A French philosopher and mathematician well known for his endorsement of mind-body dualism
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Mind-body dualism
Maintains that the mind and the body are distinct substances, each operating according to its own set of principles
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John Locke
An English philosopher and empiricist who believed that every human mind begins as a tabula rasa, or blank slate, which is shaped by individual experiences to become a unique person
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Empiricism
The idea that all knowledge comes from experiences; embraced by philosophers such as Locke and Hume, it also remains influential in contemporary psychology and other experimental sciences
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David Hume
A Scottish empiricist and member of the Associationist School who proposed several principles of association
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Principles of association
Rules that govern the ways in which the mind connects one idea to another and constructs complex ideas out of simpler ones
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Evolution
The idea, developed by Darwin, that species change over time, adapting to their environments in order to maximize survival and reproductive success by means of natural selection
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Phrenology
The idea developed by German physiologists Gall and Spurzheim that personal traits could be revealed by measuring the size and location of bumps on a person’s skill; thoroughly discredited by subsequent research
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Psychophysics
A subfield of physiology created by the German scientists Weber and Fechner and concerned with the relationship between physical stimuli and the sensations they cause
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Introspection
A technique used by early scientific psychologists consisting of precise examinations and description of an individual’s conscious experience, typically in response to stimuli presented by the researcher
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Structuralism
The theoretical approach developed in the late nineteenth century by Wundt and Titchener, which seeks to uncover the structures of consciousness through detailed descriptions of experience in laboratory settings
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Functionalism
Developed by William James in response to structuralism, an approach that emphasized the functions of the mind over its structures and focused on how aspects of consciousness allowed human beings to adapt to their environments
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Biological approach
An approach that maintains that all psychological phenomena have a biological basis; emphasizes neuroscience, genetics, and evolution in its explanations
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Eugenics
The controversial and discredited idea that the human species can be improved through selective breeding
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Behaviorism
A theoretical approach founded on the belief that psychology should only study observable and measurable behavior; behaviorists emphasize the impact of learning and other environmental forces on humans and animal behavior
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Gestalt psychology
A response to structuralism developed by Max Wertheimer and others in the early twentieth century that sought to discover principles that organized the whole of perceptual experience
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Psychoanalysis
The therapeutic approach invented by Freud, premised on the idea that some symptoms are the results of conflicts and other problems in the unconscious mind
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Psychodynamic psychology
The collective term used to describe the approaches of Freud, Jung, Adler, Horney, and similar thinkers, which tend to rely on ideas about the unconscious; influential in the early development of clinical psychology
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Humanistic psychology
Developed in the mid-twentieth century by Maslow, Rogers, and others, an approach that emphasizes human freedom and self-development
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Cognitive revolution
The ascendance of the cognitive approach in psychology, which sought to investigate a wide variety of cognitive processes, including language, memory, and attention
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Sociocultural approach
A perspective that emphasize how social and cultural contexts influence the development of human cognition and behavior
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Biological psychology
Biological psychologists and neuropsychologists investigate how the brain and nervous system cause behavior
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Clinical psychology
Clinical psychologists specialize in helping people who suffer from psychological disorders
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Cognitive psychology
Cognitive psychologists are interested in thinking and other cognitive processes, such as perception, memory, language use, reasoning, and decision making
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Community psychology
Community psychologists help build collaborative relationships among community members, organizations, and other groups to solve social problems. They study how individuals relate to their communities and the effect those communities have on the individual
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Counseling psychology
Counseling psychologists tend to assist individuals with less severe problems, often helping people look for guidance in navigating through the ordinary difficulties in life
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Development psychology
Developmental psychologists focus on human development throughout the course of life
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Educational psychology
Educational psychologists investigate how a variety of factors, such as ability, motivation, and classroom setting, affect students
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Environmental psychology
Environmental psychologists study the interactions between people and the natural environment and explore issues such as the impact of environmental stress on psychological health and productivity
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Experiemntal psychology
Experimental psychologists design and oversee empirical research projects to gain insights into psychological processes
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Evolutionary psychology
Evolutionary psychologists understand behavior and cognition through the lens of fitness, adaptation, and other evolutionary concepts
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Forensic psychology
