PSY 150: Midterm Flashcards
Principal Contributors of behavioral perspective
John B. Watson
Ivan Pavlov
B.F. Skinner
Effects of environment on the overt behavior of humans and animals
behavioral perspective
Principal Contributors of psychoanalytic theory
Sigmund Freud
Carl Jung
Alfred Adler
Subject Matter of cognitive theory
thoughts, mental processes
Only observable events (stimulus-response relations) can be studied scientifically
basic premise of behavioral
Humans are free, rational beings with the potential for personal growth, and they are fundamentally different from animals
basic premise of humanistic theory
unconscious determinants of behavior
subject matter of psychoanalytic theory
physiological bases of behavior in humans in animals
subject matter of biological theory
evolutionary bases of behavior in humans and animals
subject matter of evolutionary theory
Principal contributors of biological theory
James Olds
Roger Sperry
David Hubel
Torsten Wiesel
Principal contributors of humanistic theory
Carl Rogers
Abraham Maslow
unconscious motives and experiences in earl childhood govern personality and mental disorders
basic premise of psychoanalytic theory
humans are free, rational beings with potential for personal growth, and they are fundamentally different from animals
basic premise of humanistic theory
principal contributors of cognitive theory
Jean Piaget
Noam Chomsky
Herbert Simon
principal contributors of evolutionary theory
David Buss Martin Daly Margo Wilson Leda Cosmides John Tooby
psychological bases of behavior in humans and animals
subject matter of biological theory
evolutionary bases of behavior in humans and animals
subject matter of evolutionary theory
an organism’s functioning can be explained in terms of the bodily structures and biochemical processes that underlie behavior
basic premise of biological theory
behavior patterns have evolved to solve adaptive problems; natural selection favors behaviors that enhance reproductive success.
basic premise evolutionary theory
unique aspects of human experience
subject matter of humanistic theory
looks at human development across the life span. developmental psychology once focused primarily on child development, but today devotes a great deal of research to adolescence, adulthood, and old age.
developmental psychology
focuses on interpersonal behavior and the role of social forces in governing behavior. Typical topics include attitude formation, attitude change, prejudice, conformity, attraction, aggression, intimate relationships, and behavior in groups.
social psychology
studies how people learn and the best ways to teach them. Examines curriculum design, teacher training, achievement testing, student motivation, classroom diversity, and other aspects of the educational process.
educational psychology
focuses on how psychological factors relate to the promotion and maintenance of physical health and the causation, prevention, and treatment of illness
health psychology
examines the influence of genetic factors on behavior and the role of the brain, nervous system, endocrine system, and bodily chemicals in the regulation of behavior.
physiological psychology
encompasses the traditional core of topics that psychology focused on heavily in the first half-century as a science; sensation, perception, learning, conditioning, motivation, and emotion.
experimental psychology
focuses on “higher” mental processes, such as memory, reasoning, information processing language, problem solving, decision making, and creativity
cognitive psychology
is concerned with the measurement of behavior and capacities, usually through the development of psychological tests. Psychometrics is involved with the design of tests to assess personality, intelligence, and a wide range of abilities. It is also concerned with development of new techniques for statistical analysis.
psychometrics
is interested in describing and understanding individuals’ consistency in behavior, which represents their personality. This area of interest is also concerned with the factors that shape personality and with personality assessment.
personality
Most popular focus of research
developmental
Least popular focus of research
personality
Second most popular focus of research
social
Focuses of professional practice
clinical psychology
counseling psychology
industrial and organization psychology
school psychology
psychologists that are concerned with the evaluation, diagnosis, and treatment of individuals with psychological disorders, as well as treatment of less severe behavioral and emotional problems. Principal activities include interviewing clients, psychological testing, and providing group or individual psychotherapy
clinical psychology
this psychology overlaps with clinical psychology in that specialists in both areas engage in similar activities - interviewing, testing, and providing therapy. However, these psychologists usually work with a somewhat different clientele, providing assistance to people struggling with everyday problems of moderate severity. Thus, they often specialize in family, marital, or career counseling.
counseling psychology
psychologists in this area perform a wide variety of tasks in the world of business and industry. these tasks include running human resources departments, working to improve staff morale and attitudes, striving to increase job satisfaction and productivity, examining organizational structures and procedures, and making recommendations for improvements.
industrial and organizational psychology
these psychologists strive to promote the cognitive, emotional, and social development of children in schools. They usually work in elementary or secondary schools, where they test and counsel children having difficulties in school and aid parents and teachers in solving school-related problems.
school psychology
Largest psychology professional practice focus
clinical
a research method in which the investigator manipulates a variable under carefully controlled conditions and observes whether any changes occur in a second variable as a result.
experiment
a condition or event that an experimenter varies in order to see its impact on another variable
independent variable
the variable that is thought to be affected by manipulation of the independent variable
dependent variable
consists of the subjects who receive some special treatment in regard to the independent variable.
experimental group
consists of similar subjects who do not receive the special treatment given to the experimental group
control group
any variables other than the independent variable that seem likely to influence the dependent variable in a specific study
extraneous variables
when two variables are linked in a way that makes it difficult to sort out their specific effects
confounding of variables
random assignment of subjects occurs when all subjects have an equal chance of being assigned to any group or condition in the study
random assignment
consist of differing approaches to the observation measurement, manipulation, and control of variables in empirical studies.
