Module 1: History and Scope of Psychology Flashcards
Empirical Approach
An evidence-based method that draws on observation and experimentation.
Critical Thinking
Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.
Structuralism
An early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind.
Functionalism
An early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function—how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.
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). B.F. Skinner, a leading behaviorist, rejected introspection and studied how consequences shape behavior.
Humanistic Psychology
A historically significant perspective that emphasized human growth potential.
Psychoanalytic Psychology
Emphasized the ways our unconscious mind and childhood experiences affect our behavior, emphasized by Sigmund Freud.
Cognitive Psychology
The study of mental processes, such as occurs when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and solve problems.
Cognitive Neuroscience
The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).
Definition of Psychology Today
The science of behavior and mental processes.
Nature-Nurture Issue
The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today’s science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture.
Natural Selection
The principle that inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will (in competition with other trait variations) most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.
Evolutionary Psychology
the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.
Behavior Genetics
the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.
Culture
the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.
Positive Psychology
the scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive.
Levels of Analysis
the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon.
Biopsychosocial Approach
an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.
Basic Research
pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.
Applied Research
a scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.
Counseling Psychology
a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being.
Clinical Psychology
a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders.
Psychiatry
a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy.
Community Psychology
a branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups.
Introspection
the examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes
Sigmund Freud
an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies in the psyche through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. Highlighted the importance of unconscious motivations.
Edward Titchener
an English psychologist who studied under Wilhelm Wundt for several years. Titchener is best known for creating his version of psychology that described the structure of the mind: structuralism. He used introspection as a strategy for studying inner sensations.
John B. Watson
an American psychologist who popularized the scientific theory of behaviorism (the study of observable behavior). Watson conducted the “Little Albert” study.
Abraham Maslow
a humanistic psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority,
Carl Rodgers
a humanistic psychologist and noted as one of the founders of psychotherapy research
