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GRE® Psychology > History > Flashcards

Flashcards in History Deck (79)
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1
Q

Define:

Psychology

A

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

2
Q

Define behavior as it relates to psychology.

A

observable actions

3
Q

__________ are defined as internal experiences, including feelings and thoughts.

A

Mental processes

4
Q

Why is psychology a scientific study?

A
  • uses empirical data to test hypotheses
  • describes, predicts, and explains behavior and mental processes
  • systematic collection and interpretation of data
5
Q

An example of the nature vs. nurture controversy is whether intelligence derives from __________ or is __________.

A

experience; inherited

6
Q

Define dualism as it relates to psychology.

A

This idea of dualism usually is associated with Rene Descartes.

Dualism is the false idea that the mind and brain are separate entities that interact; in reality, they are the same entity, understood at different levels.

7
Q

What is monism?

A

The belief that, ultimately, the mind and the brain are the same thing.

There are various types of monism based on philosophers’ different points of view. They all agree on oneness, but they differ in what they target and how they count.

8
Q

Plato and Descartes, believers in dualism, are on the side of __________ in the nature vs. nurture controversy.

A

nature

Descartes believed knowledge was innate and the pineal gland was the principal seat of the soul and the place in which all our thoughts are formed.

9
Q

Aristotle, Hobbes, and Locke (believers in monism), are on the side of __________ in the nature vs. nurture controversy.

A

nurture

Locke’s “tabula rasa” translates to “blank slate” suggesting that knowledge is learned through experience.

10
Q

Psychology grew out of which discipline(s) in Ancient Greece?

A

philosophy, physiology, and biology

11
Q

Who is credited with the foundation of scientific psychology?

A

Wilhelm Wundt, who performed the earliest studies in 1879 in Germany, is considered the father of the discipline of psychology. He created the first lab dedicated to psychological research, and wanted to measure consciousness.

12
Q

What was the first textbook in psychology?

A

Wundt’s Principles of Physiological Psychology, published in 1874, which made the case that psychology is a unique subject matter that is worthy of study. It defined psychology as the study of consciousness.

13
Q

__________ examines the structure of the mind and basic elements of consciousness. Proponents of this system felt that consciousness should be the data of psychology and the best way to research was by using individuals who were trained in introspection.

A

Structuralism

14
Q

Define:

introspection

A

Introspection is the process whereby observers look inward and objectively analyze their sensory experience.

15
Q

__________ was the first woman to receive her Ph.D. in psychology.

A

Margaret Floy Washburn

16
Q

Define functionalism as it relates to psychology.

A

Functionalism was the school of thought that was a reaction to structuralism. Functionalism studies how the mind adapts to its environment. Functionalism was interested in individual differences, whereas structuralism was interested in groups of people.

17
Q

Who was Mary Whiton Calkins?

A

first female president of the American Psychological Association (APA)

18
Q

Name three of the earliest functionalists.

A
  1. William James
  2. James Cattell
  3. John Dewey
19
Q

What theory did William James found?

A

James is the founder of the functionalist perspective.

20
Q

Which psychological approach does this statement reflect?

Behavior results from learning through experience.

A

behavioral

21
Q

What is behavior modification?

A

set of techniques to help individuals unlearn habits that have led to psychological problems

22
Q

Describe Ivan Pavlov’s classical conditioning experiments.

A

Pavlov, an early behaviorist, in his famous classical conditioning experiment, trained dogs to salivate in response to the sound of a bell.

23
Q

What did John Watson believe psychology should study?

A

Watson, one of the earliest behaviorists, felt psychology should be the science of overt behavior and reject the study of mental processes.

24
Q

Who is the psychologist behind operant conditioning of rats and pigeons?

A

B.F. Skinner

25
Q

What is the key premise in Gestalt psychology?

A

Gestalt psychology stresses that the whole process should be studied, rather than specific parts.

  • Gestalt psychology was a reaction to structuralism
  • While structuralism seeks to study the elements that make up consciousness, Gestalt psychology stresses the idea that the “whole is greater than the sum of its parts”
26
Q

Define:

operant conditioning

A

training organisms to repeat responses that lead to rewards and not to repeat responses that lead to punishment

27
Q

Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kurt Koffka were _____ psychologists.

