Module 1: The History and Scope of Psychology

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering the key terms, historical figures, perspectives, subfields, and learning principles presented in Module 1: The History and Scope of Psychology.

Empirical Approach

An evidence-based method of inquiry that draws on direct observation and experimentation rather than faith or ungrounded assumptions.

Scientific Attitude

A mindset combining curiosity to explore, skepticism to question and verify claims, and humility to recognize one's own vulnerability to error and remain open to new perspectives.

Critical Thinking

Smart thinking that examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

Wilhelm Wundt

German philosopher and physiologist who established the first psychology laboratory in 1879 at Germany's Leipzig University to measure the fastest and simplest mental processes ("atoms of the mind").

Mary Whiton Calkins

A distinguished memory researcher who completed all Harvard Ph.D. requirements but was denied the degree because of her gender, and later became the first female president of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1905.

Margaret Floy Washburn

The first woman to officially receive a psychology Ph.D., author of The Animal Mind (1908), and the second female president of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1921.

Behaviorism

The view championed by John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner defining psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior, rejecting introspection and the study of inner mental processes.

Psychoanalytic Psychology

Sigmund Freud's theoretical approach proposing that behavior and personality are significantly influenced by unconscious mental processes, defense mechanisms, and early childhood experiences.

Humanistic Psychology

A historically significant perspective led by Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow in the 1960s that rejected behaviorism and Freudian psychology, focusing instead on human growth potential, needs for love and acceptance, and nurturing environments.

Cognitive Psychology

The scientific exploration of how our mind perceives, processes, and remembers information, and how thinking and emotion interact to produce psychological disorders.

Cognitive Neuroscience

The interdisciplinary study combining cognitive psychology (mind science) and neuroscience (brain science) to investigate the brain activity underlying mental activity.

Psychology

The science of behavior (any observable and recordable action an organism does) and mental processes (internal, subjective experiences such as sensations, perceptions, thoughts, and feelings).

Nature–Nurture Issue

The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and heredity (nature) and experience and environment (nurture) make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.

Natural Selection

Charles Darwin's principle that, among chance inherited trait variations, nature selects those that best enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.

Evolutionary Psychology

The study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection to explore how humans are alike due to shared biology.

Behavior Genetics

The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior, focusing on how individuals differ from one another.

Culture

The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and passed down from one generation to the next.

Positive Psychology

The scientific study of human flourishing, pioneered by Martin Seligman and others, that explores positive emotions, positive character traits, positive health outcomes, and positive institutions to help people thrive.

Biopsychosocial Approach

An integrated viewpoint that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis to offer a complete understanding of a behavior or mental process.

Levels of Analysis

The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, used for analyzing any given psychological phenomenon.

Basic Research

Pure science that aims to build and increase psychology's scientific knowledge base across areas such as biological, developmental, cognitive, personality, and social psychology.

Applied Research

Scientific study that aims to solve practical, real-world problems, such as industrial-organizational psychology in the workplace.

Counseling Psychology

A branch of psychology that assists people with coping with life challenges and crises (including academic, vocational, and relationship issues) to improve personal and social functioning.

Clinical Psychology

A branch of psychology that assesses and treats people with mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders through testing, evaluation, and psychotherapy.

Psychiatry

A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders, practiced by medical doctors licensed to prescribe drugs and provide medical treatments in addition to psychotherapy.

Community Psychology

A branch of psychology that works to create social and physical environments that are healthy for all people, rather than focusing solely on changing individuals to fit their environment.

Testing Effect

Enhanced memory and retention of information achieved through repeated retrieval practice and self-testing rather than simple rereading or restudying of material.