Perspectives in Psychology - Key Figures and Concepts (Topic 2)

Flashcards for Psychology 1A: Perspectives in Psychology, Week 1, covering key figures, concepts, and perspectives in the history and development of psychology.

Wilhem Wundt

Established the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879, marking the formal beginning of psychology as a science.

Edward B Titchener

Wundt's student and translator who brought structuralism to the USA using introspection.

Structuralism

An early approach to psychology that focused on identifying the basic elements or structures of conscious experience.

Introspection

A method used in structuralism that involves training people to carefully and objectively analyze the content of their own thoughts.

William James

An American psychologist who wrote 'Principles of Psychology' in 1890 and focused on functionalism.

Functionalism

A psychological perspective concerned with how mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment.

Sigmund Freud

German psychologist who developed psychoanalysis focusing on the structure of personality: Conscious, Preconscious, and Unconscious.

Psychoanalysis

A psychological theory that emphasizes the role of unconscious thoughts, feelings, and memories in determining human behavior.

Gestalt Psychology

Early psychologists (Wertheimer, Koffka, Kohler) who emphasized that perception is more than the sum of its parts; it involves a 'whole' experience.

Behaviorism

A perspective in psychology that focuses on observable behavior and how it is learned through stimulus, reinforcement, and contingency.

B.F. Skinner

An American psychologist known for his contributions to behaviorism, particularly his work on operant conditioning using experimental boxes.

Cognitive Psychology

A perspective in psychology that focuses on mental processes such as memory, problem-solving, and language.

Cognitive Psychologists (1950-1970s)

Psychologists (Neisser, Miller, Simon, Bruner) who compared the human mind to a computer, emphasizing information processing.

Biological/Neuroscientific Perspective

A perspective that examines the physiological and genetic bases of behavior.

Social Psychology

A perspective that examines the influence of social interactions, social learning, and culture on behavior.

Psychodynamic Perspective

Emphasizes the role of unconscious processes, motivations, and early experiences in shaping behavior.

Behaviorist Perspective

Focuses on how behavior is learned and selected by environmental consequences.

Humanistic Perspective

Highlights the need to self-actualize and fulfill one's inner potential in shaping behavior and experience.

Cognitive Perspective

Views behavior as the product of information processing, including storage, transformation, and retrieval.

Evolutionary Perspective

Explains psychological processes as reflections of evolutionary processes of natural selection.