SCOP Psychology Cheat Sheet
Version 3.0
Psychologists are listed roughly chronologically.
Bolded terms appear frequently in tossups.
Term / Event
Details
behaviorism
the philosophy of study psychology based on observable actions; proponents included
B.F. Skinner, John Watson, and Ivan Pavlov (see "classical conditioning" below)
classical conditioning
a central tenet of behaviorism ; the ability to train a living being to respond to a stimulus;
examples include John Watson's Little Albert Experiment , in which a little boy was taught
to fear fluffy white objects, and Pavlov's dogs , an experiment in which Ivan Pavlov trained
dogs to salivate when they heard a bell
Maslow's Hierarchy of
Needs
Abraham Maslow , author of Toward a Psychology of Being , described human needs on a
pyramidal scale, from basic needs like food and safety at the bottom to " self-actualization "
at the top
Milgram's Obedience
Experiment
after Nazi Adolf Eichmann's trial, Stanley Milgram tested obedience to authority by
ordering "teachers" to test the memories of "learners" and punish them for wrong answers
with increasingly intense (but fake) electric shocks to test the teachers' willingness to inflict
pain under orders, even against their personal beliefs
Stanford Prison
Experiment
Philip Zimbardo divided Stanford University students into " inmates " and " guards " in a
"prison" scenario; they internalized their roles and guards began abusing inmates; Zimbardo
described the scenario in The Lucifer Effect
Psychologist
Details
Émile Durkheim
sociologist; identified altruistic, fatalistic, and anomic behavior in Suicide ; The Division of
Labor in Society
Sigmund Freud
Austrian founder of psychoanalysis ; wrote The Interpretation of Dreams ; described the
human psyche as being divided into a primal id , a noble ego , and a superego that balances
them; proposed that men act on the Oedipus complex , the urge to overcome their fathers
and seduce women like their mothers; wrote Beyond the Pleasure Principle
Carl Jung
Swiss; proposed the idea of the collective unconscious , a collection of universal
archetypes , including anima , animus , persona, self, and shadow; defined the terms
"introvert" and "extrovert;" opposed Freud
Jean Piaget
Swiss; studied child psychology and divided children's development into four stages, such
as Sensorimotor, Preoperational, and Concrete Operational; defined "object permanence"
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