Psychology 1000 – Midterm 1

Units 1–3

Psychology

The scientific study of the mind (thoughts, emotions) and behaviour.

• Concerned with empirically examining the mind and behaviour.

• Also considering biology and the environment.

The four goals for studying mental processes and behaviours.

1. Description: How do babies learn to talk?

2. Explanation: Why do we get hungry?

3. Prediction: When will we offer help to a stranger?

4. Control: Reducing stress or increasing self-care.

The three levels of analysis.

• The Brain: neuronal (brain cell) activity, brain structures, and genes.

• The Individual: emotions, thoughts, ideas, consciousness, personality, and motivation.

• The Group: friends, family members, and the larger population (culture).

Mostly, we use all levels interactively → FOMO

Wilhelm Wundt

(1832-1920; German Vater of Psychology)

• Introspection: objective self-reflection/inspection of one’s thoughts.

• Volunteerism: free will.

• Reaction times (RTs).

• Titchner’s structuralism.

William James

1842-1910; North American Father of Psychology)

• Functionalism: function of mental activities/behaviour.

Sigmund Freud

(1856–1939);

• Neurologist interested in hysteria (emotional disturbances without physical cause).

• Psychological and physical problems can stem from the unconscious mind.

  • Dream analysis, slip of the tongue, free association.

• Psychoanalytic theory focuses on a person’s unconscious and early childhood experiences.

  • Lifespan, personality, and therapy.

Gestalt

• Wertheimer (1880–1943), Koffka (1886–1941), and Köhler (1887–1967) credited with introducing America to Gestalt principles.

• Gestalt = whole

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