History & Systems of Psychology Exam 2 Study Guide

Vocabulary flashcards generated from the History & Systems of Psychology Exam 2 Study Guide covering the emergence of experimental psychology, Wundt, Structuralism, Functionalism, and Psychoanalysis.

By the late 19th century, developments in physiology had demonstrated that questions related to the mind and behavior could be investigated scientifically

However, psychology had not yet emerged as an independent scientific discipline

Measurement

Could mental processes be measured?

Measuring Experience

Could subjective experience, such as sensation and perception, be studied scientifically?

Institutional Support

Were there universities & labs where this new science could develop?

Hermann von Helmholtz

Physiologist who measured the speed of nerve impulses, demonstrating that nerve impulses take time to travel and that mental processes occur in measurable time.

Why Measurement by Hermann von Helmholtz mattered?

Processes related to mental activity occur in measurable time. Mental processes were becoming accessible to scientific measurement.

Ernst Weber

Researcher who investigated sensory discrimination and the limits of sensory perception, demonstrating that subjective sensory experience follows measurable and predictable patterns.

Threshold

Point at which a stimulus begins to produce a psychological effect

Two-point threshold

Minimum distance at which two points of stimulation are experienced as separate

Just Noticeable Difference (JND)

Smallest difference between two stimuli that a person can detect

Why Measuring Experience by Ernst Weber mattered?

Subjective sensory experience follows measurable and predictable patterns and can therefore be studied scientifically.

German universities provided

• Academic freedom

• Laboratories and scientific equipment

• Research training

• Institutional support for new areas of scientific study

Scientific ideas require

institutions, laboratories, and trained researchers in order to develop into an established discipline

Helmholtz

Mental processes could be measured

Weber

Subjective experience could be studied systematically

German universities

Institutional support for experimental research

Wilhelm Wundt

Psychologist who established the first psychology laboratory in Leipzig, Germany, in 1879, helping to mark the formal beginning of psychology as an independent experimental science.

Experimental Introspection

Wundt's method of investigating conscious experience by presenting controlled stimuli, focusing on immediate experience, providing precise reports, and repeating observations under controlled conditions.

Immediate Experience

Direct sensory awareness before interpretation; Wundt's primary research focus.

Mediate Experience

Experience that has already been interpreted or identified, focusing on what the object is or what the experience means.

What Was Wundt Studying?

• Immediate conscious experience

• Perception and attention

• Responses to stimuli

• How the mind actively organizes experience

Apperception

The process by which the mind actively attends to and organizes conscious experience into a unified conscious experience.

Key idea of Apperception

Consciousness is active rather than passive

Edward Bradford Titchener

Student of Wundt who brought experimental psychology to the United States and developed Structuralism.

Structuralism

The approach asserting that psychology should analyze the structure of conscious experience by breaking it into its basic elements.

Primary question of Structuralism

What is conscious experience made of?

Goal of Structuralism

• Break conscious experience into its basic elements

• Identify and describe those elements

• Develop something like a “periodic table” of mental elements

Trained Introspection

Structuralist method where observers were trained to focus on immediate conscious experience and describe characteristics such as quality, intensity, and duration rather than naming the object.

Stimulus Error

Identifying or naming an object rather than describing the conscious experience it produces.

Elements of Consciousness

Sensations, Images, Affective states

Sensations

Basic elements of perception in Structuralism, such as color, brightness, sound, and texture.

Images

Basic elements of thought and memory in Structuralism, such as mental pictures or remembered experiences.

Affective states

Basic elements of emotion, such as pleasantness or unpleasantness

Quality

What kind?

Intensity

How strong?

Duration

How long?

Clearness

How distinct?

Problems with Structuralism

If trained observers disagree about their experiences, how can introspection provide objective scientific evidence?

Key distinction between Wundt and Titchener

Wundt → Process and organization of conscious experience

Titchener → Structure and basic elements of conscious experience

Functionalism

Psychology should study the functions of mental processes and behavior – what they accomplish and how they help organisms adapt to their environment.

Darwin's theory of evolution introduced an important idea:

characteristics can be understood in terms of the functions they serve

Pragmatism

Philosophical influence on Functionalism emphasizing that ideas should have practical consequences and that knowledge should be useful for solving real-world problems.

Functionalists study

learning, memory, attention, motivation, emotion, and problem solving

what methods Functionalists used

Observation and experiments, Comparative research, Mental testing, and Applied research

who could be studied in functionalism

Adults, children, and animals

William James

Central intellectual influence on Functionalism who published The Principles of Psychology in 1890 and viewed psychology as both scientific and practical.

Stream of Consciousness

William James's concept that consciousness cannot be broken into separate elements because it is continuous, personal, selective, ever-changing, and connected to ongoing activity.

Consciousness is:

Continuous, Personal, Selective, Ever-changing, and Connected to ongoing activity

Habit

Repeated actions that become automatic and efficient, reducing required conscious attention and freeing attention for new or unexpected demands.

