Unit 1 terms

1. Psychology(Hyde)

The scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially in behavior and mental processes. Studies observable behavior and non-observable behavior.

2. Basic v. applied research(Hyde)

In psychology, basic research is any research conducted to extend knowledge in the field. Applied research is intended to specifically address mental health issues (solve problems by developing treatments and therapies).

3. William Wundt (Myers)

Considered the "father of psychology," He was a German physiologist who developed experimental psychology as an independent discipline in 1879. Prior to this, psychology was part of the field of philosophy. He is the founder of modern psychology.

4. Edward B. Titchner/ structuralism (Myers)

a student of Wundt, brought psychology as a discipline to the US and is the founder of the psychological school of thought known as structuralism. He believed that by systematically defining and categorizing the elements of the mind, researchers could understand the structure of mental processes. He believed that human consciousness could be broken down into parts or building blocks and should be studied as such. He is also responsible for adding the word "empathy" to the English language (a translation of a German word).

5. gestalt psychology(Hagood)

rejected the structuralist school and emphasized the brain's tendency to integrate pieces of information into a whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasize that the brain perceives entire patterns or configurations, rather than individual components. The view is sometimes summarized as "the whole is more than the sum of its parts." (ex

6. William James/functionalism(Hagood)

an American philosopher and psychologist who was the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. He rejected the structuralist school of psychology, focusing instead on how human consciousness functions. He proposed that consciousness is a continuum that flows and changes, coining the phrase, "stream of consciousness." Considered the "Father of American psychology," James was also one of the founders of the school of thought in psychology known as functionalism.

7. Sigmund Freud(Hagood)

the father of psychoanalysis, was an Austrian physiologist, medical doctor, psychologist and influential thinker of the early twentieth century. Because Freud did not use the scientific method to formulate his controversial theories, many of them have been discredited, including his theories about "hysterical" women. In fact, "the controversy which exists in relation to Freud is more heated and multi-faceted than that relating to virtually any other post-1850 thinker (a possible exception being Darwin)". However, Freud's focus on the unconscious mind distinguishes him from all other clinicians and philosophers that came before him, and his work laid the foundation for modern psychoanalytic therapy.

8. Id, ego, superego (Howard)

The three parts to the human mind according to Freud. The 1st is fully unconscious and responds immediately to the wants and desires of the human mind. The 2nd is the conscious decision-making part of human consciousness that uses reason and logic. The 3rd is partially conscious

9. oedipal complex

is a controversial Freudian theory that focuses on the alleged attachment of a child to their parent of the opposite sex which often causes aggressive or envious feeling toward the parent of the same sex. These feelings are greatly repressed due to the fear of punishment by the parent of the same sex.

10. Psychodynamic theory(Hyde)

Freud believed that human behavior could be explained by forces outside of a person's conscious awareness and based on their childhood experiences.

11. Freudian slip (Whiteley)

occurs when you try to say something but something else comes out. It is a "slip of the tongue" that reveals subconscious thoughts (or at least Freud might believe it does!).

12. Behaviorism

a theory of learning based on the idea that all behaviors are acquired through conditioning, and conditioning occurs through interaction with the environment. Behaviorists believe that our actions are shaped by environmental stimuli. John Watson is generally regarded as the founder of behaviorism. Pavlov and Skinner were also important early behaviorists.

13. Ivan Pavlov

the founder of classical conditioning which is a process that involves creating an association between a naturally existing stimulus and a previously neutral one. It is important to note that this association cannot create new behaviors, as it is a physiological response rather than a behavioral response. Responses to classical conditioning are involuntary. He famously performed an experiment with dogs in which he conditioned them to salivate when he rang a bell because the dogs had come to associate the sound of the bell with the idea that they would be fed shortly.

14. John Watson

an American psychologist who popularized the scientific study and theory of behaviorism. He emphasized observing the external behavior of people, rather than focusing on the internal mental state. He conducted the famous "Little Albert" experiment to demonstrate the concept of classical conditioning. His controversial child-rearing theories were widely influential (until they were thoroughly discredited!).

15. B.F. Skinner

known as the "father of behaviorism" even though Watson was also engaged in early behaviorist research. Skinner is best known for experiments that demonstrated operant conditioning (the "Skinner box," for example).

16. classical v. operant conditioning (Vidalakis)- Both are aspects of behaviorism. 1 precedes the other, and uses a positive or negative stimulus to elicit an unconscious biological response. It then adds in a neutral stimulus and takes away the positive or negative one, to condition the subject to display the response when subjected to the neutral stimulus (see Pavlov's dogs). the 2nd conditioning followed, and proved that rewards or punishments could be used to teach new behaviors as well (see Skinner box).

17. "Skinner box"(whiteley)

During an experiment, rats were subjected to an unpleasant electric current. If the rat hit the lever, then it would stop. A neutral stimuli added was a light that would turn on before the shock. The rats would press the lever as soon as the light came on and not be shocked. This was a famous and influential operant conditioning experiment.

