Psychology Terms

Question 1

behaviorism

Answer 1

Psychological school of thought that focuses entirely on observable behaviors. Does not presume the existence of a mind independent of observable behavior.

Question 2

classical (Pavlovian) conditioning

Answer 2

Form of conditioning first discussed by Russian scientist Ivan Pavlov in which a neutral, conditioned stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus until the conditioned stimulus prompts the same response as the unconditioned stimulus.

Question 3

collective unconscious

Answer 3

In Jungian psychology, a part of the unconscious mind, shared by a society, a people, or all humankind, that is the product of ancestral experience and contains such concepts as science, religion, and morality.

Question 4

ego

Answer 4

In Freudian theory, the conscious component of the psyche that attempts to incorporate the urges of the id with the limitations of conscience and the superego.

Question 5

id

Answer 5

In Freudian theory, the division of the psyche that is totally unconscious and serves as the source of instinctual impulses and demands for immediate satisfaction of primitive needs.

Question 6

operant conditioning

Answer 6

A form of conditioning in which the operator acts independently and desirable behaviors are reinforced.

Question 7

phenomenology

Answer 7

A method of inquiry based on inspection of one’s own conscious thought processes.

Question 8

superego

Answer 8

In Freudian theory, the division of the unconscious that is formed through the internalization of moral standards of parents and society; censors and restrains the ego.