wilhelm wundt
structuralist who founded psychology as a formal science; opened first psychology research laboratory in 1879
e.b. titchener
developed structuralism and introspection; student of wilhelm wundt
charles darwin
formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection
william james
founder of functionalism; studied how humans use perception to function in our environment
sigmund freud
focused on the unconscious causes of behavior and personality formation; founded psychoanalysis; id/ego/superego; defense mechanisms
ivan pavlov
behaviorist who discovered classical conditioning; trained dogs to salivate at the ringing of a bell
b.f. skinner
behaviorist that developed the theory of operant conditioning by training pigeons and rats (used successive approximations and a skinner box)
john b. watson
behaviorism; emphasis on external behaviors of people and their reactions on a given situation; famous for Little Albert study in which baby was taught to fear a white rat
carl rogers
humanistic; founded client-centered therapy, theory that emphasizes personal growth, unconditional positive regard
abraham maslow
humanistic psychology; hierarchy of needs in which the most basic needs (food/shelter) must be fulfilled to achieve self actualization
max wertheimer
gestalt psychologist who argued against dividing human thought and behavior into discrete structures; whole is greater than sum of the parts
margaret floy washburn
first woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology
mary whiton calkins
first female president of the APA; student of william james
e.l. thorndike
law of effect (behavior followed by favorable consequences becomes more likely and vice versa)
albert bandura
researcher known for work in observational or social learning including the famous Bobo doll experiment
noam chomsky
language development; disagreed with Skinner about language acquisition, stated humans have an inborn native ability to develop language
benjamin whorf
concept of "linguistic determinism" or how language impacts the way we think
wolfgang kohler
researcher who studied insight learning in chimps
charles spearman
creator of "g-factor", or general intelligence, concept
howard gardner
devised theory of multiple intelligences: logical-mathematic, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, intrapersonal, linguistic, musical, interpersonal, naturalistic
robert sternberg
intelligence; devised the Triarchic Theory of Intelligence (academic problem-solving, practical, and creative)
alfred binet
pioneer in intelligence (IQ) tests, designed a test to identify slow learners in need of help-not applicable in the U.S. because it was too culture-bound (French)
solomon asch
conducted famous conformity experiment that required subjects to match lines of similar length; found that people conformed to the group even if the answer was wrong
philip zimbardo
social psychology; stanford prison experiment that proved the power of social roles to influence people's behavior
stanley milgram
social psychology; shock experiment testing obedience to authority; had participants administer what they believed were dangerous electrical shocks to other participants
aaron beck
pioneer in cognitive therapy; suggested depression came from negative schemas about the world, the self, and the future
paul broca
discovered area in the brain (named for him) in the left frontal lobe responsible for language production
hermann ebbinghaus
memory; conducted studies on forgetting: first, a rapid loss followed by a gradual declining rate of loss; ebbinghaus forgetting curve
albert ellis
pioneer in Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET), focuses on altering client's patterns of irrational thinking to reduce maladaptive behavior and emotions
erik erikson
neo-Freudian, humanistic; 8 psychosocial stages of development: theory shows how people evolve through the life span
hans eysenck
personality theorist; asserted that personality is largely determined by genes, used introversion/extroversion
phineas gage
railroad worker who survived a severe brain injury that dramatically changed his personality and behavior; case study played a role in the development of the understanding of the localization of brain function
carl jung
neo-Freudian who created concept of "collective unconscious" and wrote books on dream interpretation
jean piaget
four stage theory of cognitive development (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational); studied why children got the same questions wrong in the same way
hermann rorschach
personality, psychoanalysis; developed one of the first projective test where the observer derives aspects of the personality from the subject's commentary on inkblots
ernst weber
perception; identified just-noticeable-difference (JND) that eventually becomes Weber's law
lawrence kohlberg
theory of moral development in children; made use of moral dilemmas in assessment
harry harlow
development; realized that touch is preferred in development (studied attachment of infant monkeys to artificial mothers made of cloth and wire)
alfred adler
neo-freudian; introduced concept of "inferiority complex" and stressed the importance of birth order
stanley schachter
emotion; stated that in order to experience emotions, a person must be physically aroused and know the emotion before you experience it
mary ainsworth
developmental psychology; compared effects of maternal separation, devised patterns of attachment; observation of parent/child attachment
kenneth clark
social psychology; research evidence of internalized racism caused by stigmatization; doll experiments-black children chose white dolls
david rosenhan
social psychologist; study in which healthy patients were admitted to psychiatric hospitals + diagnosed with schizophrenia; showed that diagnosis leads to negative labels
daniel goleman
intelligence; famous for contributions to emotional intelligence
karl wernicke
perception; discovered area of left temporal lobe involved language understanding
michael gazzaniga
split-brain research; understanding of functional lateralization in the brain; how the cerebral hemispheres communicate
weber's law
the principle that, to be perceived as different, two stimuli must differ by a constant minimum percentage
