The scientific study of the mind and behavior
Our private inner experience of perceptions, thoughts, memories, and feelings
Observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals
Discovered by Plato; the philosophical view that certain types of knowledge we're born with. Example: right and wrong, having a diety
Founded by Aristotle; all knowledge is learned through experience and role models. we are a blank slate, a tabula rasa.
Founded by Descartes; the idea that t he body and the mind are two different things that communicate with each other. Credited with the idea of skepticism; explore and doubt everything until it is true.
specific mental abilities and characteristics, ranging from memory to the capacity for happiness, are localized in specific regions of the brain.
Founded by Wilhelm Wundt. The analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind. Breaking consciousness down into elemental sensations and feelings. He used reaction times to separate perception from interpretation
Wundt's way of analyzing the elements in a stream of consciousness in a systematic way. Introspection is the subjective observation of one's own experience
Developed by William James; the study of the purpose mental processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment. James reasoned that mental abilities evolved because they were adaptive.
Sigmund Freud's approach to understanding human behavior that emphasizes the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts, and behaviors.
An approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings.
Classical conditioning: after training, a previously neutral stimulus can cause a "conditioned" response. Behaviorism: an approach that advocates that psychologists restrict themselves to the scientific study of objectively observable behavior.
B.F. Skinner's idea that the consequences of a behavior determine whether it will be more or less likely to occur. "operant conditioning"
Wertheimer's interpretation of illusion led to this. A psychological approach that emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of its parts.
Inspired by Karl Lashley. An approach to psychology that links psychological processes to activities in the nervous system and other bodily processes.
A field that attempts to understand the links between cognitive processes and brain activity.
Explains the mind and behavior in terms of adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over time by natural selection.
A sub field of psychology that studies the causes and consequences of interpersonal behavior.
scientific study of mind and behavior
observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals
the idea that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn
the idea that all knowledge is acquired
through experience
the idea that specific mental abilities or characteristics, ranging from memory to capacity of happiness are localized in specific regions of the brain
the study of biological processes, especially in the human body
sensory input from the environment
amount
of time taken to respond to a specific stimulus
a person's subjective experience of the world and mind
analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind
the subjective observation of one's own experience
the study of purpose mental process serve in enabling people to
adapt to the environment
the idea that features of an organism that help it survive and reproduce are more likely than other features to be passed on the subsequent generations
temporary loss of cognitive or motor functions, usually as a result of emotionally upsetting experiences
the part of the mind that operates outside of
conscious awareness but influences conscious thoughts, feelings, and actions
an approach that emphasizes the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts, and behaviors
bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness
an approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive
potential of human beings
scientific study of objectively observable behavior
an action or physiological change elicited by a stimulus
the consequences of a behavior determine whether it will be more or less likely to occur again
errors of perception, memory, or judgment
in which subjective experience differs from objective reality
a psychological approach that emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts
scientific study of mental processes including perception, thought, memory and reasoning
field that attempts to understand the links between cognitive processes
and brain activity
explains mind and behavior in terms of the adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over tie by natural selection
the study of the causes and consequences of interpersonal behavior
the study of how cultures reflect and shape the psychological processes of their members
the beginnings of the nature-nurture debate: (cognitive abilities and personality characteristics are inborn [nativism] or are they acquired through experience [empiricism]
teacher=Socrates; argued that certain kinds of knowledge and ability (the use of language) are inborn; nativist
student of Plato; father of science using empirical methods;
argued that all knowledge is acquired through experience; empiricist
Rene Descartes (1596-1650)
dualist; and nativist; treated body as a machine
empiricist, idea that mind is a tabula rasa, nature-nurture debate
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920)
established first psychology laboratory at University of Leipzig, Germany; use of introspection; student of Hermann von Helmholtz and carried on his studies of reaction time
invented by Eleanor Gibbs and R.D. Walk which allowed them to experimentally adjust the optical and tactical stimuli associated with a simulated cliff while
protecting the subjects from injury; RESULT: depth perception is not innate, it is acquired through experience and maturation
introduces perspective of structuralism[structure of consciousness] based on Wundt's work
William James (1842-1910)
stresses perspective of functionalism, studying
how mind works, mental operations, how mental functions help organism adapt to environment, influenced by Charles Darwin and his theory of natural selection
a theory of mind and brain positing; the operational principle of Gestalt is that the brain is holistic, parallel, and analog, with self-organizing tendencies; founded by Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, Wolfgang Kohler; "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts"
patient exhibits physical symptoms such as loss of sensation or limb paralysis, without apparent physical cause; coined by Hippocrates; Charcot was able to remove symptoms under a trance induced by hypnosis seemingly creating two different "identities": awake and hypnotized
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
published
"Studies of Hysteria" leading to psychoanalytic theory of personality (the unconscious) and psychoanalysis (a method of therapy); proposed that symptoms of hysteria are due to anxiety caused by repression of painful childhood memories at an unconscious level of the personality
promotes behaviorism, emphasizing the study of behavior (observable) rather than the mind (not observable); influenced by work of Pavlov; interested how
behavior was controlled by the environment
leads development of behaviorism in mid 20th C; discovers the principle of reinforcement, by which voluntary behavior is strengthened by rewarding consequences
the experimental study of mental processes
currently heavily based on neural imaging and building upon earlier fields of
physiological psychology and behavioral neuroscience
based heavily on lesion studies
based on neural and chemical recording from the brain