Chapter 1 Flashcards
(44 cards)
Definition: psychology
The study of behavior, thoughts and experience
Definition: scientific method
A way of learning about the world through collecting observations, and to develop theories to explain such observations
Definition: hypothesis
A testable prediction about processes that can be observed and/or measured. Must be falsifiable
Definition: theory
An explanation for a broad range of observations that also generates new hypotheses and integrates numerous findings into a coherent whole
Definition: critical thinking
Exercising curiosity and skepticism when evaluating the claims of others and one’s own assumptions/beliefs
Definition: principle of parsimony
When we/Scientists accept the simplest of all competing explanations of a phenomenon
Definition: empiricism
The Philosophical tenet that knowledge comes through experience
Definition: determinism
The belief that all events are cause-and-effect relationships – e.g. No free will
Definition: zeitgeist
A general set of beliefs of a particular culture at a specific time in history
Hippocrates: what were his beliefs
Philosophical - 4 humors thought to contribute to our health + personality:
Blood, phlegm, yellow+ black bile
Aristotle: what were his contributions
Tabula Rasa: man begins life with a blank slate
Para psyche: “about the mind” - first psychology text
Renee Descartes: what were his beliefs and the issue with it
“Cartesian dualism”- both mind and body drive human behavior
“Problem of Interactionism” - how mind can impact body, therefore not connected
Definition: psychophysics
The study of the relationship between the physical world and the mental representation of that world
- Created by Gustav Fechner
Charles Darwin: what were his beliefs
The theory of evolution by natural selection
- surviving traits and offspring
Definition: phrenology
the detailed study of the shape and size of the cranium as a supposed indication of character and mental abilities
- brain consisted of “27 organs” assigned a personality trait
Definition: Brain localization
The belief that certain parts of the brain control specific mental abilities
- discovered by Broca and Wernicke
Franz Mesmer: what were his contributions
Believed magnets could redirect flow of metallic fluids within the body to cure disease
Discovered hypnosis by “mesmerizing” patients, creating a trance
Sigmund Freud: what were his beliefs/contributions
he believed that the unconscious mind guided behaviors
ID: instincts
Super-ego: morality+critical thinking
Ego: mediates ID and SE
- incorporated medical model, evolutionary thinking and introduced subconscious processes
Definition: psychoanalysis
A psychological approach that attempts to explain how behaviour and personality are influenced by unconscious processes
Sir Francis Galton: what were his contributions
- Investigated nature vs. Nurture relationships
- believed hereditary genes explained psychological differences
Definition: eminence/eugenics
The combination of ability, morality, and achievement resulting from good genes
- eventually coined “eugenics” to justify racist and sexist ideals e.g. White supremacy
Vilhelm Wundt: what were his contributions
Set up first lab dedicated to the study of human behaviour
-Introspection to explain psychological sensations
Discovered structuralism and reaction time methods and how mental activity isn’t instantaneous
Definition: structuralism
To analyze conscious experience by breaking it down into basic elements and understand how such elements work together
e.g. Periodic table
Definition: introspection
the examination or observation of one’s own mental and emotional processes
