Prologue Flashcards
Empiricism
the view that (a) knowledge comes from experience via the senses, and (b) science flourishes through observation and experiment.
Psychology
the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
Structuralism
an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind.
Functionalism
a school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function—how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.
Humanistic Psychology
historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people; used personalized methods to study personality in hopes of fostering personal growth.
Nature-Nurture Issue
: the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.
Natural Selection
the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.
Levels of Analysis
the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon.
Basic Research
pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.
Applied Research
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.
