Chapter 1-5 Flashcards
what is abnormal psychology?
interested in explaining how and why unusual behavior patterns develop by examining thoughts and emotion as well as underlying biology of mental illness
what is applied research?
is done to discover a new or more effective way to solve some specific problem
what is applied practice?
refers to the actual application techniques to the problems themselves
functionalism
functionalismis like looking at the brain and asking “ why does it help us see things?”
all about understanding how the brain helps us with different tasks and figuring out why its good at doing what it does
ultimate explanations
Attempts to address the reasons why a psychological phenomenon occurs by appealing to its role in the process of evolution
Proximate Explanations
Attempt to describe an immediate cause of a psychological phenomenon.
Functional explanations:
are proximate explanations that seek to identify a specific problem as the cause of a psychological phenomenon, such as a caregiver to provide food
Process-oriented explanation
are proximate explanations that focus on how a specific mental or physical process explains a psychological phenomenon, such as how crying is the result of biological processes happening in our tear duct
Ultimate and proximate explanations are complementary in nature
as they explain different aspects of the same phenomena
Which influences would we most likely be studying if we tried to understand whether different groups of the same species of monkey had different rules regarding what was fair?
cultural influences
Cultural psychology investigates how different groups build a common understanding of the world; in this case, how these different groups of monkeys understand fairness
Which influence would we most likely be studying if we tried to understand how a “sense of fairness” developed in humans compared to capuchin monkeys
evolutionary influence
Evolutionary influences on psychology would consider how fairness developed over the course of a species history, and potentially compare and contrast its development across species
Which influence would we most likely be studying if we tried to understand the hormones and neurons in activating a “sense of fairness”
Biological influences
Evolutionary influences consider the history of a trait or behavior over the course of a species history while biological influences focus on an individual’s biological processes that produce a behavior
Rationalism:
the view that reason and logical argument, but not experience, is most important for how we acquire knowledge
Steps of the scientific method
identify the problem, gather information, generate a hypothesis, design and conduct experiments, analyze data and formulate conclusions, restart the process
Descriptive methods:
Are any means to capture report, record, or otherwise describe a group
Usually interested in identifying “what is” without necessarily understanding “why it is”
four popular methods to describe groups
Naturalistic observation
Participant observation
Case studies
Surveys
Naturalistic observation:
Best described as the observation of behavior as it happens in a natural environment, without an attempt to manipulate or control the conditions of the observation
Observations can be captured by either
Qualitatively
- Collecting opinions, notes, or general observations of behaviour
Quantitatively
- Any attempt to measure or count specific behaviours
When is a case study the most useful?
When a participant has a rare condition
Research ethics:
the set of principles that have been established for psychologists to follow when they carry out a research study
what are the general ethical principles of psychologists?
beneficence and non-maleficence, fidelity and responsibility, integrity, justice, respect for peoples rights and dignity
inclusion criterion
inclusion criteria are like the rules or conditions that decide who can participate in a particular group or study. They are the characteristics or requirements that someone must have to be included or considered for that specific group or research.
Exclusion criteria:
Any attributes that would prevent participation because they cannot address the research question
Example: adults cannot be included as participants in child development study because they are not of the age range that is being studied
Eligibility criteria
a set of characteristics shared by all participants that ensure that those participating will meaningfully help address the research question
The Tuskegee researchers violated this ethical principle when they failed to provide medical treatment to participants
Beneficence and nonmaleficence
Decisional impairment
refers to difficulties or limitations a person may experience in their ability to make effective and rational decisions. This could be due to cognitive factors, emotional influences, or other psychological factors that hinder the individual’s capacity to make well-informed choices.
Situational vulnerability
Refers to instances when the freedom of “choice” to participate in research is compromised as a result of undue influence from another source
Examples: military personnel, prisoners who may feel coerced or obligated to participate in research
Correlation
a measure that captures the direction and strength of a relationship between variables
When two variables are positively correlated…
the variable changes in the same direction; one variable increases, the other variable also increases
When variables are negatively correlated…
an increase in one variable leads to a decrease in one variable.
Zero correlation indicates…
that there is no apparent relationship between variables
Correlation coefficient
a numerical representation of the strength of a relationship between variables (denoted as R)
The value of a correlation coefficient ranges from
-1 to +1
Positive and negative signs indicate…
the direction of the relationship
the absolute value of the correlation (regardless of the -/+ sign) is
the magnitude or strength of the correlation.
