PSYA01H3 Introduction to Biological and
Cognitive Psychology final exam review
solution new update for University of
Toronto
,psychology - --the scientific study of behaviour, thought, and experience, and how they can be affected
by physical, mental, social, and environmental factors
the scientific method - --a way of learning about the world through collecting observations, developing
theories to explain them, and using the theories to make predictions
hypothesis - --a testable prediction about processes that can be observed and measured -- can be
supported or rejected but not proved
pseudoscience - --an idea that is presented as science but does not actually utilize basic principles of
scientific thinking or procedure (i.e. astrology)
theory - --an explanation for a broad range of observations that also generates new hypotheses and
integrates numerous findings into a coherent whole
biopsychosocial model - --a means of explaining behaviour as a product of biological, psychological, and
sociocultural factors
almost every moment of your life is occurring at three levels: - --biological, psychological, social
scientific literacy - --the ability to understand, analyze, and apply scientific information
principle of parsimony - --the simplest of all competing explanations of a phenomenon should be the
one we accept
empiricism - --knowledge comes through experience; knowledge about the world is based on careful
observation rather than common sense or speculation
determinism - --all events are governed by lawful, cause-and-effect relationships
,hippocrates: ancient greece, 460-370BCE - --first personality classification scheme: four humours (blood,
yellow bile, black bile, phlegm)
galen of pergamon: ancient roman - --refined humours → four temperaments (sanguine, choleric,
melancholic, phlegmatic)
zeitgeist - --a general set of beliefs of a particular culture at a specific time in history
materialism - --belief that humans and other living beings are composed exclusively of physical matter
dualism - --belief that humans and other living beings are composed of Two things: physical matter and
a soul
Gustav Fechter (1801-1887) - --studied sensation and perception, coined the term psychophysics: the
study of the relationship between the physical world and the mental representations of that world
clinical psychology - --the field of psychology that concentrates on the diagnosis and treatment of
psychological disorders
localization of brain function - --the idea that certain parts of the brain control specific mental abilities
and personality characteristics
phrenology - --belief that the brain consisted of 27 "organs" corresponding to mental traits and
dispositions that could be detected by examining the surface of the skull → franz gall, johann spurzheim,
mid 1800's
paul broca - --patients who had difficulties producing spoken language but no problem understanding it
had damage to an area of the left frontal lobes of brain (left temple)
, karl wernicke - --damage to Another area in the left hemisphere led to problems with speech
comprehension but not speech production
psychosomatic medicine - --"cures" that work due to the patients' belief in the treatment
hysterical paralysis - --an individual loses feeling and control in a specific body part, despite the lack of
any known neurological damage or disease
psychoanalysis - --a psychological approach that attempts to explain how behaviour and personality are
influenced by unconscious processes → made Famous by freud
eminence - --a combination of ability, morality, and achievement
eugenics - --"good genes", belief that you can breed people to create people with the Best genes
willhelm wundt (1832-1920) - --largely responsible for establishing psychology as a scientific field:
established the first laboratory dedicated to studying human behaviour in 1879
structuralism - --an attempt to analyze conscious experience by breaking it down into basic elements,
and to understand how these elements work together: edward titchener
william james (1842-1910) - --wrote the first textbook in psychology: the principles of psychology, 1890
functionalism - --the study of purpose and function of behaviour and conscious experience → in order to
understand behaviour one must try to figure out what purpose it may have served over the course of
our evolution
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