chapters 1-4 Flashcards
psychology
The scientific study of an individuals mind and behaviour
behaviour
observable actions of humans and animals
- things we do by ourselves or with others
- how an organism adjusts to its enviroment
goals of psychology
1, describe 2, explain 3, predict 4, control ( stimulate, maintain, eliminate, and improve behaviour)
psyche
mind or thought ( thinking, planning, reasoning, creating, dreaming)
psychology benefits society and enhances our lives
psychologists apply their theories to understand and improvve the world around us
basic research
knowledge for its own sake
applied research
solutions to practical problems
what is not psychology but is related
sociology, folk psychology, parapsychology.
hospital psychologists
clinical psychologists, counselling, and health
clinical psychologists
help diagnose and treat mental problems or disorders,
counselling psychologists
deal with common crisis’s such as divorce
health psychologists
prevent, treat, and rehabilitate psychological and socail factors resulting in physical illnesses
school psychologists
educational psychologists and school psychologists
educational psychologists
give guidance to students, teachers, and parents
school psychologists
deal with common crisis’s or mental problems of students and teachers
acedemy psychologists
cognitive/experimental psychology, developmental psychology, and biological psychology, social psychology, cultural, sports, personality, and comparative psychology
cogntivie/experimental psychology
do lab experiments on basic psychological processes such as learning, memory, language, problem solving ,
developmental psychology
study the change in psychological processes over the life span
biological psychology
studies the relationship between the nervous system and behavior/ thought
personality psychology
study what makes people unique
social psychology
studies how individuals influence and are influenced by others
cultural psychology
study how cultures reflect and shape the psychological processes of their followers
sports psychology
study the psychological factors affecting sports performance
comparative psychology
study the behavior of animals
field psychologist
industrial, organizational, forensic psychology
industrial psychology
selects and evaluates employees/workers
organizational psychologists
studies the work environments and management styles . helps promote production and satisfaction
forensic psychology
studies child abuse, and legal and mental evaluations for defendants
Plato
was involved in platomic academy. invented the theory of nativism
Aristotle
invented the theory of empiricism
Nativism
the knowledge and skills are innate or hardwired into the brain at birth
Rationalism
the human body is something that can be understood scientifically. ( body and mind are different things)
empiricism
the blank slate theory; the brain begins as a blank slate and all knowledge is acquired through experiences
wilhiem wundt
- opened the first psychology lab(1867)
- came up with the theory of structuralism with Titchener
structuralism
the subject of matter of psychology is the consciousness (assumed that consciousness could be broken down into basic elements)
- used introspection and reaction time
functionalism
(james) -focuses on the adaptive purpose and function of human behavior
- learned by doing rather than listening or memorizing
sigmund freud
broadened study and treatment of psychological disorders
psychodynamics
dynamic processes such as interactions between ID, ego, or superego
Libido
drive, instinct energy, or force in ID
Psychological disorders
- unfulfilled wishes
- childhood traumas
- disguised affects of libido
psychopathology
brings the unconsciousness into consciousness
behaviorism
(john b watson) - based on observable behaviors (bf skinner) - behavior controlled by environment -control the environment and then you can control the behavior
Albert bandura
merged the cognitive and behavioral perspectives into cognitive behaviorism
cognitive behaviorism
- human beings are thinking creatures
- people do not just react to enviroment
- learned new behaviors through observations
Two way
we’re influenced by our enviroment and we influence the enviroment
behavior therepy
based on the principles of operant conditioning
- positive reinforcement (rewards)
- punishment and extinction
cognitive behavior therapy
emphasizes that both the experiences and the environment influence behavior
cognitivism
(jean Piaget) -child develpment
- information processing
- language acquisiton
gestalt psychology
(how we make sense of the world around us)
- we perceive the unified whole rather than the sum of its parts
- the mind is studied in terms of a larger meaningful units instead of small units of structuralism
cognitive neuropsychology
uses electrical recordings and brain imaging to directly assess neural activities while participants complete cognitive tasks
humanistic perspective
- emphasizes individual capacities for choice and growth
- studies individuals subjective experiences
- offers a more optimistic view of human beings
person centered therepy
facilitates self-actualization towards growth
- genuineness
- empathy
- reflection of feelings
- positive regard
socio-cultural perspective
thinks beyond the individual, emphases the interpersonal factors and the broader context of human interaction
culture
the values, traditions, and beliefs that are shared by a group of people (ex. Individualism(american culture) Vs. Collectivism (Asian culture))
Phrenology
human mind has a set of various mental faculties, each one represent in a different area of the brain
biological perspectives
emphasizes how biological factors influence behavioural studies
- genetics
- brain structures/function
- bio chemical processes
evolutionary psychology
- emphasizes the affect of evolution on behavior today
- natural selection is the ultimate goal of reproduction
- adaptation is inherited solutions to ancestral problems
- seeks for evidence rather than experimenting
mating strategies theory
-reproduction pressure (leave behind as many offspring as possible)
- cost of pregnancy and parenting
females: will choose older mate with better resources, status,and production
Males: will choose younger females that are more physically well developed so they are in prime breeding condition
selective breeding
- influence genetic traits
- does not influence environmental dependent traits
conducting research in psychology
- develop a hypothesis
- gather objective data
- analyze the results
- publishing, criticizing and replicating the results
variable
any characteristic that can vary ( stress, weight, reaction time)
operational
defines a variable in terms of specific procedures used to produce or measure
hypothesis
must be tentative and testable
science
falsifiable and peer reviewed, replicated, and empirical
pseudoscience
not open to criticism, relies on testimony, doesn’t rule out alternative explanations
reliable
= consistent
internal validity
the degree to which results support clear causal conclusions
external validity
the degree to which the results are generalizable to other situations (random sampling)
nativism
knowledge is innate
humanism
study individuals subjective experiences
scientific theories are
a set of related assumptions that guide and explain observations and allow testable predictions to be made
one advantage of behavioral measures compared to self reporting measures is that they:
are less prone to social desirability bias
if two scores have the same mean they must have:
similar variabilities, same variabilities, or must have different variabilities
things that should be provided before an experiment
the duration of the experiment, potential risks or benefits, and that you can withdrawal your data at any time
purpose of research:
description, correlation, prediction
types of methods
observation, case study, interview/survey, experimental
measures of DVs
psychological(self report), behavioral, physiological
descriptive research
describing the behavior in a natural setting
correlation studies
relationship between/ among variables
-uses measurements, instead of manipulation
experimental studies
cause and effect relationships
-manipualting x causes changes with y
case study
examines one individual group in depth, suggests directions for further study, challenges the validity of a theory, shows what could happen, but could be misleading
interview study
examines many cases in less depth, does individual questionaires, group interview, random sampling, and couple studies
naturalistic observation
describes behavior rather than explain it, unobtrusive observation, systematical analysis, but lacks control
pros of lab/controlled observations
factors are controlled that may interfere with the to be observed behavior
cons of lab/controlled observations
the subjects were have a different performance since they are not in theri natural environment and know they are being observed/ studied
measures dependent variables
- self reporting
- physiological
- behavioural measures
confounding variables
- placebo effect
- expectancy effect
self reporting
a self report that measures fixed alternatives, and open ended questions
bahavioral measures
systematic observations and lab tests
physiological measures
equipment records (lie detector, etc)
placebo effect
an “effective” medication will lead to effective results
mean
the center of a data set
varability
the spread of a
data set
median
middle score
mode
most often occurring value
pros of variance
reflects the average variability of individual values
• less sensitive to outliers
cons of variance
reported in squared units does not reflect the actual
distance
standard deviation
The square root of the variance
positive correlation
Variables change in same direction
negative correlation
Variables change in opposite directions
ethical issues in research
- Informed Consent
- Risk/Gain Assessment
- Intentional Deception
- Debriefing
psychologists must do this:
- Protect and promote the welfare of participants.
-. Avoid doing harm to participants. - Not carry out any studies unless the probable
benefit is proportionately greater than the risk.
-. Ensure privacy and confidentiality.
