Unit 1 Flashcards
What is Critical Thinking?
Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.
What is Structuralism?
An early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind.
What is Functionalism?
An early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.
What is Behaviorism?
The view that psychology a) should be an objective science and b) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most psychologists agree with a) but not b).
What is Humanistic Psychology?
A historically significant perspective that emphasized human growth potential.
What is Psychology?
The science of behavior and mental processes.
What is Cognitive Neuroscience?
The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).
What is the Nature-Nurture issue?
The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experiences make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today’s science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture.
What is Natural Selection?
The principal that those chance inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.
What is Evolutionary Psychology?
The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.
What is Behavior Genetics?
The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.
What is Culture?
The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next.
What is Positive Psychology?
The scientific study of human functioning, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities thrive.
What are Levels if Analysis?
The differening complementary views from biological, to psychological, to socio-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon.
What is the Biopsychosocial Approach?
The three main levels of analysis - An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and socio-cultural levels of analysis.
