psych_105_20140916033229 (1/3) Flashcards
What are the Two Methods of Belief?
Dogmatism and Empiricism.
What is Dogmatism?
The tendency of people to cling to their assumptions. Being selected for ‘random’ frisking for your skin colour.
What is Empiricism?
When an individual attempts to acquire knowledge by observing objects or events.
What to Psychologists Do?
ask how millions of neurons constitute the brain and give rise to thoughts, feelings, and actions.
Difficulty in Studying People:
• Complex. • Variable. No two people are the same. • Reactivity. Front stage and back stage. When we are in public, we act one way. We accommodate our actions to what is expected of us. Back stage is when there is no expectations. If you know you’re being studied, you do what you think the researcher wants you to do.
Describe the Two Steps of Measurement.
• First Step: Define the property (ex. happiness) you wish to measure. Correlate two things so it is measurable (muscle contractions- a smile- indicates happiness), • Second Step: Identify the device (ex. electromyograph EMG) to detect the concrete conditions/events (happiness).
What is an Operational Definition?
It describes the property’s concrete condition in measurable terms (ex. muscle contractions).
What is Validity?
The characteristic of an observation that allows one to draw accurate inferences from it.
What are the Two Types of Validity?
Construct Validity and Predictive Validity.
What is Construct Validity?
The tendency of an operational definition and a property to have a clear conceptual relation. Invalid if you correlate two completely different things ie. hand size to happiness.
What is Predictive Validity?
The tendency for an operational definition to be related to other operational definitions.
Measurement is Inadequate If:
• Operational definition is inadequate. • Measure inadequate.
A Measure Must Be:
• Valid. • Reliable. o The tendency for a measure to produce the same results whenever it is used to measure the same thing. Consistent measurements. • Powerful. o The tendency for a measure to produce different results when it is used to measure different things. Ability to detect differences.
Case Studies:
Examine the exceptional individuals or outliers to gain in-depth insight into human psychology.
Many Observations:
Examining ordinary people to understand the average population.
Population:
The complete collection of objects or events that might be measured.
Sample:
The partial collection of objects or events measured.
Law of Large Numbers
AS the sampel size increases, the attributes of the sample more closely reflect the attributes of the population from which the sample was drawn.
Mode:
The ‘most frequent’ measurement in a frequency distribution.
Mean:
The average of the measurement frequency.
Median:
The ‘middle’ measurement in a frequency distribution.
Range:
The numerical difference between the smallest and largest measurements in a frequency distribution.
Big Five Traits:
Conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, and extraversion.
Rationalization
A defence mechanism that involves supplying a reasonable sounding explanation for unacceptable feelings and behaviour to conceal one’s underlying motives or feelings.
Reaction Formation
A defence mechanism that involved unconsciously replacing threatening inner wishes and fantasies with an exaggerated version of their opposite.
Projection
A defence mechanism that involves attributing one’s own threatening feelings, motives, or impulses to another person or group.
Regression
A defends mechanism in which the ego deals with internal conflict and perceived thread by reverting to an immature behaviour or earlier stage of development.
Displacement
A defence mechanism that involves sifting unacceptable wishes or drives to a neutral or less threatening alternative.
Identification
A defends mechanism that helps deal with feelings of threat and anxiety by enabling us unconsciously to take on the characteristics of another person who seems more powerful or better able to cope.
Sublimation
A defence mechanism that involves channeling unacceptable sexual or aggressive drives into socially acceptable and culturally enhancing activities.
Joint Attention
The ability to focus on what another person is focused on.
Social Referencing
The ability to use another person’s reaction as information about the world.
Imitation
The ability to do what another person does, or what another person meant to do.
False Belief Test
Maxi puts chocolate in box 1. Someone else comes and moves it to box 2. The children are then asked where Maxi would look for the chocolate.
Attachment
The emotional bond that forms between newborns and their primary caregivers.
Children’s moral thinking tends to shift from ___ to ___ (3 answers).
Realism, relativism. Prescriptions, principles. Outcomes, intentions.
Preconventional Stage
A stage of moral development in which the morality of an action is primarily determined by it’s consequences for the actor.
Conventional Stage
A stage if moral development in which the morality of an action is primarily determined by the extent to which it conforms to social rules.
Postconventional Stage
A stage of moral development at which the morality of an action is determined by a set of general principles that reflect core values.
Demand Characteristics
Aspects of an observational setting that cause people to behave the way they think an observer wants or expects them to behave.
Naturalistic Observation
A technique for gathering scientific knowledge by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environments.
Two Issues with Naturalistic Observation
- If an event does not occur naturally or very often. 2. If an event only occurs through interaction.
Surveys are good for observing:
Attitudes, beliefs, then behaviours, in that order.
Measures to Avoid Demand Characteristics
Privacy, anonymity, involuntary reactions, blindness.
Privacy
No one is watching or looking.
Anonymity
Removing name, giving number. The participant cannot be held accountable for their actions, and are more likely to act naturally.
Example of Involuntary Reaction
Pupils dilating when excited.
Blind Studies
Keep true purpose of research study hidden through cover stories or filler items/measures (lying to participant).
Observer Expectations Can Influence:
-How something is observer. -How someone behaves.
Double Blind Study
An observation whose true purpose is hidden from both the researcher and the participant. Can be facilitated through the use of computers or research assistants.
Correlation
Used to determine relation and causation, and explain why. The co-relationship or pattern of co-variation between wo variables, each which has been measured several times.
Variable
A property whose value can vary and change. Example, insulted or not insulted and agreed to give time or not.
Two Types of Correlation Coefficient
Positive and negative correlation.
Positive Correlation
More-more or less-less (spinach increasing longevity).
Negative Correlation
More-less or less-more (bacon decreasing longevity.
r
Measures direction and strength of relationship between two variables.
r=1
Perfect positive relationship.
r=-1
Perfect negative relationship.
r=0
No relationship.
Natural Correlation
A correlation observed between naturally occuring variables.
Example of: all variables that are causally related are correlated, but not all variables that are correlated are causally related.
