Welcome to the Science of Psychology!

Question 1

Psychology

Answer 1

The scientific investigation of behaviour and mental processes (the study of the mind).

Question 2

Scientific

Answer 2

We test our hunches and intuitions (careful observations and rigorous measurement and analysis).

Question 3

Behaviour

Answer 3

Anything we do (observable phenomenon).

Question 4

Mental Processes

Answer 4

Internal, subjective experiences (sensations, perceptions, thoughts, feelings, and etc.).

Question 5

Socrates and Plato (400 BCE)

Answer 5

The mind is separate from the body (dualists). Mind endures after death. Knowledge is born within us (innate).

Question 6

Aristotle (384-322 BCE)

Answer 6

Mind and body are connected. Knowledge is acquired through experience. Mind as a “blank slate” (tabula rasa).

Question 7

Avicenna (980-1037 CE)

Answer 7

Human intellect at birth is a blank sheet. Knowledge comes from empirical familiarity with objects in this world (aka. experience).

Question 8

Ibn Tufail (1105-1185 CE)

Answer 8

Demonstrated the idea of a blank sheet through an allegorical tale in his book Hayy ibn Yaqzān. Influenced John Locke’s later formula of tabula rasa.

Question 9

The Scientific Revolution

Answer 9

Interest in finding natural laws through science.

Question 10

Renee Descartes (1596-1650)

Answer 10

Mind and body are both distinct and connected. Substance in the blood (“animal spirits”) flows from the brain to the muscles, producing movement.

Question 11

John Locke (1632-1704)

Answer 11

Proposed that the mind and the body could be made of the same substance. Known for the blank slate.

Question 12

James Mill (1773-1836)

Answer 12

Proposed that the mind may be entirely physical and therefore follows laws.

Question 13

Hermann Von Helmholtz (1849)

Answer 13

Demonstrated that nerves take time to transmit. Done by stimulating a frog’s nerves at various distances. When the stimulus was further away, the muscle contracted slower.

Question 14

Structuralism

Answer 14

Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Bradford Titchener. Examined the individual structures of the mind through introspection. Reduce overall perception into simple sensory constituents (breaks done cognition into elements).

Question 15

Functionalism

Answer 15

William James. Focus on how mental and behavioural processes function. What purpose do the activities of the mind serve? How can this help us survive as a species?

Question 16

Behaviour or Mental Processes

Answer 16

1) Biological Influences
2) Psychological Influences
3) Sociocultural Influences

Question 17

Biological Influences

Answer 17

Genetic predispositions, evolutionary adaptations, brain anatomy and function.

Question 18

Psychological Influences

Answer 18

Perception, cognitive processing, learned expectations, motivation, emotional responses.

Question 19

Sociocultural Influences

Answer 19

Interpersonal relationships, peer and group influences, cultural, societal, and family expectations.

Question 20

Empiricism

Answer 20

Knowledge about the world is based on careful observation, not common sense.

Question 21

Determinism

Answer 21

All events (including human behaviour) are governed by lawful, cause-and-effect relationships.