jimtrue.com : school : PSY1012 : Prologue

Posted by Jim True on January 11, 2006 4:00 PM. Last Updated October 22, 2006 9:23 PM

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Prologue

Terms and Definitions

• empiricism concept that knowledge comes from things we can experience by way of our senses and that science flourishes through observation by means of these senses and through experimentation.
• structuralism early school of psychology that used introspection to explore elemental structure of the human mind.
• functionalism school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function; by studying these we can determine how these processes enable us to adapt, survive and flourish.
• psychology The science of behavior and mental processes.
• nature-nurture issue controversy that questions whether our genes (nature) or our environment and how we are raised (nurture) determines the development of psychological traits and behaviors
• natural selection scientific principle that among the range of inherited traits, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to later generations.
• basic research pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
• applied research scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
• clinical psychology branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders.
• psychiatry branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy.

Check Yourself from End of Prologue

What events defined the founding of scientific psychology?

Wilhellm Wundt's opening of the University of Leipzig psychology laboratory in 1879. Science of psychology was organized into different schools of thought: structuralism (Edward Titchener, introspection to explore structure of the human mind) and functionalism (Williams James, focusing on natural selection and how behavioral traits help a person to survive and flourish). Williams James also wrote popular psychology textbook in 1890.

What are psychology's Major Perspectives?

Psychologists view behavior and mental processes from multiple perspectives: including neuroscience (biology), evolutionary (natural selection), behavior genetics (), psychodynamic (), behavioral, cognitive, and social-cultural perspectives. Wide angle approach allows for the possibility of gaining insight from a combination of viewpoints.

Wednesday Night Discussion

Instructor Home page: http://it.spcollege.edu/course_info

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