Psychology: History, Approaches, and Methods

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the core concepts of psychology including history, research methods, biological bases, learning, cognition, emotions, personality, and social psychology.

Psychology

The scientific study of human behavior and mental processes.

Psyche

Greek word for mind, spirit, or soul.

Ology

Greek word for the "study of."

Wilhelm Wundt

Founder of the first psychology lab in Leipzig, Germany in 1879, associated with structuralism.

Structuralism

An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind.

Functionalism

An early psychological approach associated with William James.

Biological Approach

Perspective that explains behavior through physiological and biochemical processes, including genes, the nervous system, and hormones.

Behavioral Approach

Perspective focusing on learned responses to external stimuli, characterized by Pavlov's classical conditioning and Skinner's operant conditioning.

Psychodynamic Approach

Perspective developed by Sigmund Freud emphasizing unconscious drives, childhood conflicts, and the id, ego, and superego.

Cognitive Approach

Perspective formed in reaction to behaviorism that studies thought processes such as memory, attention, and problem-solving.

Humanistic Approach

Perspective focusing on personal growth, self-actualization, and the belief that people are basically good.

Independent Variable

The variable in an experiment that is manipulated; represents the "cause."

Dependent Variable

The variable in an experiment that is measured for change; represents the "effect."

Correlation Coefficient

A statistical index of the relationship between two things, ranging from $-1.0$ to $+1.0$.

Endocrine System

A system of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream to regulate functions like metabolism and growth.

Pituitary Gland

The master gland of the endocrine system that, when activated by the hypothalamus, activates other glands.

Neurons

Highly specialized cells that receive and transmit information throughout the nervous system.

Myelin Sheath

A layer of fatty tissue that covers the axon of some neurons and accelerates the transmission of information.

Reuptake

The process by which excess neurotransmitters are broken down or absorbed back into the neuron.

Agonist

A drug that increases neural activity flow and effect.

Antagonist

A drug that decreases neural activity and effect.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Division of the nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord.

Autonomic Nervous System

Part of the peripheral nervous system that controls internal environments like glands and organs.

Sympathetic Nervous System

Subdivision of the autonomic nervous system that prepares the body for action.

Limbic System

Brain system sitting between the brainstem and cerebral cortex, containing the hippocampus, amygdala, and hypothalamus.

Hippocampus

Part of the limbic system responsible for processing memory.

Cerebral Cortex

The outer covering of the brain divided into four lobes: frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital.

Sensation

The process of transforming energy from outside stimuli into neural energy.

Perception

The process of taking neural energy and creating an image or meaning of the outside world.

Somesthesis

The body's sense of touch, encompassing the skin sense, kinesthetic sense, and vestibular sense.

Olfaction

The body's sense of smell, processed by the olfactory bulb.

Gustation

The body's sense of taste, categorized into bitter, sweet, salty, sour, and unami.

Circadian Rhythms

The body's natural cycle of fluctuations in processes like temperature and wakefulness, moving on a roughly $25$ hour clock.

Insomnia

A sleep disorder characterized by persistent problems in falling or staying asleep.

Narcolepsy

A sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollable sleep attacks.

Classical Conditioning

A learning process where an organism associates stimuli and anticipates events, pioneered by Ivan Pavlov.

Positive Reinforcement

Adding something to increase the likelihood of a behavior.

Negative Reinforcement

Removing something to increase the likelihood of a behavior.

Positive Punishment

Adding something to decrease the likelihood of a behavior.

Negative Punishment

Removing something to decrease the likelihood of a behavior.

Alfred Binet

Creator of the first intelligence test and the intelligence quotient (IQ).

Fluid Intelligence

The capacity to learn new things and respond to the environment quickly, as defined by Raymond Cattell.

Crystallized Intelligence

The use of skills, experience, and learned knowledge to solve problems.

Algorithm

A methodical, logical rule or procedure that guarantees solving a particular problem.

James-Lange Theory

Theory of emotion stating that a stimulus causes arousal, which then results in the emotion.

Cannon-Bard Theory

Theory of emotion stating that a stimulus simultaneously triggers physiological arousal and the emotional experience.

Yerkes-Dodson Law

The principle that performance increases with arousal only up to a point, beyond which performance decreases; dependent on task complexity.

Glucose

Blood sugar from food that provides energy for the body and impacts hunger.

Anorexia

An eating disorder characterized by social and cultural pressures for ideal beauty and restrictive eating.

Altruism

Prosocial behavior aimed at helping others without expectation of reward or recognition.

Bystander Effect

The tendency for any given bystander to be less likely to give aid if other bystanders are present, exemplified by the Kitty Genovese (1964) case.

Conformity

A change in a person's behavior to go along with a group, studied in the Solomon Asch experiments.

Obedience

Performing an action under the orders of an authority figure, famously studied by Stanley Milgram.

Self-concept

An individual's understanding of their unchanging characteristics across social, physical, and psychological domains.

Cognitive Dissonance

The psychological tension experienced when a person's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are in conflict.

Schizophrenia

A psychotic disorder characterized by positive symptoms like hallucinations and delusions, and negative symptoms like alogia and avolition.

SSRI

Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors, a type of antidepressant that prevents the reuptake of serotonin.

Mean

The average score in a distribution, calculated by adding all scores and dividing by the number of scores.

Statistical Significance

A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance, defined as 5\text{%} or less.

Flynn Effect

The observation that IQ scores in a population increase with each subsequent generation.