Pearson & lecture content Flashcards
What is an ad hoc immunising hypothesis?
An escape catch that defenders of a theory use to protect their theory from being contradicted by evidence.
What are the two points by Carl Sagan on to be a scientific sceptic?
- Willingness to keep an open mind to all claims.
2. Willingness to accept these claims only after researchers have subjected them to careful scientific tests.
What are the six principles of scientific thinking?
- Extraordinary claims
- Testability
- Occam’s razor
- Replicability
- Ruling out rival hypotheses
- Correlation vs causation
What is the id?
- Operates by the Pleasure Principle- selfish and immediate gratification.
- unconscious, instinctual, irrational drives.
What is the ego?
- Operates by The Reality Principle- realistic and plan for future to maintain survival.
- conscious, rational mind, ensures id & superego manifest appropriately.
What is the superego?
- The “conscience”that stops us from doing wrong.
- Preconscious awareness.
What are the five stages of psychosexual development?
- Oral (0-2 yrs)
- Anal (2-3 yrs)
- Phallic (3-6 yrs)
- Latent (6-11 yrs)
- Genital (11+ yrs)
What are the Defence Mechanisms?
Fixation Identification Repression Regression Displacement Sublimation
What is learning?
A relatively permanent change in behaviour due to experience.
Who was the key figure in the learning theory classical conditioning?
Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)
What was the significance of the Ancient Greeks for Western Psychology?
- Establishment of rigour
- Open discussion and debate
What happened in the Dark Ages?
- dominated by mysticism, superstition and anti-intellectualism.
- preservation of Greek learning carried out by Islamic scholarship.
What were the principles of Newtonian science?
- God created the world but didn’t micromanage it.
- Material world governed by natural laws.
- Rejected Aristotle final cause concept.
- Accepted Occam’s Razor.
- Knowledge is imperfect.
- Classification is not explanation!
What did Francis Bacon believe?
– Stressed observation
– desired no theories but only induction
What were the four themes of Renaissance humanism?
- individualism
- personal religion
- interest in past Greek and Roman writers enter
- anti-Aristotelianism
What were the four rules of method of Descartes?
- Avoid prejudgement.
- Reductionism.
- Analysis in orderly fashion.
- Leave no aspect unexamined.
What did Locke believe?
– Dualism
– Opposed innate ideas; that all knowledge comes from experience (includes both external observations and internal operations of the mind).
What is behaviourism?
– A psychological approach which emphasises scientific and objective methods of investigation.
– Observable stimulus-response behaviours.
– All behaviours are learned learned through interaction with the environment.
– “Blank slate” (opposed Descartes)- role of experience.
What is motivation?
– The drives and urges to relieve unpleasant state of mind.
– Driver of directed behaviours to satisfy our wants and needs.
What is the Opponent-Process Theory?
every process that has an affective balance (i.e. is pleasant or unpleasant) is followed by a secondary, “opponent process”
What is the A-process of the opponent-process theory?
initial, usually fast and immediate emotional reaction to a stimulus
What is the B process of the opponent-process theory?
after the initial shock, or emotion- the “after-reaction”
What is the function of dopamine?
Helps regulate movement and emotional responses.
What are the roles of the hippocampus?
Part of the limbic system,
- the region that regulates emotions
- associated mainly with long-term memory
- spatial navigation
What is the function of learning?
To adapt to changing conditions in the world.
What are the four types of learning?
- Noticing and ignoring (sensitisation and habituation)
- Learning what events signal (classical conditioning close back bracket).
- Learning about the consequences of our behaviour (operant conditioning)
- Learning from others (observational and learning).
What is NOT learning?
Instincts, reflexes and changes in behaviour due to fatigue.
What is an unconditioned response in classical conditioning?
an unlearned response that occurs naturally in reaction to the unconditioned stimulus.
What is a conditioned response in classical conditioning?
an automatic learned response established by training to an ordinarily neutral stimulus.