Chapter 1 Introduction & Research Flashcards
(23 cards)
Define => PSYCHOLOGY
Science of mental processes & behavior.
Define => SCIENCE
Way of answering questions, relying on logic to reason about possible causes of a phenomenon & collecting new facts to test resulting ideas.
List the “Levels of analysis”
Biological (Brain & Genetic)
Personal (Beliefs, desires & feelings)
Group (Social interactions & cultural influences)
Define => PHILOSOPHY
Use of logic and speculation to understand the nature of reality and values.
Define => PHYSIOLOGY
Study of the biological workings of the body(including the brain).
Define => CONSCIOUSNESS
The state of being aware.
List the major schools of psychology.
- Structuralism
- Functionalism
- Gestalt psychology
- Psychodynamic theory
- Behaviourism
- Humanistic psychology
- Cognitive psychology
- Evolutionary psychology
- Cognitive neuroscience
Explain Structuralism
Names: Willhelm Wundt & Edward Tichener
The basic elements (building blocks) of experience & consciousness form mental structures.
Basic elements are sensations & feelings.
Explain Functionalism
Names: William James
The mind/consciousness helps us adapt/survive (function in) to the world around us.
Influenced by Darwin.
Explain Gestalt Psychology
Names: Wertheimer
The brain organizes material into overarching patterns/ perceptual units.
“The whole is greater than its parts”
Examples of perceptual units: Flock of birds, Marching Band
Explain Psychodynamic Theory
Names: Freud
The mind is made up of separate components.
Some mental processes are unconscious.
Conscious and unconscious thoughts, feelings and impulses drive our behaviour.
Explain Behaviourism
Names: B.F. Skinner, John Watson
Stimuli evoke responses and consequences of responses.
Mental processes and not useful, to understand behaviour, study behaviour.
Explain Humanistic Psychology
Names: Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow
People have free will, positive values and deep inner creativity.
Non-scientific approach.
People have an urge to self-actualize.
Explain Cognitive Psychology
Names: Simon, Newell, Neisser
Mental processes are like information processing on a computer.
Mental processes are software, the brain is the hardware.
Explain Cognitive Neuroscience
A mix of Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience
Aims to specify how the brain stores and processes information.
Explain Evolutionary Psychology
Important cognitive strategies have been built into our brain by natural selection and as such are inborn.
What does a Clinical Psychologist do?
Provides Psychotherapy.
Provides and interprets psychological tests.
What does a Counselling Psychologist do?
Helps people with issues that naturally arise during the course of life.
What does a Developmental Psychologist do?
Researches and explains how thinking, feeling and behaviour develop with age and experience.
What does an Applied Psychologist do?
Studies how to improve products and procedures to solve specific practical problems.
What are the steps in the scientific method?
- Specify a problem
- Observe events(phenomena) and collect data
- Form a hypothesis
- Test the hypothesis
- Formulate a theory
- Test the theory
What is a theory?
Interlocking set of concepts, that explain a set of observations.
Give examples of Descriptive Research:
- Naturalistic Observation
- Case Studies
- Survey
