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28 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Psychology |
the science of studying mental processes and behaviours |
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Mental Processes |
activities of our brain when engaged in thinking, observing the environment, and using language |
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Behaviour |
activities of an organism, often in response to environmental cues |
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What are the 4 goals of scientific inquiries? |
description prediction explanation control/influence |
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what is a description |
Description of what we observeUsually the first step in understanding behaviour or mental processes Answers “what” questionsObserve, record, generate dataNaturalistic observation & Laboratory observation, Case study |
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what is an explanation |
Explanation- For example: Why do we eat?Researchers try to understand the causes of the behaviour/mental processesAnswers “why” some things occursDevelop hypotheses and theories to explainRequires testing, re-testing, confirmation |
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what is a prediction |
Prediction of the circumstances that lead to the expression of a certain behaviour (variety of behaviours and mental process are likely to occur)When researchers can specify conditions which likely cause the behaviour or cognitive process to occurAnswers the “when” questionCause and Effect- Experiment/Quasi-experiment |
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what is control/ influence |
How can we Control/Influence behaviour?When researchers can change a condition or manipulate something to bring about desired outcomesPrevent some behaviours; increase others (either limit or increase certain behaviours or mental processes- thus studying control limits and how to control it)Experiment/Quasi-experiment |
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Levels of analysis in psych |
the brain, the person and the group |
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what is culture |
a set of shared beliefs and practices that are transmitted across generations |
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Francis Bacon |
Regarded as the creator of Empiricism Empiricism- view that all knowledge originates in experience |
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rene descartes |
First of modern philosophers and an early scientistViewed all truths as ultimately linked and believed that the meaning of the natural world could be understood through science and mathBelieved mind to be distinct from body |
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john locke |
Theory influenced by Descartes and BaconBelieved we learn by our experiencesBorn with “blank page” and acquire knowledge through experience |
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johannes muller |
Area of Psychophysics Study the relationship between physical stimuli and their psychological effects (that is the sensations and perceptions they affect) |
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herman von helmholts |
Student of Muller First to measure the speed of a nerve impulse and determined that nerve impulses occur over time rather than instantaneously |
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gustav fechner |
Considered to be one of the founders of experimental psychologyPublished book: Elements of PsychophysicsLays out many of the methods and study techniques that would come to be used in the emerging field of psychologyEvidence of relationship between physical and mental events showed that psychology had potential to become a quantified science |
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psychology is a combo of which 2 fields/roots |
-Philosophy (Questions posed by philosophy) -----Physical Sciences (Methods borrowed from the Physical Sciences) |
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psych beginnings |
Psychology = Philosophy No unique domain of psychologyPhilosophers were the ones arguing about what it was to be “human”, “alive”, and to “experience things” |
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wilhelm wundt |
ounder of Psychology (acclaimed)1879, Leipzig, GermanyConducted the first documented psychology study First Experiment: Asked participants to see how fast they press a telegraph key every-time a ball drops on the floor (testing reaction speed/processing) |
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wilhelm wundt and voluntarism |
Conducted experiments, but not like todayQuestioned experienceImmediate, ConsciousBelief that all “experience” could be reduced to basic elements Goal: Understand how the simplest elements of structure of conscious experience combine to create more complex perceptions and behaviours. (Question our experiences to understand our consciousness) |
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wilhelm wundt experiments consisted of |
Reaction timesAttention SpanPerception of visual stimuli, touch, and hearing |
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structuralism |
Tichener- Student of Wundt continues the traditionBelief that all “experiences” could be reduced to basic elementsCould identify the structures (exp: chemistry, water= H2O)Studies structure of consciousness (conscious experience)Used Introspection:The careful reflective and systematic observation of the details of mental processes and how simple thoughts combine into complex ideasProblems: lots of criticism - not objective, (stimulus stays the same but reported experience could change, changes within and across people.) |
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functionalism |
Focus not on structure of consciousness but with HOW mental processes functionHOW do we use mental processes to adapt/survive in a changing environment |
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william james and functionalism |
Functionalists proposed that the mind was shaped by natural selection; modern evolutionary psychology is one of descendants of James’ ideasFunctionalism opens the doors:Scope of Psychology increasesincludes behaviour (as well as mental processes)includes children, animals, intellectually challenged |
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gestalt psychologists |
Consciousness CANNOT be broken down into elementsWe perceive things as whole perceptual unitsThe whole is greater than the sum of its partsLearning is tied to what we perceive |
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charles darwin |
Proposed theory of evolutionSuggested that all life on earth was related and that human beings were just one outcome to many variations from a common ancestorNatural Selection - chance variation is passed down from parent to offspring, and some variations are adaptive Adaptive - better suited to an organisms environment |
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consciousness |
personal awareness of ongoing mental processes, behaviours, and environmental events |
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voluntarism |
a theory in which will is regarded as the ultimate agency of human behaviour; belief that much of behaviour is motivated and that attention is focused for an explicit purpose |
