Week 1: History of and major paradigms in Psychology

What is psychology?

The scientific study of the mind and behaviour.

What is neuroscience?

The scientific study of the nervous system.

What is behavioural neuroscience?

The study of the biological basis of thought, emotion, and behaviour.

What is cellular neuroscience?

The study of how individual nervous system cells contribute to brain function and behaviour.

What is cognitive neuroscience?

The study of brain activity and cognitive processes like memory, attention, and decision-making.

What is cognitive psychology?

The study of thoughts and their relationship to experiences and actions.

What is developmental psychology?

The scientific study of development across the lifespan.

What is clinical psychology?

The diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and problematic behaviour.

What is counselling psychology?

Improving emotional, social, vocational, and other aspects of healthy individuals' lives.

What is forensic psychology?

Applying psychology to issues related to the justice system.

What is health psychology?

Studying how biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors affect health.

What is I-O psychology?

Applying psychology to workplace behaviour to improve employee well-being and organizational performance.

What is neuropsychology?

Studying how the brain affects cognition, especially after brain injury or illness.

What is personality psychology?

Studying patterns of behaviour that make people different from one another.

What is social psychology?

Studying how people interact and relate to others.

What is sport psychology?

Studying mental/emotional factors and physical performance.

What is sensation and perception?

Studying how sensory systems detect/process information and how we experience it.

What is empiricism?

The idea that knowledge comes from systematic observation and experimentation.

What is a hypothesis?

A testable explanation for an observed phenomenon or pattern.

What is the biopsychosocial model?

The view that biological, psychological, and social factors interact to affect health.

What is evolutionary psychology?

The study of ultimate causes of behaviour over generations.

What is natural selection?

The process where characteristics that improve environmental adaptation become more common.

What is object permanence?

Understanding that objects continue to exist even when hidden from view.

What is a personality trait?

A consistent pattern of thought and behaviour affecting how someone interacts in situations.

When did modern psychology begin?

1879, when Wilhelm Wundt created the first experimental psychology lab.

Who created the first experimental psychology lab?

Wilhelm Wundt.

What did Wundt focus on?

Breaking conscious experience into its basic elements.

What is consciousness?

Immediate experiences of which we can gain awareness.

What is structuralism?

Understanding the mind by breaking it into basic elementary parts.

What is experimental introspection?

Presenting a stimulus and asking participants to report perceptions, thoughts, and feelings.

Who was William James?

A founder of psychology in North America associated with functionalism.

What did William James believe about consciousness?

We should examine its function and purpose rather than its structures.

What is the "stream of consciousness"?

James's idea that consciousness is constantly changing and flowing.

Who was Charles Darwin?

A scientist who proposed that physiological traits can be passed from one generation to the next.

What question does functionalism ask?

How does a mental process help us solve problems we face?

What are the six major contemporary perspectives?

Psychodynamic, behaviourist, humanistic, cognitive, biological, and sociocultural.

What does the psychodynamic perspective focus on?

The unconscious mind and underlying motives behind behaviour.

Who is associated with the psychodynamic perspective?

Sigmund Freud.

What does the unconscious contain according to Freud?

Repressed desires, unacceptable thoughts, traumatic memories, and emotional conflicts.

How can the unconscious express itself?

Through dreams and slips of the tongue.

What did Freud believe about childhood?

Childhood experiences affect adult development.

What does the behaviourist perspective focus on?

Observable behaviour rather than the mind.

Who are associated with behaviourism?

John Watson and B. F. Skinner.

What did Watson believe psychology should focus on?

Observable behaviour that can be directly measured.

What did Skinner believe causes behaviour?

The environment, through reinforcement and punishment.

What did Skinner say about free will?

Free will is an illusion.

What does the humanistic perspective focus on?

Human potential, personal growth, and free will.

Who are associated with humanistic psychology?

Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers.

When did humanistic psychology develop?

During the 1950s and 1960s.

What does humanistic psychology assume about people?

Every person has potential for growth and can make rational choices.

What is Maslow known for?

The hierarchy of needs.

What are Rogers' actualizing tendencies?

Innate tendencies toward personal, positive growth.

What is a fully functioning person according to Rogers?

Someone who follows their actualizing tendency toward meaning and happiness.

What did Rogers change about therapy?

He referred to people receiving therapy as clients rather than patients.

What does the cognitive perspective focus on?

Mental processes such as thinking, memory, perception, attention, and decision-making.

Who are associated with cognitive psychology?

Noam Chomsky, Ulrich Neisser, Brenda Milner, and George Miller.

When did cognitive psychology become prominent?

During the 1950s and 1960s.

Why did cognitive psychologists reject the behaviourist view of mental processes?

Mental processes help explain why people behave as they do.

What else shapes behaviour according to the cognitive perspective?

Motivations and interpretations of environmental events.

What does the biological perspective focus on?

How physical processes in the body determine thoughts, feelings, and behaviour.

Who are associated with the biological perspective?

Karl Lashley and Brenda Milner.

What biological factors can affect behaviour?

The brain, hormones, neurotransmitters, and genetic makeup.

What did Karl Lashley discover about memory?

There is no single location in the brain where memories are stored.

What did Lashley discover about damaged brain regions?

Lost functions can sometimes be recovered in another part of the brain.

What did Brenda Milner discover about memory systems?

Memory systems are divided into implicit and explicit forms.

What does the sociocultural perspective emphasize?

External societal and cultural influences on thinking, feeling, and behaviour.

Who are associated with the sociocultural perspective?

Kurt Lewin, Stanley Milgram, Muzafer Sherif, and Hazel Markus.

What influences behaviour according to the sociocultural perspective?

Societal and cultural norms and social roles.

Which branch of psychology is the sociocultural perspective related to?

Social psychology.

What is a psychedelic?

A drug that produces profound changes in internal mental experience.

What is a psychoactive substance?

A drug that affects thought, physiology, emotion, and behaviour by acting on the nervous system.

What is an etheogen?

A plant or fungus used in religious or ceremonial rituals to produce a spiritual experience.

What is a PhD?

A Doctor of Philosophy doctoral degree.

What is a PsyD?

A Doctor of Psychology degree focused more on clinical application than research.

What is postdoctoral training?

Training that broadens research skills under professional supervision.

What is a dissertation?

A long research paper based on research conducted during doctoral training.