Chapter 1 - What is Psychology Flashcards
What are the four goals for research?
- Description - gathering the facts
- Explanation - expressing why the facts are there
- Prediction - concluding if it could happen again as a result
- Control - intervention and manipulating to research possible results
Define Psychology.
The study and science of behavior and the mind. An organisms behavior being the observational research, and the mind being internal, including sensations, perceptions, memories, etc.
Describe the breakdown in research strategies.
Setting = where do you collect data?
- in the field or in the laboratory
Data = collection method
- self report from subjects or observation
Design = in what form will data appear
- descriptive (fact gathering) or correlational (record and tally variables)
Describe how the correlation coefficient works. Provide an example of a strong, negative correlation and a weak positive correlation.
It is the association between two variables in a study. It is on a scale from 1 to -1. The closer to 1 or -1, the stronger the correlation. The absolute value determines the strength and he sign (+/-) determines whether the correlation is positive or negative.
What is a variable? Describe the difference between a construct and an observational definition and how they relate to one another.
Variables are characteristics of behavior or experience that can be measured or described by a numeric scale. A construct is a variable that must be measured on a described scale because it is intangible (ex. - anxiety). An observational definition is the way in which we can TRY to measure a construct. (ex. - score on an anxiety test).
List and describe the basics aspects of an experiment.
Control - condition in which subjects are not exposed to the same treatment as those in the experimental condition.
Independent variable - the variable that is manipulated by the experimenter.
Dependent variable - the variable that is predicted by the experimenter to result based upon the independent variable.
Design and identify each part of a basic experiment.
Ex. - Adheral experiment.
Biological psychology bases it’s research in…
Bodily events and how they affect behavior, feelings and thoughts. They also examine how the contribution of genes and other biological factors affects the develop,met of abilities and personality traits. Ex. - hormones course travel through the bloodstream, telling internal organs to slow down or speed up.
Behavioral neuroscience basis it’s research in…
How the environment and experience affect a person’s (or non-human animal’s) actions. They focus on rewards and punishments that maintain or discourage specific behaviors.
Cognitive psychology researches…
How people process perception, memory, language, problem solving and other areas of behavior. Ex. - how people make sense of the world or explanations for events that occur.
Psychodynamic psychology or perspective deals with…
Freudian view of unconscious dynamics within the individual, such as inner forces, conflicts, or movement of instinctual energy. Ex. - digging below a person’s behavior and getting to the root dwelling within them
Sociocultural psychologists research…
How social and cultural forces outside the individual that shape every aspect of behavior. Ex. - how we kiss, where we eat, expressions of grief and joy.
Developmental psychologists…
Seek information about how age relates to changes within the mind and how it develops
