critical thinking
examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions
Aristotle
knowledge comes from observation, it is not innate
Descartes
mind distinct from the body, dualism
Francis Bacon
experiment, experience, empiricism
John Locke
mind at birth is a tabula rasa (blank slate) on which experience writes
Empiricism
the idea that knowledge comes from experience, and that observation and experimentation enable scientific knowledge
Wilhelm Wundt
established the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany
structuralism
Wundt and Titchener’s thought that used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind
introspection
process of looking inward in an attempt to directly observe one’s own psychological processes
Titchener
introduced structuralism to study elements of the mind, used introspection
Darwin
natural selection of mental and physical traits, adaptive evolution, influenced William James
William James
wrote Principles of Psychology, believed thinking was adaptive and helped in survival
consciousness
helps to consider past, adjust to present, and plan future
functionalism
explored how mental and behavioral processes function, how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish
behaviorism
study of observable behavior
behaviorism view
view that psychology should be objective and study behavior without references to mental processes
B.F. Skinner
leading behaviorist, rejected introspection and studied how consequences shaped behavior
Freudian psychology
emphasized the ways our unconscious mind and childhood experiences affect our behavior and mental processes
Sigmund Freud
personality theorist and therapist who focused on unconscious sexual conflicts and the mind’s defenses (psychoanalysis)
humanistic
emphasized human growth potential, believed that people were essentially good and unique, often considered a third force in psychology and rejected both behaviorism and psychoanalytic psychology
Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow
led the humanistic psychology study
cognitive psychology
study of mental processes, such as when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and solve problems
psychology
science of behavior and mental processes of humans and other animals
cognitive neuroscience
interdisciplinary study of brain activity linked with cognition (perception, thinking, memory, language)
nature vs. nurture
longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors
nature
innate or inborn
nurture
experience or environment
natural selection
the principle that inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations
evolutionary psychology
the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection
behavior genetics
the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior, twin studies provide evidence for the relative influence of nature and nurture
culture
enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
gender
socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female
positive psychology
the scientific study of human flourishing with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive
biopsychosocial approach
an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological and social cultural viewpoints
cognitive approach
interpretations of situations and mental processes and how they impact behavior
evolutionary perspective
natural selection of traits
humanistic
personal growth and self-actualization
behavioral psychology
the scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning
biological psychology
the scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes
psychodynamic
branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders
social-cultural psychology
the study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking
psychometrics
study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits
basic research
pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
applied research
scientific study that aims to solve practical problems, real world application
developmental psychology
studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan
educational psychology
study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning
personality psychology
study of individuals characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting
social psychology
scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
industrial-organizational psychology
the application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces
human factors psychology
a field of psychology allied with I/O psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use
counseling psychologists
assists people with problems in living and in achieving greater well-being
clinical psychology
branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders (phd or psyd)
psychiatry
medicine dealing with psychological disorders practiced by physicians who are licensed to provide medical as well as psychological therapy (md)
community psychologists
studies how people react to their environment and how social institutions affect individuals and groups
cognitive psychologists
study human thinking and may work in academia or corporate
developmental psychologists
study our behavior changes as we age
educational psychologists
research issues related to teaching or learning
experimental psychologists
experiments to understand behaviors and mental processes
psychometric/quantitative psychologists
use math/stats to create, administer, score and interpret tests….intelligence and/or personality
social psychologists
study interactions with others and how groups impact us individually
forensic psychologists
apply psychological principles to legal issues
rehabilitation psychologists
help individuals who have lost function after an accident/illness
school psychologists
assessment and intervention for children in educational settings
sport psychologists
help to improve performance
counseling psychologists
guide people toward healthier relationships, overcome anxiety and depression, cope with difficulties
clinical psychologists
assess and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, administer and interpret psychological testing, therapy and counseling, may conduct research
community psychologists
work together with larger groups and communities and focusing on crisis management
hindsight bias
tendency to believe that we would have foreseen an outcome after learning what it was
overconfidence
the tendency to think more than we do
perceive order in random events
In trying to make sense of an unpredictable world, we are prone to perceive patterns; in other words, we ______________________
hindsight bias, overconfidence, eagerness
___________, ___________, and our _________ to perceive patterns in random events, lead us to overestimate the weight of common sense thinking
scientific inquiry
_________ can help us overcome such biases and shortcomings
scientific method
a self-correcting process using observation and analysis to evaluate
theory
an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organize observations and predicts behaviors or events using observations to explain behavior
hypothesis
a testable prediction often implied by a theory, predictions about a behavior that can be tested
support our theory or lead us to revise or reject
Research will either ___________________
operational definition
a carefully worded statement of exact procedures used in research study
replication
repeat the experiment precisely, confirmation
case study
descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles
examination of rare, large qualitative data, directions for further study
strength of case study
can be misleading, isn’t generalizable, cause and effect can’t be determined
limitation of case study
naturalistic observation
a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without control or manipulation
subjects behave normally outside of a lab setting, data collection is unobtrusive
strengths of naturalistic observation
independent variable can’t be isolated, cause and effect can’t be determined, observations are subjective
limitations of naturalistic observation
surveys
descriptive technique for obtaining self reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of group
able to take a quick pulse of people’s beliefs/behaviors/opinions, able to include many cases
strength of survey
response bias, wording effects skew outcomes, acquiring a random sample is hard, cause and effect can’t be determined
limitation of survey
representative sample
has the same distribution of population demographic qualities in it as the population as a whole
random sample
sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion
CED
applying basic descriptive statistical concepts, including interpreting and constructing graphs and calculating simple descriptive statistics
illusory correlation
perceiving a relationship where none exists or perceiving a stronger than actual relationship
regression to the mean
the tendency for extreme scores or events to fall back toward the mean
random assignment
assigning the participants to the experimental or control group by chance, equalizes experiment groups
confounding variable
a factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study’s results
descriptive
observe and record behavior, uses case studies, naturalistic observation, or surveys
correlational
to detect naturally occurring relationship; to assess how well one variable predicts another, collects data on two or more variables; no manipulation- cannot specify cause and effect
experimental
to explore cause and effect- manipulates one or more factors, uses random assignment, manipulates the independent variable, sometimes not feasible, results may not generalize to other contexts, not ethical to manipulate certain variables
neuron
nerve cell that is the basic building block of the nervous system
cell body
cell’s life support center (soma), contains the nucleus
dendrites
receives messages from other cells, bushy, branching extensions that receive and integrate messages, conducting impulses toward the cell body