Three possibilities (X=watching violent TV, Y=aggressiveness, Z=lack of parental supervision). o X can cause Y, o Y can cause X, or o Z can cause X and Y.
Third Variable Correlation
Two variables (X and Y) are correlated only because each is causally related to a third variable (Z).
Observational Techniques
Matched samples and matched pairs.
Third Variable Problem
When measuring natural correlations you can NEVER eliminate the possibility of third variable correlation.
Experiment.
A technique for establishing the causal relationship between variables.
An experiment is comprised of:
Manipulation and Randomization.
Manipulating the independent variable creates:
The control and experimental groups (exposure to violent TV).
After creating a pattern of variation through manipulation, we measure the:
Dependent variable (aggression).
After we measure the dependent variable, we:
Check whether variations in the independent and dependent variable are synchronized (correlation coefficient). Is there a causal relation?
Two types of randomization:
Self-selection and random assignment.
Self-Selection Problem:
Problem that arises when a participant’s inclusion in the control or experimental group is determined by the participant.
Random Assignment:
A procedure that uses random events to ensure that a participant’s assignment to the experimental or control group is not determined by any third variable (flip a coin or pull from a hat).
Flaw in Random Assignment?
Third variable problem can still exist. We cannot conclude that there is a causal relationship between the independent and dependent variable.
Inferential Statistics.
Calculations that are used to tell whether or not random assignment worked or failed. Worked only if p
Srtatistical Significance Can Be Claimed If:
There is a 95% or greater chance that random assignment worked.
Internal Validity
The characteristic of an experiment that allows one to draw accurate inferences about the causal relationship between an independent and dependent variable.
Internal Validity Can Be Claimed If:
-Independent variable was effectively manipulated. -There was random assignment. -The dependent variable was measured in a valid, unbiased manner, with reliability and powerful measure. -A correlation was observed between the pattern of variation in the independent variable nad the pattern of variation dependso n the dependent variable.
External Validity.
A characteristic of an experiment in which the independent and dependent variables are operationally defined in a normal, typical, or realistic way. Does not happen often, as experiments are rarely replicated in the real world.
Theory.
A hypothetical account of how and why a phenomenon occurs, usually in the form of a statement about the causal relationship between two or more properties.
Hypothesis.
A specific and testable prediction that is usually derived from a theory.
Random Sampling.
The technique for choosing participants that ensures that every member of a population has an equal chance of being included in the sample. Mostly impossible.
Research and Ethics Board Consider:
-Informed consent. -Freedom from coercion. -Protection from harm. -Risk-benefit analysis. -Debriefing. -Populations at increased risk. -Compensation. -Confidentiality.
Significance of International Declaration of Helsinki 1964.
Cornorstone document for experimenting involving humans. Developed by World Medical Association. Not binding.
Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans.
Canada’s history- Section 6 deals iwth research involving aboriginal peoples.
Pure vs Theoretical Science.
Pure science is exclusively theoretical, while theoretical research is both theoretical and applied.
Community Mental Health.
Developed in the 1950’s-70’s, focused on the dsinstitutionalization of mental health practies and social integration.
Community Support.
1970’s to present, treats mental health as a social welfare problem.
First Order vs. Second Order Change.
First order fixes the problem by changing the individual, while second order fixes the problem by changing the environment.
Three Levels of Research:
- Micro-level (individual). 2. Meso-level (middle). 3. Macro-level (in general).
Purpose of Community Psychology.
Enhancces quality of life through collaborative research and action.
Community Research Focuses On:
Prevention, diversity, equality, and oscial justice, no ‘helicopters’, grounded in research, interdisciplinary, co-learning.
‘Helicoptor’ Research.
Taking what you need, then leaving.
Co-Learning.
Individuals learn from the community, and the community learns from individuals.
Action Coalition on Human Trafficking (ACT) is an example of? What level of research is it?
Community based research. Because you are talking to individuals, then paplying it to society, it is a meso- project.
Steps to Research:
-Question. -Lit review. -Methodology. -Method. -Theoretical framework. -Analysis. -Verify. -Results. -Implement. -Evaluate.
Qualitative vs. Quantitative.
In depth, words, and words vs. surface numbers.
What is Language?
A system for communicating with others using signals that convey meaning and are combined according to rules of grammar.
Human Language is used to:
- Allow hunans to express a wide range of ideas and conceptions. 2. Allow humans to use words to refer to abstract ideas. 3. Allow humans to use language to name, categorize, and to describe things to ourselves when we think.
4 Building Blocks of Language:
- Phonome. 2. Morphemes. 3. Grammar. 4. Syntactical Rules.
Phoneme.
The smallest unit of sound that is recognizable as speech rather than random noise (ex. kill or kiss).
Phonological Rules.
A set of rules that indicate how phonemes can be combined to produce speech sounds.
Morpheme.
The smallest meaningful units of language (ex. un-break-able).
Morphological Rules.
A set of rules that indicate how morphemes can be combined to form rules.
Two Types of Morphemes.
Function morphemes and context morphemes.
Function Morphemes.
Tie sentences together or indicate time.
Context Morphemes.
Things and events.
Grammar.
A set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages.
Syntactical Rules.
Indicate how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences.
3 Characteristics of Language Development:
- Children learn language at a rapid rate. 2. Children make few errors. 3. Passive mastery vs. active mastery.
Passive Mastery.
Understanding or listening.
Active Mastery.
Being able to make a sentence as an example.
Distinguishing Speech Sounds.
Infants at birth can distinguish between contrasting sounds, 4 months later, they can only distinguish between contrasting sounds in the language they hear around them, and in 4-6 months, they begin to babble. Deaf infants using ASL begin to babble around the same time.
Fast Mapping.
Refers to the fact that children can map a word onto an underlying concept after only a single exposure.
Language Milestones:
24 Months- Two word sentences illustrate understanding of syntactical rules. 2-3 Years- Use past tense correctly. 3 Years- Can produce simple but complete sentences. 4-5 Years- Learn frammatical rules, but tend to overgeneralize. Language acquisition is complete, and becomes more complete.
