Psychology

Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes, where behavior refers to observable actions and mental processes include thoughts, feelings, and motives that are privately experienced.

Critical thinking

The active process of deeply thinking, questioning, and evaluating evidence.

Curiosity

The desire to understand why things are the way they are.

Skepticism

Questioning established knowledge and requiring evidence before accepting information.

Objective

Striving to see things as they truly are, without bias or personal interpretation.

Empirical method

Gaining knowledge through observation, data collection, and logical reasoning.

Wilhelm Wundt

Founder of the first psychology lab and the academic discipline of psychology.

Structuralism

Wundt's approach to identifying the basic elements of mental processes.

Functionalism

William James's approach focusing on the functions and purposes of the mind and behavior in adapting to the environment.

Natural Selection

Darwin's principle of evolutionary survival of the fittest.

Neuroscience

Scientific study of the brain and nervous system's role in behavior, thought, and emotion.

Behavioral approach

Focuses on observable behavioral responses and their environmental influences.

Psychodynamic approach

Emphasizes unconscious thoughts, biological drives, and early childhood experiences.

Humanistic approach

Focuses on positive qualities, growth, and freedom of choice.

Cognitive approach

Focuses on mental processes like attention, perception, memory, thinking, and problem-solving.

Evolutionary approach

Explains behaviors based on adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection.

Sociocultural approach

Considers how social and cultural environments influence behavior.

Biopsychosocial approach

Asserts that biological, psychological, and social factors all contribute to behavior.

Types of psychological research

Descriptive, Experimental, Correlational methods to study variables.

Psychological approaches

Industrial/Organizational, Community, School/Educational, Cross-Cultural, Sensation and Perception, focusing on various aspects of behavior and mental processes.