Introduction To Psychology Flashcards
What is the scientific method?
A logical process of problem solving applied in all sciences, involving eight steps
What are the 8 steps of the scientific method?
- Identify the area of research and form a research aim
- collect information
- Identify the research question and formulate hypothesis
- Design a research method to test the hypothesis
- Collect and analyse the data
- Draw a conclusion - accept or reject the hypothesis
- Report findings
- Test the conclusion
What is a variable?
Is a quantity or quality that can be different at different times or in different places, areas that may vary from person to person, such as age, race, gender identification, sexually, IQ, etc.
What is an independent variable?
A deliberately manipulated or varied in some way by the experimente
What is the dependant variable?
The property that is measured in the research.
It’s value depends on the IV.
What is operisationalisation of a variable?
That the variable is stated in terms that show how it is measured. Eg: age- operisationlised as age in total months
What is a hypothesis?
A clear statement predicting how changes in the independent variable(s) will affect the dependant variable(s)
What is an extraneous variable?
A variable other than the IV that could cause change in the value of the DV.
What is a controlled variable?
When potential effects of Ann extraneous variable have been removed from the experiment
What is the ‘population’?
The group we wish to draw conclusions
What is a sample?
A small amount of individuals from the population to be participants in our research and to represent the population
What is random sampling?
A sampling procedure in which each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected
What is stratified sampling?
A Process by which the effects a certain variable can be eliminated as a possible confound in an experiment
What are the strengths of random sampling and the weaknesses?
Strengths- gives representative
Weakness- difficult to achieve (hard to list all individuals)
What are the strengths and weaknesses of stratified random sampling?
Strength- eliminates the effect of the variable on which the sample is stratified
Weakness- time consuming and expensive.
What is convenience sample?
Picking whoever is available at the time
What is the strengths and weaknesses of convenience sampling?
Strength- quick, easy, cheap
Weakness- bias in sample
What is a confounding variable?
A variable other than the IV that has a systematic effect on the value of the DV
What is the experimental group (E-group)?
E-group members are exposed to the IV, it receives the treatment, which is the variable that the experimental group participants receive and the members of the control group do not.
What’s the purpose of the e-group?
Is to show the effects of the IV on the value of the DV
What is the control group
Consist of the participants who are not exposed to the IV
The basic experimental method which uses two different group, which are?
The experimental group (e-group) and the control group (c-group)
What is the purpose of the c-group?
Is to form a basis for comparison with e-group.
How is the e-group and c-group used after the experiment?
The average value of the DV for the e-group is compared with the average value of the DV for the c-group. If there’s a significant difference its concluded that the independent variable has caused this difference.
What is random allocation?
Means that all participants who have been selected for an experiment must have an equal chance of being in the e-group or the c-group
What are three experimental designs?
- repeated measures
- matched participants
- independent groups
What is the repeated measures design?
In repeated measures design each participant is part of both the e-group and c-group.
Advantages and disadvantages of repeated measures design?
Advantage- using the same participants as the e-group and c-group (means that confounds caused by ‘participant variable’ are eliminated)
Disadvantage- takes a long time and the procedure can suffer from confounding variables known as order effects
What are order effects?
Changes in results caused by the sequence of performing takes in a test
What is matched participants design?
A researcher identifies a variable that is like;lay confound, and eliminates the effects of this variable from the experiment.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of matched participant design?
Advantage- the variable on which the participants are ‘matched’ will not influence the results because it’s effects will be the same in the e-group and the c-group
Disadvantage- it’s very time consuming to find out the value of this variable for each participant
What is the independent groups design?
Allocates participants to the e-group or the c-group at random.
Advantages and disadvantages of the independent groups design:
Advantage- can all be done at once and dropouts are unlikely
Disadvantage- needs a large number of participants to ensure that the spread of participant variables in the sample will match the spread in the population.
What is cross-sectional studies?
A form of independent groups design where data is collected at one time from participants of all ages and differ the age-groups and compared.
What is psychology?
It’s the systematic study of the mind, brain and behaviour
What is the mind-body debate?
Is the mind a separate entity to the physical body (dualism) or is it the same system (monism)?
What is the ‘nature’ Cs ‘nurture’ debate?
Which of the two has greater influence on a person’s mental processes and behaviour: heredity and genetics, or environmental influences?
What did Rene Descartes state?
That people could exercise ‘free will’, or in other words, decide for themselves to take a course of action and follow it through.
What did Charles Darwin develop?
Developed the theory of evolution, and proposed that both animals and humans are programmed by nature to behave in ways that help their species to survive.
He also highlighted the ‘nature’ vs ‘nurture’ debate. (To what extent are mental processes and behaviours due to genetics/heredity (nature) of the organism, or form environmental influences (nurture)?)
Who is William Wundt?
A man referred commonly as ‘the father of experimental psychology’ as he was the first to establish such a laboratory. He used the structuralist approach to explore the elements that make up consciousness.
What us the structuralist approach?
Breaking things down into smaller parts and then investigating how they were related.
Who is William James?
An American philosopher and psychologist, who was interested in the function and purpose of consciousness. He viewed the consciousness as a continuous stream of thought. He believed that consciousness should be studied outside the laboratory, in the real world.
What is empirical research Mean?
Mean that a research question is formed, a hypothesis developed and a method of data collection determined. At the end of the study, the researcher assesses whether or not their prediction was supported or rejected.
What are some psychological approaches?
- behavioural
- cognitive
- humanistic
- biological
- sociocultural
- psychoanalytic/psychodynamic
What is the behavioural approach?
Focuses on the ‘nurture’ aspect of human development and placed greater importance on how environmental influences shaped a person, rather than their genetics or ‘nature’.
Ivan Pavlov and B.F Skinner used a systematic citified method to develop two of the most influential theories:
(In behavioural approach)
- classical conditioning: a learning process where an animal or organism can passively learn to show a naturally occurring reflex action
- operant conditioning: an active learning process where an animal or organism’s voluntary response is controlled by its consequences
What is the psychoanalytic/psychodynamic perspective?
An approach that aims to treat patients with psychological disorders. There was the belief that childhood experiences are an important influence on our behaviour as adults and that these behaviours are often driven by ‘free will’. With the proposal from Sigmund Freud, that behaviours were directed by the unconscious mind.
What is the cognitive perspective?
Looks at the relationship between cognition (thinking process) and behaviour.
It has three main branches, including:
- human experimental cognitive psychology, uses conventional systematic experimental methods to investigate thinking processes
- computational cognitive psychology, develops a mathematical and computer models to symbolise human cognition
- neural cognitive psychology, uses brain imaging to link the brain structures with thinking processes
Focuses on what happens in the mind between the environmental stimulus and the behavioural response
What is the humanistic perspective?
Explores a person’s ‘individual’ conscious experience.
What is the biological approach?
Examines the CNS, PNS and endocrine system, with a focus on genetics. The approach takes the side of nature, placing great importance on explaining thoughts, feelings and behaviours in terms of neural processes and a person’s ‘programming’ at birth.
What is a sociocultural approach?
Examines how a person’s beliefs, values and traditions influence their thoughts feelings and behaviours. The approach researches the relationship between psychological-mental processes and behaviours in terms of:
- social norms: rules and expectations about members of a social groups should think or behave
- cultural influences: the sacred beliefs, values and traditions and behaviour patterns of a particular group or nationality
