The Story Of Psychology Flashcards
What is Psychology?
- The study of how the mind works and how it influences behaviour.
- The nature vs nurture and holistic vs reductionist debates are two debates that underpin the whole course.
What do psychologists do?
- Psychologists are trying to explain human behaviour.
- They develop theories about what makes humans tick and work out ways to test their theories to see if they are true or not.
What is holism?
To explain human behaviour we should look at the whole individual, all factors and how they interact. Holism allows us to get the essence of the person- what makes each individual unique but lacks personality.
What is reductionism?
To explain human behaviour we should reduce humans down to their smaller (constituent) parts and look at these factors in isolation. Reductionism is the scientific approach as it allows us to establish cause and effect and test our theories. However, it may lose some richness of human experience as it assumes all people are broadly the same.
What is introspection?
The first systematic experimental attempt to study the mind by breaking unconscious awareness into basic structures of thoughts, images, and sensations (your own thoughts to explain your own behaviour). We can explain all behaviour by looking into ourselves.
What is behaviourism?
A way of explaining behaviour in terms of what is observable and in terms of learning. It looks at the influence of experience and the environment on our behaviour and how we learn behaviours. Our personalities are built by our experiences.
What is the social learning theory?
It explains behaviour including direct and indirect reinforcement, through the learning theory and cognitive factors. How we learn through other people.
What is the cognitive learning theory?
The study of mental processes in psychology in a scientific way. The approach focuses on thinking, including our beliefs, feelings, attitudes and expectations and the effect that these have on behaviour. Our minds are compared to a computer.
What is the biological approach?
The biological approach that focuses on the importance of physical processes and explains behaviour in terms of physical causes in our brains and bodies e.g. genetic inheritance and neural function.
What is the psychodynamic approach?
This approach was put forward by Freud and our behaviour is directed by intuition and our unconscious mind rather than science.
What is the humanistic approach?
It looks at an individual holistically by looking at the whole person. It includes looking at self-concept and self-esteem, emphasising the importance of making our own choices.
