AP Psychology Branches of Psychology Summer Assignment

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering the Evolutionary, Behavioral, Psychoanalytic, Biological, Cognitive, Socio-cultural, and Humanistic approaches to psychology.

Evolutionary Approach

The application of Darwin’s theory of natural selection to psychology, suggesting that psychological functions, traits, and instincts evolved over many generations and are passed down to serve survival purposes.

David Buss

A researcher associated with the evolutionary approach who specifically focused on Mating Strategies.

Clark and Hatfield $1989$ Study

A study on casual sex and evolved mating strategies where $75\%$ of men agreed to sex with a stranger while $0\%$ of women did, interpreted by psychologists as a result of different reproductive pressures.

Behavioral Approach

A psychological perspective stating that all actions are learned through environmental stimuli rather than innate instincts, focusing on external factors that shape behavior.

John B. Watson

The individual recognized as the founder of behaviorism.

Ivan Pavlov

A researcher known as the classical conditioning pioneer within the behavioral approach.

B.F. Skinner

An operant conditioning theorist who conducted experiments using a box and a hungry rat to demonstrate positive reinforcement.

Positive Reinforcement

A behavioral concept demonstrated in Skinner's Rat Experiment where a subject receives a reward, such as food, for completing a specific task like pressing a lever.

Psychoanalytic Approach

The theories of Sigmund Freud which state that unconscious actions are influenced by past experiences and unresolved conflicts.

Psychodynamic Approach

A broad psychological perspective that includes all theories based on the work of Sigmund Freud and his followers, such as Carl Jung, Melanie Klein, and Alfred Adler.

Little Hans (1909)

A Freudian case study of a $5$-year-old boy whose phobia of horses was interpreted as an example of the Oedipus Complex and fear of castration stemming from early childhood experiences.

Biological Approach

An approach focusing on how internal thoughts, emotions, and behaviors are influenced by physical structures and processes like genetics, brain chemistry, and the nervous system.

Biological Determinism

The idea that many psychological functions arise directly from genetics, brain chemistry, hormones, and the human nervous system.

Phineas Gage

A famous biopsychology case study involving a man who survived a metal rod passing through his frontal lobe, resulting in drastic personality changes and hostility.

Cognitive Approach

An extension of behavioral psychology that uses machines to study internal mental processes such as perception, memory, decision making, and problem-solving.

Loftus and Palmer’s Car Crash Study ($1974$)

An experiment showing how memory can be reconstructed; participants' speed estimates for a car crash changed based on the severity of the verb used (e.g., 'smashed' vs. 'hit').

Socio-cultural Approach

A perspective that examines how behavior and perception are shaped by variables such as gender, race, religion, and cultural beliefs.

Cole & Scribner ($1974$)

The Kpelle Memory Study which showed that cognitive processes like memory are not fixed but are socially and culturally shaped tools tailored to an individual’s environment.

Humanistic Approach

A perspective that emphasizes free will, personal responsibility, and the innate drive toward self-fulfillment, viewing humans as inherently good.

Self-actualization

The innate compulsion toward fulfilling one's potential and achieving self‑fulfillment, a key concept in the humanistic approach.

Carl Rogers

A humanistic psychologist who used therapy sessions focusing on genuineness, positive regard, and empathy to help patients like Gloria recognize their own value.