Course 1: What Is Psychology? Flashcards

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1
Q

Psyche

A

Soul

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2
Q

Covert behaviour

A

Behaviour that is not observable by others

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3
Q

Overt behaviour

A

Behaviour that you can see

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4
Q

Eclectic psychotherapy

A

A form of psychotherapy where the clinician combines multiple theories and techniques

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5
Q

Behaviourism

A

Focus on observing and controlling behaviour

Used in behavioural and cognitive therapy

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6
Q

Functionalism

A

How mental activities help an organism adapt to its environment

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7
Q

Humanism

A

Perspective within psychology that emphasizes the potential for good that is innate to all humans. Humanists believe that rational thinking and human experience is most important.

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8
Q

Introspection

A

Process in which one examines their own conscious experience as objectively as possible, making the human mind like any other aspect of nature that a scientist observes (usually involving the patient describing what they experience)

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9
Q

Psychoanalytic theory

A

A focus on how the unconsciousness affects conscious behaviour

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10
Q

Structuralism

A

Understanding the conscious experience through introspection, breaking the human mind into parts. A structuralist would first examine individual parts, then explain how they all fit together.

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11
Q

Wilhelm Wundt

A

First person to be referred to as a psychologist (German scientist)

Used introspection to examine the structure of the mind (structuralist); specific conditions were put in place, where a stimulus would produce a repeatable, observable reaction

Eg. Subject receives stimulus in form of light, image, sound, and their reaction time is tested

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12
Q

William James

A

First American psychologist, believing that the purpose of psychology was to determine the purpose of behaviour (functionalist); used introspection

Believing in Darwin’s theory of evolution caused him to think that natural selection produces suitable characteristics AND behaviour

Wrote first psychology textbook, “The Principles of Psychology,” in 1890

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13
Q

Sigmund Freud

A

Austrian neurologist intrigued by hysteria and mental issues, theorizing that they rise from the unconscious mind

Freud believed the unconscious could be examined through dream analysis, the first words that came to people’s minds, and slips of the tongue

Freud popularized psychoanalysis, which includes a patient talking about their experiences and selves

Introduced the importance of childhood experience affecting adult behaviour, motivation driving conflicts, unconscious vs conscious motivations, and the development of personality over time

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14
Q

Gestalt psychology

A

Created by Fritz Peris

Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Köhler were three German psychologists who immigrated to the US in the early 20th century to evade the Nazis, and were credited for introducing Gestalt principles to Americans

Gestalt means whole, and the principle of the psychology is how although a sensory experience can be broken down, it is how they fit together as a whole that causes an individual to perceive it

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15
Q

Ivan Pavlov

A

Russian psychologist who studied conditioned reflex

Salivation in response to the presence of food was able to be produced by providing two stimuli and removing the food one in the future

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16
Q

John B. Watson

A

American psychologist who thought the study of consciousness was flawed

Shifted psychology from mind to behaviour, introducing behaviourism

Commonly used animals in experiments as it was believed that animal behaviour was similar to human behaviour (comparative psychology)

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17
Q

Skinner box

A

American psychologist/behaviourist B.F Skinner created this, examining how behaviour is affected by consequences

Skinner box is a chamber that isolated the subject from its environment, with a lever inside that would either give a reward or punishment when pulled at the right time

Invaluable towards modern behavioural modification

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18
Q

Carl Rogers

A

Like Maslow, was an American psychologist who believed in humanism

Used client-centered therapy

Believed therapists needed to display unconditional positive regard, genuineness, and empathy

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19
Q

Noam Chomsky

A

American linguist who helped start the cognitive revolution

European psychology was not as focused on behaviour as American psychology, so the cognitive revolution helped reestablish communication between them

Nativist perspective on language

20
Q

Institutional Review Board

A

Any research conducted on humans must first be reviewed by an IRB made up of administration, scientists, and community members. It guarantees that signed consent must be given and confidentiality be kept. In certain cases participants are allowed to be deceived if it affects the results of the experiment.

