Definitions and Concepts in Psychology

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Questions and Answers

Define Psychology?

The scientific study of mind and behavior.

Define Mind?

Private inner experience

Define Behavior?

Observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals.

Who was William James?

<p>First to take a scientific approach to psychology.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Structuralism?

<p>Analyze the mind by breaking it down to basic components.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Functionalism?

<p>Study how mental abilities allow people to adapt to their environments.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Nativism?

<p>The philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Philosophical Empiricism?

<p>The philosophical view that all knowledge is acquired through experience.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What does Tabula Rosa mean?

<p>Blank Slate</p> Signup and view all the answers

What is Rene' Descartes known for?

<p>Argued for dualism between mind and body.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What did Thomas Hobbes argue?

<p>Argued against Descartes.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What did Franz Joseph Gall create?

<p>Created Phrenology.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Phrenology?

<p>A now defunct theory that specific mental abilities and characteristics are localized in specific regions of the brain.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Pierre Flourens?

<p>Surgically removed brain pieces; argued against Gall's methods.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Paul Broca?

<p>Studied brain damaged patients to link localization to ability.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Physiology?

<p>The study of biological processes, especially in the human body.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What did Hermann von Helmholtz study?

<p>Studied human reaction time; estimated the length of nerve impulses.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Stimulus?

<p>Sensory input from the environment.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Reaction Time?

<p>The amount of time taken to respond to a specific stimulus.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Wilhelm Wundt?

<p>Opened the first psychological laboratory.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Consciousness?

<p>A person's subjective experience of the world and the mind.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Introspection?

<p>The subjective observation of one's own experience.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Edward Titchner?

<p>Studied under Wundt; focused on identifying basic elements of the mind.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who inspired James?

<p>Charles Darwin.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Natural Selection?

<p>The features of an organism that help it survive and reproduce are more likely than other features to be passed on to subsequent generations.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was G. Stanley Hall?

<p>Set up the first psychological laboratory in North America; focused on development and education.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who studied hysteric patients through hypnosis?

<p>Jean-Martin Charcot and Pierre Janet.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Hysteria?

<p>A temporary loss of cognitive or motor functions, usually as a result of emotionally upsetting experiences.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What did Sigmund Freud propose?

<p>Hysteria caused from painful unconscious experiences.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Unconscious?

<p>The part of the mind that operates outside of awareness but influences conscious thoughts, feelings, and actions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Psychoanalytic Theory?

<p>Approach to understand human behavior that emphasizes the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Psychoanalysis?

<p>A therapeutic approach that focuses on bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness to better understand psychological disorders.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who followed but broke away from Freud?

<p>Carl Jung and Alfred Adler.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Abraham Maslow?

<p>Pioneered a new movement in Humanistic Psychology.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Humanistic Psychology?

<p>An approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Behaviorism?

<p>An approach that advocates that psychologists restrict themselves to the scientific study of objectively observable behavior.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was John Watson?

<p>Goal to predict and control behavior through the study of observable behavior.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Margaret Washburn?

<p>Goal to predict and control behavior through the study of observable behavior.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Ivan Pavlov?

<p>Studied the physiology of digestion and founded classical conditioning (Stimulus-Response).</p> Signup and view all the answers

What else is Stimulus-Response known as?

<p>S-R</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Response?

<p>An action or physiological change elicited by a stimulus.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was B.F. Skinner?

<p>Developed the 'Skinner Box' or conditioning chamber to explain learning, and founded operant conditioning.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Reinforcement?

<p>The consequences of a behavior that determine whether it will be more likely that the behavior will occur again.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the flaw with Behaviorism?

<p>Behaviorism ignored mental processes and evolutionary history.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Illusions?

<p>Errors of perception, memory, or judgment in which subjective experience differs from objective reality.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Max Wertheimer?

<p>Founded induced motion phenomena. Created Gestalt Psychology.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Gestalt Psychology?

<p>A psychological approach that emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Sir Fredric Bartlett?

<p>Discovered that memory recall is flawed in contrast to Hermann Ebbinghaus.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Jean Piaget?

<p>Studied cognitive development (errors) in children.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Kurt Lewin?

<p>Studied the construal of stimuli; topology as a mathematical model of subjective experience.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Cognitive Psychology?

<p>The scientific study of mental processes, including perception, thought, memory, and reasoning.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Donald Broadbent?

<p>Discovered attention has limited capacity.</p> Signup and view all the answers

How many pieces of info can the brain hold?

<p>7 pieces (give or take 2).</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Karl Lashley?

