History of Psychology Flashcards
empiricism
the idea that all knowledge comes from experience
neural impulse
an electro-chemical signal that enables neurons to communicate
psychophysics
study of the relationships between physical stimuli and the perception of those stimuli
introspection
a method of focussing on internal processes
consciousness
awareness of ourselves and our environment
chronometry
the science of accurate time measurement
structuralism
a school of American psychology that sought to describe the elements of conscious experience
functionalism
a school of American psychology that focused on the utility of consciousness
functionalists were interested in the activities of the mind—what the mind does
individual differences
ways in which people differ in terms of their behavior, emotion, cognition and development
eugenics
the practice of selective breeding to promote desired traits
Gestalt psychology
an attempt to study the unity of experience
the saying “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts” is a Gestalt perspective
the Gestalt psychologists proposed that the mind often processes information simultaneously rather than sequentially
For instance, when you look at a photograph, you see a whole image, not just a collection of pixels of color
cognitive psychology
the study of mental processes
behaviorism
the study of behavior
behaviorism rejected any reference to mind and viewed overt and observable behavior as the proper subject matter of psychology
flashbulb memory
a highly detailed and vivid memory of an emotionally significant event
tip-of-the-tongue-phenomenon
the inability to pull a word from memory even though there is the sensation that that word is available
