Psychology Chapter 1

Mental processes (dreams, perceptions, thoughts, and memories)

Cognitive Activities

Emphasizes the role that thoughts play in determining behavior; also has roots in structuralism, functionalism, and Gestalt Psychology; involves information processing

Cognitive Perspective

Study mental processes to understand human nature; investigate the ways in which people perceive information and make mental images of the world, solve problems, and dream and daydream

Cognitive Psychologists

What did Freud believe about aggressive behavior?

Common reactions to the frustrations of daily life and that we see to vent these impulses on other people

Study and help create social systems that promote and foster individual well-being; might include mental health centers, hospital programs, and school-based programs

Community Psychology

Typically treat people who have adjustment problems rather than serious psychological disorders; often employed in businesses and in college and university counseling and testing centers

Counseling Psychologists

Most Europeans during the Middle Ages believed that problems such as agitation and confusion were signs of possession by

Demons

Conduct research into basic processes such as the functions of the nervous system. Other basic processes include sensation and perception, learning and memory, and thinking and motivation; reasons for cognitive behavior; use Basic Research

Experimental Psychology

Involves either human participants or animals

Experimentation

Examine the ways in which behavior and mental processes are related to physical health; study the effects of stress on health problems such as headaches and heart disease

Health Psychology

A basic truth or law, such as the assumption that you will get better grades if you study more

Principle

A medical doctor who specializes in the treatment of psychological problems and who can prescribe medication for clients

Psychiatrist

Stresses the influence of unconscious forces on human behavior

Psychoanalytic Perspective

Suggests that people can exchange their environments or create new ones; holds that people can learn intentionally by observing others

Social-learning Theory

What are the two most widely used research methods?

Surveys and experiments

Found Structuralism

Wilhelm Wundt

Some psychologists believe that research findings with certain ___________ can be applied to human beings

Animals

Make up the largest group of psychologists

Clinical Psychologists

Specialty areas within this field include child mental health, adult mental health, learning disabilities, geriatrics, and general health; help with psychological problems, such as anxiety or depression, or severe psychological disorders

Clinical Psychologists

Outlined the laws of associationism, which are still at the heart of learning theory; showed how experiences often remind us of similar experiences in the past, how the face of a loved one makes us feel secure, and how thought leads to ideas as we dream and as we daydream

Aristotle

Wrote "Peri Psyches"; argued that human behavior is subject to certain rules and laws; people are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain

Aristotle

The theory that our understanding of the world occurs through ideas associated with similar sensory experiences and perceptions

Associationism

Harvard University psychologist that added to the behaviorist tradition by introducing the concept of reinforcement

B. F. Skinner

Research that has no immediate application and is done for its own sake

Basic Research

Any action that people can observe or measure (walking and talking, pressing a switch, sleeping, eating, heart rate, blood pressure, etc.)

Behavior

The school of psychology, founded by John Watson, that defines psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior

Behaviorism

Emphasizes the influence of biology on our behavior; has roots in associationism

Biological Perspective

Mental processes are influenced by the interaction of biological processes, psychological dispositions, and social factors

Biopsychosocial Perspective

Study the changes that occur throughout a person's life span; these changes include physical, emotional, cognitive, or social; focus on relative influences of heredity and the environment on development

Developmental Psychologists

What was done to determine if you were possessed in the Middle Ages?

Dunking Beating Thrown off a cliff Float test

Concerned with helping students learn; focus on course planning and instructional methods for an entire school system; help prepare standardized tests, such as the SAT

Educational Psychologists

________ can affect both behavior and mental processes

Emotions

What are some examples of natural sciences and what is the focus of these sciences?

Includes biology, chemistry, and physics; concerned with the nature of the physical world

A group of people who share a common culture, race, or national origin

Ethnic group

In the 1800s, psychologists argued that ideas about human behavior and mental processes should be supported by

Evidence

The theory that focuses on the evolution of behavior and mental processes; Charles Darwin

Evolutionary Perspective

These psychologists work within the criminal justice system; testify about the psychological competence of defendant

Forensic Psychology

The school of psychology, founded by William James, that emphasizes the purposes of behavior and mental processes and what they accomplish for the individual; how mental processes help organisms adapt to their environment

Functionalism

The behavior patterns expected of women and men in a given culture

Gender roles

The basic units of heredity

Genes

Created biopsychosocial perspective; suggested that the biological progress of heart disease should not be studied in isolation. The impact on the patient of cultural, social, and psychological factors also needs to be considered.