Two Theories of Language:
Nativist and Interactioninst.
Nativist Theory of Language.
Infants can distinguish between phonemes regardless of language. Specific time frame for acquiring language. However, only explains why.
Interactionist Theory of Language.
Developed by Lev Vygotsky, explains how language develops. Although infants are born with an innate ability to acquire language (nativist), social interaction plays a critical role (experience).
Broca’s Area.
Located in the left frontal cortex. Involved in production of sequential patterns in vocal and sign languages.
Wernicke’s Area.
Located in the left temporal cortex. Involved in language comprehension.
Aphasia.
Difficulty in producing or comprehending language.
Study of Apes
Research suggests that the neurological wiring that allows us to learn language overlaps with apes (to some degree). However, their conceptual repertoire is smaller and simpler than humans.
Necessary Conditions.
Something that must be true of the object in order for it to belong to the category (all cats are mammals).
Sufficient Conditions.
Something that, if true to tthe objecct, proves that it belongs to the category (since it is a Tabby, it is a cat).
Concepts.
Refers to a mental representation that groups or categproes shared features of related objects, events, or other stimuli.
Concepts are fundamental for ___ and ___.
Thinking and making sense of the world.
Mindbug.
When our brain stops working in some way, we learn what that part of the brain does for us.
Category Specific Deficit.
An inability to recognize objects that belong to a particular category while leaving the ability to recognize objects outside the category undisturbed.
What does the case of Adam suggest?
Our brains are prewired to organize perceptual and sensory inputs into broad-based categories.
Family Resemblance Theory.
Members of a category have features that appear to be characteristic of category members, but may not be possessed by every member. Series of overlapping similarities.
Prototype Theory.
Category members that have many features in common with other members are reated as more typical of the category than members that share few common features. When in the category furniture, chair is mentioend more often than stool. Holistic processes and image processes.
Exemplar Theory.
A theory of categorization that argues that we make category judgements by comparing a new instance with stored memories for other instances of the category. Analysis and decision making.
Rational Choice Theory.
The classical view that we make decisions by determing how likely something is to happen, judging the value of the outcome, and multiplying the two.
Availability Bias.
Items that are more readily available in memory are judged as having occured more often. Direct relation between memory strength and frequency of occurance.
Heuristic.
A fast and efficient strategy that may facilitate decision making but does not guarantee that a solution will be reached.
Algorithm.
A well defined sequence of procedures or rules that guarantees a solution to a problem.
The Conjunction Fallacy.
When people think that two events are more likely to occur than either individual event. In many cases, the two things happen more readily separately.
Representativeness Heuristic and Framing Effects
A mental shortcut that involves making a probability judgement by comparing an object or event to a prototype of the object or event.
Framing Effects.
When people give different answers to the same problem depending on how the problem is phrased or framed (ex. 30% failure or 70% success).
Sunk-Cast Fallacy
A framing effect in which people make decisions based on what they hace previously invested in the situation (ex. moving and attending school).
People make decisions that maximize ___ and minimize ___.
Benefit, Risk.
Prospect Theory.
Argues that people choose to take on risk when evaluating potential losses and avoiding risks when evaluating potential gains. Tversky and Kahneman.
Identify and describe the two phases of decision making:
Phase 1: Simplify available information. Phase 2: Choose the prospect (what offers best value).
Certainty Effect.
When making a decision, people give greater weight to outcomes that are a sure thing. Certainty over expected payoffs. Choosing discount over payoffs.
Frequency Format Hypothesis.
Our minds evolved to notice how frequently things occur, not how likely they are to occur.
Means-End Analysis.
Developed by Karl Dunker, refers to a process searching for the means or steps to reduce the differences between the current situation and the desired goal.
Analogical problem solving states that successful problem solving depends on…
Learning the underlying principles.
Flashes of insight help us…
Reconstruct the problem.
Gestalt psychologists believed a flash of insight meant the…
Spontaneous reconstructing of a problem.
What did Metcalfe and Wiebe find regarding flashes of insight?
People are more likely to solve an insight problem if they felt they were gradually getting closer, but incremental steps did not predict the likelihood of solving the ptoblem.
What did Bowers, Regehr, Balthazard, and Parker find regarding flashes of insight?
Insightful problem solving is an incremental process (priming leads to flash of insight).
What are the steps leading up to flashes of insight?
- Activation of relavent information. 2. Recruiting of additional information. 3. Activating sufficient information. 4. Crosses awareness threshold. 5. Flash of Insight.
Functional Fixedness.
When we see something one way, it is hard for us to imagine it can be used in another way (candle, matchbox, and tacks).
Reasoning.
A mental activity that consists of organizing information or beliefs into a series of steps to reach conclusions.
Practical Reasoning.
Figuring out what to do, or reasoning directed towards action.
Theoretical Reasoning.
Reasoning directed towards arriving at a belief.
Belief Bias.
People’s judgements about whether to accept conclusions depends more on how believable the conclusions are than on whether the arguments are logically valid.
Syllogic Reasoning.
Determining whether a conclusion follows from two statements that are assumed tto be true. Major Premise- All mortals die. Minor Premise- All humans are mortals. Conclusion- All humans die.
Belief-Laden Syllogism.
Syllogism provides opportunity to use knowledge to influence believability of conclusion.
Belief-Neutral Syllogism.
Syllogism did not provide opportunity to use knowledge to influence believability of conclusion.
What is Intelligence?
The ability to direct one’s thinking, adapt to one’s circumstances, and learn from one’s experiences.
Binet-Simon Scale.
The scale consisted of thirty tasks of increasing difficulty. Estimate a child’s “mental level” by calculating the average test score of children in different age groups.
Natural Intelligence.
Measure a child’s aptitude for learning independent of prior educational achievement.
What did Goddard do?
Used this scale to justify meritocracy.
Meritcracy.
The more merit you have, the more you obtain in society.
What was the Binet-Simon scale used for in the United States under Goddard?
