History of Psychology Flashcards

Flashcards based on lecture notes about the history of psychology and the major schools of thought.

Why do we study the history of Psychology?

Studying its origins and studying its development allows us to clearly see the nature of psychology today. Knowledge of history brings order to disorder.

What two subjects did psychology evolve out of?

Philosophy and biology/physiology.

What does the Greek word 'psyche' mean?

Soul or mind.

What are the major schools of thought in psychology?

Structuralism, Functionalism, Psychoanalysis, Behaviorism, and Humanism.

Who are the key people associated with Structuralism?

Wilhelm Wundt and Edward B. Titchener.

Who is the key person associated with Functionalism?

William James.

Who is the key person associated with Psychoanalysis?

Sigmund Freud.

Who are the key people associated with Behaviorism?

Ivan Pavlov, John Watson, and B.F. Skinner.

Who are the key people associated with Humanism?

Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.

What is the focus of Structuralism?

Science of conscious experience focusing on the fundamental elements of thinking, consciousness, emotions and other kinds of mental states or activities.

How did Structuralist psychologists study conscious experience?

Measuring how long people take to react and how long they take to be conscious of their awareness.

Why is Wilhelm Wundt considered the father of Psychology/Experimental Psychology?

Established the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, in 1879 and was interested in measuring the ‘atoms of the mind’.

In what three areas of mental functioning did Wundt concentrate his experiments?

Thoughts, images, and feelings.

What technique did Titchener and the structuralists advocate?

Introspection (looking inward).

What is a limitation of structuralism?

It required smart, verbal people and its results varied from person to person.

What is the primary focus of Functionalism?

Studying how the mind works so that an organism could adapt to its environment and how behavior allows people to satisfy their needs.

What theory influenced Functionalism?

Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.

What did Williams James assume, influenced by Charles Darwin?

Thinking developed because it was adaptive – it contributed to our ancestors’ survival.

According to determinism, what determines our behaviors?

Genetics, past experiences, etc.

What is free will based on?

We are free and we can decide from a number of options which life presents to us without restrictions.

What does Psychoanalysis emphasize?

The ways our unconscious thought processes and our emotional response to childhood experiences affect our behaviour.

According to psychoanalysts, what motivates our behavior?

Inner forces and conflicts which the individual has limited ability to control.

According to Freud, what contributes to the development of adult personality and behaviour?

Early childhood experiences and unconscious impulses.

According to Freud, what causes psychological disorders?

Psychological rather than physical factors, unconscious desires and conflicts, and childhood experiences.

According to Freud, how are unconscious thoughts and impulses expressed?

Slips of the tongue (also called Freudian slips) and dreams.

What therapeutic methods did Freud use to discover what is ‘locked’ in the unconscious?

Free association and dream analysis.

What is the psychoanalytic view of human nature?

Nearly all of our impulses are sexual and aggressive in nature.

What is a limitation of psychoanalysis?

Negative perspective of human beings because actions are provoked by aggressive and sexual impulses, and it implies that people have very little free will - deterministic.

What does Behaviorism focus on?

The study of the human being through behaviors which can be visibly observed.

What does Behaviorism reject?

What goes on in one’s mind can never really be known or measured (the mind is a “black box”).

What does Behaviorism emphasize?

It attempts to explain how we learn and retain new forms of behaviour through experience.

What did Ivan Pavlov discover?

Classical conditioning - also called Stimulus-Response (S-R) theory.

What did John B. Watson do to apply the principles of classical conditioning to human beings?

He conducted the ‘Little Albert Experiment’ where he ‘demonstrated conditioned responses on a baby’.

With what is B. F. Skinner associated?

Operant conditioning, which focuses on the kind of learning in which a voluntary response is strengthened or weakened as a result of consequences (reinforcement or punishment) received from the environment.

What is the important aspect of Behaviorism?

Understanding how we can control and predict behaviour, and it is research oriented – can be tested.

What is behaviorism deterministic in its explanation of behaviour?

Behavior is the result of the environment not of free will

What do humanists believe in?

Believe strongly in the power of free will and self-determination.

According to humanists, what is the role of psychology?

To help people reach self-fulfillment.

What did Carl Rogers believe about people who are controlled by others?

People who are controlled by other people/things in their life cannot and will not take responsibility for their behaviour so they cannot change it.

What did Abraham Maslow suggeset?

Human beings are basically good

What is a limitation of Humanism?

It is mostly subjective and vague and therefore difficult to test via research.

What does the cognitive approach focus on?

Mental processes (e.g., perception, attention, memory, decision making, problem solving).

How does the cognitive approach describe the way information is received and processed?

Models of memory focus on the input of information, the processing of information, and the output of information.

What are the practical applications of cognitive psychology?

Improving memory and attention span, validity of eye witnessing testimony, etc.

What is the focus of Biological psychology?

Behaviour is to be considered in terms of biological functioning: genetic inheritance, hormones & chemicals in the brain, communication between nerve cells and in the nervous system

What has an understanding of hormones and chemicals in the nervous systems lead to?

Various successful drug treatments for a variety of psychological problems.

What is a limitation of Biological psychology?

Deterministic view of human behaviour: behaviour is heavily dependent on genetics.