1) Introduction to Psychology Flashcards
What is psychology?
Scientific study of human behaviour
What question does psychology answer?
- Why?
- Why do we do the things we do?
- How do we account for human actions? (ex: why do we fall in love? Why do react violently?)
How has evolution influenced our behavior today?
We act to survive (losing our temper, preferring sweets over bitter foods)
Define psychosis.
Loss of attachment to reality
What is schizophrenia?
split between reality and the person’s thinking
Differentiate psychology and psychiatry.
Psychology: examines “normal” human behaviour and issues
Psychiatry: examines psychosis, pathology, and uses drugs as treatment
What are the three aspects that define normal?
1) Influenced by culture (ethnicity)
2) “Crossing the line”
3) Popular Psychology
What does “crossing the line” mean?
○ Normality: drinking one glass of wine
○ Abnormality: drinking 12 beers
○ The behaviour is not abnormal, but the quantity can “cross the line”
What is the problem with popular psychology?
Lacks research and empiricism (evidence)
What is empiricism?
- Data-based knowledge
- Finding out how we know for sure
Give examples of major sub-fields of psychology.
- Clinical Psychology (counselling)
- Development Psychology
- Cognitive and Learning Psychology
- Industrial/Organizational Psychology
- Health Psychology
- Forensic Psychology
- Sport Psychology
- Neuro-Science (connects neurology to behaviour)
What is social psychology?
Study of how people’s thoughts, behaviours, and feelings are influenced by the presence of others
What is forensic psychology?
- Intersection between psychology and the justice system
- Behaviours leave fingerprints in scenes of crime
What are the two major forces in psychology?
- Genetics and Environment
- They interact (ex: eating disorders)
How many chromosomes do humans provide? How many do mothers and fathers provide?
- 46 chromosomes total
- 23 from mom (haploid)
- 23 from dad (haploid)
Who determines gender, male or female?
- Male: provides XY
- Female: provides XX
Differentiate monozygotic and dizygotic twins.
Monozygotic: one cell; identical twins
Dizygotic: woman has multiple ovulations; two cells; fraternal twins
Do genes control behaviour directly? If so, how? If not, how?
- Do NOT control behaviour directly
- Neurochemistry of the individuals are important
What is polygenetic inheritance?
When the outcome is determined by multiple genes; can produce an intermediary outcome compared to both parents
What are dominant and recessive genes?
- If a dominant gene is present, it will outcompete a recessive gene
- A recessive gene can only be represented if two of them are present (Recessive + Recessive)
Does the environment force take into account the pre-natal environment?
Yes
What is applied psychology? Give an example.
- Use of psychological methods and findings of scientific psychology to solve PRACTICAL, SPECIFIC problems of human behaviour and experience
- ex: Pilots are tired after they fly overseas. You need to find a way to reduce their stress.
What kind of psychology is this: business productivity is decreasing; a psychologist is needed to find a way to increase it.
Applied psychology
What is clinical psychology?
- Deals with personal issues (depression, phobias, divorce)
- Psychologist works one on one with their patient
- Changing an individual’s thinking to promote subjective well-being and personal development
What is research psychology?
- Knowledge base; to further understanding on human behaviour
- Often in an university setting
What are the five domains that can be used to describe the person?
- Physical
- Motor/Movement (gross and fine motor)
- Social
- Intellectual
- Emotional
