CH1 Flashcards
(33 cards)
1
Q
Psychology Is a Science (part 1)
A
- Psychology
- Employs empirical approach
- Attempts to explore and understand without misleading or
being mislead - Requires a scientific attitude: curiosity, skepticism, and humility
2
Q
Psychology Is a Science (part 2)
A
*Critical thinking
* Examines assumptions
* Appraises the source
* Discerns hidden biases
* Evaluates evidence
* Assesses conclusions
3
Q
Psychological Science
Is Born (part 1)
A
- Psychology’s first laboratory (1879)
- Wundt:
- Sought to measure “atoms of the mind”
- Psychology’s first schools of thought
- Titchener:
- Structuralism
- Technique of introspection
4
Q
Psychological Science
Is Born (part 2)
A
- Psychology’s first schools of thought
- James (influenced by Darwin):
- Functionalism
- Adaptive thinking and stream of
consciousness - Principles of Psychology (1890)
5
Q
Psychological Science Is Born (part 3)
A
- Psychology’s first women
- Calkins:
- Pioneering memory researcher
- First female APA president
- Washburn:
- First woman to receive a Ph.D.
- Synthesized animal behavior; The Animal Mind (1908
6
Q
Psychology’s Increasing
Diversity
A
a. 1964 meeting of the
Society of Experimental
Psychologists
b. Women are now 61% of
APS members, including
75% of its psychology
student affiliates
7
Q
Psychological Science
Matures (part 1)
A
- Major forces from the 1920s to the 1960s
- Behaviorism
- Introspection and psychology now viewed as scientific study
- Behavior scientifically defined, conditioned, observed, and
measured - Watson, Rayner, Skinner: Championed scientific study of behavior;
fear can be learned
8
Q
Psychological Science
Matures (part 2)
A
- Major forces from the 1920s to the 1960s
- Freudian (psychoanalytic) psychology
- Emphasized ways that the unconscious mind and childhood
experiences affect behavior - Personality theorist and psychiatrist
9
Q
Psychological Science
Matures (part 3)
A
- Major forces from the 1960s
- Humanistic psychology
- Found behaviorism and Freudian psychology too limiting
- Emphasized human growth potential
- Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow: Focus on need for
love, acceptance, and an environment that nurtures or
limits personal growth
10
Q
Contemporary Psychology
A
*Psychology:
*Science of behavior and
mental processes
*Roots in many disciplines
and countries
*Growing and globalize
11
Q
Contemporary
Psychology (part 2)
A
- The cognitive revolution begins in the 1960s (simultaneous with
humanistic psychology). - Cognitive psychology: Study of mental processes, such as those that
occur when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and
solve problems - Cognitive neuroscience: Interdisciplinary study of the brain activity
linked with cognition, including perception, thinking, memory, and
language
12
Q
Contemporary Psychology (part 3)
A
- Evolutionary psychology
- Study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using natural
selection principles - Nature–nurture issue
- Natural selection
- Behavior genetics
- Study of relative power and limits of genetic and
environmental influences on behavior
13
Q
Contemporary
Psychology (part 4)
A
- Cross-cultural and gender
psychology - Culture: Shared ideas and
behaviors passed from one
generation to the next; shapes
behaviors - Gender identity: Sense of being
male, female, neither, or some
combination of male and female - Socially and biologically defined
14
Q
Contemporary
Psychology (part 5)
A
- Positive psychology
- Centers on happiness as by-product of a
pleasant, engaged, and meaningful life - Uses scientific methods to support development
of a good life - Seligman and others: Focus research on
human flourishing
15
Q
Biopsychosocial approach integrates 3 levels of analysis:
A
Biological
social-cultural
psychological
16
Q
Integrating Perspectives: Example
A
- Aggression
- Biological
- Evolutionary
- Behavioral
- Cognitive
- Socio-cultural
- Clinical
- Individual differences
17
Q
Contemporary Psychology (part 7)
A
- Psychology’s main subfields
- Common quest: Describing and explaining behavior and the mind
underlying it - Professions
- Research: Basic and applied
- Counseling psychologists
- Clinical psychologists
- Psychiatrists
- Community psychologists
24
18
Q
The Need for Psychological Science
A
- Roadblocks to Critical Thinking
- Hindsight bias: I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon
- Overconfidence: Tendency to think we know more than we do
- Perceiving patterns in random events: Random sequence is
unsettling: making sense creates calm - Scientific inquiry can help us sift reality from overestimated
intuition and illusion
19
Q
Psychological Science in a Post-Truth World
A
- Why are we so vulnerable to believing
untruths? - Fake news: Intentionally provided
misinformation - Repetition: Repeated statements become more
believable - Availability of powerful examples: Vivid images
and stories gain more attention - Group identity and the echo chamber of the
like-minded: Groups and news that affirm our
views are accepted; news sources that do not
are demonized
20
Q
The Scientific Method
Psychologists support scientific attitudes with the scientific method
A
Theory
Hypothesis
Data
21
Q
Terms to know
A
Theory
Hypothesis
Operational
Replication
22
Q
Research Strategies
A
Research Strategies
*Testing hypotheses and
refining theories
* Description
* Correlation
* Experiments
23
Q
- Case studies
A
- Examines one individual or group
in-depth - Suggest fruitful ideas for future
research - About unique/unusual cases
- No generalizations or universal
truths - Example: Phineas Gage and changes
in personality after accident
24
Q
- Naturalistic observation
A
- Recording behavior in natural
environment - Does not control all factors
- Describes and sometimes illuminates,
but does not explain behavior - Often involves new technology (move
to “big data”) - Example: Jane Goodall and
observations of chimpanzee behavior
25
Descriptive method
surveys
26
* Correlation
* A measure of the extent to which two factors
vary together (how well the factors predict
each other)
* Usually explains only part of the variation
among individuals
* Uncovers naturally occurring relationships
27
Correlation coefficient
* A statistical index of the relationship between two things
* Positive correlation (>0 to +1.00) indicates a direct relationship.
* Negative correlation (<0 to –1.00) indicates an inverse relationship
28
Experiments enable researchers to isolate the effects of
one or more factors.
* Manipulates the factor of interest to determine its
effect.
* Holds constant (controls) other factors.
* Can explain behavior (conclusions about cause-and-
effect).
* Random sampling: creates a representative survey
sample.
29
* Groups
* Variables
* Groups
* Experimental group: receives treatment.
* Control group: does not receive treatment.
* Random assignment: equalizes the experimental and control groups.
* Variables
* Independent variable: factor that is manipulated; its effect is being studied.
* Confounding variable: factor that might influence a study’s results.
* Dependent variable: outcome that is measured; it may change when the
independent variable is manipulated.
30
Procedures:
Procedures:
* Double-blind procedure
* Neither those in the study or those collecting the data
know which group is receiving the treatment.
* Treatment’s actual effects can be separated from
potential placebo effect.
* Placebo effect
* Experimental results caused by expectations alone.
* Any effect on behavior caused by the administration of
an inert substance or condition, which the recipient
assumes is an active agent.
31
Experimental Methods
* Experiment purpose
* Test theoretical principles, not re-creation of exact everyday life behaviors
* Resulting principles
* Help explain everyday behaviors
* Psychological science
* Focuses primarily on seeking general principles that help explain many
behaviors and less on a particular behavior
32
Descriptive
correlational
experimental
case study
collect data
manipulate
33
psychology research eithics
* Ensuring scientific integrity
* Honesty is most important scientific value.
* Fake science can cause great harm; vaccine misinformation.
* Researcher values
* Influence topic choices.
* Color the facts of observations and interpretations.
* May be hidden or unconscious