This scale was used to allow or disallow people to immigrate into the United States , and was used in the advancement in the eugenics movement.
Eugenics.
Selecting people who have a particular trait, and eliminating the others.
Problem with race:
-Most people are 99.9% identical. - Race has no genetic or scientific basis. -Variation has more to do with geography than genetics. -Social construct.
What did William Stern suggest in 1914?
Mental level=mental age. You can determine normal development by examining the ratio of the child’s mental age to the child’s physical age.
What did Lewis Terman do in 1916?
Formalized comparison with the intelligence quotient (IQ).
Ratio IQ.
A statistic obtained by dividing a person’s mental age, and then multiplying the quotient by 100.
Deviation IQ.
A statistic obtained by dividing a person’s test score by the average test score of people in the same age group and then multiplying the quotient by 100.
What are the most common tests for IQ?
Stanford-Binet and WAIS.
Benefits of Measuring IQ.
-Creates dorrelation between standard intelligence and academic performance. -Predict occupational status and income. -Correlation between average score and overall -economic status. -Job performance.
Drawbacks of Measuring IQ.
-Knowledge is power. -Tests are culturally biased. -Western concept of intelligence. -Skills tested test intelligence.
Factor Analysis.
A statistical technique developed by Spearman that explains a larger number of correlation in terms of a small number of underlying factors.
Two-Factor Theory of Intelligence.
Spearman’s theory suggests that every task requires a combination of a general ability (which he called g) and skills that are specific to the task (which he called s).
What did Thurstone argue in 1920?
There is no such thing as a general ability.
Bottom-up Approach
Administer test, examine responses to identify independent clusters that the responses form.
Crystallized Intelligece.
Accuracy and amount of information available for processing.
Fluid Intelligence.
The ability to process information.
Top-down Approach.
Administer broad survet of human abilities, then identify which abilities the survey measured or failed to measure.
Why did Sternberg criticize IQ tests?
They are missing something. Do not provide the same intelligence that tape measures provide for height.
Three types of intelligence for the triarchic model:
- Analytical intelligence. 2. Creative intelligence. 3. Practical intelligence.
Analytical Intelligence.
The ability to identify and define problems and to find strategies for solving them. How an individual relates to the internal world.
Creative Intelligence.
The ability to generate solutions that other people do not. How an individual relates to the internal world and how this is used to make sense of the external world.
Practical Intelligence.
The ability to apply and implement these solutions that other people do not. Street smarts.
Triangular Theory of Love.
Intimacy: Encompasses feelings of attachent, closeness, connectedness, and bondedness. Passion: Encompasses drives connected to both limerence and sexual attaction. Commitment: Encompasses, in the short term, the decision to remain with another, and in the long term, plans made with that other.
Gardner’s Research.
Prodigies, savants, eight types of intelligence, and emotional intelligence.
Prodigy.
A person of normal intelligence who has an extraordinary ability.
Savant.
A person with low intelligence who has an extraordinary ability.
Emotional Intelligence.
The ability to reason about emotions to enhance reasoning.
Identical (Monozygotic) Twins.
Develop from the splitting of a single egg that was fertilized by a single sperm.
Fraternal (Dizygotic) Twins.
Twins who develop from two different eggs that were fertilized by two different sperm.
Charlemains argues that the studies on twins have led us to believe that…
There is a genetic origin of many behavioural characteristics.
Utility of twins completely based upon the assumption that…
Twins are identical.
There is growing evidence that monozygotic twins may not be ___.
Identical.
Heritability Coefficient.
A statistic that describes the proportion of the difference between people’s scores that can be explained by differences in their genetic makeup.
Terman’s Suggestions.
Intelligence is influenced by genes, and some groups perform better on intelligence tests.
Plomin’s Observations.
High heritability tells us about the variation, not the causes- does not tell us if environmental changes or interventions have a significant impact.
Flynn Effect.
Refers to the accidental discovery that the average intelligence test score has been rising by 0.3% every year.
Cognitive Enhancers.
Substances such as ritalin and adderall.
Criticisms of IQ challenges.
-Culturally biased. -Linked to Puritan (Darwinian and eugenic) ideology.-Academically driven. -Situation and environment mattters.
Research has demonstrated that ___ ___ is a better predictor of intelligence than ___.
Socioeconomic status, ethnicity.
Knowledge is ___ and ___.
Power and political.
IQ reflects ___ demands, not ___ demands.
Societal, cognitive.
Empiricism
The belief that accurate knowledge can be acquired through observation.
Scientific Method
A set of principles about the appropriate relationship between ideas and evidence.
Theory
A hypothetical explanation of a natural phenomenon.
Hypothesis.
A falsafiable prediction made by a theory.
Rule of Parsimony for Theory
Find the simplest theory.
William Ockham
K.I.S.S.
Evidence never ___ theory.
Proves.
Empirical Method
A set of rules and techniques for observation.
Operational Definition
A description of a property in concrete, measurable terms.
Two kinds of methods that help overcome the difficulty in studying humans:
Observataion, which determines what they do, and explanation, which determines why they do it.
Good measures have three things:
Validity, reliability, and power.
Measure
A device that can detect the condition to which an operationl definition refers.
EMG
Electromyograph, a device that measures muscle contractions under the surface of a person’s skin.
Validity
The extent to which a measurement and a property are conceptually related.
Reliability
The tendency for a measure to produce the same measurement whenever it is used to measure the same thing.
Power
The ability of a measure to detect the concrete conditions specified in the operational definition.
Demand Characteristics
Thse aspects of an observation; setting that cause people to bahave as they think they should.
Naturalistic Observation
A technique for gathering scientific information by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environments.
Cover Stories
Misleading explanations that are meant to keep people from discerning the true purpose of of an observation.
Filler Items
Pointless measures that are designed to mislead you about the true purpose of the observation.
Expectations can influence ___ and ___.
Observations, reality.
Double Blind
An observation whose true purpose is hidden from both the observer and the person being observed.
Frequency Distribution
A graphical representation of measurements arranged by the number of times each measurement was made.
