3. Birth of Modern Psychology
Established in Leipzig in 1879, this facility is widely considered the birthplace of experimental psychology.
What is Wilhelm Wundt's laboratory?
William James used this famous metaphor to explain that consciousness is a continuous, constantly changing flow rather than static, discrete elements.
What is the "Stream of Consciousness"?
Edward Bradford Titchener brought this school of thought to Cornell University, aiming to discover the basic elements of the adult human mind.
What is Structuralism?
Appleby & Appleby (2006) warn that putting overly personal details, personal mental health struggles, or inappropriate disclosures in a personal statement is this major category of "Kiss of Death."
What is harmful disclosure (or oversharing/inappropriate self-disclosure)?
Located in the hindbrain, this structure nicknamed the "little brain" is primarily responsible for balance, posture, and motor coordination.
What is the Cerebellum?
Wundt used this 10-volume project to study higher mental processes—such as language, religion, and myth—that he believed could not be tested experimentally in a lab.
What is Völkerpsychologie (Cultural/Folk Psychology)?
A leader in professionalizing psychology, he founded the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1892 and established the first formal U.S. experimental laboratory at Johns Hopkins.
Who was G. Stanley Hall?
Influenced heavily by Charles Darwin's evolutionary theory, this school of thought focused on the practical utility and adaptive functions of consciousness.
What is Functionalism?
In APA 7th edition in-text citations, any work with three or more authors is shortened from the very first citation using this Latin abbreviation.
What is "et al."?
In Ivan Pavlov's classic experiment, the sound of the metronome or bell served as this type of stimulus after being paired with food.
What is a Conditioned Stimulus (CS)?
Using nonsense syllables as stimuli, this German psychologist proved that higher cognitive functions like memory could be studied experimentally.
Who was Hermann Ebbinghaus?
Denied her PhD by Harvard due to her gender, she completed all requirements under William James, developed the paired-associate technique, and became the APA's first female president.
Who was Mary Whiton Calkins?
Titchener formed this exclusive all-male group because he felt APA meetings were too informal and dominated by applied interests.
Who were The Experimentalists?
Halonen & Kreiner emphasize that psychology majors develop these widely applicable, transferable skills—such as critical thinking, communication, and data analysis—that appeal to diverse employers.
What are workforce-ready skills (or transferable skills / skill sets)?
If learning your new phone number makes it difficult to remember your old phone number, you are experiencing this type of memory interference.
What is Retroactive Interference?
Originating at the University of Berlin, this philosophy of higher education emphasized academic freedom, research, and scientific inquiry over rote memorization.
What is Wissenschaft?
According to this theory of emotion, bodily physiological arousal occurs before we feel the conscious emotion (e.g., we feel afraid because we run from the bear).
What is the James-Lange Theory of Emotion?
Titchener warned introspectors against committing this error, which happens when an observer describes the physical object itself (e.g., "an apple") rather than its conscious elements (color, shape, brightness).
What is the Stimulus Error?
An applicant writes in their personal statement that they want to study clinical psychology solely to "cure themselves or solve their own family problems," demonstrating this classic major red flag.
What is an inappropriate motivation or seeking self-therapy?
In Solomon Asch’s famous line-length experiments, participants routinely gave obviously incorrect answers to match the group, demonstrating this social psychology phenomenon.
What is Conformity (or Conformity/Normative Social Influence)?
Wundt called his system by this name to highlight his belief that the mind actively directs attention and synthesizes mental elements through conscious volition.
What is Voluntarism?
This key promoter of early psychology coined the term "mental test" and managed several influential journals, including Science.
Who was James McKeen Cattell?
Robert Woodworth expanded S-R psychology to include internal drive variables represented by this letter, which stands for the internal state of the organism.
What is "O" (Organism / Organismic variables)?
These four components, which form the the acronym 'STAR', provide a standard structure used to answer behavioral interview questions.
What is Situation, Task, Action, and Result.
Clever Hans's "math skills" were debunked when researchers realized he was responding to micro-cues from humans, giving history a classic example of this bias.
What is the Experimenter Expectancy Effect (or Observer-Expectancy Bias)?