Psychology ch1

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  1. Applied research
    • research that is designed to solve or examine
    • specific, practical problems
  2. Basic research
    • research designed to obtain knowledge for its
    • own sake
  3. Behavioral neuroscience
    • A subfield of psychology that examines brain processes and
    • other physiological functions that underlie our behavior, sensory experiences,
    • emotions, and thoughts
  4. Behavioral perspective
    • A view that emphasizes how the environment and learning
    • experience shape and control behavior
  5. Behavior genetics
    • The scientific study of the role of genetic
    • inheritance in behavior
  6. Behaviorism
    • A school of psychology that emphasizes the
    • effect of learning and environmental control on behavior and maintains that the
    • proper subject matter of psychology is observable behavior
  7. Biological perspective
    • A view that focuses on the role of biological
    • factors in behavior, including biochemical and brain processes, as well as
    • genetic and evolutionary factors
  8. Biopsychology
    • A subfield of psychology that focuses on the
    • biological underpinnings of behavior, thought, and emotion
  9. British empiricism
    • A 17th century school of philosophy
    • championed by Locke, according to which all the contents of the mind are gained
    • experientially though the senses
  10. Clinical psychology
    • A subfield of psychology that focuses on the study and
    • treatment of mental disorders
  11. Cognitive behaviorism
    • A behavioral approach that incorporates
    • cognitive concepts, suggesting that the environment influences our behavior by
    • affecting our thoughts and giving us information
  12. Cognitive neuroscience
    • An area of psychology that intersects the subfields of
    • cognitive psychology and physiology psychology and examines brain processes
    • that underlie mental activity
  13. Cognitive perspective
    • A view that emphasizes humans as information
    • processors and problem solvers, and that focuses on the mental processes that
    • influence behavior
  14. Cognitive psychology
    • An area of psychology that specializes in
    • studying mental processes such as thinking, memory, planning, reasoning,
    • attention, and perception
  15. Cultural (cross cultural) Psychology-
    • A subfield of psychology that explores how culture is
    • transmitted to its members and examines psychological similarities and
    • differences that occur between people from diverse cultures
  16. Developmental psychology
    • -A subfield of psychology that examines human physical,
    • psychological, and social development across the life span
  17. Evolutionary psychology
    • A field of study that focuses on the role of evolutionary
    • processes (especially natural selection) in the development of adaptive psychological
    • mechanisms and social behavior in humans
  18. Experimental psychology
    • A subfield of psychology that focuses on basic processes
    • such as learning, sensory systems (e.g., vision), perception, and motivational
    • status (e.g., hunger)
  19. Functionalism
    • An early school of American Psychology that focuses on the
    • functions of consciousness and behavior in helping organisms adapt to their
    • environment and satisfy their needs
  20. Humanistic perspective (Humanism)-
    • A psychological view that emphasizes personal freedom, choice,
    • and self-actualization
  21. Industrial organizational psychology-
    • A subfield of psychology that focuses on people’s behavior
    • in the workplace
  22. Interaction
    • An interaction occurs (i.e, two factors
    • interact) when the way in which one factor influences behavior depends on the
    • presence of the other factor
  23. Natural selection
    • The evolutionary process through which characteristics that
    • increase the likelihood of survival and reproduction are preserved in eh gene
    • pool and thereby become more common in a species over time
  24. Neurotransmitters
    • Chemical substances that are released from the axons of one
    • neuron, travels across the synaptic space, and bind to specially keyed receptor
    • s in another neuron, where they produce a chemical reaction that is either
    • excitatory or inhibitory
  25. Norms
    • cultural or group rules often unwritten that specify what
    • behavior is acceptable and expected for members of a particular culture or
    • group
  26. Personality psychology
    • A subfield of psychology that focuses on the nature of human
    • personality
  27. Positive psychology movement
    • A view that emphasizes the study of human strengths,
    • fulfillment, and optimal living
  28. Psychoanalysis
    • A psychological theory, developed by Freud, that emphasizes
    • internal and primarily processes-including unconscious impulses, defenses, and
    • conflicts-influence behavior
  29. Psychodynamic perspective-
    • A psychological perspective that focuses on how
    • personality processes-including unconscious impulses, defenses, and
    • conflicts-influence behavior
  30. Psychology
    The scientific study of behavior and the mind
  31. Social psychology
    • A subfield of psychology that examines people’s thoughts,
    • feelings, and behavior in relation to the social world
  32. Sociocultural perspective
    • A view that emphasizes the role of culture and the social
    • environment in influencing our behavior, thoughts, and emotions
  33. Structuralism
    • An early German school of psychology established by Wundt
    • that attempted to study the structure of the mind by breaking it down into its
    • basic components, which were believed to be sensations

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Author:
 fen
ID:
 127726
Filename:
 Psychology ch1
Updated:
2012-01-14 07:44:16
Tags:
psych
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Description:
Midterm 1
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