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Psychology 101 > Midterm 1 > Flashcards

Midterm 1 Flashcards

1
Q

Definition of Psychology

A

Study of the mind, brain, and behavior

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2
Q

Type of science

A

Systematic - what is planned
Empirical - what is seen

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3
Q

science relies on?

A

Empirical reasonings

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4
Q

Levels of analysis

A

Biological - on molecular/neurochemical level (molecular or brain structure)
Psychological - mental level (thoughts, feeling, emotions)
Social Culture Influences - social or behavior level (personal relationship, relating to others)

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5
Q

5 complexity in Psychology

A
  1. Human behavior is hard to predict
  2. Individual differences
  3. Mutual influence
  4. Culture difference (behavior is shaped by culture)
  5. Psychological influences are rarely independent of each other
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6
Q

Why can’t we trust common sense?

A

Common sense can be useful, but it can also be flawed or simply incorrect
Your common sense can be wrong and it is most of the times

Naive Realism : the belief that we see the world precisely as it is
“Seeing is believing”

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7
Q

Naive Realism

A

the belief that we see the world precisely as it is
“Seeing is believing”

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8
Q

Scientific Theory

A

an explanation for large number of findings in the natural world
- Generate hypotheses
- Hypothesis: a testable prediction derived from a scientific theory

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9
Q

What are some misconceptions about theories?

A
  1. A theory explains one specific event
  2. A theory is an educated guess
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10
Q

What about corrections (scientific thinking)

A

A scientific theory must be able to generate testable predictions

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11
Q

Confirmation Bias

A

Mother of all biases
the tendency (way) to seek out evidence that support what already believe and deny and dismiss the evidence that contradicts them

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12
Q

Belief Perseverance

A

the tendency to stick to our initial beliefs, even when evidence contradicts them

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13
Q

Metaphysical Claims

A

Claiming about the world that is not testable

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14
Q

Pseudoscience

A

a set of claims that seems scientific, but isn’t

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15
Q

Warning signs of pseudoscience

A
  1. exaggerated claims
  2. Over Reliance on anecdotes
  3. Talk of “proof” instead of evidence
  4. Lack of Self-Correction
  5. Overuse of ad hoc immunizing hypothesis
  6. Lack of review by others
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16
Q

Patternicity

A

Tendency to detect meaningful patterns in
random stimuli

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17
Q

Why are we drawn to pseudoscience?

A
  • We find comfort in our beliefs
  • personal benefit - believing what we want to be true
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18
Q

Logical Fallacies

A

Emotional Reasoning Fallacy: use emotions as guides to evaluate a claim
Bandwagon Fallacy: accept a claim because many people believe it
Not Me Fallacy: other people may have those biases, not me

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19
Q

Dangers of Pseudoscience

A

Opportunity cost
Direct harm
Blocking scientific thinking

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20
Q

Scientific Skepticism

A

Evaluating claims with open mind only after researchers have done scientific tests and found evidence

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21
Q

Scientific skepticism is characterized ______?

A

Critical thinking

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22
Q

6 principles of critical thinking

A

Principle #1: Ruling out rival hypotheses
- Consider alternative explanations for findings
Principle #2: Correlation is not causation
- Just because two things are associated – or correlated – does not mean that one causes the other
Principle #3: Falsifiability
- It must be possible to disprove a claim
Principle #4: Replicability
- Psychological findings must be duplicated
Principle #5: Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence
- Evidence must be as convincing as the
claims
Principle #6: Occam’s razor
- Principle of Parsimony
- simplest explanation is the often the best

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23
Q

Psychology’s past

A

Originally psychology was considered a part of philosophy
* William Wundt developed first psychology lab in 1800s

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24
Q

5 primary schools of thoughts that have shaped modern psychology

A
  1. Structuralism
  2. Functionalism
  3. Behaviorism
  4. Cognitivism
  5. Psychoanalysis
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25
Q

Structuralism: The Elements of the Mind
who?
goal?
lasting scientific influence?

A

William Wundt and E. B. Titchener
- using self-analysis to identify basic “structure” of psychological experience
- Emphasis on the importance of systematic observation to the study of the conscious experience

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26
Q

Functionalism: Psychology Meets Darwin
who?
goal?
lasting scientific influence?

A

William James - influenced by Charles Darwin
- to understand the adaptive purposes/functions
of psychological characteristics (thoughts, feelings, and behaviors)
-Functionalism does not exist in its original form
today, but has been gradually absorbed into
mainstream scientific psychology

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27
Q

Behaviorism: The Laws of Learning
who?
goal?
lasting scientific influence?

A

John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner
- to uncover the general principals of
learning that explain all human behaviors
- Influential in models of human and animal
learning

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28
Q

Cognitivism: Opening the Black Box
who?
goal?
lasting scientific influence?

A

Jean Piaget and Ulric Neisser
- Understand the role of mental processes in behavior
- influential in many areas ( language , problem solving, )

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29
Q

Psychoanalysis: The Depths of the
Unconscious
who?
goal?
lasting scientific influence?

