Origins of Psychology

• What is the key assumption of the psychodynamic approach in psychology?

  Mental activity is mostly unconscious.
• How do childhood experiences influence psychological disorders according to the psychodynamic approach?

  Childhood experiences can lead to disorders.
• What is the purpose of psychotherapy in the psychodynamic approach?


  To help relieve psychological distress.
• What are the three components of the psyche in the psychodynamic approach?

  • Id
  • Ego
  • Superego
• What does the humanistic approach emphasize about human beings?

  Humans have free will (personal agency)
• How does the humanistic approach differ from the behaviourist approach?

  The humanistic approach focuses on the whole person, while behaviourism focuses on observable behaviour.
• What is the main focus of the cognitive approach in psychology?

  The cognitive approach studies complex mental processes between stimulus and response.
• What is the relationship between physiological processes and behavior in the physiological approach?

  Physiological processes, such as hormonal changes, can affect behavior.
• Who are some key figures associated with behaviorism?

  Ivan Pavlov and John Watson.
• What does the behaviorist approach focus on in terms of learning?

  The behaviorist approach focuses on observable behaviors and the processes of learning.
• How does the cognitive approach view the mind in relation to behavior?


  The cognitive approach views the mind as a complex system that processes information.
• What is the main assumption from the introspection approach?

  humans have little awareness of the processes that influence our decisions
• What was a downside of the introspection approach?


  by training participants, they gave themselves bias
• What was a positive about the introspection approach?

  Wundt used a lot more controlled environments and standardised instructions -> more scientific + fair
• What is the main assumption of the behaviourist (learning) approach?

  we are all blank slates at birth and knowledge is gained through experience
• How does the behaviourist approach differ from the humanistic?

  behaviourist approach believes research on animals is directly relevant to humans whereas the humanistic approach believes animals can't provide a proper understanding of human behaviour.
• What is the main assumption of the biological approach?

  there is a direct correlation between brain activity and cognition
• What does the biological approach suggest about inheritance?

  that behaviour is inherited
• What does cognitive neuroscience refer to?

  the combination of the biological and cognitive approach
• Which approach is mainly used for memory research?

  cognitive approach
• What is a downside of the psychodynamic approach?

  not very scientific as it focused more on unique, individual cases
• What is the main assumption from the cognitive approach?

  the mind processes information from the senses
• Why was introspection so important for psychology?

  first experimental attempt to study human behaviour