Chapter 1

Shamans

Medicine men or women who treat people with mental problems by driving out their demons with elaborate rituals, such as exorcisms, incantations, and prayers.

Behavioral Neuroscience

The study of the links among brain, mind, and behavior.

Biological Psychology

The study of the relationship between bodily systems and chemicals and how the influence behavior and thought (ex: stress horomones and behavior)

Behaviorism

a school of psychology which proposed that psychology can be a true science if it only examines observable behaviors, not ideas, feelings, thoughts or motives.

Moral Treatment

19th century approach to treating the mentally ill with dignity in a caring environment.

Functionalism

19th century school of psychology that argued it was better to look at why the mind works the way it does than to describe its parts.

Structuralism

19th century school of psychology that argued that breaking down experience intoits elemental parts offers the best way to understand thought and behavior

Forensic Psychology

A blend of psychology, law, and criminal justice. They make legal evaluations of a person's mental competency to stand trial.

Psychoanalysis

A clinically based approach to understanding and treating psychological disorders; assumes that the unconscious mind in the most powerful force behind thought and behavior (Sigmund Freud pioneered psychoanalysis).

Natural Selection

A feedback process whereby nature favors one design over another because it has an impact on reproduction

Humanistic Psychology

A theory of psychology that focuses on personal growth and meaning as a way of reaching one's highest potential.

Gestalt Psychology

A theory of psyhology that maintains that we perceive things as wholes rather than as a compilation of parts.

Social Psychology

Considers how the real or imagend presence of others influences though, feeling, and behavior (how others influence our behavior)

Personality Psychology

Considers what makes people unique as well as the consistencies of people's behaivor across time and situations (how our personalities influence our behavior).

Educational Psychology

Draws on several others areas of psychology to study how students learn, the effectiveness of particular teaching techniques, the dynamics of school populations, and the psychology of teaching (also special education and gifted students)

Sports Psychology

Examines the psychological factors that affect performance and participation in sports and exercise (Olympians had sports psychologists to improve their performance(

Health Psychology

Examines the role of psychological factors in physical health and illness (stress, etc.)

Developmental Psychology

Explores how thought and behavior change and remain stable OVER THE LIFE SPAN.

Asylums

Facilities for treating the mentally ill in Europe during the Middle Ages and into the 19th century.

Clinical Psychology

Focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and ways to promote psychhological health. This is the largest subdomain in psychology.

Soft Wiring

In contrast to hard wiring, means that biological systems- genes, brain structures, brain cells- are inherited but open to modification from the environment.

Adaptations

Inherited solutions to ancestral problems that have been selected for because they contribute in some way to reproductive success.

Positive Psychology

Scientific approach to studying, understanding, and promoting healthy and positive psychological functioning.

Evolutionary Psychology

The branch of psychology that studies human behavior by asking what adaptive problems it may have solved for our early ancestors.

Evolution

The change over time in the frequency with which specific genes occur within a breeding species.

Nature through Nurture

The position that the environment constantly interacts with biology to shape who we are and what we do.

Industrial/Organizational (I/O) Psychology

an applied science, meaning it involves the understanding the real world rather than laboratory behavior. Industrial means mathching employees to their job. Organizational aims to make workers more productive and satisfied by considering how their work environment and management styles influence worker motivation.

Introspection

the main method of investigation for structuralists; it involves looking into one's own mind for information about the nature of conscious experience.

Psychology

the scientific study of thought and behavior

Cognitive Psychology

the study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems (cognitive means to think). Basically this is a research psychologist often called an experimental psychologist.

Psychophysics

the study of how people psychologically perceive physical stimuli such as light, sound waves, and touch.

Empiricism

the view that all knowledge and thoughts come from experience (John Locke)