Class 1 - history, methods, psychology, stats, ethics, neuron Flashcards
Psychology :
the study of mental processes and behavior as well as their interactions with the brain.
Plato’s and Socrates’s ideas
mind is separated form the body; knowledge is born within
Aristotle’s and Locke”s ideas
knowledge grows from experience; mind is at a blank slate at birth
Empiricism
knowledge comes from experience
Wilhelm Wundt
1st experimental psychology lab
John B. Watson
study on “Little Albert”; studied behaviorism
Structuralism
use introspection to reveal structure of the human mind
Introspection
looking inward to observe one’s own psychological processes
Functionalism
explore how mental and behavioral processes function
William James
promoted functionalism, wrote Principles of Psychology
Behaviorism
psychology as objective science without reference to mental processes; observable behavior; how our environment effect our behavior
Ivan Pavlov
behaviorism; discovery of classical conditioning (dog experiment)
B.F. Skinner
behaviorism; how consequences shape behavior
Freudian Psychoanalysis
emphasized how unconscious mind and childhood affect behavior
Humanistic Psychology
emphasized human growth potential; believe humans are born good
Carl Rogers
humanistic psychology
Abraham Maslow
humanistic psychology
Sigmund Freud
psychoanalysis
Cognitive psychology
study of mental processes, perception, learning, memory, problem solving, thinking, emotions
Evolutionary Psychology
study of the evolution of behavior
Socioculture Psychology
how our culture effect us; how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
Biological Psychology
nervous system, hormones, genetics
SQ3R
survey, questions, read, retrieve, review
Stanford Prison Experiment
an experiment with a group of people, some have power (guards) some does not (prisoners)
APA Ethics Code
- Informed consent
- Protection
- Confidentiality
- Debriefing
Normal Distribution
bell-shaped
Skewed Distribution
leaning to one side
Central Tendency measurements
- mean
- median
- mode
Mean
the arithmetic average
Median
the midpoint
Mode
the most frequent number in a distribution
Measures of Variation
- Standard deviation
2. Range
Standard deviation
a computer measure of how much scores vary around the mean
Statistical Significance
indicate how likely that a result occurred by chance
Neuron
a nerve cell
Neuron parts
- Dendrite
- Cell body (Soma)
- Axon
- Myelin Sheath
- Synapse
Neural Impulse / Action Potential
a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon
Threshold
the level of stimulation required to trigger a neural impulse
All-or-None Response
a neuron’s reaction to either firing or not firing
Refractory period
a brief resting pause after a neuron has fired
Synapse
junction between the axon tip of one neuron and the dendrite/body of another neuron
Neurotransmitters
chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons
Reuptake
a neurotransmitter’s reabsorption by the sending neuron
Acetylcholine (ACh)
enables muscle action, learning, and memory
Dopamine
influences movement, learning, attention, and emotions
Serotonin
affects mood, hunger, sleep, and arousal
Norepinephrine
helps control alertness and arousal
GABA
inhibitory neurotransmitter
Glutamate
excitatory neurotransmitter; involved in memory
Endorphins
influence the perception of pain or pleasure
Agonist
molecule that increases/replicates a neurotransmitter’s action
Antagonist
molecule that inhibit/blocks a neurotransmitter’s action
Roadblock of critical thinking
- hindsight bias
- overconfidence
- perceiving patterns in random events
Hindsight bias
the tendency to believe, after the outcome, that one would have foreseen it
ex. “Out of sight, out of mind” vs. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.”
Overconfidence
overconfident about something; thinking that you are better than you actually are
ex. random facts
Perceiving patterns in random events
think that there are actually a pattern when there isn’t one
ex. rain dance, superstition
Scientific attitude
- Curiosity
- Skepticism
- Humility
Theory
an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behavior or events
Hypothesis
a testable prediction, often implied by a theory
Operation definition
a carefully-worded statement of the exact procedures used in research
Replication
repeating the essence of a research study to see whether findings can be reproduced
Basic types of methods
- Description
- Correlation
- Experiment
Descriptive methods
to observe and record behavior; does not manipulate anything
- case study
- naturalistic observation
- survey
Case study
study one individual/group in depth
Naturalistic observation
observing and recording behavior in naturally-occurring situations
Survey
obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative random sample of the group
Wording effect
different ways that people word a sentence might get a different outcome
Sampling bias
a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample
Random sample
each member has an equal chance of inclusion (fairly represents a population)
Correlation
to detect/assess relationships between/among variables; associate different factors or variables
Variables
anything that can vary
Scatterplot
a graphed cluster of dots
Correlation coefficient
measure how strong a relationship is between two variables
-1 ——— 0 ——- +1
Illusory correlation
perceiving a relationship where none exists
Experimentation
to explore cause and effect; manipulate variables to discover their effects
Independent variable
manipulated variable
Dependent variable
variable being measured; variable that is changed by the independent variable
Experiment group
the group receiving the treatment
Control group
the group that has no treatment
Random assignment
participants assigned to random groups
Double-blind procedure
neither participants nor research staff know the condition
Placebo
effect caused by expectations
Confounding variable
some other variable that the researchers aren’t aware of that affected the result of the experiment
Validity
the extent to which an experiment tests/measures what it is suppose to test
