that enhance an organism’s reproductive fitness. What type of psychology is this the basic premise of?

Answer 22

Evolutionary psychology