Prologue: The Story of Psychology

structuralism

an early school of pschology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind, focused on what shapes lead to things; wanned with introspection

functionalism

a school of psychology that focuses on how our mental and behavioral processes function and how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish. studied their purposes

behaviorism

the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes (based on idea that science is rooted in observation)

humanistic psychology

historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people, free will, and the individual's potential for personal growth-actualization aka positive psychology

cognitive neuroscience

the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language)

psychology

the science of behavior and mental processes

nature-nurture issue

the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the defelopment of psychological traits and behaviors. Today's science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of both

natural selection

the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations; darwin; On the Origin of Species

levels of analysis

the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon

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

counseling psychology

a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being

clinical psychology

a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders

psychiatry

a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy

SQ3R

a study method incorporating five steps: survey, question, read, rehearse, review

Aristotle

emphasised observation, theorized about learning and memory; greek naturalist and philosopher; argued that there is nothing in the mind that does not come first from the external world through the senses

Willhem Wundt

1879, german, tried to time the atoms of the mind; established first psychology lab and used introspection

Edward Bradford Tichener

student of wundt, introduced tructuralism as a means of discovering the structural elements of the mind; engaged people in introspection and trained them to report what they felt in different situations

introspection

looking inward; when people observe and analyze their own experiences; required smart, verbal people; proved to be unreliable because we often dont know what we feel when we do

William James

inspired by darwin, assumed that thinking and sensing developed because they are adaptive and contributed to survival; functionalist, wrote first psychology textbook, Principles of Psychology, was also interested in environment (behavioral/learning); enco

Mary Calkins

Harvard student tutored by james; mistreated; became a distinguished memory teacher and became the first female president of the american psychological association

Margaret Floy Washburn

1st woman to receive a psychology PH.D; wrote The Animal Mind; 2nd APA president;

behavior

anything an organism does-any action we can observe or record

neuorscience

psychological perspective that focuses on how the body and the brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences

evolutionary

pshychological perspective that focuses on how the natural selection of traits promoted the survival of genes

behavior genetics

psychological perspective that focuses on how much our genes and our environment influence our individual differences

psychodynamic

psychological perspective that focuses on how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts

behavioral

psychological perspective that focuses on how we learn observable responses

cognitive

psychological perspective emphasising the "mind" and how we encode, process, store, and retreive information

sociocultural

psychological perspective that focuses on how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures

mental process

the internal, subjective experiences we infer from behavior; sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beleifs, and feelings