| Psychology | The scientific study of behavior and mental processes |
| Behavior | Any action we can observe and record |
| Mental processes | Internal, subjective experiences we infer from behavior-sensations, perception, dreams, thoughts, beliefs and feelings |
| Buddha | Pondered how sensations and perceptions combine to form ideas |
| Confucius | Stressed the power of ideas and of an educated mind |
| Hebrew Scholars | anticipated today's psychology by linking mind and emotions to the body; ppl were said to think with their hearts and feel with their bowels |
| Socrates [469-399 B.C.] & Plato [428-348 B.C.] | Mind is separable from body and continues after the body dies & that knowledge is innate-born within us |
| Aristotle [384-322 B.C.] | knowledge is not preexisting; instead, it grows from the experiences stored in our memories |
| Rene Descartes [1595-1650] | Existence of innate ideas and the mind's being entirely distinct from the body and able to survive its death |
| Francis Bacon [1561-1626] | One of the founders of modern science, experimental method |
| John Locke [1632-1704] | The mind at birth is a blank slate, "white paper." Wrote An Essay Concerning Human Understanding |
| Empiricism | the view that [a] knowledge comes from experience via the senses [b] science flourishes through observation and experiment |
| December 1879 | Birth of Psychology |
| Whilhelm Wundt | German professor, created an experiment that launched the birth of Psychology |
| Edward Titchener | Wundt's student who introduced structuralism |
| Structuralism | An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind |
| Introspection | Self-reflection, lookin inward |
| William James | Philosopher-psychologist, functionalist, encouraged explorations of down-to-earth emotions, memories, will power, habits, and moment-to-moment streams of consciousness |
| Functionalism | A school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function-how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, flourish |
| "You don't know your own mind" | Jonathan Swift, Polite Conversations, 1738 |
| Mary Calkins | Distinguished memory researcher and the American Psychological Assocaition's [APA's] first female president in 1905 |
| Margaret Washburn | First woman to receive a psychology Ph.D. from Harvard. Wrote The Animal Mind. 2nd president of APA |
| Ivan Pavlov | Russian physiologist, who pioneered the study of learning |
| Sigmund Freud | Austrian physician, who developed an influential theory of personality |
| Jean Piaget | Swiss biologist who was last century's most influencial observer of children |
| John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner | Dismissed introspection and redefined psychology as "the scientific study of observable behavior" |
| Humanistic psychology | Perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people; used personalized method to study personality in hopes of fostering personal growth |
| Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow | Emphasized the importance of current environmental influences on our growth potential, and the importance of meeting our needs for love and acceptance |
| Cognitive neuroscience | The study of the interaction of thought processes and brain function |
| Nature-nurture issue | The longstanding controversy of over the relative contributions that genes and experiences make to the development of psychological traits and behavior |
| Charles Darwin | proposed the principle of natural selection |
| Natural Selection | The principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations |
| Levels of analysis | The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon |
| Biopsychosocial approach | An integrated perspective that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis |
| Neuroscience | How the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences |
| Evolutionary | How the natural selection of traits promotes the perpetuation of one's genes |
| Behavior genetics | How much our genes and our environment influence our individual differences |
| Psychodynamic | How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts |
| Behavioral | How we learn observable responses |
| Cognitive | How we encode, process, store, and retrieve information |
| Social-cultural | How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures |
| Basic research | Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base |
| Biological psychologists | Explore the links between brain and mind |
| Developmental psychologists | Study our changing abilities from womb to tomb |
| Cognitive psychologists | Experiment with how we perceive, think, and solve problems |
| Personality psychologists | Investigate our persistent traits |
| Social psychologists | Ex;lore how we view and affect one another |
| Applied research | Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems |
| Industrial/organizational psychologists | Study and advise on behavior in the work place |
| Counseling psychologists | A branch of Psychology that assists people with problems in living and in achieving a greater well being |
| Clinical psychologists | A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders |
| Psychiatry | A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy |
| "Once expanded to the dimensions of a larger idea, [the mind] never returns to its original size" | Oliver Wendell Holmes |
Which early psychologist focused on how mental and behavioral processes enable us to adapt to our environment?
Try It.
Which early school of thought in psychology focused on how the mind works?
The Structuralist School of Thought
Structuralism is widely regarded as the first school of thought in psychology. This outlook focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components. Major thinkers associated with structuralism include Wilhelm Wundt and Edward Titchener.
Which early school of thought in psychology focused on how the mind works quizlet?
Structuralism was the first school of psychology and focused on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components.
What are the early schools of psychology?
Structuralism and functionalism were the two earliest schools of thought in psychology. When psychology was first established as a science separate from philosophy, the debate over how to explain human behavior and analyze the mind began.