Discovering Psychology: The Science of Mind Chapter 1

mind

the brain and its activities, including thought, emotion, and behavior

psychology

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

introspection

personal observation of your own thoughts, feelings, and behavior

philosophy

the discipline that systematically examines basic concepts, including the source of knowledge

physical science

any science that studies nonliving natter, including physics, chemistry, astronomy, and geology

behavior

any action that can be observed

dualism

the idea that body and mind are quite different and separate, our bodies are physical, but our minds are something nonphysical and somewhat more mysterious

monism

the idea that mind and body are not separate, the mind is the result of activity in the brain

empiricism

viewed the mind as a "blank slate" at birth that was filled with ideas gained by observing the world

behaviorists

psychologists who examined behaviors that were the result of experience and that could be directly observed

Wilhelm Wundt

Conducted the first documented psychological experiment

Believed that the goal of a new science of psychology was to understand consciousness

structuralism

an approach in which the mind is broken into the smallest elements of mental experience

Gestalt psychology

an approach to psychology that saw experience as different than the sum of its elements, breaking a whole perception into its building blacks would result in the loss of some important psychological information

functionalism

an approach to psychology that was behavior as purposeful and contributing to survival

William James

proposed functionalism

behaviorism

An approach to psychology that features the study and careful measurement of observable behaviors

Sigmund Freud

Freud's psychodynamic theory

Ideas about the unconscious mind, the role of experience in abnormal behavior and new approaches to therapy laid a foundation for later study in personality and therapy

humanisitc psychology

an approach to psychology that saw people as inherently good and motivated to learn and improve

biological psychology (behavioral neuroscience)

the psychological perspective that focuses on the relationships btwn mind, behavior, and their underlying biological processes, including genetics, biochemistry, anatomy, and physiology; also known as behavioral neuroscience

evolutionary psychology

the psychological perspective that investigates how physical structure and behavior have been shaped by their contributions to survival and reproduction

cognitive psychology

the psychological perspective that investigates information processing, thinking, reasoning, and problem solving

social psychology

the psychological perspective that examines the effects of the social environment and culture on the behavior of individuals

developmental psychology

the psychological perspective that examines the normal changes in behavior that occur across the lifespan

clinical psychology

the psychological perspective that seeks to explain, define, and treat abnormal behaviors

individual differences

an approach to psychology that investigates variations in behavior from one person to the next

personality

an individual's characteristic way of thinking, feeling and behaving