Intro & Scientific Method

Question 1

structuralism

Answer 1

Uses the method of introspection to identify the basic elements or “structures” of psychological experience

Question 2

main structuralists

Answer 2

Wundt, Titchener

Question 3

functionalism

Answer 3

understand why animals and humans have developed the particular psychological aspects that they currently possess;

influenced by Darwinism - became evolutionary psychology

Question 4

main functionalist

Answer 4

William James

Question 5

psychodynamic psychology

Answer 5

approach to understanding human behavior that focuses on the role of unconscious thoughts, feelings, and memories

Question 6

behaviorism

Answer 6

based on the premise that it is not possible to objectively study the mind, and therefore that psychologists should limit their attention to the study of behavior itself

Question 7

main psychodynamics

Answer 7

Freud, Jung, Adler

Question 8

main behaviorists

Answer 8

Pavlov (classical conditioning)

Watson (Locke’s tabula rosa)

Skinner (operant conditioning)

Question 9

humanistic

Answer 9

reaction against psychoanalysis and behaviorism; uniquely positive human characteristics; understand from phenomenological perspective, individual perspective

Question 10

main humanists

Answer 10

Rogers (getting in touch with self and personal growth)

Maslow (hierarchy of needs)

Question 11

cognitive psychology

Answer 11

studies mental processes, including perception, thinking, memory, and judgment

when we take into consideration how stimuli are evaluated and interpreted, we understand behavior more deeply.

Question 12

main cognitive psychologists

Answer 12

Ebbinghaus, Barlett, Piaget (memory is influenced by what we already know was also a major idea behind the cognitive-developmental stage model)

Question 13

social-cultural psychology

Answer 13

study of how the social situations and the cultures in which people find themselves influence thinking and behavior

Question 14

social norms

Answer 14

the ways of thinking, feeling, or behaving that are shared by group members and perceived by them as appropriate

include customs, traditions, standards, and rules, as well as the general values of the group

Question 15

culture

Answer 15

the common set of social norms, including religious and family values and other moral beliefs, shared by the people who live in a geographical region

Question 16

personality psychoogy

Answer 16

These psychologists study people and the differences among them. The goal is to develop theories that explain the psychological processes of individuals, and to focus on individual differences.

Question 17

Basic research

Answer 17

research that answers fundamental questions about behavior

Question 18

Applied research

Answer 18

research that investigates issues that have implications for everyday life and provides solutions to everyday problems.

Question 19

laws

Answer 19

Principles that are so general as to apply to all situations in a given domain of inquiry

Question 20

theory

Answer 20

an integrated set of principles that explains and predicts many, but not all, observed relationships within a given domain of inquiry.

Question 21

Qualities of a good theory

Answer 21

general, meaning they summarize many different outcomes.

parsimonious, meaning they provide the simplest possible account of those outcomes

falsifiablewhich meansthe variables of interest can be adequately measured and the relationships between the variables that are predicted by the theory can be shown through research to be incorrect

Question 22

research hypothesis

Answer 22

a specific and falsifiable prediction about the relationship between or among two or more variables

Question 23

variable

Answer 23

any attribute that can assume different values among different people or across different times or places

Question 24

Conceptual variables

Answer 24

abstract ideas that form the basis of research hypotheses. Sometimes the conceptual variables are rather simple—for instance, “age,” “gender,” or “weight.” In other cases the conceptual variables represent more complex ideas, such as “anxiety,” “cognitive development,” “learning,” self-esteem,” or “sexism.”

Question 25

measured variables

Answer 25

variables consisting of numbers that represent the conceptual variables. first step in testing a hypothesis e.g., he conceptual variable “participating in psychotherapy” could be represented as the measured variable “number of psychotherapy hours the patient has accrued” 

Question 26

operational definition

Answer 26

a precise statement of how a conceptual variable is turned into a measured variable

Question 27

Research Designs

Answer 27

Descriptive Correlational Experimental

Question 28

Descriptive Research

Answer 28

a snapshot of the current state of affairs Provides a relatively complete picture of what is occurring at a given time. Allows the development of questions for further study. Does not assess relationships among variables. May be unethical if participants do not know they are being observed.

Question 29

Types of Descriptive Research

Answer 29

case studies—descriptive records of one or more individual’s experiences and behavior.  survey—a measure administered through either an interview or a written questionnaire to get a picture of the beliefs or behaviors of a sample of people of interest. The people chosen to participate in the research (known as the sample) are selected to be representative of all the people that the researcher wishes to know about (the population).  naturalistic observation—is research based on the observation of everyday events. 

