Unit 1- Nature of psych Flashcards
Define psychology
psychology can be defined as the scientific study of human and animal behaviour and mental processes.
How do psychologists explain behaviour?
They describe the behaviour by becoming familiar with the things they do. The behaviour must be categorized and measured.
What are causal events?
Events that cause other events including behaviour
Who was the first person to call himself a psychologist?
Wilhem Wundt
When did psychology begin?
In the late 19th century (1879)
How did Wundt define psychology and what did he study exactly?/ Structuralism.
“the science of immediate experience” The subject matter was the structure of the mind. Wilhem’s system of experimental psychhology was emphasised introspective analysis of sensation and perception.
What is functionalism and who created it?
William James an American Psychologist. The study of how the mind works to enable an organism adapt to and function the environment. He believed it was important to understand to understand the fluid and personal nature of consciousness.
What is Behaviourism ?
is the study of the relation between people’s environment and their behaviours without hypothetical events occurring within their heads It is the only proper subject matter for scientific study in psychology.
Edward thorndike role in behaviourism
the Law of Effect stimuli that occur as a consequence of a response can increase or decrease the likelihood of making that response again.
Ivan Pavlov role in behaviourism
showed that through experience an animal can make a response to a stimuli that had never caused that response before. This could explain cause and effect relations.
J.B Watson role in behaviourism
argued that nearly all behaviour is a result of conditioning and the environment shapes behaviour by reinforcing specific habits.
GESTALT PSYCH
The theorists main interest was perception. They believed that perceptual experiences depend on the patterns is formed by stimuli and the organization of the experience.
Psycho-analysis/psycho-dynamic
developed by sigmund freud at the beginning of the 1900s. Freud focused on the unconscious- the thoughts attitudes impulses wishes motivations and emotions of which we are unaware. He believed that although they were unconscious they continued to influence our conscious thoughts feelings and actions,
Three forms of therapy
Hypnosis, Free Association and Dream Analysis
Development of psych in the 21st century- Humanistic Psych
is an approach to the study of human behaviour that emphasizes human experience,choice, creativity, self- realization and positive growth. It insists that human nature goes beyond environmental influences and that the conscious.
Two psychologists for humanistic psych
Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers
Biological perspective
seeks to specify the neurobiological processes that underlie behaviour and mental processes. This attempts to relate overt behaviours of human and other animals to electrical and chemical events taking place inside the body. Because of advances in neurobiology we can study details of nerve cells, discover their inter connections, analyze the chemicals they communicate with, produce drugs that enhance block or mimic the chemicals affecting the internal structures of the human brain.
What is an Approach?
An approach or perspective in Psych is an particular view as to why and how, it is, we think, feel and behave as we do.
Different Approaches in Psych
Behavioural- is interested in how our behaviour results from the stimuli both in the environment and within ourselves.
Biological- believes us to be as a consequence of our genetics and physiology. It is the only approach in psychology that examines thoughts, feelings and behaviours from a physical point of view.
Cultural- focuses on the role of social and cultural factors and especially on differences between cultural, ethnic, gender, sexual preference and racial groups.
Cogntive-focuses on our information processes of perception, attention, language , memory and thinking and how they influence our feelings and behaviours.
Psychoanalytical/dynamic perspective - an orientation toward understanding behaviour in terms of unconscious motives stemming from sexual and aggressive impulses.
Subjectivist perspective- an orientation toward understanding behaviour and mental processes, in terms of the subjective realities people activity construct.
Evolutionary- focus on how evolution has shaped the mind and behaviour
Developmental- is the scientic study of how progessive psychological changes that occur in human being as they age.
Major subfields of psych
Biological- concerned with human development and the factors that shape behaviour from birth to old age.
Social- how we perceive the social world and how their beliefs, emotions and behaviours are influenced by the presence ( real or imagined) of others.
Personality- study the thoughts, emotions and behaviours that define an individual’s personal style of interaction with the world.
Clinical and counseling- apply psychological principles to the diagnosis and treatment of emotional and behavioural to the diagnosis and treatment of emotional and behavioural, problems, including mental illness, drug addiction and marital and family conflict.
