Chapter 1 and 2 Flashcards
Psychological science
is the study, through research, of mind, brain, and behavior.
– The mind (mental activity: perceptions, thoughts, memories, and feelings)
– The brain (mental activity results from biological processes within the brain)
– Behavior (observable actions)
Research
a scientific process that involves the careful collection of data.
Critical Thinking
systematically questions and evaluates information using well‐supported evidence.
Confirmation Bias
Ignoring evidence
Self-Serving Bias
Failing to see own inadequacies
Nature vs. Nurture
the arguments concerning whether psychological characteristics are biologically innate (i.e., nature) or acquired through environmental factors (i.e., nurture, such as education, experience, and culture).
Mind/Body Problem
a fundamental psychological issue asking whether mind and body are separate and distinct or the mind is simply the physical brain’s subjective experience
Reaction Time
to assess how quickly people can respond to events.
Introspection
a systematic examination of subjective mental experiences that requires people to inspect and report on the content of their thoughts
Structuralism
an approach to psychology based on the idea that conscious experience can be broken down into its basic underlying components. Used introspection to study consciousness.
- Edward Ticthner
Functionalism
an approach to psychology concerned with the adaptive purpose, or function, of mind and behavior.
- William James
Stream of Consciousness
a phrase coined by William James to describe each person’s continuous series of ever‐changing thoughts (“mind cannot be broken down)
Evolution Theory
a theory presented by the naturalist Charles Darwin, which views the history of a species in terms of the inherited, adaptive value of physical characteristics, of mental activity, and of behavior.
- Charles Darwin
Adaptations
In evolutionary theory the physical characteristics, skills, or abilities that increase the chances of reproduction or survival are likely to be passed along to future generations.
Natural Selection
In evolutionary theory, the idea that those who inherit characteristics that help them adapt to their particular environments have a selective advantage over those who do not.
Gestalt Theory
a theory based on the idea that the whole of personal experience is different from the sum of its constituent elements.
- Max Wertheimer
Sigmund Freud
– Much of human behavior is determined by mental
processes operating below the level of awareness.
– Unconscious: the region where mental processes operate below the level of conscious awareness
- Used free association, in which the patient would talk about whatever he or she wanted to for as long as he or she wanted to
John B. Watson
challenged psychology’s focus on conscious and unconscious mental processes.
– Developed behaviorism, a psychological approach that emphasizes the role of environmental forces and learning in producing observable behavior.
B.F Skinner
- The most influential behaviorist.
- He argued that concepts of mental processes were of no scientific value in explaining behavior.
- … mental activities are another form of behavior
George A. Miller
Studies showed that the simple laws of behaviorism could not explain all human activities (e.g., mental activities).
• In 1957 George A. Miller launched the cognitive revolution.
• Cognitive psychology: the study of mental functions, such as intelligence, thinking, language, memory, and decision making
Cognitive Neuroscience
the study of the neural mechanisms underlying thought, learning, perception, language, and memory
Social Psychology
the study of how people influence other people’s thoughts, feelings, and actions
Personality Psychology
the study of characteristic thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in people and how they vary across social situations
Neuroscience
• The study of working brain as it performs its vital psychological functions.
– Brain imaging methods, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)
• Localization of function: Some brain areas are important for specific feelings, thoughts, and actions.
Many brain regions work together to produce behavior and mental activity.
– The Human Connectome Project was launched in 2010 as a major international research effort involving collaborators at a number of universities.
The Human Genome
• The human genome: the basic genetic code, or blueprint, for the human body.
– For psychologists, this map represents the foundational knowledge for studying how specific genes affect thoughts, actions, feelings, and disorders.
Theory
a model of interconnected ideas or concepts that explains what is observed (e.g., “depression is caused by negative self-concept”), makes predictions about future events, and is based on empirical evidence.
Good Theories
How can we decide whether a theory is good?
– When we talk about a good theory, we do not mean that it is good because it is supported by research findings.
– One key feature of a good theory is that it should be falsifiable with testable hypotheses.
– Good theories also tend toward simplicity: The law of parsimony.
Replication
repetition of a research study to confirm the results
– When the results from two or more studies are the same,
or at least support the same conclusion, confidence in the findings increases.
Variable
phenomena of interest in research that can be measured, manipulated (changed) or both by researchers.
– E.g.,Inatreatmentresearch,thetreatment(e.g.,cognitive behavior therapy) and outcomes (e.g., depressive symptoms) measured are variables.
Independent Variable
– A variable that get manipulated by the researcher
in an experimental study
Dependent Variable
A variable that gets measured by the researcher (in an experimental study).
Operational Definition
a definition that qualifies
(describes) and quantifies (measures) a variable so the variable can be understood objectively.
Descriptive Research
research methods that involve observing behavior to describe that behavior objectively and systematically • Three types of descriptive studies 1) Case study 2) Observation studies 3) Self-Report Methods/Interview
Case Study
a descriptive research method that involves the intensive examination of a (unusual/unique) case/person or organization.
Participation Observation
a type of descriptive study in which the researcher is involved in the situation
-The evolutionary psychologist and human behavioral ecologist Lawrence Sugiyama has conducted fieldwork in Ecuadorian Amazonia among the Shiwiar, Achuar, Shuar, and Zaparo peoples. Here, hunting with a bow and arrow, he is conducting a particularly active form of participant observation.
Naturalistic Observation
a type of descriptive study in which the researcher is a passive observer, separated from the situation and making no attempt to change or alter ongoing behavior
- Using naturalistic observation, the primatologist Jane Goodall observes a family of chimpanzees. Animals are more likely to act naturally in their native habitats than in captivity.
Reactivity
(Hawthorne effect) is the phenomenon that occurs in the observed, when knowledge that he/she is being observed alters his/her behavior.
Observer Bias
systematic errors in observation that occur because of an observer’s expectations
Experimenter Expectancy Effect
: actual change in the behavior of the people or nonhuman animals being observed that is due to the expectations of the observer
– Social psychologist Robert Rosenthal had college students train rats to run a maze (Rosenthal & Fode, 1963).
Self Report and Interview Methods
methods of data collection in which people are asked to provide information about themselves, such as in self- report surveys or face-to- face interviews.
Correlational Studies
a research method that describes and predicts whether and how variables are naturally related to each other in the real world, without any attempt by the researcher to alter them or assign causation between them.
Zero Correlation
– a relationship between two variables in which one variable is not
predictably related to the other
– E.g., there is a zero correlation between body weight and intelligence.
Positive Correlation
– a relationship between two variables in which both variables either
increase or decrease together
– Positive in this case does not mean “good.”
• E.g., ↑ anxiety, ↑depression
Negative Correlation
– a relationship between two variables in which one variable increases
when the other decreases
– Negative in this case does not mean “bad.”
• E.g., ↑ anxiety, ↓ perceived quality of life
