Chapter 1 Flashcards by Isabella Montisano

What is Psychology?

The scientific study of mental processes and behaviors.

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Define Mental Processes.

Activities of our brain when thinking, observing, and using language.

Anything mental that cannot be objectively measured.

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What is Behavior?

Observable and objective activities of an organism.

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What are the Levels of Analysis?

the brain
- structure and function
the person
- thoughts and feelings (unique)
the group
- culture and environment

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Goals of Psychology??

Describe
Explain
Predict
Control

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What were the 3 roots of psychology?

Philosophy
Physiology
Psychophysics

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How did Philosophy influence psychology?

400 BCE
Questioned the mind
Developed scientific methods
Mind and body are connected
Theories are always improving

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What is Philosophy?

the study of knowledge, reality, and the nature/meaning of life.

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What did Hippocrates add to Psychology?

Hippocrates: Humors determine personality, brain = main organ of life.

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What did Plato add to Psychology?

Plato: mind knows everything already (Nativist), balance of intellect, emotion, desires, and appetites = healthy mind.

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What did Aristotle add to Psychology?

Aristotle: sensations, dreams, sleep, and learning, empirical thinking, hierarchy (human vs animal).

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What Physiological thinkers impacted Psychology?

Francis Bacon

Rene Descartes

John Locke

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What did Francis Bacon add to Psychology?

created empiricism (knowledge comes from experience)
brain and body dissections
mind & soul = the brain
contemplated the mind.

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What did Rene Descartes add to Psychology?

Mind & body Dualism = separate beings
mind = distinct from body and will live on after physical death
Pineal Gland connects mind and body.

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What did John Locke add to Psychology?

Tabula Rasa = learn by experience, mind is a blank slate.

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Who were the main Psychophysicists that impacted Psychology?

Johannes Miller

Herman von Helmholtz

Gustav Fechner

What did Johannes Miller add to Psychology?

The father of Psychophysics
relationship between physical stimuli and their psychological effects (aka sensations and perceptions).

What did Herman von Helmholtz add to Psychology?

Measured speed of nerve impulse
found nerve impulses occur over time not instantaneously
thought and movement are linked, not the same

What did Gustav Fechner add to Psychology?

Founded experimental psychology.
Made psychology a qualified science by qualifying mental events.

Who were the 3 main thinkers of the Early Days?

Wilhelm Wundt

G. Stanley Hall

James Mark Baldwin

Why was Wilhelm Wundt important to Psychology?

Opened the first Psychology lab in 1879, in Leipzig, Germany
Made Psychology a science by adding experiments and measured observations.

studied consciousness
- 1/10th of a second
to switch attention

Why was G. Stanley Hall important to Psychology?

1883 = established the first Psychology lab in North America
1887 = launched America’s first Psychology journal
1892 = helped found the American Psychology Association (APA)

Why was James Mark Baldwin important to Psychology?

1890 = established the first Psychology lab at University of Toronto

List all the Schools of Psychology.

Structuralism
Functionalism
Gestalt Psychology

What are Schools in Psychology?

Three theories that study consciousness in different ways.

What is Structuralism?

Led by Edward Titchener. made to understand the basic elements of consciousness by looking at the *structure* of the mind. relied on introspection, sensations and subjective research.

What is Functionalism?

Led by William James. made to understand the functions and purpose of consciousness. led to other schools of thought.

What is Gestalt Psychology?

German Theory believed consciousness cannot be broken down into elements. we perceive things as a whole. learning is tied to perceptions.

What are the 5 Theoretical Perspectives on Behavior?

1. Psychoanalysis 2. Behaviorism 3. Humanistic Psychology 4. Cognitive Psychology 5. Neuroscience / Psychobiology

What do theories on behavior study?

study different ways to analyze behavior and its causes.

What is Psychoanalysis?

Founded by Sigmund Freud (1900s) role of unconscious, it's desires, drive, wishes and needs - sexual and aggressive placed importance on early childhood experiences.

What is Behaviorism?

Founded by John B. Watson (1900s). focus on observable behaviors and objective facts. discovered it was possible to create phobias.

What were the 3 key thinkers of Behaviorism?

Ivan Pavlov - classical conditioning B.F. Skinner - consequences can affect future behavior Albert Bandura - learn through social observation

What is Humanistic Psychology?

Founded by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. found other theories dehumanizing focused/emphasized unique qualities of humans freedom and personal growth

What is Cognitive Psychology?

study of attention, memory, perception, problem solving, and reasoning. focus on cognition - mental processes involved in gaining knowledge came about in the 50s/60s uses the scientific method

What is Psychobiology or Neuroscience?

explains behavior in terms of psychological processes - technology based / reliant

Who were the main 4 thinkers of Neuroscience?

Karl Lashley (1950s) - removed parts of rats brain and studied behavior Donald Hebb (1950s) - cell assembly describes neural networks Wilder Penfield (1970s) - electrical stimulation and the responses of the brain Roger Sperry (1980s) - left and right brain, split brain