Intro, methods, history

Question 1

School of thought- empiricism

Answer 1

We are born as blank slates (tabula rasa) and must learn to sense and perceive

Question 2

School of thought- structuralism

Answer 2

Sought to understand the structure of the mind by analyzing its components

• Ex: introspection (people reporting on their experiences)

Question 3

School of thought- functionalism

Answer 3

To understand something, you must begin with why it exists and what function it serves

Question 4

School of thought- behaviorism

Answer 4

Studying only observable behavior, our actions are shaped by environmental stimuli

• Rejects introspection

Question 5

School of thought- cognitive revolution

Answer 5

Using behavior to reveal the mind- intellectual movement beginning in 1950s leading to emergence of new field, cog sci

• Studying the way people process information and how thinking patterns might contribute to psychological distress

Question 6

Descartes

Answer 6

• French philosopher
• Tried to understand the mind
• Dualism: body vs. mind/soul
  *Body: directly observable, obeys natural laws, controls reflexive behaviors
  *Mind/soul: observable only through interaction with body, source of free will and thought, uniquely human

Question 7

Locke

Answer 7

• Philosopher
• Mind is a machine with many different parts
• Empiricism: rejected idea of soul being separate from body (dualism)
• Believed that all knowledge and thought came from sensory experience (mind is blank slate and we are products of our experience, NURTURE vs. nature)

Question 8

Freud

Answer 8

• Psychoanalysis: form of therapy he developed to uncover the unconscious mind (behavior is determined by the unconscious mind)
• Critical of structuralists

Question 9

Watson

Answer 9

• Pioneered behaviorist approach
• Psychology should study behavior and not the unobservable mind because we don’t really know what’s going on in someone’s head
• Should look at causes of behavior in the environment
• No fundamental difference between human and animal behavior

Question 10

Skinner

Answer 10

• Behaviorist
• Free will is an illusion and all human action is the direct result of conditioning
• Operant conditioning, reinforcement

Question 11

Introspection

Answer 11

• Method developed by Wundt
• Used self-reflective examination to reveal the structure of the human mind
• Ex: Rely on a person’s description of sensations they experience in response to a stimulus (like a pic), and try to break those descriptions down into “basic elements”

Question 12

Types of research designs- case studies

Answer 12

In-depth study of one person

Cons: inapplicable to other people, can’t isolate variables

Question 13

Types of research designs- naturalistic observation

Answer 13

Observe behavior in the “real world” (natural settings)

Ex: Jane Goodall

Question 14

Types of research designs- correlational studies

Answer 14

Measuring two or more things to find correlations between them

Ex: Children who watch more TV are more violent, more optimistic people get sick less often

*CORRELATION DOES NOT = CAUSATION!

Question 15

Types of research designs- experiments

Answer 15

To find causation (if x causes y) by manipulating one or more of the independent variables and measuring its effect on one or more of the dependent variables

• Independent and dependent variables

Question 16

Theories vs. hypotheses

Answer 16

Theory: organized set of principles that describes, predicts, and explains a phenomenon

Hypothesis: specific testable prediction, often derived from a theory

Question 17

Independent vs. dependent variable

Answer 17

Independent variable: any variable that is manipulated (proposed cause of change in the DV)

Dependent variable: variable being measured (proposed to be affected by the IV)

Ex: IV = exposure/no exposure to violent TV
DV = aggression

Question 18

Confounding variable

Answer 18

• Extraneous factors that interfere/confounds with the relationship between an experiment’s IV and DV
• Can influence outcome and lead to inaccurate conclusions

Question 19

Experimental vs. control group

Answer 19

Experimental group: receives treatment or change in the IV

Control group: does not receive treatment and serves as a baseline for comparison. IV is constant in the control group.

Question 20

Correlation coefficient

Answer 20

Measures the strength and direction of a relationship between variables

-1.0, 0, +1.0

Question 21

Schacter (1959- Evil Dr. Zilstein) study on anxiety and affiliation

Answer 21

• Create two groups by manipulating levels of fear
• One group believes the shocks are no big deal, other group is told the shocks are very painful
• Both groups asked to indicate if they’d like to wait with others or alone before treatment
• Non-anxious people decided to wait alone
• Anxious people decided to wait with others