Normal Distribution
A mathematically defined frequency distribution in which most measurements are concentrated around the middle.
Mode
Most frequently occuring measurement.
Mean
Average of measurements.
Median
Middle memasurement.
Descriptive Statistics
Brief summary statements that capture essential information about frequency distribution.
Two types of descriptive statistics:
Central tendency and variability.
When a graph is positively skewed, the mean, median, and mode are shifted…
Left.
When a graph is negatively skewed, the mean, median, and mode are shifted…
Right.
Range
The value of the largest measurement in a frequency distribution minus the value of the smallest frequency.
Standard Deviation
A statistic that describes the average difference between the measurements in a frequency distribution and the mean of that distribution.
Scientific research aims to establish…
Causal relationships between properties.
Variable
A property whose value can vary across individuals or over time.
Correlation
Two variables are said to be correlated when variations in the value of one variable are synchronized with variation in the value of the other.
Positive Correlation
More-more or less-less.
Negative Correlation
More-less or less-more.
Correlation Coefficient
Measure of the direction and strength of a correlation.
Natural Correlation
A correlation observed in the world around us.
Third-Variable Correlation
The fact that two variables are correlated only because each is causally related to a third variable.
Matched Samples
A technique whereby the participants in two groups are identical in terms of a third variable.
Matched Pairs
A technique whereby each participant is identical to one other participant in terms of a third variable.
Third Variable Problem
The fact that a causal relationship between two variables cannot be infererred from the naturally occuring correlation between them because of the ever-present possibility of third-variable correlation.
Experiment
A technique for establishing the causal relationship between variables.
Experiments can eliminate differences by ___ and ___.
Manipulation and random assignment.
Manipulation
Creation of an artificial pattern of variation in a variable on irder to determine its causal powers.
Independent Variable
The variable that is manipulated in an experiment.
Experimental Group
The group of people who are treated in a particular way, as compated to the control group, in an experiment.
Control Group
The group of people who are not treated in the particular way that the experimental group is treated in an experiment.
Dependent Variable
The variable that is measured in a study.
Self-Selection
A problem that occus when anything about a person determines whether he or she will be included in the experimental or control group.
Random Assignment
A procedure that uses a random event to assign people to the experimental or control group.
Internal Validity
The characteristic of an experiment that establishes the causal relationship between variables.
External Validity
A property of an experiment in which the variables have been operationally defined in a normal, typical, or realistic way.
Population
The complete collection of participants who might possibly be measured.
Sample
The partial collection of people drawn from a population.
Case Method.
A method of gathering scientific knowledge by studying a single individual.
Random Sampling
A technique for chooseing participants that ensures that every member of a population has an equal chance of being included in the sample.
Informed Consent
A written agreement to participate in a study made by an adult who has been informed of all risks that participation may entail.
Debriefing
A verbal description of the true nature and purpose of the study.
Language
A system for communicating with other using signals that are combined according to rules of grammar and convey meaning.
Grammar
A set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages.
Phoneme
The smallest unit of sound that is recognizable as speech rather than as random noise.
Phonological Rules
A set of rules that indicate how phonemes can be combined to produce speech sounds.
Morphemes
The smallest meaningful units of language.
Morphological Rules
A set of rules that indicate how morphemes can be combined to form words.
Syntactical Rules
A set of rules that indicate how words can be combined to form sentences.
Deep Structure
The meaning of a sentence.
Surface Structure
How a sentence is worded.
Fast Mapping
The fact that children can map a word onto an underlying concept after only a single exposure.
Telegraphic Speech
Speech that is devoid of functional morphemes and consists mostly of content words.
Nativist Theory
The view that language development is best explained as an innate, biological capacity.
Language Acquisition Device (LAD)
A collection of processes that facilitate language learning.
Genetic Dysphasia
A syndrome characterized by an inability to learn the grammatical structure of language despite having otherwise normal intelligence.
Aphasia
Difficulty in producing or comprehending language.
Broca’s Aphasia
Struggle with speech production.
Wernicke’s Aphasia
Difficulty comprehending language.
Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis
The proposal that languages shapes the nature of thought.
Concept
A mental representation that groups or categorizes shared features of related objects, events, or oher stimuli.
Family Resemblance Theory
Members of a category have features that appear to be characteristic of category members but may not be posessed by every member.
Prototype
The “best” or “most typical” member of a category.
Exemplar Theory
A theory of categorization that argues that we make category judgements by comparing a new instance with stored memories for other instances of the category.
Category Specific Deficit
A neurological syndrome that is characterized by an inability to recognize objects that belong to a particular category, though the ability to recognize objects outside the category is undisturbed.
Rational Choice Theory
The classical view that we make decisions by determining how likely something is to happen, judging the value of the outcome, then multiplying the two.
Availabilty Bias
Items that are more readily available in memory are judged as having occured more frequently.
Heuristic
A fast and efficient strategy that may facilitate decision making but does not guarantee that a solution will be reached.
Algorithm
A well defined sequence of procedures or rules that guarantees a solution to a problem.
Conjunction Fallacy
When people think that two events are more likely to occur together than either individual event.
Representativeness Heuristic
A mental shortcut that involves making a probability judgement by comparing an object or event to a prototype of the object or event.
Framing Effects
When people give different answers to the same problem depending on how the problem is phrased (or framed).
Sunk-Cost Fallacy
A framing effect in which people make decisions about a current situation based on what they have previously invested in the situation.
Prospect Theory
The proposal that people choose to take on risk when evaluating potential losses and avoid risks when evaluating potential gains.
Frequency Format Hypothesis
The proposal that our minds evolved to notice how frequently things occur, not how likely they are to occur.
Means-End Analysis
A process of searching for the means or steps to reduce differences between the current situation and the desired goal.
Analogical Problem Solving
Solving a problem by finding a similar problem with a known solution and applying that solution to the current problem.
Functional Fixedness
The tendency to perceive the finctoions of objects as fixed.
Reasoning
A mental activity that consists of organizing information or beliefs into a series of steps to reach conclusions.
