Understanding Psychology Chapter 1

structuralism, functionalism, gestalt

What three early perspectives guided the work of psychologists?

Cognitive psychology

the branch of psychology that focuses on higher mental processes, including thinking, memory, reasoning, problem solving, judging, decision making, and language

Counseling psychology

the branch of psychology that focuses primarily on educational, social, and career adjustment problems.

cognitive perspective

The approach that focuses on how people think, understand, and know about the world. It looks at how people comprehend and represent the outside world within themselves and how our ways of thinking about the world influence our behavior.

behavioral perspective

Focuses on observable behavior. The approach that suggests that observable, measurable behavior should be the focus of study. It grew out of a rejection of focusing on the inner workings of the mind. Focused on studying and modifying the environment in which people operated.

structuralism

Focuses on uncovering the basic mental components of consciousness, thinking, and other kinds of mental states and activities. Psychology is the study of conscious experience.

Wilhelm Wundt

The formal beginning of Psychology began with whom? Who laid its foundation in 1879?

psychodynamic

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

William James

Who led functionalism?

Cross-cultural psychology

investigates the similarities and differences in psycho- logical functioning in and across various cultures and ethnic groups.

free will

the ability to freely make decisions about one's own behavior and life; comes from the humanistic perspective

Personality psychology

the branch of psychology that focuses on the consistency in people's behavior over time and the traits that differentiate one person from another.

Developmental psychology

the branch of psychology that studies how people grow and change from the moment of conception through death

Experimental psychology

the branch of psychology that studies the processes of sensing, perceiving, learning, and thinking about the world

determinism

behavior is caused or determined by things beyond a person's control

behavioral perspective

"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 which perspective? a. cognitive perspective b. neuroscience perspective c. humanistic perspective d. behavioral 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." The therapist being described most likely follows a _______ perspective.

humanistic perspective

Contends that people can control their behavior and that they naturally try to reach their full potential. It is an approach that suggests that all individuals naturally strive to grow, develop, and be in control of their lives and behavior. Additionally, it assumes that people have the ability to make their own choices rather than relying on societal standards.

information processing

In a cognitive perspective, thinking is

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.

psychodynamic perspective

Believes behavior is motivated by inner, unconscious forces over which a person has little control. Dreams and slips of the tongue indicates what a person is truly feeling. Its origin is linked with Sigmund Freud.

Behavioral Genetics

By focusing on biological mechanisms, this type of psychology seeks to understand how we might inherit certain behavioral traits and how the environment influences whether we actually display such traits.

introspection

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

Evolutionary Psychology

Stemming from Charle's Darwin, this type of psychology considers how behavior is influenced by our genetic inheritance from our ancestors. Our genetic inheritance determines not only physical traits such as skin and eye color but certain personality traits and social behaviors as well.

gestalt

The statement "In order to study human 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?

Behavioral Neuroscience

The subfield of psychology that mainly examines how the brain, the nervous system, and other biological processes determine behavior.

Psychology

The term encompasses not just what people do but also their thoughts, emotions, perceptions, reasoning processes, memories, and even the biological activities that maintain bodily functioning.

Clinical Neuropsychology

Unites the areas of neuroscience and clinical psychology by focusing on the origin of psychological disorders in bio- logical factors. It builds on our understanding of the structure and chemistry of the brain.

neuroscience perspective

Views behavior from the perspective of biological functioning. The approach that views behavior from the perspective of the brain, the nervous system, and other biological functions from people and animals. It includes the study of heredity and evolution.

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

What is psychology?

A psychologist treats psychological disorders, earning a PsyD (doctor of psychology). A psychiatrist diagnosis and treats psychological disorders, earning a medical degree and a PhD (doctor of philosophy).

What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist? What are the different degrees? What do the degrees stand for?

Structuralism tried to look at the structure of the human brain by exposing people to a stimulus and asking them to describe what they experience. Functionalism is a more scientific approach that concentrates on what the mind does and how behavior functions.

What is the difference between structuralism and fundamentalism?

It believed introspection could reveal the structure of the brain, which was an assumption. Additionally, there was no way to determine the accuracy of what people said in describing their experiences.

What was the problem with structuralism? Why did functionalism replace it?

structuralism

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

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.

functionalism

an early approach to psychology that concentrated on what the mind does-the functions of mental activity-and the role of behavior in allowing people to adapt to their environments.