1.1 What is psychology? Flashcards
What is psychology?
Scientific study of human behaviour, cognitive processing and attitudes
What is the mind?
The mind is defined as the part of us that reasons, thinks, feels, wills, perceives and judges
What is behaviour?
Behaviour is the coordinated responses of whole living organisms to internal and/or external stimuli (external observable processes)
What are examples of behaviour?
Can include gestures, facial expressions, verbal responses or endocrine reactions
What are mental processes?
(internal patterns of information processing) can influence behaviour
A result of both internal and environmental factors
What are cognitive processes?
explain how the mind works
what are examples of cognitive processes?
Processes include; memory, perception, attention, decision-making and thinking/reasoning
What is physiology?
Physiology - refers to our biological system, particularly the role of our brain and nervous system, hormones and genetics in behaviour
What are attitudes?
Attitudes - feelings of liking or disliking towards an object, person or idea
Can affect behaviour in both a positive and negative way
What are emotions?
Emotions - combination of psychological and cognitive processes
What 3 main approaches are used in psychology?
biological
cognitive
sociocultural
What does the biological approach focus on?
focuses on physiology, e.g genetics
What does the cognitive approache focus on?
focuses on mental processes e.g memory, thinking or perception
What does the sociocultural approach focus on?
focuses on how environment and culture affect behaviour
What is a theory?
an explanation for a psychological phenomenon
What can theories be used for?
Used to summarise, organise and explain observations
Make predictions on human behaviour
What are theories built on?
Built on concepts (hypothetical constructs) which scientists need to develop tools to measure them
What 7 characteristics does a good theory need?
Testable Evidence Application Concepts Unbiased Predictive
What does it mean if a theory is testable?
needs to be able to be proved wrong and able to test the validity
If not able to do so, theory deemed unfalsifiable
What type of evidence can be used to prove/disprove theories?
Anecdotal data (personal experiences) can support or challenge the theory In order to test theories, empirical evidence is used
May be in the form of an experiment, observation, interviews or case studies
Must be replicated
What is empirical evidence?
information acquired by observation or experimentation
What does it mean if a theory is applicable?
high heuristic validity (has a lot of application)
Can be applied to many different situations and be used to explain them
What does it mean if a theory uses concepts well?
important that test is designed to do what it’s supposed to do and agreed upon by many psychologists
Are all concepts measured easily?
There are many concepts which can be problematic to measure: stress, anxiety, love, level of trust, self efficacy, intelligence
What does it mean if a theory is biased?
biased to one age range, gender, western culture or a certain class of people
Goals of researcher may also bias outcomes to prove their point
What is reductionism?
describing a complex phenomenon in terms of simple explanations or singular variables
What does it mean if a theory is predictive?
predicts behaviour / not able to predict an individual’s behaviour but a trend in population
What are artefacts and when may they be formed?
If experiments are not carefully controlled they can produce artefacts, results that are associated with the effect of unforeseen factors
What is quantitative data?
in the form of numbers
Aims to arrive at numerically expressed laws that characterise the behaviour of large groups of individuals
What does quatitative research use?
Research operates with variables (something that can take on varying values) any characteristic that is objectively registered and quantified
What needs to be done to internal characteristics (e.g emotions) before they can be measured?
Internal characteristics need to be operationalised first
What is a construct?
Construct is a theoretically defined variable e.g violence, attention, love
Can constructs be directly observed?
NO
What is operationlisation and why is it needed?
Operationalization of a construct means expressing it in terms of observable behaviour
i.e creating a method to measure a construct
What are 3 types of quantitative data?
- experimental study
- correlational study
- descriptive study
What variables do experimental studies have?
includes one independent and one dependent variable and other important variables are controlled
Can the IV be manipulated in experimental studies?
IV is manipulated by researcher and DV is measured
Can causation be inferred in an experimental study?
YES
Iv manipulated is cause and effect inference and leads to dv changing
What are correlational studies and how are conclusions formed?
no variables are manipulated and a conclusion is formed on data
Can causation be inferred from correlational studies?
NO
What are descriptive studies? How are they approached?
relationships between variables are not investigated - variables approached separately
What are descriptive studies used for?
Used to get a broad idea (e.g questionnaire) before diving into specifics
What is qualitative data?
data comes in the form of texts, interview transcripts or observational notes
in depth study of particular phenomenon
What type of data is collected for qualitative data?
Makes use of data collection such as interviews or observations
What are examples of qualitative research methods?
observation, interview, focus group, case study, content analysis
What characteristics are used to describe a research study and make a judgment of its quality?
- sampling
- credibility
- generalisability
- bias
What is sampling?
process of finding and recruiting individuals for the study
What is a sample?
Sample is group of individuals taking part in the project
What is credibility?
degree to which results of the study can be trusted to reflect the reality
What is generalisability?
the extent to which results of the study can be applied beyond the sample and the settings used in the study itself
