Unit 1 Psychology: History, Approaches, and Research Methods

Vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes covering key terms, historical figures, psychological perspectives, subfields, research methods, and ethical guidelines.

Psychology

The systemic study of behaviour and mental processes and biological processes.

Behaviour

Observable actions of humans and other animals.

Mental processes

Brain activities including thoughts, memories, dreaming, emotions, and perceptions.

Wilhelm Wundt

The founder of psychology who opened the first formal research lab in Germany in 1879.

Structuralism

The first approach to psychology, interested in the basic principles and structure of the mind and mental processing.

Introspection

The process of looking inwards and sharing that process to examine the basic structure of the mind.

J. Henry Alston

The first African American psychologist to have his research published.

Gestalt Psychology

An approach focused on sensations and perceptions that challenged structuralism, asserting that the whole perception is greater than the sum of its individual parts.

Phi Phenomenon

The false perception of movement.

Functionalism

The first American school of psychology founded around 1880, which focuses on how mental processes function and allow us to adapt to our surroundings.

Hermann Ebbinghaus

A pioneer of memory research and author of On Memory who tested himself using non-sense words.

Mary Whiton Calkins

Psychologist who developed Paired Associates, an early formal mnemonic involving associations between numbers and colors.

Cognitive Psychology

A modern perspective that replaced functionalism, focusing on information processing, organization of thought, and input/output systems.

Psychometrics

The perspective interested in measuring mental functions such as intelligence.

Alfred Binet

A French psychologist who developed the first IQ test with average baselines to help struggling elementary-age learners.

Behaviorism

The learning perspective strictly interested in observable behaviour and environmental stimuli.

John B. Watson

An early behaviorist who conducted the Baby Albert experiment demonstrating counter-conditioning and taught fear experiences.

Albert Bandura

Developer of Social Learning Theory, which states that people learn through observational learning by watching others.

Psychoanalytic Perspective

A perspective founded by Sigmund Freud holding that human behaviour and thoughts are driven by the subconscious mind, childhood conflicts, and subconscious sexual and aggressive motives.

Motives

Internal states or conditions located in the subconscious mind that activate behaviour and give it direction.

Humanistic Perspective

A perspective emphasizing free will, self-perfection, and the inborn human tendency to reach one's full potential.

Self-actualization

Reaching one's full potential to become the best person one is capable of becoming.

Neuroscience Perspective

A biological perspective focusing on how the nervous system, genetics, hereditary traits, neurotransmitters, and hormones shape an individual.

Socio-cultural Perspective

A modern perspective holding that human behaviour, thought, and development are shaped by social interactions and cultural environments.

Cultural relativity

Viewing someone's behavior in terms of their own cultural norms and values rather than assuming different behaviors are abnormal.

Evolutionary Perspective

A perspective based on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution suggesting that psychological characteristics arose through natural selection.

Positive Psychology

A field founded by Martin Seligman focusing on positive human traits and six core virtues: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence.

Applied Psychology

The branch of psychology that applies research knowledge to solve and prevent human problems.

Developmental Psychology

The field that studies how humans grow and develop physically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively.

Psychiatry

A medical field practice by MD doctors who are authorized to prescribe medications, distinguishing them from PhD psychologists.

Scientific Method

A method of studying behaviour based on systematic observation and adherence to rules of evidence.

Empirical Evidence

Evidence based on public observation that can be confirmed by others.

Operational Definition

A specific description of the exact procedures used to measure a variable or behaviour in research.

Hypothesis

A specific prediction based on a theory or study that can be refuted or supported.

Informed Consent

An ethical guideline requiring that participants be informed about the study details and potential side effects prior to participating.

Debriefing

The post-study process where researchers give participants a full explanation of the results and study details.

Generalizability

The extent to which research findings from a study sample can be applied to a larger population or different situation.