Practical Reasoning
Figuring out what to do, or reasoning directed towards action.
Theoretical Reasoning
Reasoning directed toward arriving at a belief.
Belief Bias
People’s judgements about whether to accept conclusions depend more on how believable the conclusions are than on whether the arguments are logically valid.
Syllogistic Reasoning
Determining whether a conclusion follows from two statements that are assumed to be true.
Intelligence
The ability to direct one’s thinking, adapt to one’s circumstances, and learn from one’s experiences.
Ratio IQ
A statistic obtained by dividing a person’s mental age by the person’s physical age and then multiplying the quotient by 100. William Stern and Lewis Terman.
Deviation IQ
A statistic obtained by dividing a person’s test score by the average test score of people in the same age group, and then multiplying the quotient by 100.
Natural Intelligence
Measuring aptitude regardless of achievement.
Factor Analysis
A statistical technique that explains a large number of correlations in terms of a small number of underlying factors.
Two-Factor Theory of Intelligence
Spearman’s theory suggesting that every task requires a combination of general ability (which he called g) and skills that are specific to the task (which he called s).
Fluid Intelligence
The ability to see abstract relationships and draw logical inferences.
Crystallized Intelligence
The ability to retain and use knowledge that was acquired through experience.
Prodigy
A person of normal intelligence who has an extrardinary ability.
Savant
A person of low intelligence who has an extraordinary ability.
Emotional Intelligence
The ability to reason about emotions and use emotions to enhance reasoning.
Fraternal (Dizygotic) Twins
Twins who devlelop from two different eggs that are fertilized by two different sperm.
Identical (Monozygotic) Twins
Twins who develop from the splitting of a single egg that was fertilized by a single sperm.
Heritability Coefficient
A statistic (commonly described as h squared) that describes the proportion of the difference between people’s scores that can be explained by differences in their genes.
Shared Environment
Those environmental factors that are experienced by all relevant members of a household.
Nonshared Environment
Those environmental factors that are not experienced by all relevant members of a household.
Relative Intelligence
Remains stable over time, if you are intelligent when you are 12, you will be intelligent when you are 80.
Absolute Intelligence
Decreses as you go into old age.
Developmental Psychology
The study of continuity and change across the life span.
Number of Sperm in Each Stage of Fertilization
200 million sperm, 200 make it to correct fallopian tube, and one sperm combines with one egg.
When an egg and sperm combined…
Zygote.
Sperm and egg each carry __ chromosomes.
23.
Sperm can carry ___ and ___.
Femald and male.
Definition of sex:
Refers to biological status (male, female, intersex).
Definition of gender:
Refers to the attitudes, feelings, and behaviours that a given culture associates with a person’s biological sex.
Definition of gender identity:
Refers to one’s sense of oneself as male, female, or transgender.
Defintion of gender expression:
A way in which a person acts to communicate gender within a given culture.
3 Stages of Prenatal Development:
Germinal, embryonic, and fetal.
Germinal Stage:
The two week period of prenatal development that begins at conception. Zygote begins to divide into trillions of cells, moves down fallopian tube and implants in uterus. Half of zygotes do not make this journey.
Embryonic Stage:
The period of prenatal development that lasts from the second week to the eigth. Embryo begins to take on sex of male or female, cells continue to divide, but differentiate. Body parts develop, differences between XX and XY.
Fetal Stage:
The period of prenatal development that lasts from the ninth week until birth. Has skeleton and muscles, digestive and respiratory systems, insulating fat, cells in brain develop axons and dendrites. Myelination.
Myelination
Formation of a fatty sheath around the axons of the brain cell. Prevents leakage of neural signals that travel along the axon.
Brain is developed __ at birth, __ after birth.
25%, 75%.
Prenatal environment is affected by ___.
Teratogens.
Teratogens
Agents that damage the process of development. Includes lead, tobacco, alcohol.
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
A developmental disorder that stems from heavy alcohol use by the mother during pregnancy. Distinctive facial features, abnormalities, cognitive deficits.
Effect of tobacco on infant.
Lowers birth weights, more likely to have perceptual and attentional problems in childhood.
A fetus can:
Sense stimulation, learn, hear their mother’s heart beat, gastrointestinal sounds, and voice.
Infancy:
The stage of developmentt that begins at birth and lasts between 18 and 24 months.
Newborn sight at __ feet is equivalent to adult sight at ___ feet.
20, 600.
Habituation
As an object is presented again and again, an infant stares less and less. Can follow moving stimuli and distinguish between what they have seen before and what is novel.
Motor Development
The emergence of the ability to execute physical action (crawling, reaching, grasping, walking).
Reflexes
Specific patterns of motor response that are triggered by specific patterns of sensory stimulation.
Rooting Reflex
The tendency for infants to move their mouths toward any object that touches their cheek.
Sucking Reflex
The tendency to suck any object that enters their moutths.
2 Rules of Motor Development:
Cephalocaudal and Proximodistal.
Cephalocaudal Rule
Top to bottom, describes the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequency from head to feet (head, arms, trunks, and legs).
Proximodistal Rule.
Inside to outside, describes the tendency for motor skills to emerge in sequence from the center to the periphery (trunks before elboes and knees, before hands and feet).
Research on energetic vs. less energetic babies.
Energetic had to learn how to dampen large circular movements and hold their arms rigid, while less energetic had to learn how to lift their arms against gravity and extend their arms forward.
Prejudice
Refers to prejudgementm or forming an opinion before becoming aware of the relevant facts of a case.
Discrimination
Refers to the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their actual or perceived membership in a certain group or category.
Colonialism
Refers to both the formal and informal methods that maintain the subjugation, or exploitation of indigenous peoples, lands, and resources.
Oppression
Refers to the excersize of authority or power in a burdonsome, cruel, or unjust manner.
Ally
Refers to a person who is a member of the dominant group, who works to end oppression in his or her own personal and professional life by supporting and advocating with the oppressed population.
Being in Solidarity
Comparing factors that foster or impede an individual’s capacity to move from a bystander to a moral actor.
