Ch. 1: The Evolution of Psychological Science

psychology

scientific study of mind and behavior

science

study of natural/physical world based on observations and experiments

mind

private events that happen inside a person - thoughts and feelings that we experience

behavior

set of public events - things we do and say (observable)

Who is the person connected with dualism?

Descartes

dualism

view that the mind and body are fundamentally different and on different planes of existence

Descartes’ version of mind

events unique to individual but have no physical presence

Who is the person connected with materialism?

Hobbes

materialism

all mental stuff is related to physical stuff, mind and body are connected

Who is the person connected with realism?

John Locke

realism

perceptions of the physical world are produced entirely by information from sensory organs

idealism

perceptions of the physical world are the brain’s interpretation of info from the sensory organs

empiricism

view that all knowledge is acquired through experience, tabula rasa

nativism

view that some knowledge is innate rather than acquired

What do most psychologists agree that human behavior mainly is?

nativisim

What is science dependent on?

concert and consistent measurements to test theories

Who are the people connected to structuralism?

Hermann von Helmholtz and Wundt

strucutralism

approach to psychology that attempted to isolate and analyze the mind’s basic elements

introspection

analysis of subjective experience by trained observers

Who is the person connected to functionalism?

William James

functionalism

emphasizes adaptive significance of mental process, fear serves a role

natural selection

process where specific characteristics help organisms survive and become more common in the population over time

Who are the people connected to hysteria?

Charcot and Janet

hysteria

loss of function with no obvious physical origin

Who is the person connected with psychoanalysis?

Sigmund Freud

unconsciousness

part of the mind that contains information that people are not aware of

psychoanalytic theory

general theory that emphasizes the influence of the unconscious on thoughts, feelings, and behaviors

psychoanalysis

therapy that aims to give insight into contents of their unconscious minds

Who is connected with behaviorism?

Pavlov and Watson

behaviorism

approach that restricts inquiry to ONLY observable behavior

Who is connected with principal of reinforcement?

Skinner

principal of reinforcement

any behavior that is rewarded will be repeated and any punished behavior will stop

gestalt psychology

emphasizes the way in which the mind creates perceptual experience

Who is the person connected with developmental psychology?

Jean Piaget

developmental psychology

study of ways in which psychological phenomena changes over time

Who is the person connected to social psychology?

Kurt Lewin

social psychology

study of courses and consequences of sociality

Who led the movement for resistance to behaviorism?

Noam Chomsky

cognitive psychology

study of human information processing

philosophical empiricism

influence of environment on individual’s behavior

evolutionary psychology

study of ways where the human mind has been shaped by natural selection

cognitive neuroscience

study of relationship between the brain and mind, usually paired with humans

behavioral neuroscience

study of relationship between the brain and behavior, usually non-humans

cultural psychology

examines how culture influences mental life

culture

shared values, traditions, and beliefs among a group of people

positive psychology

study of the things that make life worth living