History of Psychology: Structuralism, Functionalism, Behaviorism, and Social Cognitive Theory

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering the historical development of psychology across Structuralism (Wundt, Titchener), Functionalism (James, Dewey), Behaviorism (Pavlov, Skinner), and Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura).

Albert Bandura

A Canadian-born American psychologist born on December 4, 1925, and the youngest of six children, who formulated social cognitive theory and conducted the landmark Bobo Doll experiment.

Social Cognitive Theory

A psychological theory that emerged in the 1960s, integrating cognitive, observational, and environmental influences to explain how complex human behavior is acquired and sustained.

Observational Learning

A learning process composed of four essential stages: Attention (focusing on a model), Retention (remembering the behavior), Reproduction (enacting the behavior), and Motivation (the drive to execute it).

Self-Efficacy

An individual's personal belief in their own capability to perform tasks, which determines their motivation, level of effort, and resilience when encountering challenges.

Reciprocal Determinism

Bandura's model stating that human functioning is an ongoing, bidirectional interaction among three factors: Behavior ($B$), Person variables ($P$: cognitive, affective, and biological events), and the Environment ($E$).

Vicarious Reinforcement

The learning mechanism where an individual modifies their behavior by observing the rewards or punishments received by others, without needing to experience direct consequences themselves.

Modeling Therapy

A clinical application of social cognitive theory utilized in mental health to reduce phobias by observing adaptive behavior modeled by others.

Behaviorist Learning Theory

A learning framework that examines human conduct through objective, mechanistic, and materialistic approaches, maintaining that behavioral change is accomplished through conditioning.

Classical Conditioning

A conditioning procedure identified by Ivan Pavlov in which an original unconditioned stimulus is paired repeatedly with a neutral stimulus until the neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned stimulus eliciting a conditioned response.

Extinction (Classical Conditioning)

The elimination of a conditional reflex that takes place when a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without being followed by the unconditioned stimulus.

Stimulus Generalization (Classical Conditioning)

The manifestation of a conditioned response when an organism is exposed to stimuli that resemble the original conditioned stimulus.

Differentiation (Classical Conditioning)

The process by which an organism learns to distinguish among different stimuli and responds exclusively to the target conditioned stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

B.F. Skinner's conditioning framework where the immediate reinforcement of an emitted response is the determining factor in strengthening or altering behavior.

Three-Term Contingency (ABC Model)

Skinner's formulation consisting of Antecedent ($A$, the situation or environment), Behavior ($B$, the emitted action without external interference), and Consequence ($C$, the outcome resulting from the action).

Operant Discrimination

The selective responding to specific environmental cues arising from a history of differential reinforcement, rather than being an innate ability.

Stimulus Generalization (Operant Conditioning)

Responding to a similar environmental setting without having received previous reinforcement in that specific context.

Positive Reinforcement

The addition of a positive stimulus to an environment following a behavior that increases the probability of that behavior occurring again.

Negative Reinforcement

The removal or subtraction of an unpleasant or aversive stimulus from a situation that increases the probability of the preceding behavior recurring.

Four Types of Consequences in Operant Conditioning

A classification system defined by whether a stimulus is added or removed, and whether behavior increases (positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement) or decreases (positive punishment, negative punishment).

Fixed-Ratio (FR) Schedule

An intermittent schedule of reinforcement delivered after a fixed number of responses, yielding rapid response rates typically interrupted by brief post-reinforcement pauses.

Variable-Ratio (VR) Schedule

An intermittent reinforcement schedule delivered after an unpredictable number of responses around a fixed average, resulting in exceptionally high response rates that are very resistant to extinction.

Fixed-Interval (FI) Schedule

An intermittent schedule where the first response following a fixed duration of time is reinforced, producing an accelerating scallop-shaped response pattern as the end of the interval nears.

Variable-Interval (VI) Schedule

An intermittent schedule where reinforcement is provided for the first response after varying intervals of time around a constant average, leading to moderate, steady response rates resistant to extinction.

Structuralism

A foundational school of psychology championed by Wilhelm Wundt and formalized by Edward Titchener that dissects conscious mental experience into its basic components using introspection.

Wilhelm Wundt

A German doctor, philosopher, and sociologist born in Neckarau on August 18, 1832, who founded the world's first formal psychological laboratory at Leipzig University in 1879.

Edward Titchener

A student of Wundt who officially introduced the term Structuralism to designate the experimental, introspection-based psychology originally formulated by Wundt.

Introspection Method

A structuralist research technique where trained individuals carefully observe and report their immediate conscious experiences, sensations, and feelings in response to controlled stimuli.

Sensations (Structuralism)

Basic building blocks of perception in structuralist psychology, encompassing sights, sounds, smells, and other experiences evoked by physical objects in the environment.

Perceptions/Images (Structuralism)

Structuralist mental elements of ideas reflecting how individuals perceive, recognize, and interpret their environment based on past experiences.

Affections/Feelings (Structuralism)

The basic emotional components of conscious experience identified in structuralism, such as love, hate, and sadness.

Functionalism

An American psychological movement developed by William James and John Dewey focusing on the dynamic, adaptive functions of mental processes and behaviors in everyday survival, rather than static mental elements.

John Dewey

An American philosopher, psychologist, and educator who authored 'Psychology' (1886) introducing pragmatism, opposed elementarism, and wrote 'Democracy and Education' (1916) emphasizing experiential learning.

Elementarism (Dewey's Critique)

The structuralist approach of breaking down conscious experience into isolated fragments, which John Dewey rejected by asserting that stimulus and response operate as an integrated, goal-directed whole.

Chicago Functionalism

A major branch of functionalist thought represented by John Dewey and James Rowland Angell.

California Functionalism

A branch of functionalist thought associated with James McKeen Cattell and Edward L. Thorndike.

William James

An American psychologist and philosopher born in New York on January 11, 1841, who earned a Harvard medical degree in 1869 and published 'The Principles of Psychology' in 1890, establishing functionalism.

Stream of Consciousness

William James's description of consciousness as a personal, continuous, ever-changing, selective, and functional flow rather than a collection of static elements.

The Self (William James)

William James's tripartite division of personality and identity consisting of the Material Self, the Social Self, and the Spiritual Self.

James-Lange Theory of Emotion

A perspective proposing that physiological reactions (such as trembling or running) happen first upon encountering a stimulus, and conscious emotional experience emerges subsequently as a perception of those bodily changes.