Theoretical framework for opprression, bystanders, and allies was developed by ___.
Bauman in 2003.
What does Bauman’s Theory state?
Individuals who cause harm to others are able to do what they do because people stand by. They depend on bystanders. The reason we stand by is denial; we try to rationalize inaction.
Denial is a _ stage process.
2.
Who came up with the Denial Theory?
Cohen in 2011.
Who came up with the Cognitive Dissonance Theory?
Festinger in 1957.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory
Two contrasting beliefs at once, can stop you from taking action.
Who came up with the Intersectionality Theory?
Crenshaw in 1991.
Intersectionality Theorry
Deals with identities and social groups, inequalities.
Foucaldian Theory
Developed in 1975, dominant discourse becomes our common belief system. If the alternate discourse is circulated enough in society, the alternate discourse can become a part of our way of thinking.
Two Spirit Teaching
A healthy society is a circle- in Cree, there are no words for male and female. Being in solidarity with seemingly similar peoples.
Critical Mass
Tipping point of when alternate discourse becomes part of our ways of thinking.
We are infliuenced by:
Context/location, identitiies, dominant discourse, and alternate truths.
Intersecting of identities create spaces of ___ and ___, as well as spaces of ___ and ___.
Domination and privilege, subjugation and vulnerability.
Example of Bauman’s Fostering Factors
Indigenous space + privelege/power = moral actor.
Example of Bauman’s Impeding Factors
LGBTQ space + vulnerability/sunjugation = bystander.
Cognitive dissonance does not account for when occupying spaces of ___, and only works for the role of allies who occupy spaces of ___.
Subjugation, privelege.
Human rights are guaranteed by:
International Declaration of Human and Indigenous Rights.
Hiearchies exist with:
Race, gender, sexuality, social class, religion, intelligence.
Hierachies can be used to justfy:
Colonialism, eugenics, slave trade, Holocaust, and stop and frisk.
Research illustrates that there are ___, not ___.
Spectrums, not binaries.
Jean Piaget’s Four Stages of Cognitive Development:
Sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational.
___ and ___ development together equals cognitive development.
Perceptual, motor.
Sensorimotor Development
Up to 2 years, lack Object Presence Theory, use schemas, apply assimilation and accomodation.
Schemas
Theories about or models the way the world works
Schemas can be used to predict and control what will happen in ___ ___.
Novel situations.
Schemas lack a theory of ___ ___.
Object presence: things can exist even when they are not visible.
Assimilation
The process by which infants apply their schemas in novel situations (tug the stuffed animal, it comes closer- apply it to ball, food).
Accomodation
The process by which infants revise their schemas in light of new information (when you pull on a cat, it will likely not come closer).
Piaget’s findings may have been due to a lack of ___ skill, not a lack of ___ ___ Theory.
Motor, Object Presence.
Infants who watched the impossible event in the draw bridge experiment…
Stared longer.
Preoperational Stage
2-6 years, children have a preliminary understanding of the physical world. However, cannot perform concrete operations (skinny and wide glass with same amount of water).
Concrete Operational Stage
6-11 years, a stage in which people acquire a basic understanding of the physical world and a preliminary understanding of their own and others’ minds.
Conservation
The notion that the quantitative poperties of an object are invariant despite changes in the object’s appearance (glasses of water).
Formal Operational Stage
11 years-adulthood, a stage in which people gain a deeper understanding of their own and others’ minds and learn to reason abstractly.
In the Formal Operational Stage, people learn that some mental representations have no ___ ___.
Physical referrants. Examples of this include love, liberty, morality.
People in the Formal Operational Stage begin to operate on ___ ___.
Nonreferential abstractions.
Egocentrism
The failure to understand that the world appears differently to different observers.
Theory of Mind:
The idea that human behaviour is guided by mental representations, which give rise to realization that the world is not always the way it looks and that different people see it differently.
Autism
Affects 1 in 2500 children. Difficulty communicating and understanding that other people can have false beliefs, belief-based emotions, self unconscious emotions. Intelligent.
Piaget was correct, but he thought that the four stages were ___ and that we graduated from one stop to another.
Steplike.
Lev Vygotsky
A researcher of cognitive development.
Cognitive development is largely the result of:
The hcild’s interaction with members of his or her own culture rather than interaction with objects.
Cultural tools such as ___ and ___ systems influence cognitive development.
Language, counting systems.
Gordon (2004) found that counting systems do not merely express our ___ ___ ___, they ___ it.
Ability to count, create.
Child’s Zone of PRoximal Development
Children at any age can acquire a wide but bounded range of skills.
Infants depend upon caregivers for:
Food, safety, warmth, and social contact.
Socially isolated infants were ___ and ___ delayed, and 2 out of 5 did not make it.
Physically, cognitively.
Monkeys preferred ___ mother over ___ mother.
Soft, food dispensing wire.
Lorentz’s Theory
Theorized that the first moving object a hatchling saw was somehow imprinted on its bird brain as “the thing I must always be near”.
Bowlby’s Theory
Theorized that infants cannot physically attach themselves to caregiver; rather, they use come hither signals. At 6 months, infants target best responder.
Insecurity
Actions that reduce distance.
Strange Situation Test
A behavioural test developed by MAry Ainsworth that is used to determine a child’s attachment style. Staging episodes of abandonment, reunion, and interactions with a stranger between a child and their primary caregiver.
4 Results of Strange Situation Test:
Secure, avoidant, ambivalent, and disorganized.
Secure in Strange Situation
60% of American infants, will explore freely while its caregiver is present, using her as a safe base from which to explore. The child will engage with the stranger when the caregiver departs, but is happy to see the caregiver upon her return.
Avoidant in Strange Situation
20% of American infants, will avoid or ignore the caregiver, showing little emotions when the caregiver departs or returns. The child will not explore very much regardless of who is in the room, or if it is empty.
Ambivalent in Strange Situation
15% of American infants, almost always shows distress at separation and go to the caregiver upon return. However, they are difficult to console and will rebuff their caregiver’s attempt to calm them.
