Psychology Chapter 1 Key Terms

Psychology
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Terms in this set (24)
Psychology
The study of behavior and mind, embracing all aspects of conscious and unconscious experience as well as thought. It is an academic discipline and an applied science which seeks to understand individuals and groups by establishing general principles and researching specific cases.
Behavior
The way in which one acts or conducts oneself, especially toward others.
Cognitive Activities
Mental processes or activities including dreams, perceptions, thoughts, and memories
Psychological Constructs
An explanatory variable which is not directly observable.
Theory
A supposition or a system of ideas intended to explain something, especially one based on general principles independent of the thing to be explained.
Principle
A fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.
Basic Research
Scientific research aimed to improve scientific theories for improved understanding or prediction of natural or other phenomena.
Introspection
The examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes
Associationism
A theory in philosophy or psychology that regards the simple association or co-occurrence of ideas or sensations as the primary basis of meaning, thought, or learning.
Structuralism
A method of interpretation and analysis of aspects of human cognition, behavior, culture, and experience that focuses on relationships of contrast between elements in a conceptual system that reflect patterns underlying a superficial diversity.
FunctionalismA theory about the nature of mental states. According to functionalism, mental states are identified by what they do rather than by what they are made of.BehaviorismA worldview that assumes a learner is essentially passive, responding to environmental stimuli. The learner starts off as a clean slate (i.e. tabula rasa) and behavior is shaped through positive reinforcement or negative reinforcement.Gestalt PsychologyA movement in psychology founded in Germany in 1912, seeking to explain perceptions in terms of gestalts rather than by analyzing their constituents.PsychoanalysisA set of psychological and psychotherapeutic theories and associated techniques, created by Austrian physician Sigmund Freud and stemming partly from the clinical work of Josef Breuer and others.Psychodynamic ThinkingAn approach to psychology that emphasizes systematic study of the psychological forces that underlie human behavior, feelings, and emotions and how they might relate to early experience.Biological PerspectiveA way of looking at psychological topics by studying the physical basis for animal and human behavior. It is one of the major perspectives in psychology and involves such things as studying the brain, immune system, nervous system, and genetics.Evolutionary PerspectiveA theoretical approach to psychology that attempts to explain useful mental and psychological traits—such as memory, perception, or language—as adaptations, i.e., as the functional products of natural selection.Cognitive PerspectiveThe school of psychology that examines internal mental processes such as problem solving, memory, and language. "Cognition" refers to thinking and memory processes, and "cognitive development" refers to long-term changes in these processes.Humanistic PerspectiveAn approach to psychology that emphasizes empathy and stresses the good in human behavior. In politics and social theory, this approach calls for human rights and equality.Psychoanalytic PerspectiveThe theory of personality developed by Freud that focuses on repression and unconscious forces and includes the concepts of infantile sexuality, resistance, transference, and division of the psyche into the id, ego, and superego.Learning PerspectiveThe belief that all behavior is trained, conditioned, reinforced, and essentially reflexive.Social-Learning TheoryA cognitive process that takes place in a social context and can occur purely through observation or direct instruction, even in the absence of motor reproduction or direct reinforcement.Sociocultural PerspectiveA theory used in various fields such as psychology and is used to describe awareness of circumstances surrounding individuals and how their behaviors are affected specifically by their surrounding, social and cultural factors.Ethnic GroupA community or population made up of people who share a common cultural background or descent.