Module 2.3 - 2.6: History and Perspective

connection to Moduel 2.1 -2.2

Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Science

Using established research procedures (scientific method) to unravel answers about the natural world

Basic Research

Research which aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

Applied Research

Research which aims to solve practical problems

Four "Humors"

Bodily fluids that the Ancient Greeks (Hippocrates) believed were linked to personality traits

Rene Descartes

Scientific Revolution figure who performed anatomical studies and identified "nerves"

Phrenology

The pseudo-psychological fad which proclaimed that head bumps could predict personality

Wundt

Created first psych lab in Germany (beginning of psychology as a science)

Titchner

Founded the early psychological perspective called Structuralism

Gestalt

Group of German psychologists that asserted "the whole is different from the sum of its parts"

James

Founded the early psychological perspective called Functionalism and created the first psychology textbook

Freud

He created Psychoanalysis focusing on the unconscious and childhood events (iceberg analogy)

Pavlov

Performed the dog experiment and helped to create the behavioral perspective

Watson

Behaviorist who demonstrated the impact of the environment by using a child known as "Little Albert"

Cognitive Perspective

Focuses on how people processes information

Biological Perspective

Investigates how biological structures and substances underlie a given behavior, thought, or emotion

Social-Cultural Perspective

Investigates how thinking and behavior change depending on the situation or as a result of cultural influences

Behavioral Perspective

Belief we learn certain responses through rewards, punishments, observation (we are the product of our environment)

Humanistic Perspective

Approach which asserts that people strive to reach their full potential

Psychodynamic Perspective

Believe behavior is influenced by unconscious drives and childhood events

Biopsychosocial Perspective

Modern perspective taking into account all of the influences which affect humans (Nature, Nurture, and Self)

Behavior Genetics

Focuses on how much out genes and our environment influence individual differences

Evolutionary Psychology

Behaviors/mental processes that helped our ancestors survive may have been passed on to today

Positive Psychology

A newer movement in psychology that focuses on the study of optimal human functioning and the factors that allow individuals and communities to thrive (Seligman)