Chapter 1 - Psychology's Roots Flashcards
What Greek naturalist and philosopher wondered about learning and memory, motivation and emotion, perception and personality?
Aristotle
the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes
behaviorism
historically important perspective that emphasized human growth potential
humanistic psychology
the science of behavior and mental processes
psychology
the study of the mental processes, such as occur when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and solve problems
cognitive psychology
the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with mental activity (including perception, thinking, memory, and language)
cognitive neuroscience
anything a human or nonhuman animal does
behavior
Describe the three parts of the scientific attitude.
(1) curiosity about the world around us,
(2) skepticism about unproven claims and ideas, and
(3) humility about our own understanding. These three traits guide psychologists as they consider ideas and test them with scientific methods. Ideas that don’t hold up will then be discarded.
What event defined the start of scientific psychology?
Scientific psychology began in Germany in 1879, when Wilhelm Wundt opened the first psychology laboratory.
How did the cognitive revolution affect the field of psychology?
It led the field back to its early interest in mental processes and made them acceptable topics for scientific study.
The _________ perspective in psychology focuses on how behavior and thought differ from situation to situation and from culture to culture.
social-cultural
The _________ perspective emphasizes how we learn observable responses.
behavioral
thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, uncovers hidden values, weighs evidence, and assesses conclusions
critical thinking
an approach that integrates different but complementary views from biological, psychological, and social-cultural viewpoints
biopsychosocial apparoach
the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and handed down from one generation to the next
culture
“WEIRD” cultures
Western Educated Industrial Rich Democratic
the age-old controversy over the relative influence of genes and experience in the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today’s psychological science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture.
nature-nurture issue
the principle that our mind processes information at the same time one separate conscious and unconscious tracks
dual processing
the scientific study of human functioning, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive
positive psychology
the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that we could have predicted it. (I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon)
hindsight bias
Why, after friends start dating, do we often feel that we knew they were meant to be together?
We often suffer from hindsight bias–after we’ve learned a situation’s outcome, that outcome seems familiar and therefore obvious.
an explanation using principles that organize observations and predict behaviors or events
theory
a testable prediction, often implied by a theory
hypothesis
a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations) used in a research study
operational definition
repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced
replication
What does a good theory do?
- It organizes observed facts.
- It implies hypotheses that offer testable predictions and, sometimes, practical applications.
- It often stimulates further research.
Why is replication important?
When others are able to repeat (replicate) studies and produce similar results, psychologists can have more confidence in the original findings.
a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles
case study
We cannot assume that case studies always reveal general principles that apply to all of us. Why not?
Case studies focus on one individual or group, so we can’t know for sure whether the principles observed would apply to a larger population.
a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to change or control the situation
naturalistic observation
What are the advantages and disadvantages of naturalistic observation, such as the EARs study?
In the EARs study, researchers were able to carefully observe and record naturally occurring behaviors outside the artificial environment of a laboratory. However, they were not able to explain the behaviors because they could not control all the factors that may have influenced them.
a descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of that group
survey
all those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn
population
a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion
random sample
What is an unrepresentative sample, and how do researchers avoid it?
An unrepresentative sample is a group that does not represent the population being studied. Random sampling helps researchers form a representative sample, because each member of the population has an equal chance of being included.
a measure of the extent to which two events vary together, and thus of how well either one predicts the other
correlation
a method in which researchers vary one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable)
experiment
assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing any preexisting differences between the groups
random assignments
in an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable
experimental groups
in an experiment, the group not exposed to the treatment; the control group serves as a comparison with the experimental group for judging the effect of the treatment.
control group
an inactive substance or condition that is sometimes given to those in a control group in place of the treatment given to the experimental group
placebo
in an experiment, a procedure in which both the participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about who has received the treatment or a placebo.
double-blind procedure
results caused by expectations alone.
placebo effect
What measures do researchers use to prevent the placebo effect from confusing their results?
Research designed to prevent the placebo effect randomly assigns participants to an experimental group (which receives the real treatment) or a control group (which receives a placebo). A double-blind procedure prevents people’s beliefs and hopes from affecting the results, because neither the participants nor those collecting the data know who receives the placebo. A comparison of the results will show whether the real treatment produces better results than belief in that treatment.
in an experiment, the factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.
independent variable
a factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study’s results.
confounding variable
in an experiment, the factor that is measured; the variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated.
dependent variable
In the rental housing experiment discussed in this section, what was the independent variable? The dependent variable?
The independent variable, which the researchers manipulated, was the implied ethnicity of the applicants’ names. The dependent variable, which researchers measured, was the rate of positive responses from the landlords
Why, when testing a new drug to control blood pressure, would we learn more about its effectiveness from giving it to half the participants in a group of 1000 than to all 1000 participants?
We learn more about the drug’s effectiveness when we can compare the results of those who took the drug (the experimental group) with the results of those who did not (the control group). If we gave the drug to all 1000 participants, we would have no way of knowing whether the drug is serving as a placebo or is actually medically effective.
giving people enough information about a study to enable them to decide whether they wish to participate.
informed consent
after an experiment ends, explaining to participants the study’s purpose and any deceptions researchers used.
debriefing
How are animal subjects and human research participants protected?
Animal protection laws, laboratory regulation and inspection, and local and university ethics committees (which screen research proposals) attempt to safeguard animal welfare. International psychological organizations urge researchers to obtain informed consent from human participants, and to protect them from greater-than-usual harm and discomfort, treat their personal information confidentially, and debrief them fully at the end of the experiment