Famous Psychologists You Will Need to Know
History and Approaches
- Mary Whiton Calkins: first female president of the APA
- Charles Darwin: Evolutionary Psych
- Dorothea Dix: creation of American mental hospitals
- Sigmund Freud: Psychoanalytic Perspective
- G. Stanley Hall: 1st psych lab in America at Johns Hopkins; 1st President of the APA
- William James: 1st psych textbook
- Ivan Pavlov: Classical Conditioning
- Jean Piaget: Cognitive Development
- Carl Rogers: self theory; client-centered therapy, active listening, unconditional positive regard
- B.F. Skinner: Operant Conditioning
- Margaret Floy Washburn: 1st female Ph.D. in psych
- John B. Watson: Behaviorism; Little Albert
- Wilhelm Wundt: 1st psych lab
Biological Bases of Behavior
- Paul Broca: speech production area in the frontal lobe
- Charles Darwin (repeat): natural selection, survival of the fittest
- Michael Gazzaniga: split-brain research; understanding of functional lateralization in the brain; how the
cerebral hemispheres communicate
- Alexander Luria: studied the relation between language, thought, and cortical functions; his work
resulted in creating the field of Neuropsychology.
- Roger Sperry: surgery designed to treat epileptics by severing the corpus callosum; contributed greatly
to understanding the lateralization of brain function.
- Carl Wernicke: speech comprehension area in the temporal lobe
Sensation and Perception
- Gustav Fechner: Absolute Threshold
- David Hubel (with Wiesel): discovered feature detectors in the visual system
- Ernst Weber: Law to detect JND; change must be proportional to the stimulus' magnitude
- Torsten Wiesel (with Hubel): discovered feature detectors in the visual system
States of Consciousness
- William James: Stream of Consciousness
- Sigmund Freud (repeat): Unconscious motives, wishes, and urges
- Ernest Hilgard: role of hypnotism in human behavior and response
Learning
- Albert Bandura: Social Learning Theory, Bobo Doll Experiment, imitation in learning
- John Garcia: Conditioned Taste Aversion (The Garcia Effect)
- Ivan Pavlov (repeat): Classical Conditioning; Associative Leaning; Stimulus-Stimulus
- Robert Rescorla: Contingency Theory - a stimulus must provide the subject information about the
likelihood that certain events will occur.
- B.F. Skinner (repeat): Operant Cond.; Skinner Box; Pos. and Neg. Reinforce. and Punishment
- Edward Thorndike: Law of Effect; Instrumental Conditioning
- Edward Tolman: Latent Learning; rats in mazes
- John B. Watson (repeat): Behaviorism; "Little Albert"
Cognition
- Noam Chomsky: Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
- Hermann Ebbinghaus: studied memory using nonsense syllables; retention and forgetting curves
- Wolfgang Kohler: insight in chimps
- Elizabeth Loftus: eyewitness testimony, misinformation effect, false memories
- George A. Miller: STM's "Magic Number" = 7 ± 2
- George Sperling: studied sensory memory sub-type - Iconic Memory - with cued recall tasks
- Benjamin Whorf: Whorf's Linguistic Determinism Hypothesis; language determines thought
Motivation and Emotion
- William James: James-Lange Theory of Emotion - the body reaction comes first, the emotion comes
quickly afterward.
- Alfred Kinsey: controversial research on sexual motivation in the 1940's and 50's
- Abraham Maslow: strive for self-actualization, Hierarchy of Needs
- David Matsumoto: study of facial expressions and emotions; first training tool to improve ability to
read microexpressions; studied spontaneous facial expressions in blind individuals; discovered that
many facial expressions are innate and not visually learned.
- Stanley Schachter (with Singer): 2-Factor Theory of Emotion - physiological arousal + cognitive label
- Hans Seyle: General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) - alarm, resistance, exhaustion
Developmental Psychology
- Mary Ainsworth: secure vs. insecure attachment
- Albert Bandura (repeat): Social Learning Theory, Bobo Doll Experiment, imitation in learning
- Diana Baumrind: types of parenting styles: authoritarian, permissive, authoritative
- Erik Erikson: 8 Stages of Psychosocial Development
- Sigmund Freud (repeat): 5 Stages of Psychosexual Development
- Carol Gilligan: criticized Kohlberg's work, b/c he only studied privileged, white men and boys, she felt
this caused a biased opinion against women.
- Harry Harlow: wire mother monkey studies, contact comfort
- Lawrence Kohlberg: Levels of Moral Development - Pre-Conv., Conventional, Post-Conv.
