Intro & Scientific Method Flashcards

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1
Q

structuralism

A

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

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2
Q

main structuralists

A

Wundt, Titchener

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3
Q

functionalism

A

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

influenced by Darwinism - became evolutionary psychology

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4
Q

main functionalist

A

William James

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5
Q

psychodynamic psychology

A

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

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6
Q

behaviorism

A

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

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7
Q

main psychodynamics

A

Freud, Jung, Adler

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8
Q

main behaviorists

A

Pavlov (classical conditioning)

Watson (Locke’s tabula rosa)

Skinner (operant conditioning)

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9
Q

humanistic

A

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

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10
Q

main humanists

A

Rogers (getting in touch with self and personal growth)

Maslow (hierarchy of needs)

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11
Q

cognitive psychology

A

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.

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12
Q

main cognitive psychologists

A

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

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13
Q

social-cultural psychology

A

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

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14
Q

social norms

A

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

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15
Q

culture

A

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

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16
Q

personality psychoogy

A

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.

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17
Q

Basic research

A

research that answers fundamental questions about behavior

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18
Q

Applied research

A

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

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19
Q

laws

A

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

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20
Q

theory

A

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

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21
Q

Qualities of a good theory

A

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

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22
Q

research hypothesis

A

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

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23
Q

variable

A

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

24
Q

Conceptual variables

A

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.”

25
Q

measured variables

A

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”

26
Q

operational definition

A

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

27
Q

Research Designs

A

Descriptive
Correlational
Experimental

28
Q

Descriptive Research

A

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.

29
Q

Types of Descriptive Research

A

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 thesample) are selected to be representative ofall the people that the researcher wishes to know about(thepopulation).

naturalistic observation—isresearch based on the observation of everyday events.

30
Q

Descriptive Statistics

A

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

31
Q

central tendency

A

the point in the distribution around which the data are centered

32
Q

mean, median, mode

A

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

medianisthe 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, representsthe value that occurs most frequently in the distribution.

33
Q

dispersion

A

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

34
Q

standard deviation

A

the most commonly used measure of dispersion

Distributions with a larger standard deviation have more spread.

35
Q

correlational research

A

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

36
Q

correlational variables and their relationships

A

one of them is called thepredictor variableand the other theoutcome 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)

37
Q

Pearson correlation coefficient

A

measurement of correlation: ranges fromr= –1.00 tor= +1.00; Positive values ofr(such asr= .54 orr= .67) indicate that the relationship is positive linear; negative values ofr(such asr= –.30 orr= –.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 thanr= .30, andr= .72 is a stronger relationship thanr= –.57.

38
Q

Multiple regression

A

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

39
Q

common-causal variable

A

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.

40
Q

spurious relationship

A

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

41
Q

experimental research

A

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

42
Q

independent variable

A

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

43
Q

dependent variable

A

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

44
Q

Initial Equivalence among experimental conditions

A

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.

45
Q

Threats to Research Validity

A

Construct validity
Statistical conclusion validity
Internal validity

46
Q

Construct validity

A

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 bereliable, wherereliabilityrefers tothe consistency of a measured variable.

47
Q

Statistical conclusion validity

A

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

48
Q

Statistical significance

A

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

49
Q

Internal validity

A

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.

50
Q

double-blind experiment

A

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

51
Q

external validity

A

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

52
Q

Generalization

A

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

53
Q

meta-analysis

A

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

54
Q

longitudinal research designs

A

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

55
Q

Cross-sectional research designs

A

an alternative to longitudinal designs.

age comparisons are made between samples of different people at different ages at one time

56
Q

Cohort effects

A

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.