Unit I - Psychology's History & Approaches Flashcards
Covers contents in Unit I
Psychology uses the tools of science to …. behavior and mental processes
Describe
explain
predict
control
Why is the “rat always right”?
Researchers have to accept the results of the study even if the hypothesis has been proven wrong.
What are the three key elements of the scientific attitude?
curiosity
skepticism
humility
What is critical thinking?
Examining assumptions Appraising source Discerning biases Evaluating evidence Assessing conclusions
What did Socrates & Plato claim?
Mind & body are separate
Mind continues after death
Knowledge is innate
What did Aristotle claim?
Need data
Knowledge comes from observation
Knowledge is NOT innate
What is Rene Descartes claim?
Agreed with Socrates & Plato
Dissected animals
Fluid in brain flows through nerves to muscles causing movement
Who was Francis Bacon?
Founder of modern science
Empiricism
Who was John Locke?
Tabula rasa
Mind at birth is a blank slate on which experience writes
What is empiricism?
Idea that knowledge is the result of experience
Scientific knowledge developed through observation & experimentation
Wilhelm Wundt
1st psychology lab
Wanted to measure “atoms of the mind”
Wundt’s experimental design question
subjects asked to press telegraph key ASA hearing vs aware of sounds
Wundt’s experimental design results
Hearing in 1/10th second
Aware in 2/10th second
Edward Bradford Tichener
Introduced structuralism to study mind
Used introspection
What is structuralism?
Early school focused on identifying elements of thought/mind structures
What is introspection?
Process of looking inward to directly observe one’s own psychological processes
Charles Darwin
Natural selection of mental & physical traits
Adaptive evolution
influenced William James
William James
Introduced functionalism
Principles of Psychology
What is functionalism?
Assumes a purpose
Structures of consciousness must serve a function
Mary Whiton Calkins
Student of William James
Denied PhD. due to gender
Memory researcher
First female president of APA
Margaret Floy Washburn
Student of Edward Titchener
first female to earn Ph.D in psychology
The Animal Mind
Two founders behavorism
B.F.Skinner
John B. Watson
What is behaviorism?
Psych should be objective
Observable behavior is more important than mental processes
Sigmund Freud
Developed influential treatment - psychoanalysis
Personality theory
What is Freudian psychology?
Unconscious forces & childhood experiences affect behavior and mental processes
Abraham Maslow
Carl Rogers
Humans strive to reach their full potential
Unconditional love
Personal growth
What is humanism?
“third force” in psychology
Rejected both behaviorism/psychoanalytic psychology
Study potential & personal growth
What is cognitive psychology?
study of mental processes
What is cognitive neuroscience?
Interdisciplinary study of brain activity linked with cognition
What is psychology?
Scientific study of behavior and mental processes of humans & other animals
Why is psychology scientific?
Uses empiricism & scientific method to critically evaluate evidence
What is behavior?
Any observable & measurable action taken by person or animal
What are mental processes?
Internal, subjective experiences inferred from behavior
How does contemporary psychology
focus on cognition, biology and experience?
Nature-Nurture Issue
Genes
Experience
What is nature?
Behaviors and mental process occur because they are inborn or innate
What is nurture?
Behaviors and mental processes occur as a result of experience or the environment
Charles Darwin and Nature v. Nurture
Argued for nature in his book On the Origin of the Species
Traits and behaviors that provide a survival or reproductive advantage are naturally selected
What is evolutionary psychology?
Study of how behaviors and mental processes present in the species today exist due to natural selected