A

Sigmund Freud
- Uncover internal processes we are unaware
of
- Unconscious processes are nearly
impossible to verify

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30
Q

take away from 5 primary schools of thoughts

A
  1. Structuralism - Insisted on systematic data collection and empiricism
  2. Functionalism - Using evolutionary theory in modern psychology
  3. Behaviorism - helped to understand learning and the importance of scientific rigor
  4. Cognitivism - Focus on our interpretation of events
  5. Psychoanalysis - a place to start when imagining mental processes that are not conscious
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31
Q

Modern Psychology
Clinical
Counselling
School
Developmental
Experimental
Biopsychologists
Forensic
Industrial-Organizational:

A
  • Assess, diagnose and treat people with mental disorders
  • For those experiencing temporary or situational problems (e.g. marital, occupational)
  • Work in schools with teachers, parents and children to overcome learning difficulties, behavioral problems, etc.
  • Most work with infants and children examining how people change over time
  • Research to understand memory, language, thinking, etc.
  • Physiological bases of behavior
  • Assess, diagnose, assist with rehabilitation of prison inmates or research on eyewitnesses or juries
  • Help select employees, design equipment for
    maximum productivity
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32
Q

What are The Great Debates of Psychology?

A

Nature Vs. Nurture
Evolutionary Psychology
Free will determinism

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33
Q

Two Modes of Thinking

A

System 1: Intuitive
– Fast, no effort
– snap judgments
System 2: Analytical
– Slow, requires effort
– problem solving

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34
Q

Heuristics

A

Mental shortcuts

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35
Q

Naturalistic Observation

A

Watching behavior in real-world
settings

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36
Q

Case Study

A

Studying one or a small number of people for an
extended period of time

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37
Q

Self-Report and Surveys

A

Self-report measures characteristics of a person by asking people directly (through interviews or questionnaires)

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38
Q

Random Selection

A

Essential in order to generalize findings from surveys and questionnaires

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39
Q

Evaluating Measures

A

Reliability : consistency of measurement
Validity : Extent to which a measure assess what it claims to measure

40
Q

pro and cons of self-report measures

A

Pros
* Easy to administer
* Direct (self) assessment of a person’s state
Cons
* Accuracy is skewed for certain groups (narcissists)
* Potential dishonesty

41
Q

Rating Data
(avoiding cons of self-report measures)

A

we can ask someone who knows the participation
well to evaluate them

42
Q

Correlational Design

A

Examine the extent to which two variables are associated
+ve : as one increases so does the other
-ve : as one increases, the other decreases
0 : no relationship between variables

43
Q

Illusory Correlation

A

approach of a statistical association where
none exists

44
Q

Experimental Design
- independent variable
- dependent variable

A

The independent variable is manipulated
The dependent variable is measured

45
Q

Independent variable
Dependent variable
Controlled variables

A
  • Independent variable is the one thing you change (eg., the liquid used to water each plant)
  • Dependent variable is the change that happens because of the independent variable (e.g., the height of the plant)
  • Controlled variables are everything that you want to remain constant and unchanging (e.g., the type of plant, pot size, amount of liquid, soil type, etc.)
46
Q

Experimentation Pitfalls

A

Placebo effect:
- improvement because you expect improvement
Nocebo effect:
- harm resulting from the expectation of harm
Experimenter expectancy effect:
- researchers’ hypotheses lead them to
unintentionally bias the outcome
Demand characteristics:
- cues that participants pick up allowing them to guess the researcher’s hypothesis

47
Q

Ethical Guidelines for Human Research

A

Research Ethics Board (REB)
Informed consent
Protection from harm
Justification for fraud/lying
interrogating participants after experiment

48
Q

Ethical Issues in Animal Research

A

7-8% of research in psychology uses animals
The majority are rodents and birds

49
Q

Descriptive statistics:

A

numerical characteristics of the nature of the data

50
Q

Variability/dispersion:

A

how loosely or tightly bunched scores are

51
Q

Inferential statistics:

A

allows us to determine whether we can generalize
findings from the sample to the population

52
Q

Intelligence to Psychologist:

A

Edwin Boring’s (1923) definition:
– “Intelligence is whatever intelligence tests measure”

53
Q

Intelligence as Sensory Capacity

A
  • Sir Francis Galton’s (1884) theory that people with better senses acquire more knowledge
54
Q

First intelligence test?

A

by Binet and Simon in 1905
– Focused on higher mental processes – reasoning, understanding, judgment

55
Q

Intelligence as Abstract Thinking today

A

the capacity to understand theoretical concepts, as well as to acquire knowledge and to learn and adapt

56
Q

Who developed of g and s factors?

A

Charles Spearman

57
Q

General intelligence (g)

A

explains the general differences in human intelligence

58
Q

specific abilities (s)

A

Our particular skills

59
Q

Who theorized that intelligence is a mix of two capacities

A

Cattell and Horn

60
Q

Cattell and Horn

A

theorized that intelligence is a mix of two capacities

61
Q

Two capacities?

