Ch. 1: The Evolution of Psychological Science

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, schools of thought, and subdisciplines from the lecture notes.

Psychology

The scientific study of the mind and behavior.

Mind

A set of private events that happen inside a person, including perceptions, memories, and feelings.

Behavior

A set of public events that can potentially be observed by others.

René Descartes

Philosopher (1596-1650) who argued that the body is a material substance, while the mind is an immaterial substance.

Gilbert Byle

Thinker who stated in 1949 that every person is a material container of an immaterial substance.

Philosophical dualism

The view that the mind and body are fundamentally different.

Thomas Hobbes

Philosopher (1588-1679) who stated that 'the mind is what the brain does' and that mental events result from physical activity in the brain.

Philosophical materialism

The view that all mental phenomena are reducible to physical phenomena.

John Luke

Philosopher (1632-1704) who contributed to early theories of knowledge and perception.

Philosophical realism

The view that our perceptions of the physical world are a faithful copy of information from the world that enters our brains through our sensory apparatus.

Philosophical idealism

The view that our perceptions of the physical world are our brain's best interpretation of the information that enters through our sensory apparatus.

Philosophical imperia

The view that knowledge is learned and acquired through experience.

Philosophical nativism

The view that some knowledge is innate (born with) rather than acquired.

Herman van Helmholtz

Researcher (1821-1894) who conducted studies on reaction time and the signals the brain sends in response to a stimulus.

Reaction Time

The amount of time between the onset of a stimulus and the reaction to it.

Wilhem Wunt

Psychologist (1832-1920) who taught the first course and published the first textbook on Psychology.

Structuralism

An approach to studying psychology that isolates or breaks down the mind's basic elements.

Edward Tichener

Psychologist (1867-1927) who pioneered systematic self observation.

Introspection

Analyzing subjective experiences (thoughts, feelings, motives) by trained observers who report raw experience rather than their interpretation.

Functionalism

An approach associated with John Dewey and James Angell that emphasized interconnected parts working together to fulfill a specific purpose to stay stable.

Charles Darwin

Naturalist (1809-1882) who developed the concept of natural selection.

Natural selection

Process where specific attributes that aid an organism's survival become more prevalent (expressed/passed down) over time.

Hysteria

Loss of function that has no obvious physical origin.

Sigmund Fraud

Psychoanalyst (1856-1939) who found repressed memories in the unconscious part of the mind were the source of hysterical symptoms.

Psychoanalytic Theory

An approach emphasizing the influence of the unconscious on our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Psychoanalysis

A form of therapy aiming to give people insight on what is in their unconscious mind.

James Watson

Psychologist (1898-1958) who wanted to focus more on what people do rather than what they think.

Behaviorism

An approach to psychology that restricts scientific inquiry to observable behavior.

Pavlov

Researcher (1849-1936) who experimented with dogs salivating as a response and found stimulus and response are building blocks of psychology.

Skinner

Psychologist (1904-1990) who used the Skinner box to study how rats learn to operate their environment.

Principle Reinforcement

The concept that behavior that is rewarded is repeated and behavior not rewarded will not be repeated.

Max Wertheimer

Psychologist (1880-1943) who conducted flashing light experiments in Gestalt Psychology.

Gestalt Psychology

A branch of psychology that emphasized the way the mind creates perceptual experience.

Lev Vygotsky

Psychologist (1896-1934) who studied Developmental Psychology.

Developmental Psychology

Studies the way psychological phenomena change over a life span.

Kurt Lewin

Psychologist (1890-) who studied Social Psychology.

Social psychology

Study of the causes and consequences of sociality.

Noam Chomsky

Linguist who thought some things were not taught, but known.

unc Misser

Cognitive psychologist (1928-2012) who studied human information-processing.

Cognitive Psychology

Study of human information-processing.

Evolutionary Psychology

Study of how the human mind has been shaped by natural selection.

Cognitive Neuroscience

Study of the relationship between the brain and mind, especially in humans.

Behavioral Neuroscience

Study of the relationship between the brain and behavior.

Montreal

City recognized as the birthplace of Cognitive Neuroscience.

Cultural Psychology

Study of how culture influences mental life.