AP Psych Unit 1

three principles of a scientific attitude

curiosity, skepticism, and humility

critical thinking

caused by a scientific attitude, high levels of evaluation, no blind acceptance

empiricism

Bacon’s idea that intelligence grows from experience and observation, experiementation enables scientific knowledge

Wilhelm Wundt

had the first psychological lab

structuralism

Titchner’s idea to classify and understand the mind’s structure, was unreliable, not around

introspection

looking inward to observe one’s processes, was unreliable, not around

functionalism

William James’ (loved Darwin) idea of how processes function (adapt and survive), not around

behaviorism

John B Watson + Skinner’s idea that psych should be an objective science that studies behavior without referencing internal mental processes, the second part is disagreed with today

psychoanalytic/psychodynamic psychology

Froyd’s idea that our unconscious minds and childhoods affect our behavior

humanistic psychology

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow’s perspective that focuses on the whole person and individual growth potential

socrates and plato

believed that knowledge is pre-existing, dualism, used logic-based thinking

aristotle

believed knowledge is gained throughout life, was data-driven, monism

dualism

mind (permanent + immortal) and body (temporary) are separate

monism

mind and body are one

John Locke

believed the mind is a blank slate ‘tabula rosa’

DeCarte

discovered ‘animal spirits’ (nervous system)

cognitive psychology

study of mental processes: how we percieve, process, and remember info, thinking and emotions

cognitive neuroscience

study of brain activity linked with cognition: perception, memory

psychology

study of behavior (what an organism does) and mental processes (internal experiences from behavior like dreams and thoughts)

nature-nurture

widely debated issue whether behavior and traits are determined by biology or environment and experience

evolutionary psychology

study of the evolution of behavior and the mind using natural selection