Introduction to Social Sciences: Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology

A comprehensive set of vocabulary flashcards covering the introductory concepts, key figures, and major theories of Psychology, Sociology, and Anthropology as presented in the lecture notes.

Psychology

The scientific study of thought and behaviour, aiming to understand how and why people behave as they do.

Phrenology

The belief that it is possible to read personalities and character traits by feeling the bumps on individuals' heads.

Psychoanalysis

A branch of psychology founded by Sigmund Freud where patients examine memories of past experiences to find the origins of their problems.

Behaviourism

A $20^{th}$-century psychological theory focusing on learning through observable, measurable behaviours and environmental interactions rather than internal mental states.

Sociology

The scientific study of societies, human groups, and social behaviour, including their development, structure, and functioning.

Social Solidarity

A concept introduced by Emile Durkheim referring to the degree of social integration and the strength of the bonds that unite individuals in a society.

Cultural Anthropology

The study of human cultures and how humans live throughout the world and time, investigating both non-literate and literate cultures without making value judgments.

Value Judgment

An assessment of something as good or bad based on one's own standards or priorities.

Physical Anthropology

A branch of anthropology interested in human evolution, variations in physical appearance, and the examination of fossils and skeletons.

Fossil

The preserved remains of biological matter often used by physical anthropologists to track human development over millions of years.

Primatology

The study of primates such as chimpanzees, gorillas, and orangutans, pioneered by researchers like Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, and Birute Galdikas.

Cultural Relativism

A perspective promoted by Franz Boas arguing that cultures must be understood by their own terms and not judged by the standards of other cultures.

Functional Theory

The idea that every belief, action, or relationship in a culture functions to meet the needs of individuals and ensures the survival of society.

Cultural Materialism

A theory pioneered by Marvin Harris in the $1960\text{s}$ stating that material conditions like climate, food supply, and geography influence how a culture develops its ideology.

Informants

Knowledgeable and trustworthy members of a community who provide anthropologists with insights about their culture.

Rite of Passage

A ceremony, ritual, or event marking an individual's transition from one stage of life to another, such as birth, adolescence, marriage, or death.

Liminal Stage

The transition phase of a rite of passage where an individual is between their old status and their new self, often involving learning or guidance from a mentor.

Linguistic Anthropology

The study of human languages and how language affects and expresses cultural identity.

The Id

According to Freud, the instinctual aspect of the mind driven by the 'pleasure principle' and primal desires like $Eros$ and $Thanatos$.

The Ego

The rational part of the mind that operates on the 'reality principle,' moderating between the impulsive id and the moral superego.

The Superego

The moral centre of the mind that acts as a conscience, representing internalized societal values.

Classical Conditioning

A form of associative learning pioneered by Ivan Pavlov where a neutral stimulus is paired with an unconditioned stimulus to elicit a conditioned response.

Operant Conditioning

A theory developed by B.F. Skinner suggesting learning is programmed by the consequences, such as rewards or punishments, that follow a behaviour.

Repression

A defense mechanism involving the exclusion of distressing memories or impulses from the conscious mind.

Sublimation

A positive defense mechanism where unacceptable instincts or desires are redirected into socially acceptable channels, like turning anger into martial arts.

Oedipus Complex

A Freudian concept from the phallic stage ($3-6$ years old) where a boy develops unconscious sexual desires for his mother and views his father as a rival.

Identity Crisis

A term coined by Erik Erikson to describe a period of uncertainty and confusion in which a person's sense of identity becomes insecure.

Object Permanence

The understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be seen, typically acquired during Piaget's sensorimotor stage at about $7$ months.

Collective Unconscious

Carl Jung's concept of a dimension of the unconscious mind that connects all of humanity and contains universal symbols and mythologies.

Self-Actualization

The process of reaching one's full potential, positioned at the top of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Macrosociology

A sociological approach that analyzes social systems on a large scale, such as social classes, institutions, or entire societies.

Microsociology

The study of small groups and individuals within a society, focusing on everyday face-to-face interactions.

Structural Functionalism

A theory suggesting that society is stable when its social institutions, such as family and religion, work together to meet the needs of citizens.

Conflict Theory

A theory based on the work of Karl Marx focusing on the competition between powerful and powerless groups for economic and political resources.

Bourgeoisie

The wealthy capitalist class who own the means of production and profit from the labor of others.

Proletariat

The working class who do not own the means of production and must sell their labor for wages to survive.

Positivism

The application of the scientific method to obtain quantifiable data in order to understand and improve society, proposed by Auguste Comte.

Sociological Imagination

A concept developed by C. Wright Mills describing the ability to connect individual experiences to larger social realities and historical forces.

Bureaucracy

An organization defined by Max Weber where roles are specialized, supervised in a hierarchy, and governed by efficiency and rationalization.

Primary Socialization

The process of learning basic survival skills, such as hygiene and language, typically through parents or guardians.

Anticipatory Socialization

The process of learning how to plan for and behave in new situations, such as knowing how to dress for a first job.

Resocialization

The process where negative or criminal behaviour is transformed into socially acceptable behaviour, often through therapy or rehabilitation.

Bystander Effect

A social phenomenon where individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present.

Diffusion of Responsibility

A component of the bystander effect where each witness's sense of responsibility to help decreases as the number of witnesses increases.

Bechdel Test

A metric used to measure the representation of women in film based on whether there are two named women who talk to each other about something other than a man.

Groupthink

The psychological phenomenon where collective pressure leads to impaired decision-making within a group.

Dehumanization

The process of depriving people of their human qualities or degrading them to deny their humanity.

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid)

A double helix molecule that holds the genetic code and instructions for physical traits.

Human Genome Project

A collaborative project from $1990$ to $2003$ that mapped the exact sequence of chemical base pairs making up human DNA, finding that humans share $99.9$% of the same sequence.

Feral Children

Children who have been deserted at a young age and raised by animals, lacking human social skills and language.