What is Pysc? Flashcards
(37 cards)
what is psychology?
Psychology is the study of mind and behaviour.
who is Hippocrates?
1st Greek Physician
Reject superstitions, legends and beliefs that caused illness/ abnormal behaviour
Argued: disease was not a Punishment rather illness was an imbalance of the body
Phrenology
The idea that bumps on the skull reflect personality was a fascinating, although inaccurate, attempt to explain variations in human behaviour.
What does the front lobe responsible for?
Personality, memory, language, judgment, motor function, impulse, social and sexual behaviour, aggression
what are the goals of physchology?
- Describe
- Explain
- Predict
- Influence/change behaviour
what does it mean to describe?
Descriptions tell us what we see; what is going on
used as the data for scientist discovery
what does it mean to explain?
Explanations are used to better understand the reasons for the conditions that cause a behaviour or mental process to occur
EXPLANATION is not reached until it is tested, retested and confirmed
what does it mean to predict?
To PREDICT what, when, and how we do it.
Prediction occurs ONCE all other explanations are ruled out
What does it mean to influence?
INFLUENCE or Control or Change the Parts of Human Behaviour that Cause us Pain
Controls are used to manipulate or apply conditions to a desired behaviour or mental process to minimize external causes of the predicted behaviour.
ex. therapy, meds, conselling
structuralism
looked at conscious mind like parts of a car engine
each part uses introspection
inrospection
collaborators would be trained to objectively analyze the content of their own thoughts
titchener
Titchener thought they could quantify the data collected by being exposed to a stimulus and find thought => student of Wundt
functionalism
Purpose and function of mental processes , why do we have to function
Influenced by Charles Darwin = best fit = survival
Functionalists were less interested in describing the parts of a car engine like Structuralism but rather what the engine could do under a variety of conditions
behaviourism
Argued that psychology should study only direct observable behaviour rather than mental processes
environment influences behaviour
gestalt principles
*There are principles that determine how people naturally perceive visual elements and you, are influenced by them
similarity
Items similar tend to be grouped together even though there are many in each photo, they are grouped ex. School of fish
proximity
- Elements that are close together are perceived as a unified group
law of closure
- Seeing the whole
- Gaps are filled in by brain
- Brain ignores the gaps
law of contiuity
*Individual elements that are positioned in a continuous line or a soft curve appear related to one another than elements that are positioned randomly or in a sharp curve
psychoanalysis
Behavioural influences are based on inner, unconscious forces, over which a person has little control
evolutionary perspective
Adaptation in order to survive over the long course of evolution: Darwin’s theory of natural selection or survival of the fittest
biological perspective
Emphasis is on biological processes and genetics when studying behaviour and mental processes.
This approach views behaviour from the perspective of the brain , the nervous system,
and other biological functions
cognitve pyschology
The approach that focuses on how people think, understand, and know about the world (Identifying the Roots of Understanding)
humanistic psychology
this approach suggests that all individuals strive to grow, develop, and be in control of their lives and behaviour and focuses on the uniqueness of human beings. Humans are innately good!
Hierarchy in life = goal is to advance heirarchy