<p>Lesioned rats' brains to unsuccessfully localize learning; led to physiological psychology.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Behavioral Neuroscience?

<p>An approach to psychology that links psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily processes.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Cognitive Neuroscience?

<p>A field that attempts to understand the links between cognitive processes and brain activity.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Evolutionary Psychology?

<p>A psychological approach that explains mind and behavior in terms of the adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over time by natural selection.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are humans?

<p>Habit-making, pattern-creating, social creatures/animals.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What influences Psychology?

<p>The presence and absence of other people.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Social Psychology?

<p>A subfield of psychology that studies the causes and consequences of interpersonal behavior.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Solomon Asch?

<p>Studied 'mental chemistry' and obedience in lab experiments.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Gorgon Allport?

<p>Studied stereotyping, prejudice, and racism as perceptual errors.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Cultural Psychology?

<p>The study of how cultures reflect and shape the psychological processes of their members.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Absolutionism?

<p>Culture makes little difference on psychology.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Define Relativism?

<p>Psychological phenomena are likely to vary considerably across cultures.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was created when seven Psychologists banded together in 1892?

<p>The American Psychological Association (APA).</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Mary Calkins?

<p>First female APA President.</p> Signup and view all the answers

Who was Kenneth Clark?

<p>First African-American APA President.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What was the American Psychological Society (APS) changed to in 2006?

<p>Association for Psychological Science.</p> Signup and view all the answers

What are some different types of Psychology?

<p>Clinical, Counseling, School, Industrial/Organizational.</p> Signup and view all the answers

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Study Notes

Definitions in Psychology

  • Psychology: The scientific study of mind and behavior.
  • Mind: Represents private inner experiences of individuals.
  • Behavior: Observable actions performed by humans and nonhuman animals.

Historical Figures and Concepts

  • William James: First psychologist to adopt a scientific approach to psychology.
  • Structuralism: Analyzes the mind by breaking it into its basic components.
  • Functionalism: Focuses on how mental abilities aid in adapting to environments.
  • Nativism: The belief in innate knowledge present at birth.
  • Philosophical Empiricism: All knowledge is acquired through experience.

Notable Philosophers

  • Rene Descartes: Advocated for mind-body dualism; significant figure in philosophy.
  • Thomas Hobbes: Opposed Descartes' views on the mind.
  • Franz Joseph Gall: Creator of phrenology, the idea that specific traits are localized in the brain.

Contributions to Psychology

  • Pierre Flourens: Argued against phrenology; conducted brain surgical removals.
  • Paul Broca: Studied brain damage to link specific brain regions with specific abilities.
  • Hermann von Helmholtz: Focused on human reaction times and nerve impulse lengths.

Concepts of Consciousness and Experience

  • Consciousness: The individual's subjective experience of the world and mind.
  • Introspection: The examination of one's own conscious thoughts and feelings.

Evolution of Psychological Theories

  • Edward Titchner: Expanded on Wundt's principles; aimed to identify mental elements.
  • Charles Darwin: His theories on natural selection inspired functionalist approaches.

Development of Psychological Areas

  • G. Stanley Hall: Founded North America’s first psychological laboratory, focusing on development.
  • Sigmund Freud: Proposed the theory of the unconscious mind affecting behavior.
  • Humanistic Psychology: Promotes understanding of human potential and positive traits.

Key Behavioral Theories

  • Behaviorism: Focus on observable behavior without concern for mental processes.
  • John Watson: Emphasized predictability and control of behavior through observation.
  • B.F. Skinner: Developed operant conditioning, using the "Skinner Box" for learning studies.

Important Psychological Models

  • Gestalt Psychology: Emphasizes whole experiences over individual components.
  • Cognitive Psychology: Studies mental processes, including perception and reasoning.
  • Cognitive Neuroscience: Links cognitive functions to brain activity.

Social and Cultural Impacts

  • Social Psychology: Examines interpersonal behavior causes and consequences.
  • Cultural Psychology: Investigates how cultures influence psychological processes.
  • Absolutism vs. Relativism: Debate on how culture affects psychological phenomena.

Professional Organizations and Milestones

  • American Psychological Association (APA): Formed in 1892 from seven psychologists.
  • Mary Calkins: First female president of the APA.
  • Kenneth Clark: The first African-American president of the APA.

Types of Psychology

  • Clinical Psychology: Focuses on diagnosing and treating mental disorders.
  • Counseling Psychology: Deals with personal and interpersonal functioning across the lifespan.
  • School Psychology: Involves assessments and interventions in educational settings.
  • Industrial/Organizational Psychology: Studies behavior in the workplace settings.

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