Psychology Chapter 1 Vocabulary
Terms
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- Psychology
- The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
- Behavior
- Any action that other people can observe or measure
- Cognitive Activity
- Private mental processes such as dreams and thoughts
- Theory
- A statement that attempts to explain why things are the way and happen the way they do
- Basic Research
- Research that has no immediate application and is done for its own sake
- Introspection
- An examination of one's own thoughts and feelings
- Structuralism
- Founded by Wihelm Wundt, maintans that conscious experience breaks down into objective sensations and subjective feelings
- Functionalism
- Founded by William James, emphasize the purposes of behavior and mental processes
- Behaviorism
- Founded by John Watson, defines psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior
- Gestalt Psychology
- Based on the idea that perceptions are more than the sums of their parts
- Psychoanalysis
- Emphasizes the importance of unconscious motives and internal conflicts in determining human behavior
- Biological Perspective
- Emphasizes the influence of biology on our behavior
- Cognitive Perspective
- Emphasizes the role played by thoughts in determining behavior
- Humanistic Perspective
- Stresses the human capacity for self-fulfillment and the importance of consciousness, self-awareness, and the capacity to make choices
- Psychoanalytic Perspective
- Stresses the influence of unconscious forces on human behavior
- Learning Perspective
- Emphasizes the effects of experience on behavior
- Social-Learning Theory
- Suggests that people can change their environments or create new ones
- Socio-Cultural Perspective
- Addresses such issues as ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic status