Introduction and History of Psychology Flashcards
(63 cards)
Psychology
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
Pseudopsychology
Erroneous assertions or practices set forth as being scientific psychology
empirical approach
A study conducted via careful observations and scientifically based research
Experimental psychologists
Psychologists who do research on basic psychological processes- as contrasted with applied psychologists; also called research psychologists
Confirmation bias
The tendency to attend to evidence that complements and confirms our beliefs or expectations, while ignoring evidence that does not
Applied psychologists
Psychologists who use the knowledge developed by experimental psychologists to solve human problems
Teachers of psychology
Psychologists whose primary job is teaching, typically in high schools, colleges, and universities
Structuralism
A historical school of psychology devoted to uncovering the basic structures that make up the mind and thought. Structuralists sought the “elements” of conscious experience
Psychiatry
A medical specialty dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders
What are psychology’s historical roots?
Modern psychology developed from several conflicting traditions, including structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, behaviorism, and psychoanalysis.
Gestalt psychology
A historical school of psychology that sought to understand how the brain works by studying perception and perceptual learning. Gestalt psychologists believed that percepts consist of meaningful wholes (in German, Gestalts).
Introspection
The process of reporting on one’s own mental experiences
Functionalism
A historical school of psychology that believed mental processes could best be understood in terms of their adaptive purpose and function
What is psychology– and what is it NOT?
Psychology is a broad field with many specialities, but fundamentally, psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
Behaviorism
A historical school (as well as a modern perspective) that has sought to make psychology and objective science focused only on behavior- to the exclusion of mental processes
Psychoanalysis
An approach to psychology based on Sigmund Freud’s assertions, which emphasize unconscious processes. The term is used to refer broadly both to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory and to his psychoanalytic treatment method.
What are the perspectives psychologists use today?
Nine main perspectives characterize modern psychology: the biological, developmental, cognitive, psychodynamic, humanistic, behavioral, sociocultural, evolutionary/sociobiological, and trait views.
Biological view
The psychological perspective that searches for the causes of behavior in the functioning of genes, the brain and nervous system, and the endocrine (hormone) system
Neuroscience
The field devoted to understanding how the brain creates thoughts, feelings, motives, consciousness, memories, and other mental processes
Evolutionary psychology
A relatively new specialty in psychology that sees behavior and mental processes in terms of their genetic adaptations for survival and reproduction
Developmental view
The psychological perspective emphasizing changes that occur across the lifespan
Cognitive view
The psychological perspective emphasizing mental processes, such as learning, memory, perception, and thinking, as forms of information processing
Cognitions
Mental processes, such as thinking, memory, sensation, and perception
Cognitive neuroscience
An interdisciplinary field emphasizing brain activity as information processing; involves cognitive psychology, neurology, biology, computer science, linguistics, and specialists from other fields who are interested in the connection between mental processes and the brain
