Psychology Test Flashcards
What year was experimental psychology?
17th - 19th century
When was Rene Descartes, and why is he important?
1596 - 1650
“Cogito ergo sum” = “I think, therefore I am”
Idea of dualism, believed two substances made up the world; the mind and the body
First person to speak about the mind
STATED THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MIND
When was John Locke and why is he important?
1632 - 1704
Theory of EMPIRICISM = experience is learnt
This theory formed the basis of behaviour approach
When was Charles Darwin, and why is he important?
1809 - 1882
Said life was material
Theory of natural selection
Theory of EVOLUTION formed the basis of biological approach
What does “Psyche” mean
The mind
What does “Logos” mean?
Study of
When was Wilhelm Wunt?
1879
4 facts about Wilhelm Wunt?
1) First ever psych lab and first ever journal and textbook
2) Used the method of introspection
3) Used structuralism
4) His samples were himself and his co-workers
What does introspection mean?
Examining and considering your own ideas, thoughts, and feelings instead of talking to other people about them
What does Structuralism mean?
Isolating the different parts
What scientific methods did Wundt use and why?
Controlled conditions using the same stimulus (ticking metronome)
Standardised instructions for all ppts as this allows replication
What was a strength to Wundts method of introspection?
He used the scientific method of a controlled environment and, therefore, he influenced later scientific approaches to psychology
What was a weakness to Wundts method of introspection?
Subjective data - this was unscientific as we can’t create general laws of behaviour from subject data
What is subjective data?
Information provided by the patient focuses on perceptions and feelings
Why is John B. Watson important?
He created the idea of behaviourism
He questioned the value of introspection (subjective)
he created more scientific methods:
- Only study phenomena that could be observed and measured
- Controlled lab experiments
When and what is cognitive psychology?
1950s
Influenced by the digital revolution at the time (found similarities of the mind & computers)
Tested their theories about memory & attention with experiments
Reinforced the scientific aspect of psychology
When and what is biological psychology?
1980s
Advances in technology made psychology more scientific
We can now see biological processes happening inside the body
Genetic testing has allowed us to see the relationship between genes and behaviour
When and what is pyschodynamics?
1909
- Developed by Sigmund Feud
- Forces outside a person’s awareness explains why they behave a certain way
When and what is humanism?
1950s
- Focuses on human beings rather than supernatural or divine insight
- Known as studies humansas
When and what is social learning?
1960s
- Developed by Albert Bandurou
- Came up with the conclusion that prior learning theories focused too much on condition
When and what is cognitive neuroscience?
Today’s approach
- Studies the biological processes that underline human cognition
- Looks at how the brain functions and achieves performance
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association
What is conditioning?
The process by which specific types of experience make certain behaviours more or less likely
What experiment did Pavlov do?
He used different stimuli and watched how the dog reacted to them in association with food due to classical conditioning
