Chapter 1: Introduction to Psychology: Foundations, Perspectives, Research, and Case Analysis

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the definition, history, contemporary subdivisions, research methodologies, and case application concepts of introductory psychology.

Psychology

The scientific study of the mind and behavior, examining how people think, feel, learn, interact, and act through empirical research.

Hypothesis

A tentative, testable explanation proposed by a researcher to explain how or why a phenomenon occurs, which fits into a broader scientific theory.

Scientific Theory

A broad explanation or group of explanations for some aspect of the natural world that is consistently supported by empirical evidence over time.

Empirical Method

A method for acquiring knowledge based on direct observation and experimentation rather than on logical argument or reliance on authority alone.

Critical Thinking

The active application of a set of skills to understand and evaluate information, involving an attitude of skepticism, recognition of internal biases, and logical observation.

Four Big Goals of Psychology

The core objectives of psychological science: to describe what is happening, explain why it happens, predict when it may happen again, and control or change behavior in a helpful way.

Wilhelm Wundt

German scientist credited as one of the founders of psychology who wrote Principles of Physiological Psychology and founded the first formal laboratory for psychological research at the University of Leipzig in 1879.

Structuralism

An early psychological perspective developed by Edward Titchener based on Wundt's work, focusing on identifying the basic contents and component parts of conscious experience.

Introspection

A process termed "internal perception" by Wilhelm Wundt in which trained observers examine their own conscious experiences as objectively as possible.

Voluntarism

Wilhelm Wundt's philosophical belief that people possess free will and should be informed of the intentions of any psychological experiment in which they participate.

William James

The first American psychologist, who helped establish functionalism by drawing on Darwinian evolutionary theory to examine the adaptive purpose of conscious behavior.

Functionalism

An early school of psychology spearheaded by William James, John Dewey, and Charles Sanders Peirce that studied how mental activities and behaviors help an organism fit into and adapt to its environment.

Sigmund Freud

Austrian neurologist who developed psychoanalytic theory, proposing that psychological disorders such as neurosis and hysteria originate from unresolved conflicts within the unconscious mind.

Psychoanalytic Theory

A psychological perspective that focuses on the influence of the unconscious mind, repressed desires, and early childhood experiences on conscious thoughts and behaviors.

Unconscious Mind

In psychoanalytic theory, the hidden mental repository of feelings, urges, and memories outside of conscious awareness that can be accessed via dream analysis, free association, and slips of the tongue.

Gestalt Psychology

A school of thought introduced to the United States by Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler emphasizing that sensory experiences are perceived as unified wholes rather than simple sums of individual parts.

Conditioned Reflex

A form of learning studied by Ivan Pavlov wherein an organism produces an unconscious response to a neutral stimulus after it has been repeatedly paired with an original stimulus.

John B. Watson

Influential American psychologist considered the father of behaviorism, who argued that consciousness cannot be objectively measured and shifted the discipline toward the objective study and control of observable behavior.

Behaviorism

An approach that dominated experimental psychology for decades by focusing exclusively on observing, measuring, and controlling external behavior rather than internal mental states.

Operant Conditioning Chamber (Skinner Box)

An experimental apparatus developed by B. F. Skinner that isolates an animal and delivers positive reinforcement or punishment following target behaviors such as pressing a lever.

Humanism

A perspective championed by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers that rejects determinism and reductionism, emphasizing personal control, intentionality, and the innate potential for good in all people.

Hierarchy of Needs

Abraham Maslow's theory of human motivation, positing that lower-level physiological and safety needs must be satisfied before higher-level psychological needs and self-actualization can motivate behavior.

Self-Actualization

The highest tier of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, representing the process by which an individual realizes and achieves their full creative and personal potential.

Client-Centered Therapy

A therapeutic approach developed by Carl Rogers where the client leads the session, supported by the therapist's unconditional positive regard, genuineness, and empathy.

Unconditional Positive Regard

A core condition of Rogerian client-centered therapy wherein the therapist provides total, nonjudgmental acceptance and support of the client regardless of what they say.

Cognitive Revolution

A major shift during the 1950s that redirected psychology's focus back to mental functioning and internal thought processes, influenced heavily by linguistics, neuroscience, and computer science.

Noam Chomsky

American linguist who helped initiate the cognitive revolution by criticizing behaviorism's neglect of mental operations and asserting that understanding mental functioning is crucial to explaining behavior.

Feminist Psychology

An approach stimulated by Naomi Weisstein's 1968 critique that re-evaluates women's contributions, uncovers male cultural biases in psychological testing, and studies gender differences objectively.

WEIRD Societies

An acronym standing for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic populations, which Henrich, Heine, and Norenzayan demonstrated have been overstudied and inaccurately generalized to all humans.

Francis Cecil Sumner

The first African American to earn a PhD in psychology in the United States (1920), who founded the psychology degree program at Howard University.

George I. Sanchez

Psychologist of Mexican heritage who identified cultural and language biases in standardized intelligence testing and actively challenged segregated education.

Mamie Phipps Clark and Kenneth Clark

African American psychologists whose research on Black children's doll preferences proved vital in demonstrating the harmful effects of segregation in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case.

