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Psychology
The scientific study of Mind and behavior
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Mind
The private inner experience of perceptions, thoughts, memories and feelings
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Behavior
Observable actions of human beings and nonhuman animals
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Nativism
The philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn
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Philosophical empiricism
The view that all knowledge is acquired through experience
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Phrenology
A now defunct theory that specific mental abilities and characteristics, ranging from memory to the alacrity for happiness, are localized in specific regions of the brain
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Physiology
The study of biological processes, especially in the human body
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Stimulus
Sensory input from the environment
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Reaction time
The amount of time taken to respond to a specific stimulus
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Consciousness
A person's subjective experience of the world and the mind
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Structuralism
The analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind
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Introspection
The subjective observation of one's own experience
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Functionalism
The study of the purpose mental processes in enabling people to adapt to their environment
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Natural selection
Darwin's theory that the features of an organism that help it survive and reproduce are more likely than other features to be passed on to subsequent generations
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Hysteria
A temporary loss of cognitive or motor functions, usually as a result of emotionally upsetting experiences
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Unconscious
The part of the mind that operates outside of conscious awareness but influences conscious thoughts, feelings and actions
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Psychoanalytic theory
An approach that emphasizes the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts and behavior
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Psychoanalysis
A therapeutic approach that focuses on bringing unconscious material into conscious awareness to better understand psychological disorders
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Humanistic psychology
An approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings
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Behaviorism
An approach that advocates that psychologists restrict themselves to the scientific study of objectively observable behavior
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Philosophers have pondered and debated ideas about human nature for millennia, but
Given the nature of their approach they didn't provide empirical evidence to support their claims
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Maire Jean Pierre Florets and Paul Boca
Made some of the earliest successful efforts to develop a science linking mind and behavior by showing that damage to the brain can result in impairments of behavior and mental functions
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Hermann von Helmholtz
Furthered the science of the mind by developing methods for measuring reaction time
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Wilhelm Wundt
Credited with the founding of psychology as a scientific discipline. His structuralist approach focused on analyzing the basic elements of consciousness
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Edward Titchener
Wilhelm Wundt's student who brought structuralism to the US
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William James
Applied Darwin's theory of natural selection to the study of the mind. His functionalist approach focused on how mental processes serve to enable people to adapt to their environments
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G. Stanley Hall
Established the first American research lab, journal and professional organization devoted to psychology
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Patients with psychological disorders
Have often been focused on by psychologists as a way of understanding human behavior
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Jean-Martin Chariot and Pierre Janet were clinicians who studied
Unusual cases where patients acted like different people while under hypnosis, raising the possibility that each of us has more than one self
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Sigmund Freud worked with hysterical patients to
Develop psychoanalysis which emphasized the importance of unconscious influences and childhood experiences in shaping thoughts, feelings and behaviors
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Humanistic psychologists offered a more optimistic view of the human condition, suggesting that
People are inherently disposed toward growth and can usually reach their full potential with a little help from their friends
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Keith Jarrett, a virtuoso piano player has played for 60 years. Compared to a newbie
The brain regions that control Jarrett's fingers are relatively less active when he plays
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Animals freeze of fear so that enemies don't see them because
Emotions are adaptive
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Plato believed that certain kinds of knowledge are innate whereas Aristotle
Believed that the mind is a blank slate where experiences are written
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Descartes' dualism
The physical body is a container for the non-physical thing called the mind. Most modern scientists reject it and embrace Rule's scientific materialism
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Scientific materialism
Philosopher Gilbert Ryle's argument that there is no "ghost in the machine" and that all mental activity is simply the result of the brain
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Franz Joseph Gall developed a theory called
Phrenology, there are certain sections in the brain that related to psychological capacities, the more capacities and traits the larger the corresponding bumps on the skull. No one really thinks this anymore however there is some truth to it.
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Mr. Leborgne was nicknamed Tan because
He had a lesion in the left hemisphere of his brain making "tan" the only thing he could say. The lesion was discovered by Paul Boca
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Helmholtz estimated the length of time it takes a nerve impulse to travel to the brain by
Testing a person's reaction times to different stimuli.
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Wundt founded the first__in order to__
- Lab devoted exclusively to psychology
- Understand consciousness by breaking it down into its basic parts, including individual sensations and feelings
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Where was the first lab devoted exclusively to psychology?
It was at the University of Leipzig in Germany.
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Robert Fludd
A physician and artist who tried, (before) like Titchener to identify the elements of conscious experience.
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William James suggested that your ability to read emotional expressions in an instant
Serves as an important function that promotes your survival and well being
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G. Stanley Hall believed that as children grew up they
Retrace the evolutionary history of our species, starting out as "mental cavemen" and ending up as "us"
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Margaret Floyd Washburn
- A student of Edward Titchener at Cornell became the first woman with a PhD in psychology
- Had a distinguished career, mainly teaching at Vassar College
- Wrote an influential book, The Animal Mind
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What fundamental question has puzzled philosophers for millennia?
Nature vs. Nurture or Nativism vs. Empiricism
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What were early explanations for dualism?
Descartes suggested that the a tiny structure at the bottom of the brain was used by the mind to influence the brain.
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British philosopher Thomas Hobbes argued that
The mind and body aren't different things at all, the mind is what the brain does
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How did work involving patients with brain damage help demonstrate the mind-brain connection?
Boca used Mr. Leborgne (Tan)'s brain to show that there could be a connection between his loss of speech and a lesion in the left half of his brain.
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How did the work of chemists influence early psychology?
Wundt took the idea of elements in chemistry and tried to break down consciousness into elemental sensations and feelings and created structuralism.
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What are the problems with the introspective method?
It couldn't create replicable results. This made it hard for psychologists to agree on the basic elements of consciousness.
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How does functionalist relate to Darwin's theory of natural selection?
William James reasoned that mental abilities must have evolved because they were adaptive and helped people solve problems thus increasing their chance of survival.
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How was Freud influenced by work with hysteric patients?
It gave him the idea that their trauma came from painful childhood experiences and gave him the idea of the unconscious, psychoanalytic theory and psychoanalysis.
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Freud's idea of unconscious
The part of the mind that operates outside of conscious awareness but influences the conscious thoughts, feelings and actions.
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Psychoanalytic theory
An approach that emphasizes the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts and behaviors.
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Why are Freud's ideas less influential today?
Because after WWII in America the attitude was becoming much more positive. People saw accomplishments of the human mind and not just the problems.
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How did behaviorism help psychology advance as a science?
Because the focus on behavior allowed psychologists to study on animals.
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