Introduction to Psychology

abnormal psychology

interested in explaining unusual and maladaptive behaviours by examining thoughts and emotions

applied psychology

attempts to solve practical problems in various sectors

behavioural genetics

explains differences in behaviour based on genetics

behavioural neuroscience

understands how specific brain regions or activities produce behaviours

behaviourism

suggests observable behaviour is the only valid way to conduct psychology

biological determinism

views all behaviour is controlled by biological/genetic influences, the extreme of nativism

clinical psychology

applied psychology that focuses on identifying, preventing and relieving distress

cognitive psychology

interested in how information is processed

cognitive revolution

shift away from behaviourism

comparative psychology

studies animal behaviour

counseling psychologist

helps people deal with ongoing situations

Descartes

described dualism and gave the concept of reflex

developmental psychology

studies development across our lifespan

dualism

mind and body are separate

eclectic approach

clinical approach that uses different techniques based on effectiveness

empiricism

knowledge comes from experience

evolutionary psychology

mental processes arose from natural selection and adaption

functionalism

understanding behaviour or process function is key to understanding operation

gestalt psychology

how people perceive a unified whole out of individual elements of sensations

humanistic psychology

emphasizes humanity

James

father of american psychology, functionalist

proximate explanation

describes immediate cause of psychological phenomenon

functional explanation

identifies specific problems

process oriented explanations

focuses on specific mental or physical processes, mechanical explanation

ultimate explanation

addresses why a psychological phenomenon occurs

Maslow

hierarchy of needs

nativism

states some forms of knowledge are innate

phrenology

study shape of skull to associate it with brain function

Pinker

compares mind to computer, wrote a book on the cognitive revolution

personality psychology

studies individual differences

positive psychology

subset of humanistic psychology that studies human virtues

psychoanalysis

created by Freud to help client gain insight into their conscious

Rogers

created person centered therapy, humanist

Skinner

studied rewards and punishments, behaviourist

social psychology

interested in how one's thoughts and behaviours are influences by presence of others

structuralism

first movement of psychology, breaks down immediate conscious experiences into their constituent parts

tabula rasa

blank slate, the mind is a place of potential

translational research

takes findings and turns them into practical solutions

Watson

Albert experiment, behaviourist

Wundt

father of modern psychology, structuralist

Galvani

shows that things that move with apparent intent don’t have souls, zapped frog legs

Locke

the mind is a machine, tabula rasa, empiricism

Muller

researched reaction time

Florens

ablation studies, destroyed areas of the brain on purpose to see what they did

animism

the belief that natural phenomena, animals, and inanimate objects are alive and have intentions

rationalism

reason is the key to knowledge