Week 1- Intro and history

Question 1

Identify several fields in which psychologists may work

Answer 1

neuroscience
social-personality
developmental psychology
clinical psychology
evolutionary psychology
behavior genetics

Question 2

outline the philosophical roots in psychology (6 roots, founding fathers)

Answer 2

Animism: All animals and moving objects posses spirits
Dualism: reality can be divided into mind and matter
Pineal Body: site of interaction between mind and body
Empiricism: knowledge obtained through senses, we are not born with knowledge
Rationalism: knowledge through reason and logic
Materialism: reality ca only be known through physical world (material)
-Rene Descartes was father of modern philosophy

Question 3

Describe the roles of psychological research including different types of psychologists and the problems they may study (why is psychology relevant?)

Answer 3

Role: study how we think and act, helps us understand, explain and change our behavior
Types: research, teaching, service provision, administration, consulting
Problems they study: depression, behavior, management of pain, cognitive function
Relevant: medicine, education, business, humanities, law engineering

Question 4

Define empiricism and rationalism

Answer 4

Empiricism: We gain knowledge through experiences and observational facts (born with no knowledge)
Rationalism: Questions can be answered by using reason or logic

Question 5

Explain structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism, humanistic psychology

Answer 5

Structuralism: Science of immediate experience, mind is built from elements of consciousness
-focus on mental processes
-Wundt adopted method
-introspection:looking within to observe stimuli and describe experiences
Functionalism: biological significance of natural processes and behavior
-focuses on processes of conscious activity
-Charles Darwin, William Jones
Behaviorism: Matter for study is observable behavior
Humanistic Psychology: People innately good, emphasizes human experience, choice and creativity

Question 6

Summarize how psychology is relevant to many different professions

Answer 6

medicine: treat mentally
Engineering: we can use what we know about people to create things for them
Law: What can we expect from a person
Business: How to develop better work environments
Education: learn best way to teach
Humanities: figure out ethical issues