21
Q

Institutional Animal Care and Committee

A

Administrators, scientists, and community members charged with enforcing the humane treatment of animal subjects in research

22
Q

Apophenia

A

The tendency to see connections among unrelated phenomena

23
Q

Pareidolia

A

Seeing meaningful image in meaningless visual stimuli

24
Q

Hindsight bias

A

The tendency to believe that after learning an outcome, we could have foreseen that outcome

25
Q

Occam’s Razor

A

No more assumptions should be made than necessary - does a simpler explanation fit the data?

Morgan’s Canon states that animal behaviour should be explanined as simply as possible

26
Q

Retrograde amnesia

A

The inability to remember events or information prior to an accident or disease; temporally graded means an increasing lack of memory the closer the time to the incident

27
Q

Anterograde amnesia

A

Inability to form memories after the event in which brain damage occurred

28
Q

Regression

A

The use of correlation, using one variable to predict the value of another

29
Q

Confounding variable

A

A variable C that affects both A and B, making it seem as if the two are related

30
Q

Between-subjects experiment

A

A different group of subjects is tested under each condition.
For example, one group is given antidepressant pills and the other group is given a sugar pill (placebo)

31
Q

Within-subjects experiment

A

The same group of subjects are tested under each condition. Counterbalancing can be required, where half of the group would undergo the first condition first, and the second half would do the second condition first.

32
Q

Quasi-experiment

A

An experiment where participants are not randomly assigned to experimental groups and control groups.

33
Q

Multimodal distribution

A

A set of data with two or more modes; a single mode is called unimodal distribution, two is called bimodal

34
Q

Variance

A

The sum of squared deviations of random variables in a data set from its mean, divided by the number of scores

Sum of squared deviations/number of scores

35
Q

Standard deviation

A

Square root of the variance, it is used to quantify the amount of variance within a set of values.

36
Q

Correlation coefficient

A

Represented by the variable r, this shows the correlation between two variables. R cannot be 0, and the closer it is to 1 or -1 means the stronger the correlation. Negative regression line means negative slope.

37
Q

Coefficient of determination

A

Squaring the correlation coefficient gives the coefficient of determination. This is essentially the percentage of variance that is accounted by the line.

38
Q

Null and alternative hypothesis

A

The null hypothesis states that the population parameter (a claimed statistic about a population) is equal to the claimed value. The alternative hypothesis states that it is different.

39
Q

Significance level

A

The significance level, also denoted as alpha or α, is the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true. For example, a significance level of 0.05 indicates a 5% risk of concluding that a difference exists when there is no actual difference.

40
Q

P-value

A

A probability value used to weigh the strength of your evidence in a hypothesis test. A small p-value (typically ≤ 0.05, or less than your significance level) indicates strong evidence against the null hypothesis, so you reject the null hypothesis. A large p-value (> 0.05, or greater than your significance level) indicates weak evidence against the null hypothesis, so you fail to reject the null hypothesis.

41
Q

Hypothesis test

A

Used to determine the validity of a claim on a population. For example, you would run a hypothesis test to determine whether a claim that 80% of people are unhappy is true or not.

42
Q

Inferential statistics

A

Inferential statistics use a random sample of data taken from a population to describe and make inferences about the population.

43
Q

WEIRD

A

Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic

44
Q

Biological psychology

A

The study of the physiological, genetic, and developmental mechanisms behind our thoughts and behaviour

45
Q

T-test

A

A t-test allows us to compare the average values of the two data sets and determine if they came from the same population. It takes a sample from each of the two sets and establishes the problem statement by assuming a null hypothesis that the two means are equal. If the null hypothesis qualifies to be rejected, it indicates that data readings are strong and are not by chance.

46
Q

Repression

A

Pushing of feelings/events that cause too much anxiety and tension into the unconsciousness

47
Q

Reinforcement

A

Environmental stimuli that either encourage or discourage certain responses