PSYC 1000 Study Guide - Comprehensive Final Exam Guide - Classical Conditioning, Psychophysics, Psychology

• School: University of Guelph
• Department: Psychology
• Course: PSYC 1000
• Professor: Anneke Olthof

Document Summary

Module 1. 2 - how psychology became a science. What is psychology: the scientific study of mental processes and behaviour. Mental processes - activities of our brain when engaged in thinking, observing and using language. Four goals of psychologists: description of what we observe, explanation of these observations, prediction of the circumstances that lead to the expression of a specific behaviour, controlling behaviour. Levels of analysis: mental processes and behaviours can be studied at multiple levels of analysis, the brain - brain structure and function, the person - thoughts and feelings, the group - family, friends, culture. Philosophy - the study of knowledge and reality: ancient greek philosophers asked questions about the human mind approx. 400 b. c. e: wasn"t just what they asked, but how they developed scientific methods. Psychology"s roots in physiology: by the 1600"s modern science began to thrive: Francis bacon created empiricism - the view that all knowledge comes from experience.