Term Test 1 Flashcards
What is Psychology?
Psychology is the scientific study of the mind and behaviour.
What other disciplines does psychology share its roots in?
Philosophy and Physiology.
What are philosophers interested in, when it comes to psychology?
They are interested in the mind, asking questions like “are the mind and body one” or “are we born with knowledge or do we acquire it as we grow up?”
What are physiologists concerned with?
Physiologists are often concerned with thought, sensation and perception etc, and the body and brain.
How do physiologists and philosophers differ?
Philosophy used psychological subjects and no scientific of empirical research methods, whereas physiologists use a scientific approach.
Who was Wilhelm Wundt?
Wundt was known as the father of psychology.
What contributions did Wundt bring to psychology?
- He defined psychology as a separate discipline from philosophy or physiology.
- He created the first psychology lab in the world
How did Wundt define psychology?
He defined it as the study of conscious experience.
Wundt was responsible for developing _________.
Structuralism
Who was G. Stanley Hall?
He was responsible for bringing psychology to America. He made the first psychology lab and journal in America, and he helped with the formation of APA.
Who was Rene Descartes?
He was a philosopher who believed in dualism.
What is dualism?
The theory that the mind and body are two separate entities, and that the mind/soul is immaterial (meaning it cannot be measured or observed). The body is material, including memory, and perception, which can be measured.
What is philosophical materialism?
The view that all mental phenomena is reducible to physical phenomena. Everything can be explained by the material/physical world.
Religions tend to side with_____?
Dualism
What is philosophical realism?
Realists believe that perceptions of the physical world are produced entirely by information from the sensory organs. When you look at something, the brain is using ONLY that information to produce your perception of the book in front of you. Essentially, the brain is like a camera.
What is philosophical idealism?
Idealists believe that perceptions of the physical world are made from the brains interpretation from sensory organs. According to idealists, light is bouncing off the page, hitting your eye, and your brain is using that information, PLUS all the information it has about the world to produce perception. Essentially, the brain is painting a picture of what it believes is out there.
Modern psychology sides with_____?
Idealists.
What is philosophical empiricism?
The view that all knowledge is ONLY acquired through experience.
What is philosophical nativism?
The view that some knowledge is innate rather than acquired. It argues that human beings must be born with some basic knowledge of the world.
Modern psychology tends to side with_____?
Nativists.
Who was Helmholtz?
A physiologist, who advocated a purely empirical approach,
What research did Helmholtz do?
He measured the reaction time of nerve impulses, to determine how long it takes to transmit a signal.
What is structuralism?
An approach to psychology that attempted to isolate and analyze the mind in its basic elements. Ex: “What elements make up consciousness?
Structuralists take inspiration from_______?
Chemistry
How did structuralists conduct research?
Introspection.
What is introspection?
The analysis of subjective experience by trained observers. Essentially, you ask people to describe things in great detail without the use of outside knowledge.
What were the main flaws with introspection?
Stimulus error - you could NOT apply outside knowledge
Not objectively verifiable - Since this is a subjective research method, you cannot verify an individuals senses.
What did William James think of structuralism?
James believed that psychologists should worry less about what mental life was like, and more about what it was for.
What did William James propose?
He believed in functionalism. An approach to psychology that emphasized the adaptive significance of mental processes. What are the purposes of these mental behaviours and why do they exist.
William James employed a ________?
stream of consciousness method.
What types of research methods did functionalists employ?
Introspection, recording and measurement, objective studies, anatomy and physiology.
What is a similarity between functionalists and structuralists?
They both look solely at consciousness. Structuralists focus on the structure of the mind, while functionalists put forth the understanding and purpose of the mind,
What did Freud contribute to psychology?
- He put forth the idea of the unconscious - things we are unaware of can influence our behaviour.
- He founded the psychoanalytic school
- Introduced talk therapy as a method for patients to speak to a professional to solve a problem
What is behaviourism?
Approach to psychology that restricts scientific inquiry to observable behaviour.
What did Watson believe?
He was a behaviourist that believed we should limit our studying to the things people do, rather than the things they claim to think and feel. Behaviourists neither looked at consciousness or unconsciousness, but rather they looked from the outside.
What is methodological behaviourism?
Watson was responsible for founding this type of behaviourism. He believed that psychology should be a science. In order for it to be scientific, observations must be verifiable through objective observation.
He believed in stimulus-response pairs.
What is radical behaviourism and who founded it?
Radical behaviourism was founded by B.F. Skinner. Skinner believed that internal events do exist, but there is no need to study them. He thought you could predict behaviour externally, completely dismissing internal events.
- He believed in the principal of reinforcement: we repeat behaviours that lead to positive outcomes, and do not repeat behaviours that lead to negative or neutral outcomes.
- He also thought that free will was an illusion, since internal thoughts do not influence us.
What did humanists believe?
Humanists believe that behaviourism and psychoanalysis is dehumanizing. They believe psychoanalysis is ruled by primitive, sexual urges, and behaviourism denies the existence of free will, and the importance of thoughts and beliefs.
What are the three main focuses of humanists?
- Free will (control over behaviour)
- Rational (humans behave in rational ways)
- Personal growth and development (continue to make strides in their personal lives)
Sometimes people think that humanists are too_____?
happy go lucky
Contributions of humanists include?
- Treatments for physiological problems and disorders
2. Self-determination and personal growth
What do cognitive psychologists believe?
They believe that we must study mental events to understand behaviour.
What is cognition?
Mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge.
How does cognitive psychology relate to physiology?
Relates in the sense that we look for the interrelations between the mind, body and behaviour.
Types of things we look for:
1) what different parts of the brain do
2) stimulating parts of the brain for emotional response
3) processing visual signals
Who was Hebb?
A famous psychologist who came up with the idea of cell assemblies. Neural networks consistently fire together.
What is cognitive neuroscience?
The study of the relationship between the brain and the mind (especially in humans).
What is behavioural neuroscience?
The study of the relationship between brain and behaviour (especially in non-human animals).
What does cultural psychology focus on?
Studies how culture influences mental life.
What does evolutionary psychology focus on?
Studies the ways in which the human mind have been shaped by natural selection.
What does developmental psychology focus on?
Studies the ways in which psychological phenomenon change over lifespans (i.e., how we see the world.)
What does social psychology focus on?
The study of causes and consequences of sociality.
1.) studying how people see beliefs, stereotypes, identities, intentions etc.
What is the scientific method?
A procedure that uses empirical research and evidence to establish facts.