History and Approaches Flashcards
Psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of behaviour and mental processes.
Define behaviour as it relates to psychology.
Observable actions.
_________ are defined as internal experiences, including feelings and thoughts.
Mental processes
Why is psychology a scientific study?
- Uses empirical data to disprove hypotheses
- Describes, predicts, and explains behaviour and mental processes
- Systematic collection and observation of data
An example of the nurture vs. nature controversy is whether intelligence is _____ or derives from _____.
1 Inherited; experience
Define dualism as it relates to psychology.
The view that the mind and body both exist as separate entities
What is monism?
The idea that the brain and the mind are one and the same; every mental state is reducible to an identical brain state
Plato and Descartes, believers in dualism, are on the side of ________ in the nature vs. nurture controversy.
Nature - Descartes believed knowledge was innate and the pineal gland was considered the mind.
Which side in the nature vs. nurture controversy are Aristotle and Locke, believers in monism, on?
Nurture - Locke’s “tabula rasa” translates to “blank slate” suggesting that knowledge is learned through experience.
Psychology grew out of which discipline(s) in Ancient Greece?
Philosophy, physiology, and biology.
Who is credited with the foundation of scientific psychology?
Wilhelm Wundt, who performed the earliest studies in 1879 in Germany, is considered the father of the discipline of psychology. He created the first lab dedicated to psychological research, and wanted to measure consciousness.
_____ examines the structure of the mind and basic elements of consciousness. Proponents of this system felt that consciousness should be the data of psychology and the best way to research was by using individuals who were trained in introspection.
Structuralism
Introspection
Introspection is the process whereby observers look inward and objectively analyse their sensory experience.
Name the first president of the American Psychological Association (APA).
G. Stanley Hall.
Who was Edward Titchener?
Titchener, a researcher at Cornell University, was one of the earliest structuralists. He felt that psychology should study the structure of consciousness, and that meant studying sensations, images, and affections, or, emotions.
__________ was the first woman to receive her Ph.D. in psychology.
Margaret Floy Washburn.
Define functionalism as it relates to psychology.
- Functionalism was the school of thought that was a reaction to structuralism.
- Functionalism studies how the mind adapts to its environment.
- Functionalism was interested in individual differences, whereas structuralism was interested in groups of people.
Who was Mary Whiton Calkins?
The first female president of the American Psychological Association, or, APA.
Name three of the earliest functionalists.
- William James
- James Cattell
- John Dewey
How did William James contribute to functionalism?
James published psychology’s first textbook, called “The Principles of Psychology”, from a functionalist perspective.
Which psychological approach does this statement reflect?
Behaviour results from learning through experience.
Behavioural
What is behaviour modification?
A set of techniques to help individuals unlearn habits that have led to psychological problems.
Describe Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiments.
Pavlov, an early behaviourist, in his famous classical conditioning experiment, trained dogs to salivate in response to the sound of a bell.
What did John Watson believe psychology should study?
Watson, as one of the earliest behaviourists, felt that psychology should be the science of overt behaviour and reject the study of mental processes.
Who is the psychologist behind operant conditioning of rats and pigeons?
B. F. Skinner
