Prologue Flashcards
the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
Psychology
the view that (a) knowledge comes from experience via the senses, and (b) science flourishes through observation and experiment.
Empiricism
an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind.
Structuralism
a school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function—how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.
Functionalism
historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people; used personalized methods to study personality in hopes of fostering personal growth.
Humanistic Psychology*
the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.
Nature-Nurture Issue
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.
Natural Selection
the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon.
Levels of Analysis*
an integrated perspective that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.
Biopsychosocial Approach*
pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.
Basic Research
scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.
Applied Research
a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being.
Counseling Psychology
a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders.
Clinical Psychology
a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy
Psychiatry
How the natural selection of traits promotes the perpetuation of ones genes
Evolutionary perspective
How the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences
Biological/neuroscience perspective
How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts
Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic perspective
How we learn observable responses
Behavioral perspective
How we encode, process, store, and retrieve information
Cognitive perspective
How behavior and thinking varying across situations and cultures
Socio-cultural perspective
Explore how we view and affect one another
Social psychologists
Investigating our persistent traits
Personality psychologists
Experimenting with how we perceive, think, and solve problems
Cognitive psychologists
Study our changing abilities from womb to tomb
Developmental psychologists
