intro to psychology

Question 1

psychology

Answer 1

Scientific study of behaviour and mental processes

Question 2

why is psychology considered a science

Answer 2

▪ Prevents possible biases from leading to faulty observations
▪ Uses precise and careful measurement and error is reduced

Question 3

3 important things in psychology

Answer 3

Behaviour
Mental Processes
Scientific

Question 4

behavior

Answer 4

includes all the overt or outward actions and reactions (e.g. talking, movement).

Question 5

mental processes

Answer 5

includes all internal, covert activity of the mind (e.g. emotions, memory).

Question 6

scientific

Answer 6

means that behavior and mental processes are studied in a systematic (step by step) and objective (evidence-based) way.

Question 7

four goals of psychology

Answer 7

description
prediction
explanation
control

Question 8

description

Answer 8

we want to know what is happening by giving a systematic and unbiased account of behavior.

Will then lead to an explanaton

Question 9

prediction

Answer 9

we want to know when a behavior will happen again by identifying the conditions associated with the behavior.

are useful because if we can predict a behavior, we can prepare for it.

Question 10

explanation

Answer 10

we want to know why and how this behavior happens by identifying the conditions that will produce the behavior.

important for theory building which allows us to collect and integrate information from different observations to form a more cohesive explanation for a wide-range of behaviors.

Question 11

control

Answer 11

we want to know how a behavior can be changed or improved by applying what we know about that

Our ultimate goal is to control the situations that influences a behavior so that we can improve the behavior.

Question 12

how old is psychology / when did it start

Answer 12

130 years old

384 BC

Question 13

philosophers who were asking questions about the human mind

Answer 13

Aristotle, Plato, and Descartes

Question 14

Psychology as a scientific field only came to being when and where

Answer 14

1879 at a laboratory in Leipzig, Germany.

Question 15

wilhelm wundt (general description)

Answer 15

father of psychology. strong promoter of the idea that psychology could be an experimental field

Question 16

wilhelm wundt (what he did)

Answer 16

In 1879, he complemented his lectures on experimental psychology in the University of Leipzig (Germany) with a laboratory experience: an event that has served as the popular date for the establishment of the science of psychology.

Question 17

wilhelm wundt (contribution)

Answer 17

demonstrated that the mind could be measured and the nature of consciousness could be revealed through scientific means.

Objective introspection technique

Question 18

Objective introspection technique

Answer 18

the goal was to identify the elements of consciousness.

• ask a group of people to report to you as objectively and accurately as they can what they are experiencing, then collect all reports to see what’s common

Question 19

Edward B. Titchner

Answer 19

American student who was inspired by Wundt’s experiment

brought to America a brand of experimental psychology referred to as structuralism

Question 20

structuralism

Answer 20

interested in the contents of the mind—what the mind is.

goal is to identify the basic elements of the mind that leads to our complex conscious experience of the world.

Question 21

william james

Answer 21

Was among a group that became identified with functionalism

Question 22

functionalism

Answer 22

interested in the activities of the mind—what the mind does and how it allows us to adapt to the world.

Question 23

Max Wertheimer

Answer 23

believed that studying the whole of any experience was richer than studying individual aspects of that experience. (focuses on processes)

Question 24

Gestalt movement

Answer 24

began in germany

• proposed that the mind often processes information simultaneously as a whole rather than sequentially
• They were able to demonstrate it through experiments in perception and learning.

Question 25

gestalt perspective

Answer 25

the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

Question 26

Gestalt principle of Closure

Answer 26

states that the human visual-perception system attempts to automatically close open figures. we perceive whole objects even if we’re presented with separate pieces.

Question 27

sigmund freud (g.d)

Answer 27

Not an academian but a medical doctor in neurology in Austria

Treated patients suffering from hysteria

thought the cause of unknown symptoms must be in the mind because doctors could find no physical cause

Question 28

sigmund freud (ctb.)

Answer 28

proposed that there is an unconscious (unaware) mind into which we push, or repress, all of our threatening urges and desires which created the nervous disorders in his patients.

believed that we need to focus on this unknown part of the mind that is so powerful it can control our behavior and cause physical illnesses.

Question 29

john b. watson

Answer 29

Developed behaviourism

believed that in order for Psychology to be a science, we need to study only that which can examined objectively and systematically.

Question 30

behaviorism

Answer 30

This rejected any reference to mind.

This means that we should limit our study to overt and observable behavior as the proper subject matter of psychology.