PSYC 2000 : PSYC2000 EXAM1_Fall2012_Walker
Document Summary
What is psychology: psychology: the science of behavior and mental processes. Involves humans and animals: psychologists differ in importance placed on specific types of behavior, objective observation: directly see/measure. Structuralism mental experience: wilhelm wundt (1832-1920)- father of modern psychology, structuralist- a psychologist who studied the basic elements that make up conscious. Introspection- a good start, but didn"t tell us everything. Sir francis galton (1822-1911: abilities, character, and behavior are inheritable, historical- gestalt, gestalt = whole pattern, how sensations are assembled into perceptual experiences. Psychology"s biggest question: nature vs. nurture: nature nurture issue: the controversy over the relative contributions or biology and, natural selection: nature selects traits that best enable the organism to experience. Long standing debate: plato nature, aristotle nurture, darwin. Subfields of psychology: basic: biological: brain + mind, developmental: womb + tomb, cognitive: how we perceive, think and solve, personality: investigates our persistent traits.
