The Science of Psychology

Psychology

the scientific study of the causes of behavior

Goals of Psychology

1. Describe behavior

2. Explain behavior

3. Predict Behavior

4. Control or change behavior

Critical Thinking

systematically questioning and evaluating information using well-supported evidence.

Being an amiable skeptic.

Animism

religous belief that all things, objects, earth and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence.

Primitive notion of a "soul".

Galen

Medical doctor that claimed connection between body and soul and examined the human brain.

Animal spirits, memory, worm flow.

René Descartes

Father of modern philosophy and physiological psychology.

Pineal gland is the seat of the soul.

Mind-body dualism

Body is machine of the soul.

The mind and body are two fundamentally distinct entities.

Structuralism

Breaking consciousness into irreducible parts via systematic introspection.

analyzing the mind by breaking it down to simple components.

Edward Titchener

created version of psychology that described the structure of the mind.

Structuralism.

Wilhelm Wundt

Father of experimental psychology.

Structuralism involving introspection and the tridimensional theory of feeling.

Structuralism-Introspection

The personal observation of our own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

Functionalism

Our consciousness serves an adaptive purpose by helping us survive. Challenges Structuralism.

William James

Father of Modern Psychology. Established Functionalism.

Stream of Consciousness

coined by William James to describe each person's continuous series of ever-changing thoughts.

Pierre Flourens

Attacks on Phrenology. Sought to test phrenology's claims of localization of function.

Ablation

removal of circumscribed parts of the brain.

Johannes Müller

wrote the doctrine of specific nerve energies. different nerve fibers carry specific info to the brain and back.

Phillippe Pinel

father of psychiatry. Made the first attempts to use therapies to treat mental illness.

Psychodynamic Theory

our behavior is deeply influenced by unconscious thoughts, impulses, and desires.

Sigmund Freud

Believed that many unconscious drives are sexual or destructive in nature. The Mental Iceberg.

Behaviorism

psychological approach that emphasizes the role of environmental forces in producing observable behavior.

Behavior is learned, observable, and measurable.

John B. Watson

developed behaviorism.

challenged psychology's focus on conscious and unconscious mental processes.

B. F. Skinner

his research emphasized how behavior is shaped by the consequences that follow them.

argued that mental processes were of no scientific value in explaining behavior and that there was no free will.

Gestalt Psychology

to understand consciousness, we must study the whole, not just its component parts.

seeing images made out of randomly placed shapes when there is none.

Max Wertheimer

associated with Gestalt Psychology

Humanistic Psychology

we have free will to live more creative meaningful, and satisfying lives. Focuses on the basic goodness of people.

Abraham Maslow

created the hierarchy of needs.

Carl Rogers

known for his person-centered psychotherapy.

one of the founders of humanistic psychology.

Cognitive Psychology

the study of mental functions such as intelligence, thinking, language, memory, and decision making.

Cognitive Neuroscience

the study of the neural mechanisms underlying thought, learning, perception, language, and memory.

Alexander Luria

pioneer in developing neuropsychological tests to pinpoint deficits in specific areas of the brain.

Father of modern neuropsychology.

Biological Level

Psychological level of analysis that focuses on brain systems, neurochemistry, and genetics.

Individual level

Psychological level of analysis that focuses on individual differences, perception, and cognition behavior.

Social level

Psychological level of analysis that focuses on interpersonal behavior and social cognition.

Cultural level

Psychological level of analysis that involves thoughts, actions, behaviors--in different societies and cultural groups.