John Dewey

Functionalist who viewed behavior as a continuous, coordinated, and goal-directed interaction between organism and environment rather than isolated stimulus-response events.

James Rowland Angell

Functionalist who helped define Functionalism as a psychology of mental operations and adaptation, focusing on how mental and physical processes work together.

James McKeen Cattell

Functionalist who emphasized individual differences, reaction time, sensory abilities, and quantitative mental testing.

James McKeen Cattell’s work contributed to:

Psychological testing, Psychometrics, Quantitative psychology, Applied assessment

Sigmund Freud

Neurologist who developed Psychoanalysis in Vienna, emphasizing unconscious processes, internal psychological conflict, and early childhood experiences.

Psychoanalysis

developed by Sigmund Freud in Vienna in the late 19^th/ early 20th centuries

Freud was particularly influenced by:

• Jean-Martin Charcot → Hypnosis and hysteria

• Josef Breuer → Hysteria, catharsis, and the “talking cure”

Jean-Martin Charcot

Clinician whose work with hypnosis and hysteria influenced Sigmund Freud's development of psychological explanations for illness.

Josef Breuer

Physician who treated Anna O. using catharsis and the 'talking cure', influencing Freud's understanding of repressed conflict.

Hysteria

Condition involving physical symptoms (such as paralysis, blindness, or loss of speech) without an identifiable organic or medical cause.

Anna O

A patient of Josef Breuer, she was instrumental in the development of psychoanalytic techniques, particularly the talking cure on which Freud later expanded.

The “Talking Cure”

A therapeutic technique developed by Josef Breuer and later expanded by Freud, where patients communicate their thoughts and feelings to resolve emotional distress.

Catharsis

the release of pent-up emotional energy

Freud developed Psychoanalysis as:

A theory of personality, A method of therapy, and A broader system of psychology. His approach emphasized three major ideas such as Unconscious processes, Internal psychological conflict, and Early experiences

Conscious

Thoughts and perceptions currently in awareness

Preconscious

Information not currently conscious but easily brought into awareness

Unconscious

Repressed desires, instincts, fears, and other material outside awareness

Key ideas of the Levels of Consciousness

The unconscious can influence behavior without entering conscious awareness.

Psychic Determinism

Behavior has an underlying psychological cause.

Psychological Conflict

Freud viewed behavior as the result of competing internal forces.

Structure of Personality:

Freud described personality in terms of three interacting components.

Id

Unconscious component of personality that contains instinctual drives and operates according to the pleasure principle seeking immediate gratification.

Ego

Component of personality that operates according to the reality principle, dealing with the demands of reality and mediating between the id and superego.

Superego

Component of personality representing moral standards and conscience, Evaluates behavior and can produce guilt, and containing internalized parental and societal standards.

Defense Mechanisms

Psychological strategies used to reduce anxiety.

Repression

Keeping distressing experiences or impulses out of awareness

Denial

Refusing to accept an unpleasant reality

Projection

Attributing one's own unacceptable feelings or impulses to someone else

Displacement

Redirecting emotions or impulses toward a safer target

Rationalization

Creating seemingly logical explanations for unacceptable behavior or motives

Free Association

Saying whatever comes to mind

Dream Analysis

Interpreting the underlying or latent content of dreams

Transference

Transferring feelings associated with important people onto the therapist

Resistance

Avoiding distressing material; viewed as a clue to unconscious conflict

Goal of Methods of Psychoanalysis

Bring unconscious material into conscious awareness.

Fixation

can occur when conflict at a stage is not adequately resolved

Freud believed personality develops

through a series of psychosexual stages

Oral Stage

Psychosexual stage (0–1 year):

• Focus: Mouth, sucking, feeding, biting

• Central issue: Trust and dependency

Anal Stage

Psychosexual stage (1–3 years):

• Focus: Bowel and bladder control

• Central issues: Self-control, obedience, cleanliness; order vs. messiness

Phallic Stage

Psychosexual stage (3–6 years):

• Focus: Genitals and awareness of sex differences

• Central conflict: Oedipus/Electra complex and identification with the same-sex parent

Latency Stage

Psychosexual stage (6–12 years):

• Sexual impulses relatively dormant

• Emphasis on development of social and intellectual skills

Genital Stage

Psychosexual stage (12+ years):

• Mature sexual interests and intimacy

• Balance between love and work

Many psychoanalytic ideas are

difficult to test scientifically

The approaches differed primarily in

what they believed psychology should study and how psychological questions should be investigated

Major figure of Experimental Psychology

Wilhelm Wundt

Major Figure of Structuralism

Edward Titchener

Major Figure of Functionalism

William James; Dewey, Angell, Cattell

Major Figure of Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud

Primary focus of Experimental Psychology

Immediate conscious experience

Central question of Experimental Psychology

How can conscious experience be studied scientifically?

View of the mind Experimental Psychology

Active; attention organizes conscious experience