young-helmholtz trichromatic theory
theory of color vision that suggests that the retina contains three types of color receptors (cones) that combine to produce color perception
opponent-process theory
the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, yellow-blue, white-black) enable color vision
place theory
the theory that links the pitch we hear with the place where the cochlea's membrane is stimulated
frequency theory
theory of pitch that states that pitch is related to the speed of vibrations in the basilar membrane
facial feedback hypothesis
the idea that facial expressions can influence emotions as well as reflect them
activation-synthesis theory
this theory of dreaming that proposes that the brain tries to make sense of random brain activity by synthesizing the activity with stored memories
thorndike's law of effect
behaviors followed by favorable consequences become more likely, and behaviors followed by unfavorable consequences become less likely
ebbinghaus forgetting curve
the course of forgetting is initially rapid, then levels off with time
serial position phenomenon
our tendency to recall best the last and first items in a list
primacy effect
tendency to remember words at the beginning of a list especially well
recency effect
tendency to remember words at the end of a list especially well
proactive interference
the disruptive effect of prior learning on the recall of new information
retroactive interference
the disruptive effect of new learning on the recall of old information
linguistic determinism hypothesis
the proposition that our language determines our way of thinking and our perceptions of the world
cognitive dissonance theory
the theory that we act to reduce the discomfort we feel when two of our thoughts are inconsistent
attribution theory
the theory that we explain someone's behavior by crediting either the situation or the person's disposition
deindividuation theory
the psychological state of deindividuation is aroused when individuals join crowds or large groups
contact theory
idea that prejudice can be reduced by increasing contact with those that are different
hawthorne effect
the alteration of behavior by the subjects of a study due to their awareness of being observed
conformity effect
people will question their own perceptions when presented with the judgements of others
social facilitation
stronger responses on simple or well-learned tasks in the presence of others
social loafing
the tendency for people in a group to exert less effort when pooling their efforts toward attaining a common goal
restorative sleep theory
theory of sleep proposing that sleep is necessary to the physical health of the body and serves to replenish chemicals and repair cellular damage
evolutionary sleep theory
theory of sleep that says it helped avoid danger and predators
dream theory
dreams reflect real-life worries, hopes, and desires
cognitive problem solving
theory that dreams provide an opportunity to work through everyday problems and emotional issues in life
social cognitive theory
referring to the use of cognitive processes in relation to understanding the social world
gate control theory
the theory that the spinal cord contains a neurological "gate" that blocks pain signals or allows them to pass on to the brain
stroboscopic effect
images in a series of still pictures presented at a certain speed will appear to be moving
phi phenomenon
an illusion of movement created when two or more adjacent lights blink on and off in quick succession
mere exposure effect
the phenomenon that repeated exposure to novel stimuli increases liking of them
harlow's attachment theory
a strong emotional and physical attachment to at least one primary caregiver is critical to personal development
ainsworth's attachment theory
three types of attachment
secure: child plays comfortably with mom, cries when she leaves, then is calmed when she returns
anxious/ambivalent: anxious with mom, protests when she leaves, not comforted when she returns
avoidant: little contact with mom, not distressed when she leaves
erickson's theory of moral development
moral development theory
piaget's theory of cognitive development
theory made up of sensorimotor period, preoperational period, concrete operations, and formal operations expressed by Jean Piaget
vygotsky's sociocultural theory
the approach that emphasizes how cognitive development proceeds as a result of social interactions between members of a culture
kohlberg's theory of moral development
developing children progress through a predictable sequence of stages of moral reasoning (preconventional, conventional, postconventional).
seligman's learned helplessness theory
depression occurs when people (and other animals) become resigned to the idea that they are helpless to escape from something painful
misinformation effect
incorporating misleading information into one's memory of an event
skinner's theory of language
we imitate our parents for words, reinforcement encourages linguistic growth, there is an association between sight and sound
chomsky's theory of language
says that all languages share a common universal grammar and that children inherit a mental program to learn this universal grammar
flynn effect
the worldwide phenomenon that shows intelligence test performance has been increasing over the years
signal detection theory
a theory predicting how and when we detect the presence of a faint stimulus (signal) amid background stimulation (noise); assumes there is no single absolute threshold
scapegoat theory
prejudice offers an outlet for anger by providing someone to blame
social exchange theory
the theory that our social behavior is an exchange process, the aim of which is to maximize benefits and minimize costs
all-or-none principle
the law that the neuron either fires at 100% or not at all
divided consciousness theory
hypnosis has caused a split in awareness
social influence theory
hypnotic subjects may simply be imaginative actors playing a social role
terror management theory
a theory of death-related anxiety; explores people's emotional and behavioral responses to reminders of their impending death
theory of multiple intelligences
Gardner's intelligence theory that proposes that there are eight distinct spheres of intelligence