Psychology Exam 1 NCSU Questions And Answers Rated A+

psychology - the study of human behavior and mental processes and their influences behavior - human actions that can be observed mental processes - thoughts, emotions, and motives that cannot be observed science - an approach to gaining knowledge using systematic observation scientific method - set of principles and procedures that guide researchers when generating questions, evidence, and conclusions hypothesis - prediction that can be tested by experiment variable - a factor that can change statistically significant - unlikely to have occurred by chance describe - behavior and mental processes explain - behavior and mental procosses predict - future behavior influence - behavior in positive ways critical thinking - using reason and objectivity when evaluating informationbias - a preference or preconceived idea that prevents impartial judgment identity - our sense of who we are and what we stand for philosophy - the study of knowledge, reality, and existence, employing reflection and reason as tools empiricism - the practice of using observation and experience as a source of knowledge interactive dualism - interactions between the mind and body that produce our experiences physiology - a discipline dedicated to studying living organisms, their parts, and how they function Wilhelm Wundt - father of psychology Edward B. Titchener - founder of structuralism J. Henry Alston - studied the sensations produced by temperature; first African American psychologist William James - founder of functionalism; studied how humans use perception to function in our environment G. Stanley Hall - first president of the American Psychological Association Mary Whiton Calkins - First female president of the APAB. F. Skinner - behaviorism; pioneer in operant conditioning; behavior is based on an organism's reinforcement history; worked with pigeons John B. Watson - founder of behaviorism structuralism - a school of thought focused on breaking conscious experiences into units or structures introscpection - looking inward at one's own thoughts and feelings functionalism - a movement concerned with the mind's functions and how they facilitate one's adaptation to an environment behaviorism - a domain of psychology focused on observing and measuring human behavior gestalt approach - studying the whole of a given event or experience psychoanalytic approach - the analysis of the unconscious factors that influence personality and behavior conscious - contains everything a person is aware of preconscious - holds memories and knowledge unconscious - operates outside of our conscious awareness, and houses certain urges, emotions and desires humanistic psychology - a domain focused on the potential for self-direction and growth within each personevolutionary psychology - a discipline of study that uses the principles of evolution to analyze behavior and mental processes natural selection - approach that applies to psychological, as well as physical, traits that have been passed down from our ancestors