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Biopsychology > Lecture 2: Perspective In Psychology And Application > Flashcards

Lecture 2: Perspective In Psychology And Application Flashcards

1
Q

What is psychology?

A

Psychology is the scientific study of the behavior of individuals and their mental processes. As such, psychologists are behavioral scientists.

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2
Q

What is the scientific method?

A

The scientific method is the orderly, analytical process used in all sciences to analyze and solve problems.

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3
Q

What is Behaviour?

A

Behavior is observable, measurable action. It is the means by which both animals and humans adjust to their environment.

Behavior results from a combination of many internal factors (e.g., intelligence, developmental stage, physical health, genetics) and external factors (e.g., peer pressure, socioeconomic status) that all influence one another.

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4
Q

What are the 7 key traits of the ideal doctor?

A 
1- confident 
2- empathetic 
3- humane
4- personal
5- forthright 
6- respectful 
7- thorough
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5
Q

What is cognition/ mental processes?

A

Refers to the private, interna, workings of the mind

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6
Q

What are the goals of psychology?

A

Primary goal: improve our understanding of behaviour

Goals of psychologist: describe, explain, predict or control behaviour

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7
Q

What do you require to accurately describe behaviour?

A

1- psychologist must observe and accurately measure the behaviour

2- the type of behavioural data collected depends on the level of analysis. The focus of observations can range from broad, general, and global aspects all the way to minute details of the organism under study

3- Objectivity refers to the scientific necessity to record behavioral data as facts—as they really exist—not as we hope them to exist.

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8
Q

What is Behavioural data ?

A

Behavioral data includes the psychologist’s report of observations about the behavior and the conditions under which the behavior occurs.

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9
Q

What is the aim of Objectivity?

A

Objectivity helps ensure the advancement of scientific understanding of behavior, free of subjective, personal biases, prejudices, and expectations that would distort the data collected.

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10
Q

What is predicting behaviour?

A

Predicting behavior involves statements about the likelihood of a specific behavior occurring.

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11
Q

What is a Scientific prediction?

A

Scientific prediction is based on an understanding of relationships between behaviors and the mechanisms that link those behaviors to certain predictors. Scientists derive this information by systematically varying the conditions that lead to certain behaviors.

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12
Q

What is the ultimate goal for most psychologists?

Why?

A

Controlling behaviour

To improve individual’s quality of life

Controlling behavior means influencing a behavior to happen or not to happen, and influencing the nature of the behavior as it is being performed.

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13
Q

What are the 7 perspectives of psychology?

A 
Psychodynamic 
Behaviourist 
Humanistic
Cognitive
Biological 
Evolutionary 
Sociocultural
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14
Q

What is the Psychodynamic perspective?

A

This perspective holds that behavior results from powerful inner forces beyond our immediate awareness.

These forces include innate instincts, biological drives, and attempts to resolve conflicts between personal needs and society’s demands. The purpose of behavior, according to this view, is to reduce tension.

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15
Q

What is the Behaviorist perspective?

A

Behaviorists seek to understand how environmental stimuli influence behavior, reducing behavior into antecedents, behavioral responses, and consequences of behavior.

Antecedent environmental conditions refer to the state of the environment before a behavior is performed.

Behavioural response, the main object of study, refers to the action to be understood, predicted, and controlled.

Consequence refers to what results from the behavioral response.

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16
Q

What is the Humanistic perspective?

A

Humanists suggested that humans are not controlled by unconscious drives or the external environment, but that they have choice. The main task of humans is to strive for growth and development of their potential.

Humanistic psychology is holistic, not reductionistic (reducing to elements that drive behavior). It examines the human as a whole and does not attempt to reduce mental life to elemental parts.

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17
Q

What is the Cognitive perspective?

A

Cognitive psychologists are most interested in human thought and all the processes of knowing, such as attending, thinking, remembering, and understanding.

Cognitive psychologists view behavior as partly determined by past experiences but also influenced by an individual’s inner world of thought and imagination.

An individual’s subjective reality is more important than the objective reality that behaviorists strive to capture.

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18
Q

What is the Biological perspective?

A

The biological perspective attempts to explain behavior in terms of the influence of genes, the brain, the nervous system, and the endocrine system by examining underlying physical structures and processes.

Although the environment and experience can modify behavior by altering underlying biological structures and processes, behavior originates from biological forces.

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19
Q

What is Behavioural neuroscience?

A

Behavioral neuroscience is a multidisciplinary field that attempts to understand brain processes that influence behaviors, such as sensation, learning, and emotion.

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20
Q

What is Cognitive neuroscience?

A

Cognitive neuroscience is a multidisciplinary field that attempts to understand brain processes that influence human cognitive functions such as memory, language, and learning.

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21
Q

What is the Evolutionary perspective?

A

The evolutionary perspective extends the idea of natural selection to explain how mental abilities evolved.

Evolutionary psychologists identify adaptive problems that early humans may have encountered, such as avoiding predators, finding food, reproducing, and raising children, and then generate inferences about the mental processes that might have evolved in response to these problems

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22
Q

What is the Sociocultural perspective?

A

This perspective focuses on cross-cultural differences in the causes and consequences of behaviour.

Important concepts investigated by sociocultural psychologists include perceptions, human development, emotions, social norms, and the notion of “the self.”

Sociocultural psychologists point out that psychological principles derived from one culture cannot be automatically applied to other sociocultural groups.

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23
Q

What are the different specialism in psychology?

A 
Health 
Clinical
Developmental
Forensic
Social
Biological and neuropsychological 
Cognitive
Occupational
Educational
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24
Q

What is the focus of health psychology?

A

Psychological factors of health

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25
Q

What is the focus of clinical psychology?

A

Psychological disorders

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26
Q

What is the focus of developmental biology?

A

Development and change over the lifespan

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27
Q

What is the focus of forensic psychology?

A

Criminal and judicial behaviour and systems

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28
Q

What is the focus of social psychology?

A

Social and group processes

29
Q

What is the focus of biological and neuropsychological psychology?

A

Link between psychological and mental processes or behaviour

Internal mental processes (perception,memory)

30
Q

What is the focus of occupational psychology?

A

Work, workplace and organisation

31
Q

What is the focus of educational psychology?

A

Learning and education

32
Q

What is Health psychology? (Pragmatic definition )

A

Health psychology is the study of psychological processes that influence health, illness and health care

33
Q

What questions does health psychology answers?

A

In who do psychological processes exert influence, i.e. who gets studied?

What types of psychological process are studied?

How do processes influence health, illness and health care?

In what ways can psychology be applied in clinical practice?

34
Q

In who do psychological processes exert influence, i.e. who gets studied?

A

People who receive health care

People who provide health care

People who organise health care

35
Q

What are the processes studied in health psychology?

A

Multiple developmental influences, in particular

●Behaviourism
●Social Psychology
●Cognitive Psychology

36
Q

What is the Dual pathway model?

A

Two broad ways in which psychological processes may influence physical health:

1- directly on physical health
2- indirectly on physical health via behaviour

37
Q

What are the Three basic levels at which psychological principles (knowledge and techniques) can be applied?

A

Awareness of patient’s psychological state

Intervention in the form of brief counselling

Therapy from relevant psychological therapist

38
Q

How psychological factors affect our immune system & vice-versa?

A

The nervous system affects the endocrine system via the pituitary gland, controlling hormone secretion.

The endocrine system modulates the immune system through the hormones secreted by the pituitary and adrenal glands. This hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) plays a central role, as immune cells are equipped with receptors for HPA molecules, and are altered in number, function, and distribution as a result of the hormones secreted.

39
Q

Psychology is best defined as the scientific study of

a. the mind and consciousness.
b. the mental processes of individuals.
c. mental disorders and abnormal behaviour.
d. the behaviour of individuals and their mental processes.

A

d. the behaviour of individuals and their mental processes.

40
Q

Suppose you want to draw some psychological conclusions in a way that is consistent with the scientific aspect of psychology. You should base your conclusions on

a. the beliefs held by most people.
b. the fundamental notion of common sense.
c. your personal feelings or intuitions, but only if they are reasonable.
d. evidence collected according to the principles of the scientific method.

A

d. evidence collected according to the principles of the scientific method.

41
Q

The subject matter of psychology largely consists of

a. observable behaviour of humans.
b. unobservable behaviour of humans.
c. observable behaviour of other species of animals.
d. observable behaviour of humans and other species of animals.

A

D

42
Q

When drawing conclusions about behaviour, psychologists rely on

a. their own personal beliefs.
b. what is known as “common sense.”
c. objectively collected information.
d. their everyday observations of people.

A

C

43
Q

Which statement is MOST consistent with the perspective taken by psychologists?

a. Only human behaviour is of interest.
b. Mental processes are of little real importance.
c. Both observable behaviour and mental processes are of interest.
d. Behaviour should only be studied in a controlled research laboratory.

A

C

44
Q

When compared to the work of sociologists and anthropologists, psychologists are likely to focus more on

a. social institutions.
b. individual behaviour.
c. cultural differences in behaviour.
d. the behaviour of people in groups.

A

B

45
Q

A friend’s curiosity about how the human mind works is coupled with her fascination with computer science and artificial intelligence. It sounds as though your friend’s interests are consistent with the emerging area of ________ science.

a. social
b. health
c. cognitive
d. biological

A

C

46
Q

The first task in psychology is to make accurate observations about behaviour. This means that psychologists must first ________ behaviour.

a. predict
b. explain
c. control
d. describe

A

D

47
Q

To investigate behaviour, researchers may use different levels of analysis. Which of the following research questions exemplifies the narrowest, most specific level of analysis?

a. What are the causes of mental illness?
b. Which brain structures are associated with paranoid schizophrenia?
c. Are food additives responsible for the occurrence of certain types of mental illness?
d. Are there differences in the prevalence of mental illness in different countries?

A

B

48
Q

Two students are discussing their teacher’s inability to remember student names. One attributes the inability to a poor memory, but the other believes it is due to a lack of motivation. Researchers would judge which of the two explanations is best by

a. attributing the inability to a situational variable.
b. measuring how strongly each friend feels about his opinion.
c. attributing the inability to remember to a dispositional variable.
d. determining how well each explanation predicts behaviour in new situations.

A

D

49
Q

Therapeutic programs designed to help people substitute more positive behaviours for negative behaviours are most closely related to the psychological goal of

a. control.
b. prediction.
c. explanation.
d. description.

A

A

50
Q

The types of interventions that allow people to improve the quality of their lives are most directly the result of which goal of psychological research?

a. control
b. prediction
c. explanation
d. description

A

A

51
Q

Treatments for mental illness, the ability of people to eliminate unhealthy behaviours such as smoking and initiate healthy behaviours such as exercise, and the development of positive parenting practices are all consistent with the idea that

a. psychology is little more than common sense.
b. psychological knowledge can be used to help improve the quality of life.
c. explanation and prediction are the two most important psychological goals.
d. the use of animal participants has minimal relevance to modern psychological research.

A

B

52
Q

Which statement most closely characterises the current view of most psychologists toward the study of behaviour?

a. Psychologists borrow and blend from different perspectives.
b. Psychologists tend to agree that the most productive approach is the biological perspective.
c. Psychologists take the approach that complex behavior can be reduced to patterns of simple behaviour.
d. Although psychologists differ in their basic approach, all agree on the questions to be asked and how they should be studied.

A

A

53
Q

According to the ________ perspective, one purpose of behavior is to reduce the tension that has been brought about by powerful inner forces such as conflicts between personal needs and society’s demands.

a. cultural
b. humanistic
c. behaviouristic
d. Psychodynamic

A

D

54
Q

A psychologist believes that instincts, drives, and conflicts act as one fuel for behaviour; when tension has been reduced sufficiently, behaviour stops. This view is most consistent with that of the ________ perspective.

a. humanistic
b. evolutionary
c. behaviouristic
d. psychodynamic

A

D

55
Q

Psychologists who take the behaviourist approach seek to

a. illustrate the innate goodness of humans.
b. understand how environmental stimuli control behaviour.
c. validate the importance of thought processes in human behaviour.
d. demonstrate the importance of unresolved conflicts and inner forces.

A

B

56
Q

The search for antecedent environmental conditions and the observable consequences that follow from responses is most closely associated with the ________ perspective.

a. cognitive
b. humanistic
c. behaviourist
d. psychodynamic

A

C

57
Q

One way in which the cognitive model of behaviour differs from the behavioural model is in the assertion that, according to the cognitive model, behaviour

a. may result from totally novel ways of thinking.
b. is totally determined by past behavioural consequences.
c. is totally determined by preceding environmental events.
d. is totally determined by both preceding stimulus events and past behavioral consequences.

A

A

58
Q

A cognitive psychologist would be most likely to agree with the idea that

a. there is no such thing as a novel way of thinking.
b. behaviour is primarily a function of objective reality.
c. thoughts can be either the results of behaviour or the causes of behaviour.
d. researchers should focus their attention on simple behaviours rather than on higher mental processes.

A

C

59
Q

The ________ perspective looks for the causes of behaviour in the functioning of genes, the brain, the nervous system, and the endocrine system.

a. cognitive
b. biological
c. humanistic
d. psychodynamic

A

B

60
Q

A researcher who is investigating the possibility that some mental illnesses have a genetic basis is most likely being guided by the ________ perspective.

a. cultural
b. biological
c. humanistic
d. behaviourist

A

B

61
Q

Psychologists who accept a biological explanation of behaviour make certain assumptions. Which of the following would NOT be one of these assumptions?

a. Psychological behaviour has a biochemical basis.
b. Behaviour or behaviour potential is determined by heredity.
c. Experience cannot alter underlying biological structures and processes.
d. Complex behaviour is best understood if it is broken down into smaller, elementary units of analysis.

A

C

62
Q

With respect to the relationship between the principles of evolution and the brain’s mental abilities, evolutionary psychologists

a. assume that brains evolve just as other organs do.
b. believe that evolution of mental abilities has finally ended.
c. have concluded that brains adapt in humans, but not in other animals.
d. believe that only physical abilities adapt to environmental demands, not the brain.

A

A

63
Q

Evolutionary psychologists are more likely to explain the male and female sexual roles of today as

a. products of recent changes in the society.
b. behaviours that developed over extremely long periods of time.
c. identical to those roles as they existed during the Pleistocene era.
d. learned responses to environmental consequences in the individual male’s and female’s experience.

A

B

64
Q

Eating disorders, such as anorexia or bulimia, do not seem to be as common in third-world countries as they are in technologically advanced countries. Focusing on reasons for the difference in the incidence of these illnesses around the world is most directly within the province of the ________ perspective.

a. sociocultural
b. cognitive
c. humanistic
d. evolutionary

A

A

65
Q

A man is convicted of being a serial killer. A psychologist who favours the biological perspective would be MOST likely to look for the determinants of the killer’s behaviour in the

a. immediate stimulus environment.
b. man’s unconscious drives and conflicts.
c. man’s brain and nervous system processes.
d. adaptive behaviors of the man’s ancestors.

A

C

66
Q

Ever since she was a little girl, a teenager has been a troublemaker. A psychologist who favours the behaviourist perspective would most likely explain her behaviour in terms of

a. heredity.
b. her mental processes.
c. the role of specific brain systems.
d. her previous behaviour and its consequences.

A

D

67
Q

Suppose you read in the newspaper that someone robbed a store after watching a particularly violent movie. If you were a cognitive psychologist seeking to understand this behaviour, you would be most interested in whether the

a. individual really needed the money.
b. individual had relatives who were also robbers.
c. movie affected the thoughts and attitudes of the individual.
d. individual had a happy childhood without conflict and stress.

A

C

68
Q

While doing research for a paper on “teenage rebellion,” you discover that there are some places in the world where young adults experience very little turmoil and other places where teenagers seem prone to violent outbursts. Psychological studies of such differences are most likely to be done by psychologists who favor the ________ perspective.

a. sociocultural
b. cognitive
c. humanistic
d. evolutionary

A

A

69
Q

A classmate comes to you because he is concerned that his best friend is experiencing personal problems. You should suggest to your classmate that his friend may benefit by talking to a(n) ________ psychologist.

a. cognitive
b. counselling
c. educational
d. developmental

A

B

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