APP History and Approaches Vocab 1

Modules 1 and 2

functionalism

a school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.

psychiatry

a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy

G. Stanley Hall

first psych PhD in U.S.; founded American psychological association (APA) (first psych lab in U.S.) former student of Wundt

Margaret Floy Washburn

First female to be awarded a PhD in psychology; 2nd female president of the APA (1921)

Carl Rogers

american psychotherapist who was a supporter of humanistic psychology

nature vs. nurture

the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors; today's science sees traits and behaviors as arising from the interaction of these two

psychoanalytic approach

psychological perspective concerned with how unconscious instincts, conflicts, motives, and defenses influence behavior

sociocultural approach

psychological perspective concerned with how cultural differences affect behavior

cognitive neuroscience

the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory and language)

psychology

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

empiricism

the view that (a) knowledge comes from experience via the senses, and (b) science flourishes through observation and experiment.

tabula rasa

a young mind not yet affected by experience (according to John Locke) "blank slate"

structuralism

an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind

introspection

a reflective looking inward: an examination of one's own thoughts and feelings

natural selection

the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those that lead to increased reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations

biopsychosocial approach

an integrated perspective that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis

clinical psychology

a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders

John Locke

British political philosopher; ideas helped form empiricism

Wilhelm Wundt

german physiologist who founded psychology as a formal science; opened first psychology research laboratory in 1879

Edward Titchener

student of Wundt, joined Cornell, introduced structuralism, research method introspection

Psychophysics

the branch of psychology that deals with the relationship between the physical characteristics of an environment stimulus and psychological experience that they produce

William James

founder of functionalism; studied how humans use perception to function in our environment

Charles Darwin

the father of the theory of evolution

Mary Calkins

student of William James, should have been awarded Harvard PhD., (was offered one from Radcliffe) would have been first. First female APA pres.

Sigmund Freud

Austrian neurologist who originated psychoanalysis (1856-1939)

John Watson

studied science of behavior and demonstrated conditioned responses on a baby, founder of behaviorism

behavioral approach

a psychological perspective emphasizing the scientific study of observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants.

evolutionary approach

psychological perspective concerned with how natural selection favored behaviors that contributed to survival and spread of our ancestors' genes

humanistic approach

a psychology perspective that adopts a holistic approach to human existence through investigations of meaning, values, freedom, tragedy, personal responsibility, human potential, spirituality, and self-actualization

cognitive approach

psychological perspective concerned with how we receive, store, and process information; think/reason; and use language

biological approach

psychological perspective that the brain and nervous system play an important role in behavior, thought and emotion

Industrial-organizational psychology (I/O)

the application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces