Test 1 Flashcards
What is Psychology?
Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
What is the scientific method?
Use of systematic methods to observe the natural world including human behavior
What is behavior?
Everything we do that can be observed?
What are the two types of behavior?
Voluntary and involuntary
What are mental processes?
Thoughts, feelings, and motives experienced privately that cannot be directly observed
What are the four purposes of Psychology?
- Measure and describe
- Predict and control
- Explain and understand
- Change behavior
When did psychology as a scientific discipline emerge?
Late 19th Century
Psyche means
mind
Logos means
the study of
Who argued that the mind and body are completely separate?
Rene Descartes
When did Western Philosophy come of age?
4th and 5th centuries B.C.
Who is the Father of Psychology?
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
What are the two original movements of Psychology?
Structuralism and Functionalism
What is structuralism?
Identifies the structures of the human mind into basic components through introspection
What is functionalism?
Study of the functions and purposes, mental processes that serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment
- focused on human interaction
- mind is flexible and fluid - characterized by constant change in response to continuous flow of information
Who is the Father of American Psychology?
William James (1842-1910)
What was the cognitive revolution?
The study of our mental processes in the broadest sense: thinking, feeling, learning, remembering, making decisions and judgements and so on.
What is neuroscience?
The scientific study of the structure, function, development, genetics, and biologic chemistry of the nervous system.
What is the behavioral approach?
An approach to psychology emphasizing the scientific study of observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants.
What psychologist is associated with Behaviorism?
B.F. Skinner (1904-1990)
What is Psychodynamic approach?
An approach emphasizing unconscious thought, the conflict between biological drives (e.g. sex) and society’s demands, and early childhood experiences.