What is psychology Flashcards
what is psychology
the scientific study of the human mind, mental process, and how we behave.
Defining psychology
psychology is from the greek root word psyche which means the study of the mind or soul.
behavior
is everything that we do that can be observed.
mental process
the hidden thoughts, feelings, and motives that everyone experience privately.
science of psychology
the method of observing and experimenting to describe or predict human behavior.
the goals of psychology
describe, explain, predict, and control.
Describe
meaning to microbe how people think, feel, and act in certain situations.
Explain
meaning the cause of the behavior, the how and why.
Predict
meaning looking at how an individual would behave in certain situations.
Control
meaning how to control the individual’s behavior.
5 Contemporary Perspective
behaviorists, psychoanalytic, humanistic, cognitive, and social culture perspective.
behaviourists perspective
looks for explanations in the individual’s environment that shape and control the person actions.
psychoanalytic perspective
its explanation of behavior lies in powerful unconscious wishes and conflict.
humanistic perspective
explains what people do in terms of their motivation for self.
cognitive perspective
explains behavior by looking at a person’s ways of reasoning and thinking.
social culture
studies the influence of social and culture factors on behavior
Three major philosophical issues in psychology
(1) Freewill vs Determinisim
(2) The mind-brain problem
(3) Nature- Nurture issue
Freewill vs Determinisim
Determinisim: the belief that every event or occurrence within the natural world has a cause or explanation within observable realm.
Freewill: that a person behavior is cause by their independent decisions.
The mind-brain problem
Dualism and Monism the two schools of thought.
Dualism: proposes that the mind is separated from the brain.
Monism: the mind and brain activity are just two terms for the same thing.
Nature- Nurture issue
Nature: the genetic makeup that may cause a behavior
Nurture: the environment that may influence a behavior.
