Critical thinking
Def: a way of thinking that revolves around evidence and facts rather than intuition and opinions.App: used when questioning: are the ice caps actually melting? Does disability or age effect one's happiness? Do opposites truly attract?
empiricism
Def: the idea that knowledge comes from experience, and that observing and experimenting are the basis of scienceEx: scientific information based off of fact and data rather than guesses and opinions.
structuralism
Def: a way of thinking to identify the structure of the mind; to break down the inner workings of the brain; the parts that make up the whole. Ex: to break down the components of a situation, such as a traumatic childhood event, to define the emotions aroused during that time, the exact timeline of the event, the factors leading up, which added together caused this to be traumatic.
introspection
Def: the process of examining and identifying one's own emotions and thoughts.Ex: used to understand what triggered you to feel an intense emotion such as anger, and what caused you to act.
functionalism
Def: a theory centered around the function and purposes of behaviors. Ex: a child who's neglected may learn skills such as cooking, earlier than most, which serves the purpose to survive.
behaviorism
Def: the idea that psychology should remain an objective study based on the outward behaviors rather than internal thought process. Ex: the study of a child's repeated behavior based off of positive or negative reinforcement
humanistic psychology
Def: a psychological perspective centered around the human capacity for choice and growth.Ex: humans have free will and the ability to think for themselves and grow/adapt, not only having one way of thinking and living.
cognitive psychology
Def: the study of the mental process that happens when we think, perceive, learn, remember, communicate, and solve problems.Ex: used to study the learning disabilities of a child, or why one child academically succeeds and another does not.
cognitive neuroscience
Def: the study that links cognitive processes (thoughts) and brain activity (neurons, brainwaves, etc.)Ex: the neurons in your brain transferring into thoughts and actions
psychology
Def: the scientific study on humans' thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Ex: body language, mental illness, learning disabilities, addiction, etc.
nature-nurture issue
Def: the controversy revolving around whether traits and behaviors are genetic and hereditary or developed through experiences and influenced by environment. Ex: if twins are separated, do twins turn out exactly the same or are they influenced and differ due to their different uprisings.
natural selection
Def: the trait that is stronger and more ideal for survival and reproduction survives, and is most likely to be passed on to strengthen the species.Ex: Moths gradually change their wing color in order to blend in with changing tree bark colors in order to survive.
evolutionary psychology
Def: the study of how natural selection evolves the behavior and mind.Ex: The evolution from apes to humans, and the difference between the behavior and thought process of humans and apes now.
behavior genetics
Def: the power and limits our genes and environments have over our behaviorEx: things such as personality and intelligence and disorders such as autism, depression, and schizophrenia
culture
Def: behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and passed down through generationsEx: the Hawaiian culture; stories, messages, religions, etc.
positive psychology
Def: the study of ideal humans with the goal to find and promote strengths and advantages to help communities to thriveEx: you might find an ideal community wherein they are self sustainable and unified and choose to study their strengths to implement in struggling communities
biopsychosocial approach
Def: an approach that looks at how biological, psychological, and social environment factors affect health and illnessEx: may be used when studying why teens turn to vaping. some may use it a stress coping and anxiety reducing tool, some may be genetically prone to addiction, others do it from social pressure to "be cool
behavioral psychology
Def: the study of the science behind observable behaviorEx: used to develop individual plans to accommodate behavioral and intellectual disabilities in school, to understand students and adapt to them
biological psychology
Def: the study joining biology and psychology processesEx: genetical and hereditary disorders such as Alzheimer's and schizophrenia
psychodynamic psychology
Def: the field of psychology that studies influences of unconscious drives and conflicts on human behavior, used to treat people with psychological disordersEx: used to understand why a person has a habit to bite nails, usually due to high anxiety and stress
social-cultural psychology
Def: the study of how experiences and cultures affect our thoughts and behaviorEx: used when studying differences between social cultures such as generation z and boomers. the influences of technology and modern society and how that did not exist for boomers, who may not understand gen z.
testing effect
Def: testing one's memory in order to make it easier to retrieve/recall. Ex: most effective within the first few days of learning something, before the forgetting period
SQ3R
Def: a 5 step study method; survey, question, read, retrieve, and reviewEx: skim a section of reading, ask yourself a learning target or essential question, read the reading section, try to remember previous thoughts and knowledge of this topic, go back and review the piece.
psychometrics
Def: the scientific study of humans abilities, traits, and attitudes.Ex: standardized tests, questionnaires, IQ tests, etc. are used to understand the academic abilities of a student
basic research
Def: pure science that's goal is to increase the scientific knowledge foundationsEx: experiments on how people react to certain social experiments such as depression scales or surveys
developmental psychology
Def: a field of psychology that studies developmental stages that one goes through physically, cognitively, and socially throughout life.Ex: useful in understanding age appropriate curriculum for school
educational psychology
Def: the study of how psychology affects and enhances teaching and learningEx: Understanding one's personality type or learning disabilities to help adapt learning for their better understanding.
