Psychology: The study of mental processes and behavior Flashcards
Psychology
.The scientific investigation of mental processes (Thinking, remembering, and feeling) and behavior. biology, psychological experience, and cultural factors.
Biopsychology
The physical basis of psychological phenomena as motivation, emotion, and stress
Localization of function
The extent to which different parts of the brain control different functions - a major issue in behavioral neuroscience.
Psychological anthropologists
Study psychological phenomena in other cultures by observing people in their natural setting.
Cross-cultural psychology
Tests psychological hypothesis in different cultures
Free will versus determination
Do we choose our actions or is behavior determined by things outside our control
Mind-body problem
The question of how mental and physical events interact
Introspection
The process of looking inward and reporting on ones conscious experience.
Structuralism
The study of the structure of consciousness - experimentation the only appropriate method for a science of science of psychology.
Paradigm
A broad system of theoretical assumptions that a scientific community uses to make sense of it’s domain of study.
Perspectives
Schools of thought
Psychodynamics
Dynamic interplay of mental processes - Freud’s theories.
Psychodynamic perspective
Three key principles - 1. peoples actions are determine by the way thoughts, feelings, and wishes are connected in their minds. 2. many of these mental processes occur outside of conscious awareness. 3. These mental processes may conflict with one another leading to compromises among competing motives.
Behaviorist perspective
The way objects or events in the environment (stimuli) come to control behavior through learning.
Cartesian dualism
dual spheres of body and mind
Humanistic perspective
Focus on the uniqueness of the individual.
Empathy
The idea to treat people with respect and warmth, stressing every individuals freedom o make their own choices in life.
Ideal self
Our expectations
Person centered
Helping individuals understand their unique frame of reference and helping individuals achieve their desire to be their best.
Self actualization
The idea that people are motivated to reach their full potential
Self concept
Our achievements.
Cognitive perspective
The focus on the way people perceive, process, and retrieve information.
Cognition
Thought - dominates the study of psychology
Information processing
The environment provides inputs, which are transformed, stored and retrieved using various mental programs.
Rationalist philosophers
Emphasis on the role of reason in creating knowledge - the mind can arrive at knowledge independently of experience (Descartes)
Evolutionary perspective
Many behavioral tendencies in humans evolved out of a need to survive and rear healthy offspring.
Nature-nurture controversy
nurture - behavior is primarily learned and not biologically ordained. nature - similarities between humans and other animals, shared tendencies rooted in biology.
Natural selection
The mechanism that accounts for evolution.
Adaptive traits
Characteristics that help organisms to adjust and survive in their environment.
Ethology
The study of animal behavior from an evolutionary and biological perspective
Sociobiology
Explores possible evolutionary and biological bases of human social behavior.
Evolutionary psychologists
Psychologist who apply evolutionary thinking to a wide range of psychological phenomena - the heritability of mental and behavioral tendencies as well as physical traits.
Reproductive success
The capacity to survive and produce offspring
Inclusive fitness
Not only the individuals reproductive success but influence on the success of genetically related individuals.
Empiricism
Systematic observation, ideally experimental
