AP Psychology: Introduction and History of Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

A study conducted via careful observations and scientifically based research. The standard for all psychological research.

Erronous assertions or practices set forth as being scientific psychology. Phony, unscientific psychology masquering as the real thing.

The tendency to attend to evidence that complements and confirms our beliefs or expectations, while ignoring evidence that does not.

Psychologists who do the research on basic psychological processes. Also, called research psychologists. Contrasts with applied psychologists

Psychologists whose primary job is teaching. Typically high schools, colleges, and universities

Use the knowledge developed by experimental psychologists to solve human problems.

A medical specialty dealing with the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders.

A historical school of psychology devoted to uncovering the basic structures that make up mind and thought. Sought the "elements" of conscious experience.

The process of reporting on one's own conscious mental experiences.

A historical school of psychology that believed mental process could best be understood in terms of their adaptive purpose and function.

A historical school of psychology that sought out to understand how the brain works by studying perception and perceptual learning.

A historical school that has sought to make psychology an objective science focused only on behavior--ot the exclusion of mental processes.

An approach to psychology based on Sigmund Freud's assertions, which empathize unconscious processes.

The psychological perspective that searches for causes of behavior in the functioning of genes, the brain and nervous system, and the endocrine system

The field devoted to understanding how the brain creates thoughts, feelings, motives, consciousness, memories and other mental processes.

A relatively new specialty in psychology the sees behavior and mental processes in terms of their genetic adaptations for survival and reproduction.

the psychological perspective emphasizing changes that occur across the lifespan

the psychological perspective emphasizing mental processes, such as learning, memory, perception, and thinking, as forms of information processing

Mental processes such as thinking, memory, sensation, and perception

an interdisciplinary field emphasizing brain activity as information processing; involves cognitive psychology, neurology, biology, computer science, linguistics, and specialists from other fields who are interested in the connection between mental processes and the brain

the psychological perspective emphasizing mental health and mental illness. psychodynamic and humanistic psychology are variations

a clinical viewpoint emphasizing the understanding the understanding of mental disorders in terms of unconscious needs, desires, memories, and conflicts

a clinical viewpoint emphasizing human ability, growth, potential, and free will

A psychological perspective that finds the source of our action in environmental stimuli, rather than in inner mental processes.

a psychological perspective emphasizing the importance of social interaction, social learning, and a cultural perspective

a complex blending of language, beliefs, customs, values, and traditions developed by a group of people and shared with others in the same environment.

A psychological perspective that views behavior and personality as the products of enduring psychological characteristics.