PSY1005 - WEEK 1

Question 1

what is goal of psychology

Answer 1

understand cause and consequence of people’s perceptions, beliefs, emotions and actions

Question 2

what were origins of psychological theories and interests

Answer 2

philosophers of Ancient Greece

Question 3

describe emergence of psychological research, over time

Answer 3

1800’s Germany- emerging physiological field meant interest in cognitive psychology
initial religious objections - 1892 Cambridge uni felt a psychophysics lab would put human soul on scale

Question 4

name the 4 key features of psychological science

Answer 4

determinism, parsimony, testability, systematic empiricism

Question 5

define determinism

Answer 5

assumption of order, not randomness or chaos, with a systematic meaningful cause behind events

Question 6

define parsimony

Answer 6

pragmatic recommendation that we should prefer simplicity over complexity, relating to Occam’s Razor concept

Question 7

define testability

Answer 7

ideas should be disconfirmable using available research techniques, relating to concept of falsifiability

Question 8

what does idea being falsifiable mean

Answer 8

it is open to being wrong

Question 9

define systematic empiricism

Answer 9

structured and organised approach to gathering data/observations in order to answer question

Question 10

state simple benefits of psychological research

Answer 10

systematic empirical evidence and data collection, evaluate competing explanation, rule out unsupported theories, form basis of reccomendation and practice

Question 11

what are 8 steps of research process

Answer 11

generate research question
consult theory
state hypothesis
consider ethics
set up study
collect data
analyse data and interpret results
answer research question

Question 12

define concept

Answer 12

way of understanding behaviours or actions within a context eg: neural networks, consciousness

Question 13

define construct

Answer 13

refers to abstract things/ideas eg: intelligence, depressiond

Question 14

define theory

Answer 14

general principle or set of principles that explain specific phenomena’s or events

Question 15

define ethics

Answer 15

moral principles and practices that consider risks and benefits of carrying out research study. includes collecting, analysing and interpreting results

Question 16

define variable

Answer 16

concrete indicator of concepts/constructs that can be manipulated or measured in observable methods