History, Approaches, and Research (Modules 1-3) Flashcards
What did Wilhelm Wundt do?
Conducted what many consider as psychology’s first experiment and established the first psychology lab at the University of Leipzig, Germany.
Structuralism
An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore structural elements of the human mind
Introspection
“Looking inward,” self-reflecting and reporting on immediate sensations and feelings
What person is associated with this theory?
Edward Bradford Titchener
Functionalism
A school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function – how they enable us to adapt, flourish, and survive
What person is associated with Functionalism?
William James
Who is Mary Calkins?
Memory researcher and first female president of the American Psychological Association (APA) in 1905
Who si Margaret Floyd Washburn?
First woman to receive a psychology Ph.D., wrote The Animal Mind, second female president of the APA in 1921
Behaviorism
The view that psychology should 1) be an objective science that 2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Today researchers generally agree with 1 but no 2.
People associated with Behaviorism
John B. Watson and B. F. Skinner
Humanistic Psychology
Historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individual’s potential for personal growth; counter to Freudian psychology and behaviorism. Humanistic psychologists emphasized the importance of current environmental influences on our growth potential and the importance of having our needs to love and acceptance satisfied.
People Associated with Humanistic Psychology
Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow
Cognitive Neuroscience
The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory and language); scientific exploration of how we perceive, process and remember information
Psychology
The science of behavior and mental processes
What is the key word in psychology’s definition? Why?
Science; psychology is less than a set of findings than a way of asking and answering questions
Nature-nurture issue
The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions genes make and experience makes to the development of psychological traits and behaviors
Ex. “Are gender differences biologically predisposed ot socially constructed?”
Natural selection
The principle that, among the range of inherited trait combinations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed to succeeding generations
Person associated with natural selection
Charles Darwin
Biopsychosocial approach
An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological and social-cultural levels on analysis
Psychology’s Current Perspectives (7)
Neuroscience, Evolutionary, Behavior genetics, Psychodynamic, Behavioral, Cognitive, Social-cultural
Neuroscience
How the body and brain enable emotions, memories and sensory experiences
Evolutionary
How the natural selection of traits promoted the survival of genes
Behavior genetics
How much our genes and our environment influence our individual differences
Psychodynamic
How behavior springs from unconscious drivers and conflicts
Behavioral
How we learn observable responses
Cognitive
How we encode, process, store and retrieve information
Social-cultural
How behavior and thinking cary across situations and cultures
Basic Research
Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
Ex. Biological psychologists exploring the links between the brain and the mind
Applied Research
Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
Ex. Clinical psychologists assess and treat mental, emotional and behavior disorders
Hindsight Bias
The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it (AKA the “AHA! I knew it all along!” phenomenon)
Ex. After the 2007 Virginia Tech Massacre, it seems obvious that the school should’ve been locked down after the murder of the first two students
When did the APA adopt ethical principles
1992
What are the four guidelines of the ethical principles adopted by the APA?
1) Obtain the informed consent of potential participants
2) Protect them from harm and discomfort
3) Treat information about individual participants confidentially.
4) Fully explain the research afterward.
Theory
An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events
Hypothesis
A testable prediction, often implied by a theory
Operational definition
A statement of the procedures/operations used to define research variables
Ex. Human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures
Case Study
An observation technique in which one person is studied in-depth in hope of revealing universal principles
Survey
A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group
Population
All the cases in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn
Random sample
A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion
Naturalistic observation
Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation
Correlation
A measure of the extend to which two factors vary together, and thus of who well either factor predicts the other
Correlation coefficient
A statistical index of the relationship between two things from -1 to +1
What is the most important thing to remember about correlational studies?
Correlation is not causation!!!
Illusory correlation
A perceived but nonexistence correlation; when we believe there is a relationship between two things, we are likely to notice and recall instances that confirm our belief
Ex. The presumption that infertile couples who adopt become more likely to conceive; we’re less likely to notice those who adopt and never conceive
Experiment
Research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (dependent variable)
Random assignment
Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing pre-existing differences between those assigned to different groups
What are some ways we can achieve random assignment?
Pulling names out of a hat, assigning numbers to subjects and sorting them using a calculator
Double-blind procedure
An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether participants have received the treatment or placebo
Placebo effect
Experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent
Experimental group
The group that is exposed to the treatment in an experiment/one version of the independent variable
Control group
The group that is not exposed to the treatment in an experiment; serves as a comparison group for evaluating the effect of the treatment
Independent variable
The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied
Dependent variable
The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable
Measures of central tendency
A single score that represents a whole set of scores
Mean
The arithmetic average of a distribution
Median
The middle score in a distribution
Mode
The most frequently occurring score/s in a distribution
Range
The difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution
Standard deviation
A computed measurement of how much scores vary around the mean score
Normal curve
A symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data.
Statistical significance
A statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by change. Indicates the likelihood that a result will happen by chance.
