MIDTERM #1 Flashcards
the professional application of psychological knowledge to the solution of problems associated with human behavior
applied psychology
What is an example of clinical psychology?
treating mental health problems
what is an example of counseling psychology?
therapeutic practices
what is an example of educational psychology?
educational practice and learning
what is an example of occupational psychology?
improving organizations
what is an example of health psychology?
human health behavior problems
what is an example of sports & exercise psychology?
enhancing sport performance
what is an example of forensic psychology?
applications in criminal justice system
what is an example of neuropsychology?
study and function of brain processes
practice whose efficacy has been proven through research using the scientific method
evidence-based practice
what are the 3 characteristics of the scientific approach?
systematic empiricism, empirical questions, and public knowledge
carefully planning, making, recording, and analyzing observations about the natural world
systematic empiricism
questions about the way the world actually is; can be answered by systematically observing it
empirical questions
the publishing of knowledge after scientists ask empirical questions, make systematic observations, and draw conclusions
public knowledge
What must be true about scientific claims?
they must be falsifiable
refers to activities and beliefs that are claimed to be scientific by their proponents—and may
appear to be scientific at first glance—but are not
pseudoscience
what are the key differences between science and pseudoscience?
pseudoscience might lack:
- systematic empiricism
- public knowledge
pseudoscience does not address empirical questions (not falsifiable)
intuitive beliefs about people’s behavior, thoughts, and feelings
folk psychology
what is the process of scientific research (scientific method)?
1) formulate a research question
2) conduct a study to answer question
3) analyze the data
4) draw conclusions
5) publish results
conducted primarily for the sake of achieving a more detailed and accurate understanding of human behavior, without necessarily trying to address any particular practical problem
basic research
conducted primarily to address some practical problem
applied research
Why does psychology rely on science rather than common sense?
People’s intuitions about human behavior (folk psychology) often turn out to be wrong
we tend to focus on cases that confirm our intuitive beliefs and not on cases that disconfirm them
confirmation bias
when there is often not enough evidence to fully evaluate a belief or claim
tolerance for uncertainty
quantity or quality that varies across people
or situations
variable
a definition of the variable in terms of precisely how it is to be measured
operational definition
a statistic used to measure the strength of a correlation between quantitative variables
Pearson’s r
a type of study designed specifically to answer the question of whether there is a causal relationship between two variables
experiment
When is an experiment high in internal validity?
when the way it was conducted supports the conclusion that
the independent variable caused any observed differences in the dependent variable
when is an experiment high in external validity?
when the way it was conducted supports generalizing the results to people and situations beyond those actually studied
What 3 conditions must be met before we can make a causal inference?
covariation, time-order relationship, and elimination of plausible alternative causes
How is covariation measured in an experiment?
there is a relationship between the independent and dependent variables
how is a time-order relationship measured in an experiment?
the presumed cause precedes the effect
how is the elimination of plausible alternative causes measured in an experiment?
using control techniques, we rule out other possible causes for the outcome
an extraneous variable that differs on average across
levels of the independent variable
confounding variable
experiments that examine the effects of a variable that is not directly under the researcher’s control (student age or gender) on outcomes such as achievement or performance level
quasi-experimental designs
a list of all the members of the population from which to select the respondents
sampling frame
done in such a way that each individual in the population has an equal probability of being selected for the sample
simple random sampling
the population is divided into different subgroups or “strata” (usually based on demographic characteristics) and then a random sample is taken from each “stratum”
stratified random sampling
larger clusters of individuals are randomly
sampled and then individuals within each cluster are randomly sampled
cluster sampling
occurs when a sample is selected in such a way that it is not representative of the entire population and therefore produces inaccurate results
sampling bias
what are the 4 steps of sampling?
1) define the population
2) obtain a sampling frame
3) select a sample
4) get data from each element
What does IRB stand for?
institutional review board
a committee that is responsible for reviewing research protocols for potential ethical problems
IRB (institutional review board)
what are the general things to be
concerned about when seeking ethics approval?
make sure the risks of the proposed research are minimized, the benefits outweigh the risks, the research is carried out in a fair manner, and the informed consent procedure is adequate
concerned with the application of psychological theories and research to help us understand how teachers and learners behave, perform, think, feel, and relate to each other in various educational settings
educational psychology
What are some aspects of educational psychology/what is studied and improved?
students’ functioning and organization in the classroon
an approach to the study of psychology which focuses entirely on observable events and the behaviors associated with them, without referring to the mind and emotions
behaviourism
What did Pavlov discover with his dog experiment?
classical conditioning
the learning of an association between 2 stimuli, the first of which (the conditioned stimulus) predicts the occurrence of the second (the unconditioned stimulus)
classical conditioning
What did Skinner discover with his rat experiment?
operant conditioning
the learning of a specific behavior or response because that behavior has certain consequences
operant conditioning
How does positive reinforcement work?
you behave in a certain way that results in a reward, and as a result, you are more likely to repeat that behavior
how does negative reinforcement work?
You behave in a certain way that results in the removal of something unpleasant, and as a result you are more likely to repeat that behavior (ex: doing a paper early)
A consequence that follows a behavior so that you do the behavior less often in the future
punishment
a process of reinforcing a series of responses that increasingly resemble the desired final behavior
shaping
when do we use shaping?
when a desired behavior occurs rarely or not at all
What does ABA stand for?
applied behavior analysis
what does ABA (applied behavior analysis) consist of?
- applies behaviorist principles to those with behavioral difficulties
- functional behavior assessment followed by changes to pattern of reinforcement
Who is ABA (applied behavior analysis) usually used with?
children with autism or disruptive class behavior