Question 30

Descriptive Statistics

Answer 30

numbers that summarize the distribution of scores on a measured variable - to describe the outcomes of descriptive research

Question 31

central tendency

Answer 31

the point in the distribution around which the data are centered

Question 32

mean, median, mode

Answer 32

mean is the most commonly used measure of central tendency. It is computed by calculating the sum of all the scores of the variable and dividing this sum by the number of participants in the distribution median is the score in the center of the distribution, meaning that 50% of the scores are greater than the median and 50% of the scores are less than the median.  mode, represents the value that occurs most frequently in the distribution. 

Question 33

dispersion

Answer 33

refers to the extent to which the scores are all tightly clustered around the central tendency

Question 34

standard deviation

Answer 34

the most commonly used measure of dispersion Distributions with a larger standard deviation have more spread.

Question 35

correlational research

Answer 35

involves the measurement of two or more relevant variables and an assessment of the relationship between or among those variables

Question 36

correlational variables and their relationships

Answer 36

one of them is called the predictor variable and the other the outcome variable Positive Linear Negative Linear Independent Curvilinear patterns of association in which, although there is an association, the points are not well described by a single straight line (Increases in anxiety from low to moderate levels are associated with performance increases, whereas increases in anxiety from moderate to high levels are associated with decreases in performance）

Question 37

Pearson correlation coefficient

Answer 37

measurement of correlation: ranges from r = –1.00 to r = +1.00; Positive values of r (such as r = .54 or r = .67) indicate that the relationship is positive linear; negative values of r (such as r = –.30 or r = –.72) indicate negative linear relationships strength of the linear relationship is indexed by the distance of the correlation coefficient from zero (its absolute value). For instance, r = –.54 is a stronger relationship than r = .30, and r = .72 is a stronger relationship than r = –.57.

Question 38

Multiple regression

Answer 38

statistical technique, based on correlation coefficients among variables, that allows predicting a single outcome variable from more than one predictor variable predictor variables of salary, satisfaction and years employed with outcome of job performance

Question 39

common-causal variable

Answer 39

a variable that is not part of the research hypothesis but that causes both the predictor and the outcome variable and thus produces the observed correlation between them. 

Question 40

spurious relationship

Answer 40

a relationship between two variables in which a common-causal variable produces and “explains away” the relationship.

Question 41

experimental research

Answer 41

research hypothesis suggests that the manipulated independent variable or variables will cause changes in the measured dependent variables

Question 42

independent variable

Answer 42

the causing variable that is created (manipulated) by the experimenter.

Question 43

dependent variable

Answer 43

a measured variable that is expected to be influenced by the experimental manipulation. 

Question 44

Initial Equivalence among experimental conditions

Answer 44

e.g., random assignment to conditions, a procedure in which the condition that each participant is assigned to is determined through a random process, such as drawing numbers out of an envelope or using a random number table.

Question 45

Threats to Research Validity

Answer 45

Construct validity Statistical conclusion validity Internal validity

Question 46

Construct validity

Answer 46

the extent to which the variables used in the research adequately assess the conceptual variables they were designed to measure.  One requirement for construct validity is that the measure be reliable, where reliability refers to the consistency of a measured variable.

Question 47

Statistical conclusion validity

Answer 47

refers to the extent to which we can be certain that the researcher has drawn accurate conclusions about the statistical significance of the research.

Question 48

Statistical significance 

Answer 48

the confidence with which a scientist can conclude that data are not due to chance or random error. 

Question 49

Internal validity 

Answer 49

the extent to which we can trust the conclusions that have been drawn about the causal relationship between the independent and dependent variables  e.g.: expectancy effects - telling the subjects that they are being given alcohol experimenter bias - a situation in which the experimenter subtly treats the research participants in the various experimental conditions differently, resulting in an invalid confirmation of the research hypothesis. 

Question 50

double-blind experiment

Answer 50

both the researcher and the research participants are blind to condition. 

Question 51

external validity

Answer 51

the extent to which relationships among conceptual variables can be demonstrated in a wide variety of people and a wide variety of manipulated or measured variables, ie, generalized

Question 52

Generalization 

Answer 52

the extent to which relationships among conceptual variables can be demonstrated in a wide variety of people and a wide variety of manipulated or measured variables. If generalization is not possible, then there is a limiting condition

Question 53

meta-analysis

Answer 53

a statistical technique that uses the results of existing studies to integrate and draw conclusions about those studies. 

Question 54

longitudinal research designs

Answer 54

research designs in which individuals in the sample are followed and contacted over an extended period of time, often over multiple developmental stages.

Question 55

Cross-sectional research designs

Answer 55

an alternative to longitudinal designs. age comparisons are made between samples of different people at different ages at one time

Question 56

Cohort effects

Answer 56

confounding principle referring to the possibility that differences in cognition or behavior at two points in time may be caused by differences that are unrelated to the changes in age. The differences might instead be due to environmental factors that affect an entire age group.