Exam 1 Flashcards
What is psychology?
Science that studies behavior.
The physiological and cognitive processes that underlie it
The profession that applies the accumulated knowledge of this science to practical problems
Behavior
The observable acts of a person or animal.: is it predictable.
Cognitive process
What the brain does when a person stores, recalls, or uses information or has specific feelings.
Cognitive is just how you think Involves memory .
Can effect behavior and physiology.
Systematic observation
The careful observation of the natural world with the aim of better understanding it. Observations provide the basic data that allow scientists to track, tally, or otherwise organize information about the natural world.
Empirical methods
Approaches to inquiry that are tied to actual measurement and observation.
Which sciences psychology directly grew out of.
1.Philosophy
-Psychological questions
-Aristotle
-Descartes- Interactive Dualism
2. Physiology
-Observation &. The scientific method
Father of Psychology
WIlhelm Wundt: Integrating prospectives:(mind and body)
Science is cumulative
We can learn the important truths discovered by earlier scientist and build on them.
First psychology lab? Where and What they studied.
United States. Studied experimental psychology or structuralism.
Structuralism (Structure)
Edward Titchener
– Psychology should analyze consciousness into basic elements and how these elements are related
-Took ideals and made it easier to understand
-What we could get through our senses
-Outside making to our consciousness.
Functionalism (Function)
Psychology should investigate the purpose or function of consciousness
– William James ( Father of American Psychology.
Mental testing in children
Integrated psych making it useful
Was wildly racist
Freud
Psychoanalytic Theory
Wild, but onto something. We have thoughts and feelings outside of our consciousness (awareness)
Lie down and talk about everything and psychologists infers what’s happening unconsciously.
Behaviorism:
John B. Watson
Skinner
When were born there’s nothing in your brain (Nurture)
Experimented on his kids
Animals can do serious task if rewarded and punished appropriately.
Humanism
Humans are more human then you give credit for.
If you fulfill needs it’ll make people better.
What makes humans human.
Cognitive Revolution
If brains are a computer we could understand.
Applied Psychology
The use of psychological methods and findings of scientific psychology to solve practical problems of human and animal behavior and experience.
Practitioner-Scholar Model
A model of training of professional psychologists that emphasizes clinical practice.
Scientific Research goal
Informs our knowledge and helps us create theories.
Types of professions psychology can lead to.
-Clinical psychology
-Counseling psychology
-Educational + School
-Industrial/ Organizational
-Health
-Forensic
-Sports
Pseudoscience
Beliefs or practices that are presented as being scientific, or which are mistaken for being scientific, but which are not scientific
Anecdotal evidence
Apiece of biased evidence, usually drawn from personal experience, used to support a conclusion that may or may not be correct.
What is meant when its said that a scientific claim can be falsified?
A claim can be conceivably demonstrated to be untrue.
Can scientist ‘prove’ their hypothesis?
No, they can test the hypothesis and find a correlation between two variables but they can’t however there is no absolute ‘proof’.
Scientific Theory
An explanation for observed phenomena that is empirically well-supported, consistent, and fruitful (predictive).
Or
System of interrelated ideas that is used to explain a set of observations.
Steps in scientific method + def
Theory
Hypothesis-tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables.
Variable-Factor that can vary
Operational Def
Very clearly how to measure the variables
Independent v. Dependent variable
Manipulated by researcher
Observed for changes
Correlations:
Pros and cons
Strength and direction
Positive correlations go to same way, while negative correlations go opposite ways.
Strength assessed by looking at the persons r value: The closer to 1 the r values is the stronger and the the closer to 0 the r value is the weaker the relationship.
Relationship between correlations and causation/ causality.
Descriptive/experimental Research differences
Pros and cons
Quasi- experimental design
IRB and what are the ethical principles established by the APA
Role of ethical treatment in Research
Neurons + functions
Glia + functions
What is:
Resting potential
Action potential
All-or - none law
Processes that a neuron goes through when fining
Change a neuron have when at rest vs. Firing.
Master gland of endocrine system
How does the postsynaptic potential differ from action potential
Reuptake
Different neurotransmitters
Relationship between addictive drugs and dopamine in the brain
Different components of the nervous system
What is flight or fight response?
Different regions of the brain and their functions
Damage to the prefrontal cortex is associated with
What is plasticity? Neurogenesis?
What are the chemical substances secreted by the endocrine system
Different between sensation and perception
Absolute threshold? Just noticeable difference?
Sensory adaptation?
Sensory receptors?
Transduction?
Different parts of the human eye and their roles
What are the two types of visual receptors? Know their differing roles in visual perception
how visual information is processed
top down/bottom up processing
Gestalt principles of perception discussed in class. Visual Illusions.
Depth and distance (e.g. monocular/Binocular cues, pictorial depth cues etc…)
