Foundations of Psychology Founders and Theories

Sigmund Freud

known as the father of psychoanalysis. (personality theory and form of psychotherapy that emphasizes the role of unconscious factors in behavior)

Wilhelm Wundt

Founder of of Experimental Psychology (1832-1920).

Established first Psychology Laboratory. Wanted to establish Psychology as a Science.

William James

Father of American Psychology. Studied under Wundt. Influenced by Darwin. Developed the ideas which shaped school of functionalism. Introduced concept of conscience experiences being important. Behavior has a basic functional purpose of survival.

John Watson

American psychologist who established the psychological school of behaviorism. (emphasize the study of observable behaviors, especially as they pertain to the process of learning)

Carl Rogers

American Psychologist who was one of the founders of the humanistic approach, also a founder of psychotherapy research.emphasized the person's conscious experiences, unique potential for psychological growth and self-direction, self-determination, free will, and the importance of choice in human behavior.

B.F. Skinner

American psychologist, believed that psychology should restrict itself to studying outwardly observable behaviors that could be measured and verified in compelling experimental demonstrations. Rats and pigeons were the preferred subjects.

Charles Darwin

Ideas contributed to development of Evolutionary psychology, the idea that human social instinct evolved from natural selection. Concepts influenced development of Functionalism.

Ivan Pavlov

Russian psychologist known for his work in classical conditioning. Started behaviorism, demonstrated that dogs could learn to associate neutral stimulus, like the sound of the bell, with an automatic behavior (salivating because of food)

Abraham Maslow

American psychologist best know for making his hierarchy of needs. His theory of motivation emphasized the importance of psychological growth, but influences of survival needs over psychological growth.

Biological perspective

Seek to explain human behavior by way of looking at physiological influences.

biological psychology

Mood, Emotions and Behaviors explored through scientific research and clinical practice focused on internal physiological influences.

Behavioral perspective

Learning and behavior are described and explained in terms of stimulus-response relationships. Operant conditioning and rewards and punishments.

Humanistic perspective

An approach to psychology that emphasizes empathy and stresses the good in human behavior and individual ability to manage life circumstances.

Psychodynamic perspective

An approach to psychology that emphasizes systematic study of the psychological forces that underlie human behavior, feelings, and emotions and how they might relate to early experience. Focus on the unconscious influences on thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Emphasize need for insight to promote change.

Cognitive perspective

Examines internal mental processes such as problem solving, memory, and language.

cognitive psychology

The scientific study of mind and mental function, including learning, memory, attention, perception, reasoning, language, conceptual development, and decision making.

Positive psychology perspective

Positive aspects of human life, such as happiness, well-being and flourishing. Emphasizes need to focus on strengths.

cross-cultural perspective

Study of human behavior and mental processes, including both their variability and invariance, under diverse cultural conditions.

evolutionary perspective

Theoretical approach in the social and natural sciences that examines psychological structure from the basic human drive to survive.

clinical psychology

branch of psychology concerned with the assessment and treatment of mental illness and disability

developmental psychology

the scientific study of how and why human beings change over the course of their life.

educational psychology

branch of psychology that studies children in an educational setting and is concerned with teaching and learning methods, cognitive development, and aptitude assessment

counseling psychology

a specialty within professional psychology that maintains a focus on facilitating personal and interpersonal functioning across the life span. The specialty pays particular attention to emotional, social, vocational, educational, health-related, developmental, and organizational concerns.

industrial/organizational psychology

the scientific study of human behavior in the workplace and applies psychological theories and principles to organizations.

psychiatrist

a medical practitioner specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illness.

psychologist

an expert or specialist in psychology.

scientific method, including the steps

How to figure things out.

question

research

hypothesis

experiment

conclusion

replicate

To make a close or exact copy. In research, being able to replicate a scientific study and come to same conclusions as previous research helps strengthen the results of the research.

theory

Well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena. Generally has substantial research to support the ideas proposed through the theory.

survey

to examine and record.

naturalistic observation

collection of data without manipulating the environment.

case study

a process or record of research in which detailed consideration is given to the development of a particular person, group, or situation over a period of time.

sample

A small part to show the whole. In research, you cannot study every single person alive, so you take a small number of people as a sample of the entire population.

random selection

To help provide validity to a research study, subjects are randomly selected for the study in hopes of obtaining enough diversity in the study to make the results applicable to the general population.

independent variable

In research, this is the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.

dependent variable

In research, this is the variable that is being measured by the study.

extraneous variables

undesirable variables that influence the relationship with variables in the experiment.

hypothesis

A tentative and testable statement about the relationship between two or more variables. It is an idea about how two or more variables relate.

placebo

using a fake treatment to for someone to think they are getting treatment, when in fact, they are not. Helps account for the phenomenon that if peoples thing they are getting treatment, then they tend to report being better, even though they are in reality, not getting treatment.

control group

a group that is like the experiment group, but is not given the independent variable or treatment in an experiment. Provides the experimenter a group to compare results with.

psychology

study of mind and behavior.