Chapter 1: Psychology - The Search of Understanding

Vocabulary flashcards covering key definitions, subfields, historical figures, schools of thought, and mental health professions from Chapter 1.

Psychology

The scientific study of human and animal behaviour.

Empirical Evidence

Facts or information based on direct observation or experience.

Developmental Psychologist

A psychologist interested in human growth and development from birth until death.

Learning Theorist

A psychologist interested in variables affecting learning and in theories of learning.

Personality Theorist

A psychologist who studies personality traits, dynamics, and theories.

Sensation and Perception Psychologist

A psychologist who studies the sense organs and the process of perception.

Comparitive Psychologist

A psychologist primarily interested in studying and comparing the behaviour of different species, especially animals.

Biopsychologist

A psychologist who studies the relationship between behaviour and biological processes, especially activity in the nervous system.

Social Psychologist

A psychologist particularly interested in human social behaviour.

Cultural Psychologist

A psychologist who studies the ways in which culture affects human behaviour.

Wilhelm Wundt

The first to study using scientific methods, who founded the first psychological laboratory in 1879 in Germany and was a forerunner of structuralism.

Structuralism

The school of thought concerned with analyzing sensations and personal experience into basic elements.

William James

Founder of the first school of psychology in North America (~1890) and forerunner of functionalism who believed mental processes are fluid and continuous.

Functionalism

School of psychology concerned with how behaviour and mental abilities help people adapt to their environments.

Behaviourism

School of psychology that emphasized the study of overt, observable behaviour.

Gestalt Psychology

A school of thought emphasizing that 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts' and that we perceive wholes or patterns of sensations rather than separate independent sensations.

Psychoanalysis

Freud's theory of personality and psychotherapy of psychological disorders, with an emphasis on examining unconscious conflicts.

Humanistic Psychology

An approach to psychology that focuses on human experience, problems, potentials, and ideals.

Psychologist

A person highly trained in the methods, factual knowledge, and therapies of psychology.

Clinical Psychologist

A psychologist who specializes in the treatment of psychological and behavioural disturbances or who does research on such disturbances.

Counselling Psychologist

A psychologist who specializes in the treatment of milder emotional and behavioural disturbances.

Scientist-practitioner model

A view that holds that clinical psychologists should be skilled both as scientists and as therapists.

Psychiatrist

A medical doctor with additional training in the diagnosis and treatment of mental and emotional disorders.

Psychoanalyst

A mental health professional (usually a medical doctor) trained to practice psychoanalysis.

Counsellor

A mental health professional who specializes in helping people with problems not involving serious mental disorder.

Psychiatric Social Worker

A mental health professional trained to apply social science principles to help patients in clinics and hospitals.

Psychiatric Nurse

A nurse with specialized training in mental health.