Margaret Floy Washburn

The first woman awarded a doctoral degree in psychology (1894), who authored The Animal Mind: A Textbook of Comparative Psychology.

Mary Whiton Calkins

Pioneering researcher who studied memory recency and primacy and served as a major early theorist of self-psychology; she completed all Harvard PhD requirements under William James but was refused the degree due to her gender.

Mary Cover Jones

Pioneering psychologist who conducted a sequel to Watson's Little Albert experiment by successfully unconditioning learned fear in a child named Little Peter using conditioning techniques.

Biopsychology

An interdisciplinary subdivision of psychology and neuroscience that studies how biological processes, physiological mechanisms, and the nervous system generate behavior.

Evolutionary Psychology

A field that investigates the ultimate biological and genetic origins of behavior, exploring how behavioral traits evolved as functional adaptations that enhanced survival and reproduction.

Sensation and Perception

The study of how physical stimuli from the environment are detected by sensory systems and how the brain organizes and interprets that sensory information into meaningful experiences.

Cognitive Psychology

The scientific discipline focused on investigating internal mental processes, including thoughts, memory, problem solving, decision making, attention, and language.

Developmental Psychology

The scientific study of physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development across the entire human lifespan from infancy through old age.

Object Permanence

A cognitive developmental milestone identified by Jean Piaget referring to an infant's understanding that physical objects continue to exist even when hidden from view.

Personality Psychology

The study of unique, relatively enduring patterns of thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that distinguish one individual from another.

Five Factor Model (Big Five)

A trait personality theory describing individual differences along five basic, stable dimensions: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism.

Social Psychology

The study of how individuals affect and are affected by others, covering interpersonal relationships, prejudice, social conformity, and attributions of behavior.

Stanley Milgram's Obedience Study

A 1961 research project demonstrating that approximately $\frac{2}{3}$ of normal participants were willing to administer lethal electric shocks to a stranger when commanded to do so by an authority figure.

Research Confederate

An individual who poses as an actual participant in an experiment but is secretly working for the researcher according to a predetermined script.

Industrial-Organizational (I-O) Psychology

A branch of psychology that applies psychological concepts and empirical methods to workplace settings, personnel selection, employee productivity, and organizational design.

Health Psychology

A subfield focused on how the interplay of biological, behavioral, and sociocultural factors influences physical wellbeing, chronic stress, and illness.

Biopsychosocial Model

A holistic medical and psychological framework asserting that health and illness result from continuous interactions among biological, psychological, and social factors.

Sport and Exercise Psychology

The study of psychological factors influencing sports performance, athletic motivation, and anxiety, as well as mental functioning under demanding physical conditions like firefighting or surgery.

Clinical Psychology

An applied branch of psychology centered on the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of psychological disorders and maladaptive behavioral patterns.

Counseling Psychology

A psychological specialty focusing on improving emotional, social, vocational, and educational functioning in psychologically healthy individuals.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

A psychotherapy approach that focuses on recognizing and altering maladaptive thought patterns and behaviors, treating thoughts, emotions, and behaviors as fundamentally interconnected.

Forensic Psychology

A branch of psychology that applies psychological principles to legal questions, including assessing competency to stand trial, evaluating eyewitness testimony, and advising during jury selection.

PhD in Psychology

A Doctor of Philosophy degree conferred in liberal arts and sciences disciplines that heavily emphasizes research methodology and requires the completion and oral defense of a dissertation.

PsyD

A Doctor of Psychology degree that focuses primarily on practical clinical training and the application of therapeutic principles rather than on intensive research training.

Postdoctoral Training Program

A program in which new doctoral recipients broaden their experimental skills and research programs under the supervision of senior scholars before securing full-time faculty roles.

American Psychological Association (APA)

The largest professional organization of psychologists in the United States, founded under first president G. Stanley Hall and organized into 54 specialized divisions.

Association for Psychological Science (APS)

An organization founded in 1988 following internal divisions within the APA that focuses explicitly on advancing the scientific and research-driven foundation of psychology.

Case Study

A descriptive research method that involves an in-depth, intensive examination of a single individual, group, or unique real-world situation.

Naturalistic Observation

A descriptive research method in which researchers observe and record subjects' behavior in natural environments without manipulating or controlling any variables.

Survey

A research method used to gather self-reported data from a sample of individuals regarding their beliefs, experiences, attitudes, or behaviors.

Correlational Research

A scientific methodology that measures the statistical relationship between two or more variables to establish whether changes in one variable correspond with changes in another.

Correlation Versus Causation

The fundamental research principle asserting that a statistical correlation between two variables does not prove that one variable causes changes in the other.

Experiment

A scientific method in which a researcher deliberately manipulates an independent variable while holding other factors constant to test for causal effects on a dependent variable.

The Chemistry Lab Case (Marcus R.)

An introductory psychology case study centered on Marcus, a 13-year-old eighth-grade student referred for an intense preoccupation with explosives and school rule violations, used to practice applying developmental, cognitive, learning, and abnormal psychological concepts.

Abnormal Behavior Distinction

The clinical principle highlighted in case analysis that unusual, deviant, or dangerous behaviors do not automatically signify the presence of a formal psychological disorder.