Midterm Flashcards
What is psychology?
Using the scientific approach to understand how we process information acquired by our senses and experience emotions, and how those affect our actions; the scientific study of behaviour, thought and experience, and how they can be affected by physical, mental, social and environmental factors
What is the principle of parsimony?
The simplest (most parsimonious) of all competing explanations of a phenomenon should be the one we accept
What does ‘falsifiable’ mean?
The hypothesis is precise enough that it could be proven false
What is psuedoscience?
An idea that is presented as science but does not actually utilize basic principles of scientific thinking/procedures
What is scientific literacy?
The ability to understand, analyze, and apply scientific information
What is the biopsychosocial method?
A means of explaining behaviour as a product of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors
What is a hypothesis?
A testable prediction about processes that can be observed and measured
What is a theory?
An explanation for a broad range of observations that also generates new hypotheses and integrates numerous findings into a coherent whole; not the same as opinions/beliefs, are not equally plausible, and the quality is not determined by the # of people who believe it
What does ‘critical thinking’ mean?
Critical thinking involves exercising curiosity and skepticism when evaluating the claims of others, and with our own assumptions and beliefs; question, avoid emotion, avoid over simplification, tolerate ambiguity, compare
What is the scientific method?
A way of learning about the world through collecting observations, developing theories to explain them, and using the theories to make predictions
What is determinism?
The belief that all events are governed by lawful, cause-and-effect relationships
What is functionalism?
The study of the purpose and function of behaviour and conscious experience; William James
What is psychoanalysis?
A psychological approach that attempts to explain how behaviour and personality are influenced by unconscious processes
What is Gestalt psychology?
An approach emphasizing that psychologists need to focus on the whole of perception and experience, rather than its parts
What is materialism?
The belief that humans, and other living things, are composed exclusively of physical matter
What is psychophysics?
The study of the relationship between the physical world and the mental representation of that world
What is behaviourism?
An approach that dominated the first half of the 20th century of North American psychology and had a singular focus on studying only observable behaviour, with little to no reference to mental events or instincts as possible influences on behaviour; B.F. Skinner
What is empiricism?
A philosophical tenet that knowledge comes through experience
What is humanistic psychology?
It focuses on the unique aspects of each individual human, each person’s freedom to act, his or her rational thought, and the belief that humans are fundamentally different from other animals
What is dualism?
The belief that there are properties of humans that are not material (a mind or soul separate from the body)
What is clinical psychology?
The field of psychology that concentrates on the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders
What is cognitive psychology?
A modern psychological perspective that focuses on processes such as memory, thinking, and language
What is zeitgeist?
It refers to a general set of beliefs of a particular culture at a specific time in history
What is structuralism?
An attempt to analyze conscious experience by breaking it down into basic elements, and to understand how these elements work together; not valid/reliable; Titchener