| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Psychology | the scientific study of the behavior and mental processes of organisms |
| Plato | Greek philosopher who proposed that some ideas are innate |
| Aristotle | philosopher who focused on the study of nature |
| Decartes | dualism, mind & body are seperate, voluntary & involuntary behavior |
| John Locke | British empiricist philosopher who argued that the mind is a blank slate at birth |
| Wilhelm Wundt | German physiologist who founded psychology as a formal science; opened first psychology research laboratory in 1879 |
| Introspection | a method of self-observation in which participants report their thoughts and feelings |
| Structuralism | an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elements of the human mind. |
| Titchener | student of Wudnt, developed structuralism |
| Functionalism | William James's school of thought that stressed the adaptive and survival value of behaviors and focused on how mental and behavioral processes work |
| William James | founder of functionalism; studied how humans use perception to function in our environment |
| Charles Darwin | English natural scientist who formulated a theory of evolution by natural selection (1809-1882) |
| Herman Ebbinghaus | studied memory using nonsense syllables, learning curve, forgetting curve |
| Psychoanalytic Theory | Theory developed by Freud consisting of the structural model of personality, topographical model of personality, defense mechanisms, drives, and the psychosexual stages of development. The primary driving force behind the theory is the id, ego and superego and the division of consciousness into the conscious mind, the pre/subconscious, and the unconscious. |
| Sigmund Freud | austrian physician whose work focused on the unconscious causes of behavior and personality formation; founded psychoanalysis |
| Psychoanalysis | a set of techniques for exploring underlying motives and a method of treating various mental disorders |
| unconscious | that part of the mind wherein psychic activity takes place of which the person is unaware |
| interpretation of dreams | Freud's crowning achievement, a book written in 1900 about the treatment of people with mental disorders that tried to garner support for his psychoanalytical theories. In this book, Freud first described his theories about the psychic apparatus (id, ego, superego), wish-fulfillment as a main goal of dreams, dream analysis, and concepts that would later become his theory of the Oedipus complex. |
| Behaviorism | an approach to psychology that emphasizes observable measurable behavior |
| John Watson | the researcher of classical conditioning famous for conditioning an 11month old baby to fear white rats |
| B.F. Skinner | pioneer of operant conditioning who believed that everything we do is determined by our past history of rewards and punishments. he is famous for use of his operant conditioning aparatus which he used to study schedules of reinforcement on pidgeons and rats. |
| Ivan Pavlov | Russian physiologist who observed conditioned salivary responses in dogs (1849-1936) |
| stimulus | a signal to which an organism responds |
| response | a reaction to a stimulus |
| free-will | human ability to make decisions without being forced to choose or act in one specific way. Skinner denied its existence |
| Cognitive Theory | Psychological perspective that focuses on mental processes: how people perceive and mentally represent the world around them and solve-problems. |
| Gestalt Psychology | school of psychological thought that argued that behavior cannot be studied in parts but must be viewed a s whole |
| Humanistic Psychology | historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people; used personalized methods to study personality in hopes of fostering personal growth |
| Abraham Maslow | humanistic psychologist who developed a theory of motivation that emphasized psychological growth |
| Carl Rogers | 1902-1987; Field: humanistic; Contributions: founded person-centered therapy, theory that emphasizes the unique quality of humans especially their freedom and potential for personal growth, unconditional positive regard, fully functioning person |
| Neurobiological Psychology | Theory of psychology that focuses on the biological components of human and animal behavior. |
| Sociocultural Psychology | what is the study of the influence of cultural and ethnic similarities and differences on behavior and social functioning? |
| intrapsychic | from or within the mind or self |
| Evolutionary psychology | the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection. |
| Eclectism | Drawing ideas form 2/more systems of therapy rather than just 1 |
| Basic Psychology | the study of psychological issues in order to seek knowledge for its own sake rather than for its practical application |
| Applied Psychology | any of several branches of psychology that seek to apply psychological principles to practical problems of education or industry or marketing etc. |
| Biological Psychologists | A branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior |
| Personality Psychology | the branch of psychology that examines individual differences and the characteristics that make each person unique |
| Clinical Psychologists | Deal with emotional disturbances and oftenhave a PHd. |
| Health psychologists | psychologists that study the relation between behavior and physical wellness and work to promote healthy lifestyles |
| Counseling psychologists | Treat people who have adjustment problems rather than serious mental disorders. Work often at universities |
| Community Psychologists | psychologists that provide psychological services to people who often do not seek help and work to prevent disorders by trying to lessen stresses such as poverty |
| Social Psychologists | Study people's behavior in social situations |
| Industrial Organizational Psychologists | Those who study behavior in work settings |
