psych 111 exam 1 Flashcards
define reinforcement
the consequences of a behavior that determine whether it will be more likely that the behavior will occur again.
descartes philosophies
body and mind (soul) are fundamentally different things, body made of material substance, mind/soul made of immaterial or spiritual substance. mind influences body through pineal gland
early roots of psychology
history of psychology is rooted in philosophy, biology, and physiology.
Ivan Pavlov-what did he do?
carried out pioneering research on the physiology of digestion. dogs salivate at the sight of food and at the sight of the person who fed them. every time he sounded a tone the dogs would salivate. created a response: action or physiological change elicited by a stimulus
John Watson-what did he do?
psychologists focus entirely on study of behavior. It can be measured objectively. The goal of scientific psychology should be to predict and control behavior in ways that benefit society. The only way to understand how animals learn and adapt is to focus solely on their behavior-same for humans. Human behavior is powerfully influenced by environment. nature v nurture
psychoanalytic:
sigmund Freud’s approach to understanding human behavior that emphasizes the importance of unconscious mental processes in shaping feelings, thoughts, and behaviors. Important to uncover a person’s early experiences and to illuminate person’s unconscious anxieties, conflicts, and desires.
humanism:
approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings.
behaviorism:
an approach that advocates that psychologists restrict themselves to the scientific study of objectively observable behavior.
Gestalt:
a psychological approach that emphasizes that we often perceive the whole rather than the sum of the parts.
cognitive:
study of mental processes, including perception, thought, memory, and reasoning.
evolutionary
psychological approach that explains mind and behavior in terms of adaptive value of abilities that are preserved over time by natural selection.
Charles Darwin-natural selection.
Nativism and its contribution to modern psychology
the philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inborn.
nature v. nurture
phrenology
a now defunct theory that specific mental abilities and characteristics, ranging from memory to the capacity for happiness, are localized in specific regions of the brain.
Plato and Aristotle’s philosophies
plato argued nativism. aristotle believed that the child’s mind was a blank slate on which experiences were written, argued for empiricism: knowledge acquired through experience.
psychology
the scientific study of mind and behavior
the brain and its involvement with speech
different parts of the brain are used for specific functions. particular part on left side damaged results in inability to produce words. findings concluded that although both spoken and signed language usually rely on left hemisphere, the right hemisphere can become involved but only for a limited time.
dogmatism:
doctors who thought that the best way to understand illness was to develop theories about the body’s functions. today we use this term to describe the tendency for people to cling to their assumptions.
empiricism:
belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation.
informed consent
written agreement to participate in a study made by an adult who has been informed of all the risks that participation may entail.
operational definition:
a description of a property in concrete, measurable terms.
Pragmatism:
a reasonable and logical way of doing things based on dealing with specific situations instead of on ideas and theories.
psychological code of ethics
respect for persons and their right to influence or coercion, research should be beneficent, and research should be just. rules: informed consent, freedom from coercion, protection from harm, risk-benefit analysis, deception, debriefing, and confidentiality.
reliability
the tendency for a measure to produce the same measurement whenever it is used to measure the same thing
things that make people difficult to study:
complexity: human brain is complicated
variability: no 2 individuals are the same
reactivity: people often think, feel, and act differently when they are being observed
validity
refers to the extent to which a measurement and a property are conceptually related
what is “n” in a research study?
size of sample, population
who regulates ethical analysis and reporting of scientific results?
IRB ensures that data is collected ethically, after that it’s on the honor system as to whether it is ethically analyzed and reported.
CT scan
computerized axial tomography, scanner rotates device around person’s head and takes a series of x-rays from different angles. shows densities of brain tissue, high density = white. used to locate lesions or tumors which appear darker because they are less dense
fMRI scan:
functional magnetic resonance imaging, detects the twisting of hemoglobin and molecules in the blood when they are exposed to magnetic pulses. when active neurons demand more energy and blood flow, oxygenated hemoglobin concentrates to active areas. most widely used functional-brain-imaging technique. live.
heritability index
measure of the variability of behavioral traits among individuals that can be accounted for by genetic factors. 0-1.0. 0 meaning that genes do NOT contribute, 1.0 being genes are the ONLY reason for the individual difference. almost all range between 0.3 and 0.6
motor neurons
efferent, carry signals from the spinal cord to the muscles to produce movement. these neurons often have long axons that can stretch to muscles at our extremities.
MRI scan
computerized axial tomography, scanner rotates a device around a person’s head and takes a series of x-ray photographs from different angles. computer programs combine images to provide views from any angle. show density of brain tissue.
