Prologue

• Early psychology developed from the fields of biology and philosophy, and its earliest pioneers had education in one or both of those fields
• Behaviorism


  The idea that psychology should be an objective science that studies people without a reference
• Humanistic psychology


  Historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy individuals
• Cognitive neuroscience


  Interdisciplinary study of the brain's activity linked with cognition (i.e. perception, thinking, memory, etc)
• Sigmund Freud


  Controversial pioneer of the psychodynamic approach and therapist who developed personality theory
• B F Skinner


  Leading behaviorist who rejected introspection and focused more on how the consequences of our actions shaped our behaviors
• John B Watson and Rosalie Rayner


  Championed psychology as the science of behavior and demonstrated conditioned responses on a baby that later became famous as "little Albert"
• Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow


  Pioneered humanistic psychology, rebelling against Freudian psychology and behaviorism's ideas of childhood influence and changing behaviors saying that we need to have people reach their full potential by changing influences in the present for the better
• Today we define psychology as the science of behavior and mental process
• Nature vs Nurture


  Longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experiences make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today's psychology sees that both contribute to make us who we are
• Natural selection


  Principle that, among all of the inheritable traits, those contributing most to reproduction and survival will be most likely to be passed down to the next generation
• Biological influences on behavior/mental process:

  • Natural selection in adaptive traits
  • Genetic predispositions responding to environment
  • Brain mechanisms
  • Hormonal influences
• Psychological influences on behavior/mental process:

  • Learned fears/expectations
  • Emotional responses
  • Cognitive processing/perceptual interpretations
• Social-cultural influences on behavior/mental process:

  • Presence of others
  • Cultural, societal, or familial expectations
  • Peer and group influences
  • Compelling models like the media
• Biopsychosocial approach


  Integrated viewpoint that incorporates various levels of analysis, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, and offers a more complete picture of any given behavior or mental process
• Levels of analysis


  Different complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon
• Basic research


  Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
• Applied research


  Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
• Counselling psychology


  A branch of psychology that assists people in living and achieving a greater wellbeing
• Clinical psychology


  Branch of psychology that studies, assesses and treats people with psychological disorders
• Psychiatry


  Branch of medicine concerned with the study, diagnosis, and treatment of mental illness
• Plato


  Believed that character and intelligence are largely inherited and that some ideas are inborn
• Aristotle


  The first person to counter Plato and say that nothing in the mind does not come first from the external world through the senses
• John Locke


  17th century European philosopher who argued for the idea that the mind is a blank slate that is only what you put into it
• Tabula rasa


  the idea that your mind is a blank slate that is filled by your life experiences
• Plato and Socrates both believed that the mind is seperate from the body and continues after the body dies
• René Descartes


  17th century European philosopher who believed that some ideas are innate