Module 1 Flashcards
What is psychology?
The science of behavioral and mental processes
What is involved in critical thinking
evaluating evidence, appraising the source, assessing conclusions, and examining our own assumptions
What consists of the scientific attitude?
curiosity, skepticism, and humility
Curiosity questions
Does it work?
When put to the test, can its predictions be confirmed?
Skepticism questions
How do you know?
What do you mean?
Must be able to be surprised and follow new ideas
Humility
What event defined the start of scientific psychology?
Began in Germany in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory.
Why did introspection fail as a method for understanding how the mind works?
people’s self-reports varied, depending on experience, intelligence, and verbal abitlity.
What is the imperial approach?
It is an evidence-based method that draws on observation and experimentation.
What is critical thinking?
thinking that doesn’t blindly accept arguments and conclusions.
What is structuralism?
A school of thought that used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind.
An early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener~ introspection to reveal structure.
structuralism
What is functionalism?
a school of thought that explored how mental and behavioral processes function~ how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.
An early school of thought promoted by Darwin~ mental and behavioral processes function.
functionalism
What is behaviorism?
The view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. (Most psychologists today agree with 1 but not with 2).
It is a historically significant perspective that emphasizes human growth potential.
Humanistic psychology
The study of mental processes, such as occurring when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and solve problems.
Cognitive psychology
The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition.
Cognitive neuroscience
The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experiences make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture.
nature-nurture issue
Nurture~ the process of caring for and encouraging the growth or development of someone or something.
The principle that inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.
Natural selection
What is evolutionary psychology?
The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind using principles of natural selection.
What is behavior genetics?
The study of relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.
The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.
Culture
The scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive.
Positive psychology
the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon.
Levels of analysis.
an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and sociocultural levels of analysis
Biopsychosocial approach
What is basic research?
Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.
What is applied research?
A scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.
What do counseling psychologist do?
They assist people with problems in living and achieving greater well-being.
What do clinical psychologist do?
They study, assess, and treat people with psychological disorders such as mental, emotional, or behavioral.
What do community psychologist do?
They study how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups.
What does a psychiatrist do?
They deal with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy.
Who established the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany?
Wilhelm Wundt
What does APA stand for?
American Psychological Association
Who used introspection to search for the mind’s structural elements?
Edward Bradford Titchener
Who was the first woman to receive a psychology Ph.D and synthesized animal behavior research in ‘The Animal Mind’?
Margaret Floy Washburn
Who was the leading behaviorist who rejected introspection and studied how consequences shape behavior?
B. F. Skinner
Who showed that fear can be learned?
John B. Watson and Rosalie Rayner
Who had controversial ideas that theorist and therapists have used to influence humanity’s self-understanding?
Sigmund Freud
What was the view that emphasized the ways our unconscious mind and childhood experiences affect our behavior?
Freudian psychology (psychoanalytic psychology)
Who argued that natural selection shapes behaviors as well as bodies?
Charles Darwin