18. Carl Jung (Personality Theory) (moses)

Swiss psychologist and psychiatrist who founded analytic psychology, in some aspects a response to Sigmund Freud's psychoanalysis. He proposed and developed the concepts of the extraverted and the introverted personality, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has been influential in psychiatry and in the study of religion, literature, and related fields. His work also influenced the development of the widely-used Myers-Briggs personality test.

19. personal unconscious (Lowrance)

memories and experiences that are subliminal, forgotten, or repressed in someone's life.

20. collective unconscious

the archetypes- persona, anima/animus, shadow, self reacting to a situation.

21. Persona (Lowrance)

the personality that someone projects to others and it is not their authentic self.

22. anima/animus (Vidalakis)

the psychological aspects that exhibit the tendencies displayed by the opposite of our biological sex. The anima is the feminine side of men, and the animus is the masculine side of women. Jung believed this must be fully embraced to achieve selfhood, therefore exhibiting the remarkably progressive idea for his time that gender is a spectrum of expression, not binary.

23. the shadow (Vidalakis)

is the embodiment, similar to Freud's id, of our more animalistic and selfish tendencies. It usually contains repressed and suppressed aspects such as jealousy or lust. However, Jung did not denounce it, instead instructing to embrace it and place it in balance with the other aspects.

24. the self (Vidalakis)

the unity of all the other archetypes. Similar to Maslow's idea of self-actualization, Jung thought the ultimate goal was to achieve selfhood, or full realization and recognition of each aspect and archetype. Too much or too little of one causes issues, they all have an important role to play. This, on the whole, was a very humanist perspective.

humanistic psychology (Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers)

looks at the whole individual and stresses concepts like free will, self efficiency, self actualization. The goal is to help a person reach their full potential and maximize their well being.

Jean Piaget

He was a Swiss biologist and psychologist that used neuroscience to focus on child development. He developed the influential idea that there are four different stages of cognitive development in children.

Mary Whiton Calkins

First person to earn a PhD in psychology from Harvard. However, Harvard insisted she receive the PhD from Radcliffe (Harvard's "sister" school) even though she took all of the same courses as her male classmates. Therefore, she refused the degree.

Margaret Floy Washburn

She was the first woman to formally receive a PhD in psychology in 1908.

Francis Cecil Sumner

He was the first African American to receive a PhD in psychology. He is known as the "Father of Black Psychology." He is also credited as one of the founders of the psychology department at Howard University

Inez Beverly Prosser

She was the first African American woman to receive her PhD, which was in 1933. She conducted a study on the effects of segregated and integrated schools. By doing interviews with black students and looking at the drop-out rate, she concluded that integrated schools were more harmful to the students of color because there were almost no teachers of color in those schools to serve as role models. Also, the white teachers tended to underestimate the abilities of black children. Social stress in the predominantly white "integrated" school also contributed to a higher dropout rate for black children.

Kenneth Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark (Clark doll study)

They took young black children and asked them a series of questions about a black and white dolls. The point of this study was to see how segregation affected the black children, and affected Brown vs Board of Education, proving that black children felt inferior to their white peers.

"Bobo Doll Study"

This study was conducted by Albert Bandura and it developed the idea of social-cognitive learning. Bandura experimented on children from ages 3 to 5 and put them in a room with an adult that would start acting violent towards a doll, and then they would leave the room. It was found that after the adult left the room, the child would start beating the doll too, and there were even greater effects when the adult and the child were the same gender. Social-cognitive learning theorizes that humans can learn behaviors through observation and then imitation. It also studies the actual thoughts and emotions that go through a person's mind when observing certain behaviors of others.

Psychodynamic

is a Freudian perspective and the idea that our behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts.

Behavioral perspective

The concept that one learns from rewards, punishments and observations, such as operant and classical conditioning. This theory also suggests that people learn from their surroundings and environment.

Humanistic perspective

The idea that if one's basic needs are met then you can focus on helping the needs of other people. (if you are at the top of Maslow's pyramid)

Cognitive perspective

This perspective focuses on how we think, process information, see the world, or act on certain events depending on the consequences and how others may perceive your actions.

Biological perspective

This perspective considers the extent to which people behave in a way that makes them feel good physically. An example of this occurs when someone gets an emotional "lift" from behaving in a certain way because of increased levels of serotonin or dopamine.

Social-cultural perspective

This perspective focuses on how your culture and your surroundings at an event influence your behavior.

behavior genetics

studies the influence of our genetic makeup on our behavior. Behavior geneticists examine how genetic variation affects psychological traits, including cognitive abilities, personality, mental illness, and social attitudes. This represents the "nature" part of the nature vs. nurture debate.

evolutionary psychology

Studies how certain desirable or survival behaviors developed over the centuries, are passed down through generations, and are reinforced and adapted over time.

positive psychology

Influenced by the humanistic perspective in psychology, uses the scientific method to see what might make one's life meaningful. This field has become enormously popular in recent years.

Carl Rogers

founder of humanistic psychology

Abraham Maslow

an important humanistic psychologist created the famous pyramid of needs.