Forensic psychologists are usually trained in both psychology and the law; they can provide valuable expertise within the judicial system, assessing defendants and inmates, advising judges and conducting research on issues relevant to the justice system, such as jury behavior and eyewitness testimony
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Gerontological psychology
Gerontology is the study of aging and the elderly; functioning in older people and assist in determining how much assistance an older person needs on a daily basis, as well as conduct research and teaching
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Health psychology
Health psychologists examine health and illness in the context of biological, psychological, and social factors
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Human factors psychology
Human factors specialists, also known as engineering psychologists, typically investigate how human beings can work safely and effectively with machines
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Industrial and organizational psychology
Industrial and organizational psychologists apply psychological principles and research methods to the workplace and are interested in improving productivity, health, and the quality of work life
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Personality psychology
Personality psychologists investigate how our personalities develop and how they affect the ways in which we think, feel, and act
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Psycholinguistics
Psycholinguists study language acquisition and other psychological processes that involve language
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Psychometrics
Psychometricians study the theories and techniques of psychological measurement. Some design tests that measure intelligence, attitudes, personality, traits, and other psychological characteristics
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Rehabilitation psychology
Rehabilitation psychologists work with people affected by injuries, disabilities, and other medical conditions, helping clients adapt to their new situations, including adjusting to work and pain management
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School psychology
The majority of school psychologists work for school systems and provide a wide range of services, such as diagnosis, assessment, intervention, prevention, health promotion, and program development
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Social psychology
Social psychologists study group behavior, as well as the impact of other people on the behavior of individuals
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Sport psychology
Sport psychologists are generally knowledgeable in the areas of psychology, physiology, and kinesiology. These specialists focus on optimizing the performance of athletes
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Alfred Adler
Austrian medical doctor and psychotherapist who was one of the first practitioners of family counseling and an advocate of the psychodynamic approach
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Jerome S. Bruner
American cognitive psychologist who developed a theory of cognitive growth; influential in educational psychology
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Mary Whiton Calkins
Student of William James best known for self-psychology, an introspective psychology that understands the self as a conscious organism that functions and has experiences and drives
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Noam Chomsky
Linguist and cognitive psychologist who views language acquisition as an innate human characteristic and argues for a universal grammar underlying all language
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Charles Darwin
British naturalist whose scientific theory of evolution by natural selection became the foundation of modern evolutionary studies. He influenced both the early functionalists and more contemporary evolutionary psychologists
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Dorothea Dix
Best known for investigating and xposing the atrocious conditions suffered by the mentally ill in state institutions and spearheading a reform movement for the human treatment of mental patients
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Gustav Fechner
One of the founders of psychophysics, he examined quantitative relations between sensations and the stimuli producing them
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Leon Festinger
American social psychologists best known for cognitive dissonance theory and other work in social psychology
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Sigmund Freud
Austrian founder of psychoanalysis, a form of therapy that focuses on the unconscious. He also developed the structural model of personality that distinguishes between id, ego, and superego, and a stage theory of psychosexual development
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Franz Joseph Gall
Founder of phrenology who maintained that different functions were localized in different parts of the brain
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G. Stanley Hall
First president of the American Psychological Association and student of William James; also influential in the study of child development
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Hermann von Helmoltz
Conducted research on the nervous system, eye, and ear; advanced the trichromatic theory of color vision; and was the first to measure the speed of a nerve impulse
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William James
A founder of functionalism known for the James-Lange theory of emotion. He established one of the first psychological laboratories in the United States and wrote the first psychology textbook, The Principles of Psychology (1890)
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Carl Jung
Psychodynamic thinker best known for developing the theory of archetypes and the collective unconscious, as well as the distinction between introverted and extraverted personalities
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Abraham Maslow
Humanistic psychologist best known for his hierarchy of needs
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Ivan Pavlov
Russian physiologist most famous for his work on classical conditioning, who influenced the behaviorists
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Jean Piaget
Swiss psychologist best known for his stage theory of cognitive development
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Carl Rogers
Humanistic psychologist who developed client-centered therapy
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B.F. Skinner
American behaviorist best known for operant conditioning theory and the “Skinner box,” an apparatus used in learning experiments
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Edward Titchener
Student of Wundt, credited with bringing structuralism to the United States; instrumental in the establishment of experimental psychology
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Lev S. Vygotsky
Russian psychologist who advocated for the sociocultural approach and is known for the zone of proximal development and other ideas about cognitive development
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Margaret Floy Washburn
First woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology; best known for her book The Animal Mind (1908), which advocated for the scientific study of mental phenomena (contrary to the behaviorists)
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John B. Watson
Founder of behaviorism, known for his contributions to classical conditioning theory and his Little Albert experiment
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Ernst H. Weber
One of the founders of psychophysics, he is known for the concept of the just-noticeable difference
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Max Wertheimer
Founder of Gestalt psychology, who emphasized the study of perception as a whole
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Wilhelm Wundt
German structuralist who founded the first psychological laboratory; widely recognized as the “father of psychology”
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Quantitative research
Research that uses operational measurements and statistical techniques to reach conclusions on the basis of numerical data, such as correlational studies and experiments
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Qualitative research
Research that does not rely on numerical representations of data, such as naturalistic observations, unstructured interviews, and case studies
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Correlation coefficient
A number (symbolized by r) between -1 and +1, which represents the strength and direction of the correlation between two variables. The closer the coefficient is to -1 or +1, the stronger the correlation between the variables
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Positive correlation
An r value above 0, which indicates that two variables have a direct relationship: when one variable increases, the other also increases
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Negative correlation
An r value below 0, which indicates that two variables have an inverse relationship: when one variable increases, the other decreases
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Naturalistic observation
A research method, typically qualitative in nature and usually covert and undisclosed, that attempts to document behavior as it spontaneously occurs in a real world setting
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Structured observation
A type of observational research typically conducted in a laboratory setting, where the researcher can control some aspects of the environment
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Coding
The classification of behaviors into discrete categories, used especially in structured observations to achieve a level of consistency in recording and describing observations
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Inter-rater reliability
A statistical measure of the degree of agreement between different codings of the same phenomena
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Participant observation
A mostly qualitative research method in which the researcher becomes a member of a studied group, either overtly or covertly
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Hawthorne effect
A phenomenon in which research subjects tend to alter their behavior in response to knowledge of being observed
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Longitudinal study
A research design that examines how individualsCross develop by studying the same sample over a long period of time
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Cross-sectional study
A research design conducted at a single point in time, comparing groups of differing ages to arrive at conclusions about development
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Case study
A research design involving an in-depth and detailed examination of a single subject, or case, usually an individual or a small group
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Survey
A mostly quantitative research method involving a list of questions filled out by a group of people to assess attitudes or opinions
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Nonresponse bias
A distortion of data that can occur in surveys with a low response rate
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Surveyor bias
A distortion of data that can occur when survey questions are written in a way that prompts respondents to answer a certain way
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Experiments
Deliberately designed procedures used to test research hypotheses
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Hypothesis
A proposes, testable explanation for a phenomenon, often constructed in the form of a statement about the relationship between two or more variables
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Controlled experiement
A research design for testing a causal hypothesis, in which all aspects of the study are deliberately controlled and only independent variables are manipulated to isolate their effects on dependent variables
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Field experiement
Experiments conducted out in the real world, with fewer controls than would be found in a lab
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Natural experiment
An experiment that does not involve the direct manipulations of variables, in which researchers rely on natural variations and advanced statistics to draw conclusions
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Independent variables
Factors manipulated in an experiment to test their effects on one or more dependent variables
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Dependent variables
The factors measured as outcomes or results in an experimentContr
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Control variables
Those factors present in an experiment that are kept constant between control and experimental groups
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Confounding Variables
Factors other than the independent variable(s) that influence dependent variables or that alter the effects of independent variables on dependent variables
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Control group
A group of participants in an experiment that represents a standard to which experimental groups are compared
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Experimental group
A group of participants in an experiment that is exposed to some variation of the independent variable (other than the control value)
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Placebo effect
A psychological phenomenon in which a person’s mere belief that he or she is receiving treatment causes the treatment to work
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Placebo
An inactive imitation of a treatment, such as a sugar pill
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Single-blind experiment
An experiment in which the researches know whether participants are in a control group or an experimental group, but the participants themselves lack this information
Studied by 3 people
