Behavior
manner of acting or conducting yourself
Cognitive psychology
perspective that focuses on the mental processes involved in perception, learning, memory, and thinking
Psychological constructs
theoretical entities, or concepts, that enable one to discuss something that cannot be seen, touched, or measured directly
clinical psychologist
a psychologist who diagnoses and treats people with emotional disturbances
Counseling psychologist
a psychologist who usually helps people deal with problems of everyday life
School Psychologist
assesses and counsels students, consults with educators and parents, and performs behavioral intervention when necessary
educational Psychologist
researches topics related to intelligence, memory, problem solving, and motivation with the goal of helping students learn more effectively
developmental Psychology
the branch of psychology that studies the social and mental development of children
Personality psychology
the study of an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
Social Psychologist
focuses on how the individual's behavior and mental processes are affected by interactions with other people
experimental Psychologist
a psychologist who studies sensation, perception, learning, motivation, and emotion in carefully controlled laboratory conditions
Industrial & Organizational Psychologist
a psychologist who uses psychological concepts to make the workplace a more satisfying environment for employees and managers
Environmental psychologist
specialists who study how the environment affects behavior and well-being
Consumer Psychologist
study the behavior of shoppers and try to explain and predict their behavior
Forensic Psychologist
applies psychological concepts to legal issues
Health Psychologist
study the interaction between physical and psychological health factors. They may investigate how stress or depression leads to physical ailments such as ulcers, cancer or the common cold.
Introspection
the act of looking at one's inner self
Associationism
the theory that our understanding of the world occurs through ideas associated with similar sensory experiences and perceptions
Structuralism
An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind; developed By Wilhelm Wunt
Functionalism
a psychology based on the assumption that all mental process are useful to an organism in adapting to the environment
Behaviorism
the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes
Reinforcement
a stimulus that strengthens or weakens the behavior that produced it
Gestalt Psychology
a psychological approach that emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts
Psychoanalysis
Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions
Psychodynamic Thinking
the theory that most of what exists in an individual's mind is unconscious and consists of conflicting impulses, urges, and wishes
Biological Perspective
A psychological approach that emphasizes bodily events and changes associated with actions, feelings, and thoughts.
Evolutionary perspective
how the natural selection of traits promotes the perpetuation of one's genes
Cognitive Perspective
A psychological approach that emphasizes mental processes in perception, memory, language, problem solving, and other areas of behavior
Humanistic perspective
School of thought that focuses on the study of conscious experience, the individual's freedom to choose, and capacity for personal growth.
Psychoanalytic Perspective
stresses the influence of unconscious forces on human behavior
Learning perspective
the psychological point of view that emphasizes the effects of experience on behavior
Socio-learning theory
Shares basic principles of reinforcement with behaviourism, it differs from strict behaviourism in that it also emphasizes cognitive processes
Sociocultural Perspective
in psychology, the perspective that focuses on the roles of ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status in personality formation, behavior, and mental processes
Wilhelm Wundt
Considered the Father of modern psychology; study of mental processes, introspection, and self-exam; established the first psychology laboratory in Germany
John Watson
1878-1958; Field: behaviorism; Contributions: generalization-inductive reasoning, emphasis on external behaviors of people and their reactions on a given situation
B.F. Skinner
1904-1990; Field: behavioral; Contributions: created techniques to manipulate the consequences of an organism's behavior in order to observe the effects of subsequent behavior; Studies: Skinner box
Max Wertheimer
a gestalt psychologist who argued against dividing human thought and behavior into discrete structures
Sigmond Freud
Austrian psychologist who developed psychoanalysis, the idea of the unconscious, and personality.