Psychology's History and Approaches Flashcards
Empiricism
The view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should,therefore, rely on observation and experimentation.
Structuralism
An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind
Functionalism
Encouraged explanations of down to earth emotions, memories, willpower, habits, and moment to moment streams of consciousness
Experimental psychology
Explore behavior and thinking with experiments
Behaviorism
The view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes
Humanistic psychology
Historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people in the individuals potential for personal growth
Cognitive Neuroscience
The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including, perception, thinking, memory, and language)
Psychology
The science of behavior and mental processes
Nature-Nurture Issue
The long-standing 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 culture for analyzing any given phenomenon
Biosychosocial Approach
An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social cultural levels of analysis
Biological Psychology
A branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior
Evolutionary Pyschology
The study of the roots of behavior and mental processes using the principles of natural selection
Psychodynamic Pyschology
A branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders