Psychology Chapter 1 Flashcards

Key Concepts in Psychology

• Principles of Psychology: Influential book by William James; laid foundational ideas in psychology.
• Psychology: Scientific study focusing on mind and behavior.
• Mind: Refers to private inner experiences; subjective to the individual.
• Behavior: Observable actions of humans; serves as a key area of study in psychology.

Historical Perspectives

• Nativism (Plato): Suggests that some knowledge is innate and not acquired.
• Philosophical Empiricism: Claims that all knowledge arises from experience.
• Dualism (Rene Descartes): The mind and body are distinct; mind as immaterial vs. body as material.
• Thomas Hobbes: Proposed that mental processes are derived from physical actions.

Early Theories and Methods

• Phrenology: Theory linking specific mental abilities to specific brain areas.
• Hippocampus: Brain region involved in memory processing.
• Amygdala: Associated with fear responses.
• Physiology: The study of biological processes influencing behavior.

Notable Contributions

• Herman von Helmholtz: Innovated methods to measure nerve impulse speed.
• Wilhelm Wundt: Introduced physiological psychology and focused on consciousness analysis.
• Introspection: Technique allowing individuals to observe their own mental processes.

Major Psychological Schools

• Structuralism: Examines the basic elements of consciousness through detailed analysis.
• Functionalism: Studies the purpose of mental processes in adapting to environments; dominant in the 1920s.
• Gestalt Psychology: Emphasizes perception of whole experiences over individual parts.

The Unconscious Mind

• Unconscious: Influences thoughts and actions without conscious awareness.
• Psychoanalytic Theory (Sigmund Freud): Highlights the role of unconscious processes in shaping behavior.
• Humanistic Psychology: Focuses on the positive potential in humans.

Behavioral Approaches

• Behaviorism: Strictly studies observable behavior and dismisses mental processes.
• John Watson: Advocated for behavior-focused psychology, applying animal experimentation for insights.
• B.F. Skinner: Explored behaviorism through experiments such as the Skinner Box, highlighting reinforcement principles.

Cognitive and Neuroscientific Perspectives

• Cognitive Psychology: Investigates mental processes like perception and reasoning.
• Behavioral Neuroscience: Connects psychological processes to nervous system activities.
• Cognitive Neuroscience: Studies the relationship between cognitive functions and brain activity.

Evolutionary and Social Psychology

• Evolutionary Psychology: Explains behavior and mental processes through natural selection and adaptation.
• Social Psychology: Analyzes interpersonal behavior and its underlying causes.

Cultural Influences

• Cultural Psychology: Investigates how culture shapes psychological experiences.
• Absolutism vs. Relativism: Absolutism claims little cultural variation in psychology, while relativism posits that psychological phenomena differ across cultures.

Notable Figures

• Mary Calkins: First female president of the APA.
• Kenneth Clark: First minority president of the APA.
• Abraham Maslow & Carl Rogers: Key figures in humanistic psychology; emphasized self-actualization.
• Carl Gustav Jung & Alfred Adler: Important contributors to psychoanalytic theories.

Research and Critiques

• Ivan Pavlov: Established classical conditioning research through dog experiments.
• Noam Chomsky: Criticized behaviorism, arguing for mental rules in language acquisition.
• Kurt Lewin: Suggested understanding subjective experiences is vital for predicting behavior.
• Sir Frederic Bartlett: Focused on memory's practical aspects and how people often remember inaccurately.

Professional Organizations

• American Psychological Association (APA): Large association with approximately 150,000 members.
• Association for Psychological Science: Smaller organization with around 12,000 members, aimed at addressing the needs of scientists.

Landmark Publications

• Beyond Freedom and Dignity (Skinner): Argues free will is an illusion influenced by reinforcement.
• The Behavior of Organisms (Skinner): Discusses behavior and reinforcement intricacies.
• Walden II (Skinner): Explores concepts of free will within a societal context.

Historical Milestones

• Francis Cecil Sumner: First African American to earn a PhD in psychology (1920).