Psy 110 B Ch. 1 Vocab

Front 1

Psychology

Back 1

the scientific study of thought and behavior

Front 2

Psyche

Back 2

Greek for "Mind"

Front 3

Cognitive Psychology

Back 3

The study of how people perceive, remember, think, speak, and solve problems.

Front 4

Experimental Psychologists

Back 4

those who do research on cognition and learning

Front 5

Developmental Psychology

Back 5

the study of how thought and behavior change and remain stable across the life span

Front 6

Behavioral Neuroscience

Back 6

studies the links among the brain, mind, and behavior

Front 7

biological psychology

Back 7

the study of the relationship between bodily systems and chemicals and how they influence behavior and thought.

Front 8

Personality Psychology

Back 8

the study of what makes people unique and the consistencies in people's behavior across time and situations.

Front 9

Social psychology

Back 9

the study of how living among others influences thought, feeling, and behavior

Front 10

Clinical psychology

Back 10

the diagnosis and treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and the promotion of psychological health

Front 11

Health psychology

Back 11

the study of the role psychological factors play in regard to health and illness

Front 12

educational psychology

Back 12

the study of how students learn, the effectiveness of particular teaching techniques, the social psychology of schools, and the psychology of teaching

Front 13

industrial/organizational psychology

Back 13

application of psychological concepts and questions to work settings

Front 14

Sports psychology

Back 14

the study of psychological factors in sports and exercise

Front 15

forensic psychology

Back 15

field that blends psychology, law, and criminal justice

Front 16

shamans

Back 16

medicine men or women who treat people with mental problems by driving out their demons with elaborate rituals,such as exorcisms, incantations, and prayers.

Front 17

asylums

Back 17

facilities for treating the mentally ill in Europe during the Middle Ages and into the 19th century

Front 18

moral treatment

Back 18

19th century approach to treating the mentally ill with dignity in a caring environment.

Front 19

psychoanalysis

Back 19

Sigmund Freud (1900/53) - a clinically based approach to understanding and treating psychological disorders; assumes that the unconscious mind is the most powerful force behind thought and behavior

Front 20

empiricism

Back 20

the view that all knowledge and thoughts come from experience

Front 21

tabula rasa

Back 21

"blank slate" onto which experience writes the contents of the mind

Front 22

psychophysics

Back 22

the study of how people psychologically perceive physical stimuli such as light, sound waves, and touch

Front 23

structuralism

Back 23

19th century school of psychology that argued that breaking down experience into its elemental parts offers the best way to understand thought and behavior

Front 24

introspection

Back 24

the main method of investigation for structuralists; it involves looking into one's own mind for information about the nature of conscious experience

Front 25

functionalism

Back 25

19th century school of psychology that argued it was better to look at why the mind works the way it does than to describe its parts

Front 26

behaviorism

Back 26

a school of psychology which proposed that psychology can be a true science only if it examines observable behavior, not ideas, thought, feelings, or motives

Front 27

environmentalism

Back 27

the view that all behavior comes from experience interacting with the world

Front 28

humanistic psychology

Back 28

a theory of psychology that focuses on personal growth and meaning as a way of reaching one's highest potential

Front 29

positive psychology

Back 29

scientific approach to studying, understanding, and promoting healthy and positive psychological functioning.

Front 30

gestalt psychology

Back 30

a theory of psychology that maintains that we perceive things as wholes rather than as a compilation of parts.

Front 31

softwiring

Back 31

in contrast to hardwiring, means that biological systems - genes, brain structures, brain cells - are inherited but open to modification from the environment

Front 32

nature through nurture

Back 32

the position that the environment constantly interacts with biology to shape who we are and what we do.

Front 33

evolution

Back 33

the change over time in the frequency with which specific genes occur within a breeding species

Front 34

natural selection

Back 34

a feedback process whereby nature favors one design over another because it has an impact on reproduction

Front 35

Adaptations

Back 35

inherited solutions to ancestral problems that have been selected for because they contribute in some way to reproductive success

Front 36

Evolutionary psychology

Back 36

the branch of psychology that studies human behavior by asking what adaptive problems it may have solved for our early ancestors.

Front 37

Core Science

Back 37

a science that has many disciplines organized around them