Key Approches Key Words Flashcards
Psychology
The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behaviour in a given context
Reductionism
The idea that human behaviour can be most effectively explained by breaking it down into constituent parts.
Subjective
Something based on or influenced by personal feelings, taste or opinions
Introspection
The examination or observation of ones own mental and emotional processes.
Structuralism
Any theory that aims to study the relationship among phenomena rather than the phenomena themselves and the systems formed by these relations.
Classical conditioning
Learning by association (pavlov’s dogs)
Positive reinforcement
A stimulus that increases the probability that a behaviour will be repeated because it’s pleasurable.
Behaviourist approach
A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning.
Punishment
Any procedure that decreases the likelihood that a behaviour will be repeated because the overall experience is unpleasant.
Operant conditioning.
A form of learning in which behaviour is maintained and shaped by its consequences
Negative reinforcement
A stimulus that increases the probability that a behaviour will be repeated because it leads to escape from an unpleasant situation and is experienced as rewarding
Social learning theory
A way of explaining behaviour that includes both direct and indirect reinforcement, combining learning theory with a role of cognitive factors.
Vicarious reinforcement
Reinforcement which is not directly experienced but occurs through observing someone else being reinforced for a behaviour.
Identification
A moderate type of conforming where we act in the same way with the group because we value it and want to be apart of it.
Mundane realism
Refers to how an experiment mirrors the real world
Mediation processes
Cognitive factors that influence learning and come between stimulus and response.
Modelling
From the observers perspective modelling is imitating the behaviour of a role model.
Imitation
Copying the behaviours of others
Empiricism
The theory that all knowledge is based on experience derived from the senses.
Neuron
The basic building blocks of the nervous system, neurons are nerve cells that process and transmit messages through electrical and chemical signals.
Sensory Neuron
Carry messages from the peripheral nervous system to the central nervous system. Long dendrites, short axons.
Motor Nueron
Carries messages from the central nervous system to the effectors such as glands and muscles. Short dendrites and long axons.
Relay nueron
Carry messages from sensory neurons to motor neurons and other relay neurons. Short dendrites and short axons.
Synaptic transmission
The process in which neighbouring neurons communicate with each other by sending chemical messages across the synapse.
Neurotransmitter
Brain chemicals released from synaptic vesicles that relay signals across the synapse from one neuron to another. They can be broadly divided in terms of whether they are excitatory or inhibitory.
Excitation
When a neurotransmitter, such as, adrenaline increases the positive charge of the post synaptic neuron. This increases the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on the electrical impulse.
Inhibition
When a neurotransmitter such as serotonin increases the negative charge of the post synaptic neuron. This decreases the likelihood that the neuron will fire and pass on the electrical impulse.
Evolution
The changes in inherited characteristics in a biological population over successive generations
Inference
The process where by cognitive psychologists draw conclusions about the way mental processes operate on the basis of observed behaviour
Internal mental processes
Private operations of the mind such as perception and attention that mediate between stimulus and response.
Schema
A mental frame work of beliefs and expectations that influence cognitive processing. They are developed from experience.
Cognitive neuroscience
The scientific study of biological structures that underpin cognitive processes.
Cognitive approach
This term cognitive has come to mean ‘mental processes’. Is focused on how mental processes affect behaviour.
Biological structure
An arrangement or organisation of parts to form an organ, system or living thing.
Phenotype
The characteristics of an individual determined by both genes and the environment.
Genotype
The particular set of genes a person posses.
Genes
They make up chromosomes and consists of DNA which codes the physical features of an organism and psychological features. Genes are transmitted from parents to off spring.
Biological approach
A perspective that emphasises the importance of physical processes in the body such as genetic inheritance and neutral function.
Neurochemistry
Relating to chemicals in the brain that regulate psychological functioning
