Chapter 1,2,3 Study Guide Flashcards
Definition of Psychology
the scientific study of behavior and mental processes
What is Bias?
personal judgement based on beliefs rather than facts
The goals of Psychology
Description, explanation, prediction, control
Wilhelm Wundt
father of Psychology
developed the technique of objective introspection
Objective Introspection
the process of objectively examining and measuring one’s thought and mental activities; reflection of oneself
Structuralism
structure of the mind; every experience could be broken into its individual emotions and sensations
William JAmes
taught Psych at Harvard; more interested in the whY of thinking than he how or what
Functionalism
how the mind allows people to adapt, live, work, and play
Gestalt psychology
the whole is greater than the sum of it’s parts
Sigmund Frued
Psychoanalysis is based on his theory; his patients suffered from nervous disorders with no apparent physical cause. HE proposed the existence of an unconscious (unaware) mind into which we push-or repress-or threatening urges and desires
Ivan Pavlov
A reflex could be caused in response to a previously unrelated stimulus
Humanistic Perspective
Emphasizes the human potential, the ability of each person to become the nest person he or she could be (self actualization)
sociocultural perspective
focuses on the relationship between social behavior and culture
biopsychological perspective
attributes human and animal behavior to biological events occurring in the body, such as genetic influence, hormones, and the activity of the nervous system
evolutionary perspective
focuses on the biological bases of universal mental characteristics that all humans share
Psychologist vs. Psychiatrist
Psychologist: basic research, purpose is to gain scientific knowledge
Psychiatrist: medical doctor who has specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders
3 most popular work setting for a psychologist?
4 year colleges or universities, self-employed psychologist, those working for private or profit businesses
role of psychiatric social worker
social worker with some training in therapy methods who focuses on the environmental conditions that can have an impact of mental disorders, such as poverty, overcrowding, stress, and drug abuse
Steps in the scientific method
1) perceive the question
2) form a hypothesis: tentative explanation of a phenomenon based on obs
3) test the hypothesis
4) draw conclusions
5) report your results so that others can try to replicate, or repeat, the study or experiment to see whether the same results will be obtained in an effort to demonstrate reliability of results
Naturalistic obs
watching animals or humans behave in their normal environment
Observer Effect
tendency of people or animals to behave differently when they know they are being observed
Case Studies
ADV: detail
DisADV: fails to generalize, vulnerability to bias
longitudinal study
REpresentative sample
they could randomly select a certain number of college freshmen from several different colleges across US
Correlation
measure of the relationships between two variables; variable:anything that can change or vary
Correlation Coefficient
numerical value that represent the strength and direction of the realtionship
Operational definition
definition of a variable that allows it to be measured
Dependent variable
outcome
independent
cause
Cofounding variable
variables that interfere with each other and their possibile effects on some other variable of interest
Random Assignment
The process of assigning subjects to the experimental or control groups randomly
Single Blind study
subjects do not know whether they are in the experimental or the control group (reduces placebo effect)
