PSY100: Ch 1, The science of the mind: the discipline of psychology

Hub science

1 of 7 major hub sciences with strong connections to medical and social sciences as well as education

Voluntarism

approach that emphasizes a role of will and choice in determining thoughts, perceptions and behaviours

Ulrich Neisser

coined the term cognition in 1967, cognitive neuroscience approach

Sigmund Freud

developed psychodynamic theory and its applications to treat psychological disorders. Founded the study of personality

William Wundt

credit for conducting the first experiments in psychology, theories contributed to the foundation of structuralism

Introspection

personal observation of your own thoughts, feelings and behaviours

Carl Rogers

developed client centered therapy, humanistic approach

John Locke

empiricist philosopher who believed that mind was a 'blank slate' at birth

Functionalism

approach that saw behaviour as purposeful and contributing to survival

Gestalt psychology

study of thinking learning and perception in whole units not by analysis into parts. opposing views compared to structuralism

Principles of Gestalt psychology

proximity principle, similarity principle continuity principle, closure principle, simplicity principle

Humanistic psychology

approach that saw people as inherently good and motivated to learn and improve. Conflicts with the behaviourism approach

Abraham Maslow

developed the hierarchy of needs and contributed to the foundations of the humanistic approach

Cognitive neuroscience

approach that focuses on understanding the links between cognition and brain activity

Biological psychology

focuses on the relationships between the mind and behaviour as well as their underlying biological processes including genetics biochemistry anatomy and physiology

Evolutionary psychology

investigates how physical structure and behaviour have been shaped by their contributions to survival and reproduction

Cognitive psychology

investigates information processing, thinking, reasoning and problem solving

developmental psychology

examines the normal changes in behaviour that occurs across the life span

social psychology

perspective that examines the effects of the social environment on the behaviour of individuals

personality psychology

individual's characteristic way of thinking, feeling and behaving

clinical psychology

seeks to explain, define and treat abnormal behaviours

Edward Titchener

founded the idea of structuralism

William James

founded the idea of functionalism

John Watson and B.F Skinner

founded the idea of behavioural psychology

Structuralism

Founded by Edward Titchener

• The mind can be broken down into the smallest elements of mental experience

• The conscious experience could be broken down into 3 types of mental elements: sensations, images, and feelings ← these could be broken down further into their fundamental properties

Behaviourism

• an approach that features the study and careful measurement of observable behaviours

proximity principle

things near each other are grouped together

similarity principle

tendency to group similar stimuli together

continuity principle

ignoring gaps in information to create closure

simplicity

organize/interpret things in the simplest way