A Science Evolves: The Past, Present, and the Future

Functionalism

An early approach to psychology that concentrated on what the mind does-and the roll of behavior in allowing people to adapt to their environments.

Psychodynamic

Believes behavior is motivated by inner, unconscious, forces over which a person has little control.

Humanistic

Contends that people can control their behavior and that they naturally try to reach their full potential.

The statement "In order to study behavior, we must consider the whole of perception rather than its component parts." might be made by a person subscribing to which perspective of psychology?

Gestalt

Neuroscience

Views behavior from the perspective of biological functioning.

Structuralism

Wundt's approach, which focuses on uncovering the fundamental mental components of consciousness, thinking, and other kinds of mental states and activities.

Jeanne's therapist asks her to recount a violent dream she recently experienced in order to gain insight into the unconscious forces affecting her behavior. Jeanne's therapist is working from a _________ perspective.

Psychodynamic

Behavioral

Focuses on observable behavior.

Behavioral

"It is behavior that can be observed that should be studied, not the suspected inner-workings of the mind." This statement was most likely made by someone with __________ perspective.

Humanistic

"My therapist is wonderful! He always points out my positive traits. He dwells on my uniqueness and strength as an individual. I feel much more confident about myself-as if I'm really growing and reaching my potential!" This therapist being described most likely follows a ________ perspective.

Introspection

A procedure used to study the structure of the mind in which subjects are asked to describe in detail what they are experiencing when they are exposed to a stimulus.

Gestalt Psychology

An approach to psychology that focuses on the organization of perception and thinking in a "whole" sense rather than on the individual elements of perception.

In the nature-nurture issue, nature refers to heredity, and nurture refers to the ___________.

Environment

Cognitive

Examines how people understand and think about the world.

Early psychologists studied the mind by asking people to describe what they were experiencing when they were exposed to various stimuli. This procedure was known as ________.

Introspection

Wundt described psychology as the study of conscious experience, a perspective he called __________.

Structuralism

Psychodynamic perspective

The approach based on the view that behavior is motivated by unconscious inner forces over which the individual has little control.

Behavioral perspective

The approach that suggests that observable, measurable behavior should be the focus of study.

Neuroscience perspective

The approach that views behavior from the perspective of the brain and nervous system and other biological functions.

Free will

The idea that behavior is caused primarily by choices that are made freely by the individual.

Determinism

The idea that people's behavior is produced primarily by factors outside of their willful control