Psych Midterm 1 Flashcards
Is the scientific study of mental processes and behaviour
Psychology
Ideas seem reasonable
Idea is supported by easily recalled examples
People seek evidence towards the idea
Need for Psychology
Describe: what people do and their mental processes.
Predict: when are people likely most likely to behave or have certain mental processes.
Explain: why do people behave and have certain mental processes.
Control: To change, produce, or suppress behaviour or particular mental processes.
4 Goals of psychology
Metaphysics and Epistemology
Relevant branches of Philosophy
Study of reality. (Are the mind and body the same? Where do mental processes occur in the body?)
Metaphysics
Study of knowledge (Is knowledge mostly innate or is it gained from experience)
Epistemology
Psychology is __________, emphasizing observation and experimentation where possible
Empirical
This group argued that the brain is the organ of mental life.
Greek Hippocrates (460- 377 BC)
This person said “mind and body are the same”
Aristotle (384-322 BC)
This person said- Dualist: Proposed Mind and Body are distinct but interact.
Also proposed the reflex arc to explain behaviour
Rene Descartes (1593-1650)
Mind a blank State: all knowledge comes through the senses.
Tabula Rasa proposed by John Locke (1632 - 1704)(British Empiricists)
Nerves contain specific types of energy. “Specific nerve energies”
Johannes Muller (1801-1858)
Measured the speed of neural impulses. (Action Potential)
Herman Van Helmholtz (1821-1858)
Described mathematical relationships between physical stimulus and perception.
Gustav Fechner (1801-1887)
Pioneered field of psychology as a distinct scientific discipline
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
Where and when was the first psychology laboratory established?
1879 in Leipzig, Germany
This person studied in Cornell University in New York State.
E.B. Titchener
Structural elements of mind. became known as what?
Structuralism (school of thought in Psychology)
Self report method. Trained individuals would report elements of their sensory experience when exposed to a complex stimulus.
Introspection.
A school of thought that considers the purpose of mental processes. What is this called and who was it started by?
Functionalism started by William James (Harvard University)
This type of psychology began in Germany by Max Wertheimer and others
Gestalt Psychology
A school of thought that emphasized the unconscious mind.
Who was this developed by.
Psychoanalytical by Sigmund Freud in Vienna Austria
Until 1920 psychology was defined as the “_____”
Science of mental life
This person was influenced by Russian Physiologist, Ivan Pavlov. He studied at Columbia University.
John B Watson
School of thought that psychology should be an objective science that studies only observable behaviour without reference to mental processes
Behaviourism
From the 1920- 1960s psychology was re defined as the scientific study of ____
Observable Behaviour
This person was an operant psychologist who studied learned behaviour. Argued that behaviour is shaped by experience. He also elaborated on Thorndike’s (1874-1949) Law of effect.
B.F. Skinner
Emphasized the growth potential of healthy people;e and the importance of meeting our needs for love and acceptance.
Humanistic Psychology
The 60’s also gave rise to the cognitive revolution focusing on internal thought processes.
Cognitive Psychology
This person attempted to determine which areas of the brain is responsible for memory, learning and other functions
Karl Lashley (1890-1958)
Clinical and Counselling
Academic
Applied
Three main branches of psychology today
Involves making generalizations from specific observations
Inductive reasoning
Applies general principles to specific cases
Deductive reasoning
This model allows researchers to create and test theories of behaviour.
Hypothetico-deductive model
Are broad generalizations based on specific observations through inductive reasoning
Theories
Are then derived from theories by using deductive reasoning
Hypotheses