Chapter one.

What are adaptive traits?

Traits that help organisms adjust to their environment.

Define behavioural genetics.

A field that examines the genetic and environmental bases of differences among individuals on psychological traits.

What is the behaviourist perspective?

A perspective that focuses on the relationship between observable behaviours and environmental factors, pioneered by John Watson and B.F. Skinner.

What does biopsychology study?

The physical basis of psychological phenomena such as motivation, emotion, and stress.

What is the biopsychosocial model?

A model recognising that biological, psychological, and social processes interact as influences on behaviour and mental states.

Explain Cartesian dualism.

The doctrine of dual spheres of mind and body.

What is cognition?

Thought and memory.

Define critical thinking.

A skill involving careful examination and analysis of information to judge its value, strengths, weaknesses, and alternative explanations.

What is the focus of cross-cultural psychology?

Patterns among various cultural groups and how they influence behaviours.

How does cultural psychology differ from cross-cultural psychology?

Cultural psychology focuses on patterns in behaviours within a culture, while cross-cultural psychology examines similarities and differences between cultures.

What is empathy?

The capacity to understand another person’s experience, both cognitively and emotionally.

What does the falsifiability criterion assert?

Hypotheses must be framed to allow for them to be proven false, requiring modification of the theory on failure.

What is the mind-body problem?

The question of how mental and physical events interact.

What does the term natural selection refer to?

The theory by Darwin stating that natural forces select traits in organisms that help them adapt to their environment.

Define positive psychology.

The focus on understanding positive emotions and stimulating conditions that foster valued, subjective experiences.

What is self-concept?

An organized pattern of thought and perception about oneself.

What are psychologists’ most common work settings?

Health services, education, government administration, and private practice.

What does the humanistic perspective emphasize?

The uniqueness of the individual and the pursuit of personal goals towards self-actualisation.

Who initiated the psychodynamic perspective?

Sigmund Freud.

What is the main focus of the cognitive perspective?

The way people perceive, process, and retrieve information.

What is the role of evolutionary psychologists?

To apply evolutionary thinking to a wide range of psychological phenomena.

What does the term structuralism refer to?

An early school of thought in psychology that used introspection to uncover the basic elements of consciousness.

What are the educational requirements for psychologists?

Registration with a psychologists’ registration board and often obtaining relevant degrees in psychology.

What is the purpose of the sociocultural perspective?

To emphasize social interactions and cultural determinants of behaviour and mental processes.

What is an ideal self?

A person’s view of what she or he would like to be.

What does introspection involve?

Looking inward at one’s own mental contents or processes, often used by structuralists.

What seminal question does the nature–nurture controversy address?

The degree to which inborn biological processes or environmental events determine human behaviour.