PSY Exam 1 study guideChapter 1Definitions/ Key words1. Psychology – Scientific study of behavior and mental process.2. Scientific Method- Set of procedures for gathering and interpreting objective info. (Minimizes error and yieldsdependable generalization). -Orderly steps used to analyze and solve problems3. Behavior- Actions by which an organism adjusts or responds to its environment. (Observable and Not directlyObservable).3. Mental Processes (workings of the mind) – play a critical role in behavior. (Thinking, planning and reasoning). Cannot be directly observed.5. Behavioral Data – Reports of observations about behavior and conditions under which behavior occurs or changes.6. Hermann Ebbinghaus – research on memory learning and illusory effects. “Psychology has a long past but only a short history.” 7. Plato – Nativist view that people begin life with mental structures that constrain (restrict) experience. - What is the nature of free will? - How does the mind work?8. Aristotle – Empiricist(经经经经经) view that people begin life with their mind as a blank tablet. - “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” 9. John Locke –Empiricist view (following Aristotle) - Believed that we begin with blank minds or “tabula rasa”. - Our minds only know information that we have come to acquire through experience. 10. Immanuel Kant – Nativist (经经经经经)view (following Plato). - Mind begins equipped with mental structures that provide constraints on how we experiencethe world. - We learn through experience but we are innately influenced by structures in our mind. 11. Empiricist VS. Nurture => Nature VS. Nurture12. Wilhelm Wundt – Founded the 1st formal experimental psychology laboratory; applied scientific technique to theosophical(经经经) inquiry.13. William James – Wrote The Principles of Psychology (1890); respected as one of the most influential texts ever written in the field. * Topics such as brain function, consciousness attention, memory, sensation and perception, reasoning, free will.14. G. Stanley Hall- Began the 1st American psychological laboratory. (At Johns Hopkins University). -In 1892, founded the American psychological Association. 15. Psychodynamics Perspective- Behavior is explained in term of: Inherited instincts, Biological drive, Attempts to resolve conflicts. - Focus is on the unconscious. - Purpose = Reduce the tension linked to: Deprivation, Physiological arousal an the conflict that arise from variance between personal needs and the demands of society. - Criticisms= 1) Inconsistent or weak options for measuring. 2) Difficult to replicate accounts for the unconscious mind. 3) Makes claims about powerful, instinctual dives, which can easily be interpreted when out of content.16. Behaviorist Perspective- Primarily concerned with observable behavior that can be objectively recorded. -Interested in the relationships between behavior and environment. -Analyze: Antecedent (environmental conditions), Behavioral response (Action), and Consequences (observable outcome). - John Watson established the school of behaviorism. - B.F. Skinner, a researcher focused on manipulating animal behavior. -Important to recognize the rigidity (经经) of methodology(经经经) used in the behaviorist school of thought influences current research practices.16. Behaviorist Perspective (Cont’d) - Principles of this perspective, in many cases grounded in non- human animal behavior research, has helped to shape the foundation for many different areas of research dealing with human psychology. - Criticisms = 1) Doe not account for behavior as a result of changes that occur within the individual (e.g. anxiety as it influences decision). 2) Does not account for degree to which behaviors are a result of choice; situations may constrain options but forced choice is still choice. 17. Biological Perspective – Focuses on the functioning of the genes, brain, nervous system and endocrine system. - Behavior ( and the psychological phenomena ( 经经)) is explained in term of underlying physical structures and biochemical processes. Manifested in two major subfields:  Behavioral Neuroscience – Study Process underlying behaviors (Such as sensation, learning, and emotion). Cognitive Neuroscience – Study processes underlying higher level functions. (Such as memory and language). 18. Evolutionary（（（/（（（ Perspective – Focuses on the importance of behavioral and mental adaptiveness. - Attempts to connect field of Psychology to a central component of life sciences. - Charles Darwin- Wrote On the Origin of Species. 经经 1) evolution is the result of natural selection. 2) Organisms best adapted to their environment survive to produce. 3) Mental abilities evolved in many of the same ways as physical abilities evolved.19. Sociocultural（（（/ （（（ Perspective- Focuses on cross-cultural differences in the causes and consequences of behavior. - Challenge to generalizations that ignore the influence of cultural differences. -Interpretations of behavior must accommodate culture- specific constraints. - An attempt to find psychological universals will need to demonstrate robustness (经经/经经) to sociocultural variability.20. Cognitive (（（/（（（Perspective- Human thought and the processes of knowing (e.g. attending, thinking, remembering and etc.) - Behavior and thought are not independent. - Noam Chomsky- Played major role in emergence of cognitive perspective with his criticism of B.F. Skinner’s Verbal Behavior. -Children produce utterance( 经经) that have never been present in their environment (e.g. “goed” and “thinked”). --------children have learn by thoughts. -Jean Piaget- Demonstrated changes in cognitive development