A

Fluid intelligence: capacity to learn new ways of solving problems
Crystallized intelligence: accumulated knowledge of the world we gain over time

62
Q

Multiple Intelligences

A

According to a number of theorists, there are completely separate intellectualskill

63
Q

Triarchic Model

A

three largely distinct types of intelligence
Analytic
Practical
Creative

64
Q

Analytical intelligence

A

ability to reason logically

65
Q

Practical intelligence

A

ability to solve real world problems

66
Q

Creative intelligence

A

ability to come up with novel and creative/effective answers

67
Q

Persons with higher intelligence show?

A

quicker reaction times and less overall brain activity

68
Q

The Location of Intelligence

A

Prefrontal cortex is especially active during highly “g-loaded” tasks

69
Q

Stanford-Binet IQ test

A

—intelligence test based on the measure developed by Binet and Simon, adapted by Lewis Terman of Stanford University

it works for children, not adults

70
Q

intelligence quotient (IQ)

A

(Mental age/chron. age ) x 100 = IQ

71
Q

deviation IQ

A

Modern IQ tests that eliminates age effects
Compares each person to what is normal for his or her own age group

72
Q

Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS)

A

Most commonly used IQ test for adults that consists of 15 subtests that give five scores:
– Overall IQ
– Verbal comprehension
– Perceptual reasoning
– Working memory
– Processing speed

73
Q

Childhood IQ Tests

A

WISC-V - older children and adolescents
WPPSI-IV - 2 ½ to 7-year-olds

74
Q

Eugenics Movement and abuse of IQ

A

Tests were biased - relied heavily on language and culturally-specificknowledge
The two most obvious effects on society were immigration rules and forced sterilisation.

75
Q

Culture-Fair IQ Tests

A

Consist of abstract-reasoning items that do not depend on language

76
Q

Post-Secondary Admissions Tests

A

designed to measure general skillin a particular field or measure academic progress

77
Q

Reliability of IQ Scores

A

In adults, scores tend to be highly stable over long periods of time but prior to age three, IQ tests are very unstable and poor
predictors of adult IQ

78
Q

Validity of IQ Scores

A

Moderately successful at predicting grades

79
Q

Intellectual Disability

A

identified by the development of low IQ (below roughly 70) in childhood and an inability to carry out basic everyday functions
Four levels: mild, moderate, severe, profound

80
Q

Causes of Intellectual Disability

A

there are over 200 causes, but most common are are Fragile X syndrome and Down syndrome

81
Q

Mental Giftedness

A
  • top 2% of IQ scores
  • professions: doctors, lawyers, engineers, professors
82
Q

What makes a genius?

A
  • Genetic factors play a role, but so do practice and dedication
  • intellectual brilliance with a lot of efforts
83
Q

Heritability

A

% of an individual’s diversity in a trait that is caused by genes

84
Q

Misconceptions About Heritability

A

1: Heritability applies to a single individual rather than to differences among individuals.
2: : Heritability tells us whether a trait can be changed
3: Heritability is a fixed number.

85
Q

Estimating the Heritability of Traits

A

– Family studies
– Twin studies
– Adoption studies

86
Q

Family Studies

A

researchers examine the extent to which a
trait “runs” in healthy families
– Pro: useful for estimating risk of disorder
– Con: relatives share a similar environment as well as similar genetic material

87
Q

Twin Studies

A

Investigate differences between twins
- Monozygotic twins share 100% of their genes
– Dizygotic twins share ~50% of their genes – just like ordinary siblings

88
Q

Adoption Studies

A

investigate how much a child who is adopted into a new family resembles their adoptive versus their birth parents.

89
Q

Environmental Influences

A

Those that think IQ is fixed tend to take fewer academic risks and challenge themselves less
- Later born children tend to have slightly lower IQs than earlier-born children
- Children from larger families have slightly lower IQs than children from smaller families
- Amount of schooling seems to have a causal affect on IQ

90
Q

Poverty and IQ

A

Jensen’s cumulative deficit study in poor area of rural Georgia
* Lack of proper nutrition and exposure to lead may lead to lower IQs

91
Q

Flynn Effect

A

the average IQ of the population has been rising by
about 3 points every 10 years

92
Q

why Flynn Effect?

A
  1. Increased test sophistication
  2. Increased complexity of modern world
  3. Better nutrition
  4. Changes at home and school
93
Q

Sex Differences in IQ

A

few or no average differences between males and females but, males are more variable in their
scores
- differences in terms of specific mental
abilities
- Females tend to do better on some verbal tasks and recognizing emotions in others
- Males tend to do better on cognitive ability tests, like mental rotation and geography

94
Q

Causes of Sex Differences

A

Some, like physical ability, may be biological
Most appear to be due to environmental differences

95
Q

Racial Differences in IQ

A

differences appear to be largely or completely environmental in origin

96
Q

Reconciling Racial Differences

A

Within-group vs between-group heritability
– The differences between groups are due to environment;
– The difference within groups are due to genetics

97
Q

Stereotype threat

A

– fear that we may confirm a negative group
stereotype

Psychology 101 (3 decks)

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