- Konrad Lorenz: Imprinting in animals
- Jean Piaget (repeat): 4 Stages of Cognitive Development
- Lev Vygotsky: research on play; "Zone of proximal development" (ZPD) - the range of tasks that a child
can complete independently; studied concept of inner speech in language development
Personality
- Alfred Adler: inferiority complex, sibling rivalry
- Albert Bandura (repeat): personality development is affected by observational learning and modeling
(Bobo Doll Experiment); Social Learning Theory
- Paul Costa/Robert McCrae: Big Five Trait Theory (CANOE: conscientiousness, agreeableness,
neuroticism, openness to experience, and extraversion)
- Sigmund Freud (repeat): unconscious, childhood experiences, 5 stages of sexual development
- Carl Jung: collective unconscious, archetypes
- Abraham Maslow (repeat): strive for self-actualization, Hierarchy of Needs
- Carl Rogers (repeat): Self Theory; real vs. ideal self; sees people as basically good
- Martin Seligman: Positive Psychology
Testing and Individual Differences
- Alfred Binet: 1st Intelligence Test
- Francis Galton: founded psychometrics; developed the ideas of correlation, standard deviation,
regression toward the mean
- Howard Gardner: Theory of Eight Multiple Intelligences
- Charles Spearman: 2-Factor Theory of Intelligence - "g" factor (general intelligence), an inherited
intellectual ability that influences all around performance; "s" factor (specific abilities), which account
for differences between scores on different tasks
- Robert Sternberg: Triarchic Theory of Intelligence - creative, analytical, practical
- Louis Terman: (of Stanford University) altered Binet's IQ test, calling it the Stanford-Binet
- David Wechsler: Wechsler Scales (WIAS and WISC) - most widely used intelligence tests today
Treatment of Abnormal Behavior
- Albert Ellis: founder of cognitive-behavioral therapies
- Sigmund Freud (repeat): psychoanalysis, dream analysis, free association
- Mary Cover Jones: counterconditioning of fears
- Carl Rogers (repeat): client-centered therapy, active listening, unconditional positive regrad
- B.F. Skinner (repeat): Behavioral Therapies use the principles of Operant Conditioning; Behavior
Modification, Token Economies
- Joseph Wolpe: developed the Exposure Therapy technique known as flooding
Social Psychology
- Solomon Asch: studies of conformity using lines
- Leon Festinger: Cognitive Dissonance Theory
- Fritz Heider: Attribution theory describes how people come to explain (make attributions about) the
behavior of others and themselves; behavior is attributed to a disposition or to a situation
- Stanley Milgram: obedience studies; "teacher" and "learner" shock experiment
- Philip Zimbardo: Stanford Prison Study; power of power; when roles become reality
Vocabulary
History & Perspectives
1. Behavioral perspective
2. Psychoanalytic perspective
3. Humanistic perspective
4. Evolutionary perspective
5. Social-Cultural perspective
Research
6. Framing/wording effects
7. Types of research – correlation, naturalistic observation, case study, survey, experiment
8. Frequency distribution
9. The normal curve
10. Correlational coefficient
11. Scatter plot
12. Histogram
13. Independent & dependant variables
14. Operational definitions
15. Placebo effect
16. Control group vs. experiential group
17. Statistical significance
18. Measures of central tendency – mean, mode, median
19. APA Ethical rules for conducting human research – informed consent, do no harm, confidentiality,
debriefing, & the right to withdraw
Biological
20. Parts of the neuron – dendrite, soma, axon, axon terminal, myelin sheath, synaptic cleft,
postsynaptic membrane
21. What is the sequence of a neuron firing?
22. Neurotransmitters – dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine, GABA, Norepinephrine, Endorphins
23. Parts of the brain – medulla, thalamus, reticular formation, pons, hippocampus, cerebellum, cortex,
corpus callosum
24. Hypothalamus, Amygdala, Broca’s area, Wernicke’s area
25. Action potential process
26. Threshold
27. Depolarization
28. Afferent neurons
29. Efferent neurons
30. Interneuron’s
31. Hemisphere dominance
32. Brain scans – EEG, MRI, CT, fMRI, PET
33. Nervous System
34. Know the parts of the endocrine system, what each part controls and the hormone it releases
35. Lobes – frontal, parietal, occipital, temporal
Development
36. Jean Piaget’s Cognitive Stages – Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, formal
operations
37. Egocentrism
38. Object permanence
39. Accommodation vs. Assimilation
40. Conservation
41. Nature-Nurture Debate
42. Mary Ainsworth’s research
43. Gender roles
44. Harry Harlow’s research findings
45. Cross-cultural study
46. Longitudinal study
47. Parental styles – Authoritarian, Authoritative, Permissive
Sensation & Perception
48. Sensory adaptation
49. Just noticeable difference
50. Absolute threshold
51. Ernest Weber’s & Gustav Fechner’s research
52. Audition
53. Olfaction
54. Tactile
55. Parts of the eye & what they do
56. Where does visual acuity occur?
57. Parts of the ear & what they do
58. Pitch theory
59. Gestalt principles – proximity, figure-ground, closure, continuity, similarity
60. David Hubel & Torsten Wiesel research
61. Trichromatic theory
62. Opponent-process theory
63. Webber’s law
64. Frequency theory
65. Signal detection theory
66. Where are visual feature detectors located?
States of Consciousness
67. Circadian rhythm
68. Biofeedback
69. Sleep cycles
70. REM sleep
71. Depressants
72. Hallucinogens
73. Withdrawal symptoms
74. Tolerance
Learning
75. Ivan Pavlov study
76. John B. Watson study
77. B. F. Skinner’s research
78. Social Learning theory
79. Discrimination
80. Classical conditioning
81. Shaping
82. Operant conditioning
83. Reinforcement
84. Primary & Secondary reinforcer
85. Generalization
86. Spontaneous recovery
87. Taste Aversion
88. Learned helplessness
89. Schedules of reinforcement – FI, VI, FR, VR
90. Latent learning
91. Insight learning
92. Observational learning
93. Extinction
94. Acquisition
95. Intrinsic motivation vs. extrinsic motivation
Memory
96. Proactive interference
97. Retroactive interference
98. Retrograde amnesia
99. Anterograde amnesia
100. Tip-of-tongue phenomenon
101. Serial position effect
102. State-dependant memory
103. Mirror neurons
104. Elizabeth Loftus research
105. Rehearsal
106. Spacing effect
107. Semantic memory
108. Episodic memory
109. Procedural memory
110. Prospective memory
111. Encoding failure
112. Repression
113. Forgetting curve
Thinking & Language
114. Telegraphic speech
115. Babbling