A

Gestalt

28
Q

Where do behavioral geneticists believe behavior comes from?

A

particular behaviors are attributed to genetically-based psychological characteristics

29
Q

Who is the father of psychoanalysis?

A

Sigmund Freud

30
Q

According to psychoanalysis, early life experiences are related to the development of one’s __________ later in life.

A

personality

31
Q

Other than Sigmund Freud, name four psychologists who associate with the psychoanalytic perspective.

A
  1. Carl Jung
  2. Alfred Adler
  3. Karen Horney
  4. Heinz Kohut
32
Q

The __________ approach studies unconscious motives, while the biological approach studies chemical processes.

A

psychoanalytic

The psychoanalytic approach is also known as the psychodynamic approach.

33
Q

What is the difference between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind?

A

The conscious mind is readily accessible, while the subconscious mind is inaccessible but influences behavior.

34
Q

Define:

repression

A

psychoanalytic term for burying information in the subconscious

35
Q

__________, unlike behaviorists, believe free will guides behavior and leads to personal growth.

A

Humanists

36
Q

Define:

humanism

A

psychological perspective that believes humans have unique qualities of behavior that differ from other organisms

37
Q

Name two psychologists who associate with the humanistic approach.

A
  1. Abraham Maslow
  2. Carl Rogers
38
Q

Technological advances and physiological research formed the basis of the __________ approach.

A

biological

The biological approach is also known as biopsychology or neuroscience.

39
Q

According to the biological perspective, behavior is related to the __________ processes within the nervous and endocrine systems.

A

chemical

40
Q

Which psychological approach does this statement reflect?

Behaviors that contribute to survival and reproduction are naturally selected.

A

evolutionary

41
Q

Who was the inspiration behind the evolutionary approach to psychology?

A

Charles Darwin

Darwin’s theory of natural selection said all creatures have evolved over time in order to survive and reproduce.

42
Q

Which psychological approach focuses on thinking, language, and how humans receive, store, and process information?

A

cognitive

43
Q

Who first studied the cognitive development of children?

A

Jean Piaget

44
Q

The structuralists studied consciousness, thinking, and memory. This area of psychology is currently known as __________.

A

cognition

45
Q

Which psychological approach does this statement reflect?

People from different cultures interpret gestures, body language, and verbal language differently.

A

sociocultural

These psychologists study how cultural differences affect behavior.

46
Q

Organize in chronological order from earliest to latest, based on when each became popular:

  • sociocultural approach
  • behavioral approach
  • humanistic approach
A
  • The behavioral approach became popular in the early 20th century with Pavlov’s research
  • The humanistic approach came about in the mid-20th century in opposition to Behaviorism
  • Lastly, the sociocultural approach grew toward the end of the century as there were more interactions between different cultures
47
Q

Name three Ancient Greeks who were philosophers who also discussed psychological concepts.

A
  1. Socrates
  2. Plato
  3. Aristotle
48
Q

Which Scientific Revolution-era thinker discussed mind-body dualism in his philosophical writings?

A

Rene Descartes

49
Q

______ believed that thought and knowledge are not innate and that a human being is born as a tabula rasa.

A

John Locke

50
Q

Who was one of the first thinkers to suggest that our perceptions of sensation are all that we can be sure of?

A

Thomas Hobbes

51
Q

_______ was an Enlightenment-era thinker who believed we were active shapers of our own worlds with inborn traits that skew our perceptions.

A

Immanuel Kant

52
Q

_______ was a Viennese scientist who was the first to use hypnotism (which he called _______) to cure mental illness.

A

Anton Mesmer; Mesmerism

Braid, Charcot, and Freud were other pioneering users of hypnosis and hypnotic techniques.

53
Q

Phrenology, the “science” that proposed people’s personalities were based on their skull shape, was created by ___________.

A

Franz Joseph Gall

54
Q

Who was the first psychologist to use statistics in psychological research, as well as the inventor of the correlation coefficient?

A

Sir Francis Galton

55
Q

Gustav Fechner can be considered the founder of ______ because of his use of empirical techniques to study psychological phenomena.

