Chapter 1
Terms
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- trained introspection
- A technique used by structuralists to break something down into its most basic elements.
- social-cognitive learning theorists
- Social scientists who combine elements of behaviorism with research on thoughts, values, and intentions.
- psychoanalyst
- Someone who has specific training in psychoanalysis; may treat any kind of emotional disorder (usually M.D. or Ph. D).
- basic psychology
- The study of psychological issues in order to seek knowledge for its own sake rather than for its practical applications.
- sociocultural perspective
- A psychological approach that emphasizes social and cultural influences on behavior.
- learning perspective
- A psychological approach that emphasizes how the environment and experience affect a person's or animal's actions; it includes behaviorism and social-cognitive learning theories.
- empirical
- Relying on or derived from observation, experimentation, or measurement.
- psychology
- Discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism's external and internal environment.
- psychiatrist
- Someone who does work similar to that of a clinical psychologist, but is likely to take a more biological approach (has an M.D.).
- biological perspective
- A psychological approach that emphasizes bodily events and changes associated with actions, feelings, and thoughts.
- psychodynamic perspective
- A psychological approach that emphasizes unconscious dynamics within the individual, such as inner forces, conflicts, or the movement of instinctual energy.
- clinical psychologist
- Someone who diagnoses, treats, and studies mental or emotional problems, both mild and severe (has Ph.D., Ed.D or Psy.D).
- phrenology
- The now discredited theory that different brain areas account for specific character and personality traits, which can be "read" from bumps on the skulls.
- Sigmund Freud
- The official founder of the psychological school of thought called psychoanalysis.
- Abraham Maslow
- The humanist who believed that our needs are based on a hierarchy.
- applied psychology
- The study of psychological issues that have direct practical significance.
- school psychologist
- Someone who works with parents, teachers, and students to enhance students' performance and resolve emotional difficulties.
- counseling psychologist
- Someone who helps people deal with problems of everyday life such as test anxiety, family conflicts, or low job motivation.
- humanist psychology
- A psychological approach that emphasizes free will, personal growth, resilience, and the achievement of human potential.
- Max Wertheimer
- A Gestalt psychologist who studied the "phi phenomenon."
- psychoanalysis
- A theory of personality and a method of psychotherapy that emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts.
- positive psychology
- An approach to psychology that focuses on the qualities that enable people to be happy, optimistic, and resilient in times of stress.
- functionalism
- An early psychological approach that emphasized the function or purpose of behavior and consciousness.
- cognitive perspective
- A psychological approach that emphasizes mental processes in perception, memory, language, problem solving, and other areas of behavior.
- Wilhelm Wundt
- The official founder of scientific psychology and the psychological school of thought called structuralism.
- Gestalt psychology
- A psychological approach that emphasizes that the whole of consciousness is greater than the sum of the parts.
- Martin Seligman
- The former APA president who developed a more positive approach to psychology.
- behaviorists
- Social scientists who focus on the environmental rewards and punishers that maintain or discourage specific behaviors.
- psychotherapist
- Someone who does any kind of therapy; may have anything from no degree to an advanced professional degree; the term is unregulated.
- evolutionary psychology
- A field of psychology that may help explain human commonalities in cognition, development, emotion, social practices, and other areas of behavior.
- Jean Piaget
- A Swiss biologist who developed a theory of cognitive stages that we must go through as we mature.
- psychological practice
- The provision of health or mental-health services.
- William James
- A leader of the psychological school of thought called functionalism.
- Ivan Pavlov
- The behaviorist who did extensive research with dogs in a laboratory.