George Engel

The school of psychology that emphasizes the tendency to organize perceptions of individual parts into meaningful wholes; concerned with treating a specific problem outside of its larger context

Gestalt Psychology

What do behaviorists like John Watson believe about learning?

He believes people act and react because of their learning history and the influence of their situation, not because of conscious choice

What are some social sciences and what do these sciences study?

Includes history, anthropology, economics, political science, and sociology; deal with the structure of human society and the nature and interactions of the individuals who make up society

Focus on people and work; study the behavior of people in organizations, such as business firms; employed by corporations working conditions and increase worker output

Industrial and Organizational Psychology

An examination of one's own thoughts and feelings; means "looking within"

Introspection

Chemicals that glands release into the bloodstream to set in motion various body functions, such as growth and digestion

Hormones

Biological psychologists are interested in the influences of __________ and ___________

Hormones; genes

Attempt to find the best ways to design products for people to use

Human Factors Psychology

Stresses the human capacity for self-fulfillment and the importance of consciousness, self-awareness, and the capacity to make choice ; views people as basically good and desiring to be helpful to others

Humanistic Perspective

Founder of the school of behaviorism

John B. Watson

Emphasizes the effects of experience on behavior

Learning Perspective

How does anxiety affect your behavior?

Makes us more alert and ready

How is anxiety helpful?

Motivates us to practice for a game or study for a test

What is the difference between objective sensations and subjective feelings in structuralism?

Objective - were assumed to accurately reflect the outside world Subjective - feelings were thought to include emotional responses and mental images

Identify human characteristics, or traits; also concerned with anxiety, aggression, and gender roles

Personality Psychologists

A student of philosopher Socrates; "know thyself"; created the term "introspection"

Plato

One method that sports psychologists recommend to help athletes perform more effectively under pressure is called __________ __________. In this method, athletes imagine themselves in a critical game situation

Positive Visualization

The school of psychology, founded by Sigmund Freud, that emphasizes the importance of unconscious motives and internal conflicts as determinants of human behavior

Psychoanalysis

Freud's theory which is sometimes called ______________ ___________, assumed that most of what exists in an individuals mind is unconscious and consists of conflicting impulses, urges, and wishes

Psychodynamic Thinking

Used to learn about human behavior; theoretical entities, or concepts, that enable one to discuss something that cannot be seen, touched or measured directly

Psychological Constructs

The scientific study of human behavior and processes

Psychology

Identify and help students who have problems that interfere with learning; deal with peer group and family problems; and learning disorders

School Psychologists

Founded the school Psychoanalysis

Sigmund Freud

Concerned with people's behavior in social situations; focus on external influences

Social Psychologists

Study the influence of ethnicity, group, culture, and socio-economic status on behavior and mental processes

Sociocultural Perspective

Thought regarded as a flowing series of images and ideas running through the mind

Stream of Consciousness

The school of psychology, founded by Wilhelm Wundt, that maintains that conscious experience breaks down into objective sensations and subjective feelings

Structuralism

A method of collecting data that usually involves asking questions of people in a particular group

Survey

Ancient Greeks theorized about various psychological problems, such as confusion and bizarre behavior. What caused these problems according to the Greeks?

The gods punished people for wrong -doing, causing them confusion and madness

Gestalt psychology demonstrated that much learning, particularly problem-solving, is accomplished by insight. What is insight?

The sudden appearance of the Gestalt, or form, that enables the individual to see the solution

A statement that attempts to explain why things are the way they are and why they happen the way they do

Theory

How can Sports Psychologists help with the problem of anxiety?

They can observe and describe the behavior by measuring an athlete's heart rates and other body processes. Interviews with athletes reveal that they often feel anxious during big games

What is the basis of biological perspective and what do these psychologists point to when discussing behavior?

Thoughts, fantasies, and dreams; the brain

According to Skinner, how did you get behavior to repeat?

When someone is reinforced, or rewarded, for performing an action, it is more likely for one to perform it in the future

Who, when, and where was the first laboratory established?

Wilhelm Wundt; 1800s; Europe and U.S.

Harvard University professor; asserted conscious experience could not be broken down as structuralists believed; founded functionalism; "stream of consciousness"

William James

He focused on the relationships between experiences and behavior and described his views in "The Principles of Psychology"; published the first modern psychology textbook in 1890

William James