Scientific Foundations of Psychology Flashcards
structuralism
early school of thought promoted by Wundt and his student Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind
functionalism
early school of thought promtoed by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function - how they allow the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish
experimental psychology
study of behavior and thinking using experiments
behaviorism
view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without referencing mental processes; most psychologists agree with the former but not the latter
humanistic psychology
historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people
cognitive neuroscience
interdisciplinary study of brain activity linked with cognition (perception, thinking, memory, and language)
Mary Whiton Calkins
mentee of William James; memory researcher and first female president of American Psychological Association
Margaret Floy Washburn
first woman to receive psychology PhD; animal behavior research (The Animal Mind)
Dorothea Dix
led reform movement to humane treatment of those with psychological disorders
empiricism
the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation
nature-nurture issue
controversy over the relative contributions that genes (nature) and experience (nurture) make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors
natural selection
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
differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to sociocultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon
clinical psychology
a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders
psychiatry
branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders
testing effect
testing not only assesses learning, but can also improve it
hindsight bias
the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have forseen it
critical thinking
thinking that doesn’t blindly accept arguments and conclusions, but rather examines assumptions, assesses the source, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions
theory
an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events
hypothesis
a testable prediction, often implied by a theory
operational definition
a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations) used in a research study