A

experimental psychology

56
Q

Define:

eugenics

A

a biological plan based loosely on genetics that hoped to selectively breed human beings to create the perfect human.

57
Q

Who wrote “Elements of Physiology,” a book that suggested the existence of special nerve energies?

A

Johannes Muller- his theory suggested that nerves will always fire the same way, despite different types of stimulation.

58
Q

The first accepted psychological laboratory was founded in 1879 by Wilhelm Wundt at _________ for the purposes of studying consciousness.

A

University of Leipzig

59
Q

Which psychologist based his work on the now-discredited evolutionary work of Lamarck, and suggested that different races passed on their intelligence to future generations?

A

Herbert Spencer

60
Q

Who was one of the founders of our current psychology of perception?

A

Hermann von Helmholtz

61
Q

Who received the first Ph.D. in America and also was the founder of the American Psychological Association?

He also is responsible for the modern concept of adolescence.

A

Stanley Hall

62
Q

Who did his psychological work on the reflex arc, which proposed that animals always adapt to their environments, rather than respond to stimuli with concrete responses?

A

John Dewey

63
Q

_________ was the inventor of structuralism, and he also used introspection to examine consciousness.

A

Edward Titchener

64
Q

James Cattell founded psychological research laboratories in both ______ and ______; he was one of the forefathers of the experimental movement in American psychology.

A

University of Pennsylvania; Columbia University

65
Q

Who was one of the founders of the American movement to provide better care for the mentally ill?

A

Dorothea Lynde Dix

66
Q

Who created the law of effect, which eventually led to operant conditioning?

A

Edward Thorndike

67
Q

_______ was a student of Sigmund Freud who created individual psychology, the idea of the inferiority complex, and a four-type personality system.

A

Alfred Adler

68
Q

Which psychologist split from Sigmund Freud to go on to create analytic psychology?

A

Carl Gustav Jung

69
Q

The mechanistic behavioral equation Performance = Drive x Habit is best associated with_______.

A

Clark Hull

70
Q

Which behaviorist believed that learning is acquired through purposeful behavior, which he demonstrated by running rats through mazes?

A

Edward Tolman

71
Q

In the 1940s, psychology moved away from research and toward the practical treatment of mental illness, which was especially apparent in the emerging field of _______.

A

clinical psychology

72
Q

Who was Konrad Lorenz?

A

He was one of the founders of ethology who also did extensive research with duckling imprinting

73
Q

Who created a new form of therapy called client-centered therapy that employed unconditional positive regard?

A

Carl Rogers

74
Q

Abraham Maslow was famous for leading humanistic psychology and creating _________.

A

the hierarchy of needs

75
Q

Erik Erikson proposed an eight stage model of development that included a _____ in order to transition to the next stage.

A

crisis

76
Q

Define:

existential psychology

A

This is a field of psychology that focuses on the fact that people innately want to search for meaning and purpose to add substance to their lives; a major psychologist in this field was Victor Frankl.

77
Q

_____, and many other cognitive psychologists, believed that mental illness comes from bad thinking patterns, which must be treated with cognitive therapy.

A

Aaron Beck

78
Q

What are the six basic things to know about Piaget (with more details to follow in the Lifespan Developmental Psychology deck)?

A
  1. the child’s interaction with the physical world leads to logical cognition
  2. he has a stage theory and going through the stages leads to qualitative changes in the way you reason
  3. universal: everyone develops the same way and culture has only a small role
  4. the mind is active
  5. functional part of his theory has assimilation and accommodation
  6. structural part of his theory has schemas and operations
79
Q

Here is a helpful outline of the history of Psychology:

A
  • Philosophers (Descartes, Hobbs, Locke, Berkeley)
  • Sensory-Physiologists (Bell-Magendie, Muller, Helmholtz, Weber-Fechner)
  • Structuralist (Wundt and Titchner)
  • Functionalist (James, Thorndike, Cattel)
  • Behaviorist (Pavlov, Watson, Skinner, Hull, and Tolman)
  • Gestalt (Wertheimer, Kohler, Koffka)
  • Clinical (Freud, Jung, Adler)