| Educational Psychologists | psychologists who study methods by which instructors teach and students learn and who apply their results to improving such methods |
| School Psychologists | psychologists that assess students' abilities and provide assistance when needed |
| Quantitative or Psychmetric Psychologists | psychologists that are interested in developing and using statistical tools to analyze data relevant to human behavior and mental process |
| Sport Psychologists | Psychologists who explore the relationships between athletic performance and such psychological variables as motivation and emotion |
| Forensic Psychologists | Psychologists who assist in jury selection, evaluate defendants' mental competence to stand trial, and deal with other issues involving psychology and the law |
| Tabula Rosa | A theory: John Locke believed every child was born a clean slate |
| preconscious | in Freud's theory, the level of consciousness in which thoughts and feelings are not conscious but are readily retrieveable to consciousness |
| conscious | knowing and perceiving |
| Id | (psychoanalysis) primitive instincts and energies underlying all psychic activity |
| ego | (psychoanalysis) the conscious mind |
| superego | the part of personality that, according to Freud, represents internalized ideals and provides standards for judgment (the conscience) and for future aspirations |
| oral stage | (psychoanalysis) the first sexual and social stage of an infant's development |
| anal stage | (psychoanalysis) the second sexual and social stage of a child's development during which bowel control is learned |
| phallic stage | The third of Freud's psychosexual development in which genitals are the source of pleasure and the Oedipus Complex begins |
| latency stage | Freud's fourth stage of psychosexual development where sexuality is repressed in the unconscious and children focus on identifying with their same sex parent and interact with same sex peers. |
| genital stage | Freud's final stage of psychosexual development where healthy sexual development is defined as attraction to a same aged, opposite sexed peer. |
| empiricism | the view that (a) knowledge comes from experience via the senses, and (b) science flourishes through observation and experiment. |
| Natural Selection | The process by which individuals that are better adapted to their environment are more likely to survive and reproduce than other members of the same species |
| Nature v Nurture | the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions of genes and experience to the development of psychological traits and behaviors (Myers Psychology 8e p.12) |
| Biopsychosocial Approach | an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis |
| Basic Research | pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base. |
| Applied Research | scientific study that aims to solve practical problems. |
| monism | presumption that mind and body are different aspects of the same thing |
| dualism | presumption that mind and body are two distinct entities that interact |
| tabula rasa | John Locke's idea that at birth the human mind being a blank slate on which experience "writes" knowledge and understanding as the individual matures. |
| Sir Francis Galton | Darwin's cousin. Believed in the inheritance of mental ability, coined the terms eugenics and nature v nurture. Brought about use of questionnaire data analysis and the use of correlational data and psychometrics |
| G. Stanley Hall | American psychologist who established first psychology research laboratory in U.S. and founded the APA and first psychology journal. Studied developmental psychology |
| Principles of Psychology | First psychology text book this classic work published in 1890 by William James on human behavior, motivations, and feelings. |
| Mary Whiton Calkins | Paired-associate technique to study memory and was 1st first female president APA; denied PhD from Harvard due to her gender |
| Margaret Floy-Washburn | 1st woman awarded a PhD. Significant research in animal behavior |
| Leta Stetter-Hollingsworth | pioneering work on adolescent development, mental retardation, and gifted children. Work on debunking theories that women were inferior to men (Weiten, 6ed pg 5) |
| Max Wertheimer | Gestalt psychologist who studied the "phi phenomenon." |
| Hermann Ebbinghaus | first person to study memory scientifically and systematically; used nonsense syllables and studied the forgetting curve and overlearning |
| unconscious | according to Freud, a reservoir of mostly unacceptable thoughts, wishes, feelings, and memories. According to contemporary psychologists, information processing of which we are unaware |
| oedipus complex | according to Freud, a boy's sexual desires toward his mother and feelings of jealousy and hatred for the rival father |
| electra complex | according to Freud, the unconscious desire of girls to replace their mother and win their father's exclusive love. |
| Carl Jung | Neo-Freudian who believed that humans share a collective unconscious |
| behavior | observable and measurable actions of people and animals |
| Aaron Beck | pioneer in Cognitive Therapy. Suggested negative beliefs cause depression. |
| Albert Ellis | pioneer in Rational-Emotive Therapy (RET), focuses on altering client's patterns of irrational thinking to reduce maladaptive behavior and emotions |
| Roger Sperry | scientist who won a Nobel Prize for work with SPLIT BRAIN patients |
| ethnocentrism | belief in the superiority of one's own ethnic group or culture |
| Psychiatry | branch of medicine (MD) that deals with mental, emotional, or behavioral disorders |
| Forensic Psychology | subfield which applies psychological concepts to the legal system |
| Positive Psychology | scientific study of optimal human functioning; aims to discover and promote strengths and virtues that enable individuals and communities to thrive; studies psychological traits such as contentment and joy and character traits such as wisdom, integrity, and altruism |
| Kurt Koffka | one of the founders of gestalt psychology |
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