Psych Unit 1 Vocab

Psychology

• The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

• The scientific study of the brain

• The scientific study of mental disorders

• The scientific study of psychoanalysis

Behavior

• Any action that requires parents to correct

• Any action that people can guess or predict what you are going to do

• Any action that people can observe or measure (walking, talking)

• Any action that is considered misbehaving

Cognitive

• Activities that are mental processes (dreams, thoughts memories)

• Activities that require movement (walking, running)

• Activities that trigger your body to go into fight or flight

• Activities that are fun and exciting

Emotions

• Those faces you use to text

• Can affect both behavior and mental processes

• Can affect your work schedule

• Are to be held in at all times

Themes of Psychology: Scientific/ Empirical

• Based on lab reports and experiments

• Based on your ability to conduct research

• Based on precise questions and systematic observations (seek cause & effect)

• Based on how well you understand the scientific method

Themes of Psychology: Practical

• Based on theory of survival of the fittest

• Based on the theory that practice makes perfect

• Based on how well you can perform a task

• Directly takes observations to research to explain human behavior and make recommendations for how to improve (ex. sleep study)

Themes of Psychology: Theoretical

• Collecting data to understand the world around them and attempting to link the pieces together into a meaningful whole

• Based on the theory that the moon landing was fake

• Based on the idea that the earth is flat

• Based on the theory that aliens exist

Themes of Psychology: Continually Evolving

• The belief that everyone grows and changes at the same rate

• The discipline of psychology exists and changes according to society. (ex. social media)

• The idea that people change based on their moods

• The theory that people change and grow over time

Structuralism

• Theory that society has a rigid class structure

• Theory that you need a strong foundation to be able to stand

• Theory that focuses on breaking down mental processes into the most basic components.

• Theory that every organism is made up of the same structure

Functionalism

• f(x) - mx + b

  or

  y = mx + b

• Psychological approach that requires directions to function properly

• Psychological approach that examines and dissects the human body

• Psychological approach that views mental life and behavior in terms of active adaptation to environmental challenges