CGSC 1001: Introduction to Psychology and Cognitive Science

A collection of vocabulary flashcards covering the introductory concepts, major perspectives, historical figures, and scientific principles discussed in the CGSC 1001 lecture on Psychology.

Cognitive Science

An interdisciplinary field of study that includes Psychology, Philosophy, Anthropology, Linguistics, Computer Science, and Artificial Intelligence.

Psychology

The scientific study of mind and behaviour, relevant to all aspects of human experience.

WEIRD samples

Research participants from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic backgrounds, representing only $20\%$ of the world population.

Etuaptmumk

Commonly known as "two-eyed seeing," a concept popularized by Mi’kmaq Indigenous Elder Albert Marshall suggesting Western and Indigenous knowledge systems can work in harmony.

Psychological science

The scientific study of mind and behaviour which is critical (combining curiosity with skepticism) and summative (conclusions grow over time from multiple sources).

Overconfidence effect

The tendency for individuals to be overly sure of what they know.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to seek out, pay attention to, and believe only evidence that supports what a person is already confident they know.

Wilhelm Wundt

The individual with whom the scientific approach to psychology originated in Germany.

James Mark Baldwin

The individual who established the first psychology lab in Canada and made important contributions to developmental psychology.

Sigmund Freud

The founder of the clinical approach to psychology, which originated in Austria and focused on therapeutic interventions for psychological disorders.

Evolutionary perspective

A psychological perspective that seeks to identify how humans’ evolutionary past shapes cultural universals that all human beings share.

Cultural perspective

A psychological perspective that seeks to understand how cultural context and environment affect people's thoughts, preferences, and behaviors.

Culture

The rules, values, customs, and beliefs that exist within a group of people who share a common language and environment.

Emotional perspective

A perspective that seeks to identify how the capacity to feel, express, and perceive emotions influences decision making, behaviour, and social relationships.

Cognitive perspective

The psychological perspective that studies mental processes underlying perception, thought, learning, memory, language, and creativity.

Unconscious

The part of mental life influencing thoughts, feelings, and actions that cannot be directly observed and of which an individual is unaware.

Biological–neuroscience perspective

A perspective that seeks to understand the biological underpinnings of how humans think, act, and behave.

Neuroscience

The scientific study of how nerves and cells send and receive information from the brain, body, and spinal cord.

Wilder Penfield, Donald O. Hebb, and Brenda Milner

Three Canadian neuroscientists who had particularly large impacts on the field of neuroscience.

Developmental perspective

The study of how people change physically, cognitively, socially, and emotionally as they age, from conception to old age.

Personality perspective

A viewpoint that asks whether people possess specific stable traits that influence their behavior across situations.

Social psychological perspective

A viewpoint that examines whether people's behavior and skills change depending on the specific situations they are in.

Clinical perspective

The psychological perspective focusing on the causes and treatment of psychological disorders to improve human well-being and daily functioning.

Growth mindset

The belief that human personality and behaviour can be changed.

Positive psychology

The scientific study of factors that make people happy, keep them healthy, and help them manage stress, including hope, courage, and creativity.

Metacognition

An awareness and understanding of your own thought processes.