Psych

Counseling psychology

Helps people cope with life challenges, such as issues at school, at work, or in relationships.

A psychologist treating emotionally troubled adolescents at a local mental health agency is most likely to be a(n)

clinical psychologist

A psychologist conducting basic research to expand psychology's knowledge base would be most likely to

observe 3- and 6-year-olds solving puzzles and analyze differences in their abilities.

behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

The philosopher-psychologist who was concerned with the evolved functions of our thoughts and feelings was _____.

William James

The school of _________ used introspection to define the mind's makeup

functionalism

The school of psychology called _____ was most clearly concerned with the adaptive value of psychological processes.

functionalism

William James would be considered a(n) ________. Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener would be considered ________.

functionalist; structuralists

humanistic psychology

historically significant perspective that emphasized human growth potential.

How did the cognitive revolution affect the field of psychology?

It recaptured the field's early interest in mental processes and made them legitimate topics for scientific study.

How do the scientific attitude's three main components relate to critical thinking?

The scientific attitude equips us to be curious, skeptical, and humble in scrutinizing competing ideas or our own observations. This attitude carries into everyday life as critical thinking, which puts ideas to the test by examining assumptions, appraising the source, discerning hidden biases, evaluating evidence, and assessing conclusions.

Nature is to nurture as

biology is to experience.

functionalism

early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function—how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish.

structuralism

early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind.

Can some people demonstrate ESP? We can probably find the answer to this question by testing it using an _____ approach.

empirical

behavior genetics

the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

From the 1920s through the 1960s, the two major forces in psychology were ___________ and ______________ psychology

Behaviorism and Freudian

Psychiatry

Branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders

What advantage do we gain by using the biopsychosocial approach in studying psychological events?

By incorporating different levels of analysis, the biopsychosocial approach can provide a more complete view than any one perspective could offer.

How did psychology continue to develop from the 1920s through today?

Early researchers defined psychology as "the science of mental life." In the 1920s, under the influence of John B. Watson and the behaviorists, the field's focus changed to the "scientific study of observable behavior." Behaviorism became one of psychology's two major forces well into the 1960s. However, the second major force of Freudian psychology, along with the influences of humanistic psychology and cognitive psychology, revived interest in the study of mental processes. Psychology is now defined as the science of behavior and mental processes.

In the early twentieth century, ________ redefined psychology as "the science of observable behavior."

John B. Watson

"For a lot of bad ideas, science is society's garbage disposal." Describe what this tells us about the scientific attitude and what's involved in critical thinking.

Many ideas and questions may be scrutinized scientifically, and the bad ones end up discarded as a result. Scientific thinking combines (1) curiosity about the world around us, (2) skepticism about unproven claims and ideas, and (3) humility about one's own understanding. This process leads us to evaluate evidence, assess conclusions, and examine our own assumptions, which are essential parts of critical thinking.

How has our understanding of biology and experience, culture and gender, and human flourishing shaped contemporary psychology?

Our growing understanding of biology and experience has fed psychology's most enduring debate. The nature-nurture issue centers on the relative contributions of genes and experience, and their interaction in specific environments. Charles Darwin's view that natural selection shapes behaviors as well as bodies led to evolutionary psychology's study of our similarities because of our common biology and evolutionary history, and behavior genetics' focus on the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior. Cross-cultural and gender studies have diversified psychology's assumptions while also reminding us of our similarities. Attitudes and behaviors may vary somewhat by gender or across cultures, but because of our shared human kinship, the underlying processes and principles are more similar than different. Psychology's traditional focus on understanding and treating troubles has expanded with positive psychology's call for more research on human flourishing and its attempt to discover and promote traits that help people to thrive.

Why did introspection fail as a method for understanding how the mind works?

People's self-reports varied, depending on the experience and the person's intelligence and verbal ability.

What are psychology's levels of analysis and related perspectives?

The biopsychosocial approach integrates information from three differing but complementary levels of analysis: biological, psychological, and social-cultural. This approach offers a more complete understanding than could usually be reached by relying on only one of psychology's current perspectives (neuroscience, evolutionary, behavior genetics, psychodynamic, behavioral, cognitive, and social-cultural).

"Nurture works on what nature endows." Describe what this means, using your own words.

The environment (nurture) has an influence on us, but that influence is constrained by our biology (nature). Nature and nurture interact. People predisposed to be very tall (nature), for example, are unlikely to become Olympic gymnasts, no matter how hard they work (nurture).

In 1879, in psychology's first experiment, __________ and his students measured the time lag between hearing a ball hit a platform and pressing a key.

Wilhelm Wundt

What is contemporary psychology's position on the nature-nurture issue?

Psychological events often stem from the interaction of nature and nurture, rather than from either of them acting alone.

What event defined the start of scientific psychology?

Scientific psychology began in Germany in 1879 when Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory.

The __________ perspective perspective in psychology focuses on how behavior and thought differ from situation to situation and from culture to culture, while the ___________ perspective emphasizes observation of how we respond to and learn in different situations.

Social-cultural ; Behavioral

Clinical psychology

Studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders but usually does not provide medical therapy

What were some important milestones in psychology's early development?

Wilhelm Wundt established the first psychological laboratory in 1879 in Germany. Two early schools were structuralism and functionalism.

What is natural selection?

This is the process by which nature selects from chance variations the traits that best enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment.

What are psychology's main subfields?

Within the science of psychology, researchers may conduct basic research to increase the field's knowledge base (often in biological, developmental, cognitive, personality, and social psychology) or applied research to solve practical problems (in industrial-organizational psychology and other areas). Those who engage in psychology as a helping profession may assist people as counseling psychologists, helping people with problems in living or achieving greater well-being, or as clinical psychologists, studying and assessing people with psychological disorders and treating them with psychotherapy. (Psychiatrists also study, assess, and treat people with disorders, but as medical doctors, they may prescribe drugs in addition to psychotherapy.) Community psychologists work to create healthy social and physical environments (in schools, for example).

psychiatry

a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy.

counseling psychology

a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being.

community psychology

a branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups.

clinical psychology

a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders.

biopsychosocial approach

an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.

A mental health professional with a medical degree who can prescribe medication is a

psychiatrist

The extent to which behaviors and personality spring from drives and conflicts outside one's own awareness is MOST relevant to the _____ perspective.

psychodynamic

basic research

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.

applied research

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.

____________ focused on how mental processes enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish.

structuralism

levels of analysis

the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon.

culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

cognitive neuroscience

the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language).

nature-nurture issue

the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today's science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture.

natural selection

the principle that those chance inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

psychology

the science of behavior and mental processes.

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.

evolutionary psychology

the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.

critical thinking

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.