Key Concepts in Psychology

Key Concepts in Psychology

• Psychology is defined as the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
• Behavior refers to observable and measurable actions exhibited by people and animals.
• Cognitive activities encompass private, unobservable mental processes, including sensation, perception, thought, and problem solving.

Theoretical Frameworks

• Psychological constructs are theoretical entities that allow for discussions about concepts that cannot be directly observed or measured.
• A theory comprises a set of assumptions explaining why certain phenomena occur.
• Principles represent rules or laws governing psychological phenomena.

Types of Research

• Basic research is conducted without a specific problem-solving goal, aimed at expanding knowledge for its own sake.

Historical Schools of Thought

• Introspection involves examining one's own thoughts and feelings.
• Associationism refers to learned connections between two ideas or events.
• Structuralism, founded by Wilhelm Wundt, breaks conscious experience into objective sensations and subjective feelings.
• Functionalism, established by William James, emphasizes the purposes of behavior and mental processes.
• Behaviorism, introduced by John Watson, defines psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior.

Key Psychological Perspectives

• Gestalt psychology focuses on organizing perceptions into meaningful wholes.
• Psychoanalysis, founded by Sigmund Freud, emphasizes the role of unconscious motives and conflicts in behavior.
• Psychodynamic thinking posits that much of an individual's mental process consists of unconscious, conflicting impulses and urges.

Influences on Behavior

• The biological perspective highlights the impact of biological factors on behavior.
• The evolutionary perspective studies the evolution of behavior and mental processes.
• The cognitive perspective emphasizes the significance of thought processes in behavior determination.
• The humanistic perspective prioritizes self-awareness and the freedom of choice as fundamental to human behavior.
• The psychoanalytic perspective stresses unconscious influences on behavior.

Learning and Social Influences

• The learning perspective focuses on how experiences shape behavior.
• Social-learning theory suggests individuals can change their environments or create new ones through their actions.
• The sociocultural perspective examines the influence of ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status on behavior and mental processes.

Cultural Aspects

• Ethnic groups are defined as communities linked by cultural heritage, common history, race, or language.

This quiz covers essential concepts in psychology, including definitions of behavior and cognitive activities, theoretical frameworks, types of research, and historical schools of thought. Test your understanding of how psychological constructs and theories shape the field's study of human actions and mental processes.