Prologue Flashcards
Plato/Socrates
Concluded that mind is separable from body and continues after the body dies, nature side
Psychology
The scientific study of behavior and mental process
Aristotle
Student of Plato, claims that the mind is not separable from the body, also that we learn from our experiences in our memories, knowledge is not pre-existent
Descartes
Believed mind is separable from the body, believed the brain held “animal spirits,” he discovered nerve paths, and believed that behavioral problems were within the brain vs being supernatural
Francis Bacon
Introduced the scientific method
John Locke
Wrote “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding” believed that the “mind at birth is a blank slate, which experience writes on”
Empiricism
The view that knowledge originates in experience and so science should therefore rely on observation and experimentation
Wilhelm Wundt
Performed psychology’s first experiment, based on reaction time, and opened the first laboratory
Structuralism
An early form of psychology studies revolving around using introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind
Edward Titchener
Ran tests testing peoples ability to describe basic items with their senses introduced structuralism
Introspection
Looking inward, self-reflective
Functionalism
A newer school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function and how they enable organisms to adapt, survive, and flourish
William James
Wrote “Principles of Psychology,” developed/created functionalism, and let a female study his teachings (which was unheard of)
Mary Calkins
First women to study psychology, earned the P.h.D. but was not awarded the degree until after her death, first female president of APA
Margaret Floyd Washburn
Second lady to study P.h.D in psychology but obtained her degree and wrote the book The Animal Mind
Humanistic Psychology
Emphasized the importance of current environmental influences on our growth potential, and the importance of meeting our needs for love and acceptance
Nature-Nuture Issue
Debate between the view of learning from experience and being boring with knowledge
Natural Selection
Charles Darwin, “the single best idea anyone had”
Levels of Analysis
Looking at the different biological levels of an organism
Evolutionary Perspective
How the natural selection of traits promotes the perpetuation of ones genes
Behavior Perspective
How we learn observable responses
Neuroscience Perspective
How the body and brain enable emotions, memories and sensory experiences
Psychological Perspective
How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts
Behavioral Perspective
How we learn observable responses
Cognitive Perspective
How we encode, process, store, and retrieve information
Social-Cultural Perspective
How behavior and thinking vary across situations
Basic Research
Builds on psychology’s knowledge base
Applied Research
Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
Biological Psychologists
Explore the links between the brain and mind
Developmental Psychologists
Studying our changing abilities from the womb to the tomb
Cognitive Psychologists
Experimenting with how we perceive, think and solve problems
Personality Psychologists
Investigating our persistent traits
Social Psychologists
Exploring how we view and affect one another
Counseling Psychology
A branch that assists people with problems in living and achieving a greater well being besides school, work, or marriage
Clinical Psychology
A branch 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 treatments as well as psychological therapy