research methods
exists when two variables are related to each other
correlation
______ methods permit investigators to see only whether there is a link or association between the variables of interest.
descriptive or correlational
the results of descriptive research are often summarized with a statistic called _____.
the correlation coefficient
a _____ correlation indicates that two variables co-vary (change together) in the same direction.
positive
a _____ correlation indicates that two variables co-vary in the opposite direction.
negative
a numerical index of the degree of relationship between two variables
correlation coefficient
The _____ of a correlation depends only on the size of the coefficient.
strength
A correlation of -.60 reflects a _____ relationship than a correlation of +.30.
stronger
A coefficient near zero indicates _____ relationship.
no
As a correlation increases in strength (gets closer to +1.00 or -1.00) the ability to predict one variable based on knowledge of the other variable _____.
increases
Correlation is ______ to causation.
not equivalent
the repetition of a study to see whether the earlier results are duplicated
replication
______ combines the statistical results of many studies of the same question, yielding an estimate of the size and consistency of a variable’s effects
meta-analysis
the collection of subjects selected for observation in an empirical study
sample
the much larger collection of animals or people (from which the sample is drawn) that researchers want to generalize about.
population
______ exists when a sample is not representative of the population from which it was drawn
sampling bias
_____ occur when participants’ expectations lead them to experience some change even though they receive empty, fake, or ineffectual treatment.
placebo effects
Placebo effects tend to be weak effects.
True or False
False
One of the most problematic of these distortions is the _____, which is a tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself.
social desirability bias
The ____, which occurs when someone’s overall evaluation of a person, object, or institution spills over to influence more specific ratings.
halo effect
______ occurs when a researcher’s expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained.
Experimenter bias
The ______ procedure is a research strategy in which neither subjects nor experimenters know which subjects are in the experimental or control groups.
double-bling
precise control over variables can eliminate alternative explanations for findings. researchers are able to draw conclusions about cause-and-effect relationships between variables.
advantages of experiment research method
This research method is well suited for study of psychological disorders and therapeutic practices. Individual cases can provide compelling illustrations to support or undermine a theory.
advantages of case studies
This research method can be good place to start when little is known about the phenomena under study and unlike other descriptive/correlational methods, it can be used to study animal as well as human behavior.
advantages of naturalistic observation
artificiality that can be a problem in laboratory studies is minimized with this research method.
naturalistic observation
Data collection can be relatively easy, saving time and money. Researchers can gather data on difficult to observe aspects of behavior. Questionnaires are well suited for gathering data on attitudes, values, and beliefs from large samples.
advantages of surveys
contrived laboratory situations are often artificial, making it risky to generalize findings to the real world.
disadvantage of experiments
ethical concerns and practical realities preclude _____ on many important questions.
experiments
it can be difficult to remain unobtrusive; even animal behavior may be altered by the ____ process.
observation
researchers are unable to draw causal conclusions which this method
case studies
self report data are often _____, due to intentional deception, social desirability bias, response sets, memory lapses, and poor wording of questions.
unreliable
individual cells in the nervous system that receive, integrate, and transmit information
neurons
____ or the cell body that contains the cell nucleus and much of the chemical machinery common to most cells
soma
____ are the parts of a neuron that are specialized to receive information.
dendrites
The ____ is a long, thin fiber that transmits signals away from the soma to other neurons or to the muscles or glands.
axon
In humans, many axons are wrapped in cells with a high concentration of a white, fatty substance called ____.
myelin
The ____ is insulating material that encases some axons.
myelin sheath
the axon ends in a cluster of terminal buttons, which are small knobs that secrete chemicals called ______.
neurotransmitters
a ____ is a junction where information is transmitted from one neuron to another.
synapse
released by motor neurons controlling skeletal muscles that contributes to the regulation of attention, arousal, and memory. some of these receptors stimulated by nicotine.
Acetylcholine (ACH)
neurotransmitter contributes to control of voluntary movement
dopamine (DA)
resemble opiate drugs in structure and effects and play role in pain relief and response to stress
endorphins
contribute to regulation of eating behavior
endorphins
serves as widely distributed inhibitory transmitter, contributing to regulation of anxiety and sleep/arousal
GABA
valium and similar antianxiety drugs work at ____ synapses
GABA
involved in regulation of sleep and wakefulness, eating, aggression
serotonin
prozac and similar antidepressant drugs affect ____ circuits
serotonin
contributes to modulation of mood and arousal
norepinephrine (NE)
cocaine and amphetamines elevate activity at ____ synapses
norepinephrine (NE)
_____ circuits in medial forebrain bundle characterized as “reward pathway”
dopamine
part of limbic system involved in emotion and aggression
amygdala
responsible for regulating basic biological needs; hunger, thirst, temperature control
hypothalamus
“master” gland that regulates other endocrine glands
pituitary gland
part of limbic system involved in learning and memory
hippocampus
involved in sleep and arousal
pons
responsible for regulating largely unconscious functions such as breathing and circulation
medulla
responsible for transmitting information between brain and rest of body; handles simple reflexes
spinal cord
