Exam 1 Flashcards
Psychology
study of mind and behavior
Mind
private inner experience of perceptions, thoughts, memories, feelings
Behavior
observable actions of humans and animals
Plato
favored nativism: certain kinds of knowledge is innate
Aristotle
believed in philosophical empiricism: all knowledge is acquired through experience
child’s mind is a blank slate, experiences are written
Rene Descartes
believed mind and body are different
the body is material substance and mind is an immaterial or spiritual substance
Dualism
how mental activity is connected with behavior
Thomas Hobbes
the mind is what the brain does
Psychology benefitted from
physiology (study of biological processes)
Stimulus
sensory input from environment
Reaction time
amount of time taken to respond to stimuli
Consciousness
a person’s experience of the world and mind
sight, sound, taste, smell, bodily sensations, thoughts, feelings
Structuralism
analysis of the basic elemental sensations and feelings
examined the structure of mental processes
Introspection
observation of one’s own experience
Functionalism
how mental processes enable people to adapt to their environments
understand the functions mental processes served
Natural selection
features of an organism that help it survive and reproduce
The ultimate function of all psychological processes
to help people survive and reproduce
Hysteria
temporary loss of cognitive or motor functions
result of emotionally upsetting experiences
Unconscious
part of the mind that operates outside of conscious awareness, but influences conscious thoughts, feelings, and actions
Psychoanalytic theory
emphasizes the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts, and actions/behavior
Freud
Psychoanalysis
bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness to better understand psychological disorders
Freud
Humanistic psychology
approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings
focuses on people’s highest aspirations
people have an inherit need to develop, grow, and attain their full potential
Behaviorism
advocated that psychologist restrict themselves to the scientific study of objectively observable behavior
Watson
proposed to study only behavior what people do, instead of experience
behavior is objective