personality psychology
Def: the study of the patterns of one's character, thinking, feeling, and actingEx: Why one child might be shy and quiet, whereas another child is outgoing and social
social psychology
Def: the scientific study of how humans think about, influence, and relate to each otherEx: could be used to understand why some countries have more violence than others, or are more unified than others.
applied research
Def: the scientific study that's goal is to solve practical problems.Ex: used to find resources for teens with mental illness to solve the rising suicide rates.
industrial-organization (I/O) psychology
Def: the process of applying psychological concepts and methods to better employee behavior in a workplaceEx: public relations and human resource people who helps handle disputes and complaints from employees.
human factors psychology
Def: a field of psychology that explores how people and machines interact along with safer and easier usage of machines and environmentsEx: may be used in schools to figure out how students interact with technology and internet access, to build familiarity and study positive and negative impacts on the children.
counseling psychology
Def: the branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living and achieving greater well-beingEx: revolves around aiding the client through emotional, physical, and social stresses in life
clinical psychology
Def: the branch of psychology that studies and treats people with psychological disordersEx: may use cognitive, behavioral, or developmental therapies to better understand a patients psychological disorder
psychiatry
Def: the branch of medicine for psychological disorders, in which licensed physicians provide medical and psychological treatmentEx: medical physicians able to prescribe treatments for anxiety to calm a patients anxiety attacks.
community psychology
Def: the study of psychology in social interactions along with social institutions impacts on individuals and groups.Ex: the study of social hierarchies, popularity, and the impacts that might have on one's behaviors and self esteem or self confidence.
Wilhelm Wundt
Def: opened the first experimental laboratory in psychology the university of Leipzig, Germany. "founder of modern psychology". Ex: used introspection methods to study psychology, by observing his own inner thoughts and sensations.
G. Stanley Hall
Def: first American to earn a Ph.D in psychology. the father of adolescence, influencing adolescence themes in psychology, culture, and education. Ex: studied the period in which teenagers fight with parents, experience mood swings and engage in risky behavior.
Edward Bradford Titchener
Def: introduced structuralism in the U.S. and coined the word empathy. Author of the book Manual of Experimental Psychology. Ex: believed that the parts of the brain were the key to understanding the brain as a whole, rather than studying unconscious or subconscious mental processes.
William James
Def: first educator in America to offer a psychology course. author of Principles of Psychology and known for the James-Lange theory of emotionEx: theorized that emotion is the minds interpretation of a physiological process when reacting to a stimuli. We run when we see a bear not because we are scared but because our nervous system reacts in increased heart rate for example, which provokes the brain to change emotions.
Charless Darwin
Def: Developer of theories regarding evolution and natural selection, father of evolutionary theory. Ex: researched Finches across the Galapagos islands and the traits they inherited through natural selection to survive as a species.
Mary Whiton Calkins
Def: First female president of the America Psychological Association, permitted to attend Harvard (all male school), and theorized "self-psychology"Ex: emphasizing self examination of personal experiences and the mind/spirit rather than physical factors.
Margaret Floy Washburn
Def: first woman to be granted a Ph.D degree in psychology. known for her work in animal behavior and motor theory development.Ex: theory revolving around thought or consciousness translating into bodily movements
John B. Watson
Def: published "Psychology as Behavior", which launched behaviorism. Ex: most well known experiment involved an 11 month old boy who was trained to fear rats by pairing it with a loud sound, which in time created the boy's fear of all furry objects.
B. F. Skinner
Def: publisher of the "Behavior of Organisms", helped draw attention to behaviorism and further research on conditioning. developed the theory of "operant conditioning" which involved reinforcers and consequences.Ex: an example of his theory is that when students turn in their work on time, they are rewarded with a good grade. Whereas if they are late, they get a bad grade and may get a call home, and a scolding.
Sigmund Freud
Def: founder of psychoanalytic approaches which found people to be driven by unconscious drives and conflicts.Ex: his techniques are often used in therapy sessions where a patient talks about whatever thoughts come to mind and the analyst determines the root of their problem
Carl Rogers
Def: Co-founder of humanism and known for the client centered therapy (Rogerian psychotherapy)Ex: focused on client and therapist relationship to grow and become a "fully functioning person
Abraham Maslow
Def: the father of humanistic psychology, a theory on one's growth and free will. Also known for the hierarchy of needsEx: suggested that all needs are not equal but like a pyramid with the most important at the bottom (food and water) and self actualization at the top
Ivan Pavlov
Def: published the first studies in classical conditioning.Ex: his works finding that dogs salivate when food is in sight. He conditioned the dogs by ringing a bell while presenting them food. Soon they would salivate to the bell alone
Jean Piaget
Def: known for his first systematic theory of cognitive development regarding the difference between adults and children's though processes. Ex: his theory involved 4 stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, proportional, concrete operational, and formal operational
Dorothea Dix
Def: a mental health advocate and the first federally appointed woman in a major military position, who created the first mental hospital across the U.S. and Europe. Ex: traveled across the country and compiled reports on the neglect of prisoners and mentally ill, which spurred her cause