Disorganized in Strange Situation
5% of American Infants, shoes no consistent pattern of responses.
Internal Working Model of Attachment
A set of expectations about how the primary caregiver will respond when the child feels insecure.
Temperaments
Characteristic patterns of emotional reactivity.
3 influences on attachment style:
Temperament (child), responsiveness (primary caregiver), and interaction between the two.
Subsequent development is influenced by ___ relationships and ___ achievement.
Social, academic.
2 arguments of subsequent development:
Apply working model throughout life, or responsive caregiver causes infant’s attachment and later success.
When seeing an otter that runs away with the ball and an otter that returns the ball, the baby picks the…
Otter that returns the ball.
Babies look ___ at things they liike, and like those that ___ others.
Longer, help.
Babies are less forgiving if harm is ___.
Intentional.
Children are ___ in the beginning, and later become ___.
Honest, dishonest.
Social cohesion is broken in eastern Asia if ___ lie is not told.
Modesty.
Time period of adolescence (in numbers)?
11-14 to 18-21.
Time period of adolescence (in words)?
Period of development that begins with the onset of sexual maturity and lasts until the beginning of adulthood.
Puberty
The bodily changes associated with sexual maturity.
Female accelerated growth rate begins at __ and reaches full height by __._ years of age.
10, 15.5.
Male accelerated growth rate begins at __ and reaches full height by __._ years of age.
12, 17.5.
Age of puberty is getting ___.
Younger.
Several factors why the age of puberty is becoming younger.
Environment, improved diet and health, body fat, and stress hormones.
Primary Sex Characteristics
Bodily structures that are directly involved in reproduction.
Secondary Sex Characteristics
Bodily structures that change dramatically with sexual maturity but that are not directly involved in reproduction.
Example of primary sex characteristics:
Genitalia, as well as menstruation and capacity for ejaculation.
Example of secondary sex characteristics:
Growth of hair in the pubic and underarm regions, lowered voice, muscle development, production of estrogen or testosterone.
Cognitive changes in puberty happen in _ waves of ___ ___.
2, synaptic proliferation.
First wave of synaptic proliferation happens…
At 2 years of age; infancy.
Second wave of synaptic proliferation happens…
At 6-13 years of age; learning and language.
Protection of adolescence; the gap between puberty and adulthood used to be ___, but the contemporary gap has ___.
Short, widened.
What was the name of Moffitt’s 1993 study?
Storm and Stress of Adolescence.
What did Moffitt’s study conclude?
Adolescents are denied a place in adult society, and are compelled to do things that demonstrate their adulthood (smoking, drinking, sex, crime). Establish subculture.
Moffitt concluded that adolescent misbehaviour has more to do with the lack of ___, rather than ___. Moody adolescence…
Experience, misbehaviour, largely a myth.
Sexuality
Refers to the capacity for sexual feelings. Interest does not equal activity.
Sexuality is part of a ___.
Continuum. Bisexuality, asexuality, homosexuality, and heterosexuality are just increments.
Asexuality
Refers to a low or absent sexual attraction to anyone or interest in sexual activity. No desire for a romantic partner or child.
Sexual Script
Kissing, fondling, genital contact.
Different cultures, religions, and traditions attempt to control ___ interest and activity.
Sexual.
United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancy and tends to focus on ___ rather than ___ ___.
Abstinence, pregnancy prevention.
Sexual Orientation
Refers to the sex of those to whom one is sexually and romantically attracted.
In western societies, everything is measured against ___.
Heterosexism.
Heterosexism
Refers to a system of attitudes, bias, and discrimination in favour of opposite-sex sexuality and relationships.
Heterosexuality
Refers to a romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behaviour between people of opposite sex or gender in the gender binary.
McCreary found that female indigenous lesbian youth were 3 times more likely to be physically assaulted than ___ ___ ___ youth.
Female heterosexual indigenous.
23% of ___ indigenous youth did not feel safe in the classroom, compared to 39% for females and 42% for males that are ___.
Heterosexual, homosexual.
Kosciw found that 60.8% of LGBTQ students felt unsafe attending school because of their ___ ___, and 38.4% felt unsafe because of their ___ ___.
Sexual orientation, gender identity.
Heterosexuals do/don’t make a choice, there is/isn’t a sexual orientation gene.
Don’t, isn’t.
Sexual orientation can ___ over time. Is ___.
Change, fluid. Fluidity is different from choice.
2-10% of adults identify as ___.
Homosexual.
Research is lacking on ___ homosexual experiences.
Female.
Adulthood
The stage of development that begins around 18-21 years of age and ends at death.
__ are the peak of our health- after this…
Early 20’s, muscles turn to fat, skin becomes less elastic, bones weaken, sensory abilities become less acute, and we become infertile.
Deterioration of the ___ ___ leads to decline in memory.
Prefrontal cortex.
Working Memory
Holds information.
Long-Term Memory
Retrive information.
Episodic Memory
Particular past events.
Semantic Memory
General information.
Retrieval
“Go find” information.
Recognition
Decide whether information was encountered before.
Chess players compensate for lost ___ by using ___ ___ and ___.
Memory, cognitive capacity, skill.
Bilateral Asymmetry
Left (verbal information) and right (spatial information) in the prefrontal cortex are asymmetrical.
Socioemotional Selectivity Theory:
Younger adults are generally more oriented towards the acquisition of information that will be useful to them in the future, whereas older adults are generally oriented towards information that brings emotional satisfaction in the present.
Declines in cognitive performance of older adults have less to do with changes in our ___ and more to do with changes in our ___.
Brains, orientations.
Overall happiness ___ with age.
Increases.
Personality
Refers to an individual’s characteristic style of behaving, thinking, and feeling.
In measuring personality, we try and see how and why individuals differ ___.
Psychologically.
We can measure personality in two ways; by examining ___ ___ and ___ ___.
Prior events, anticipated events.
Prior Events
How prior events (genes) shape an individual.
Anticipated Events
How past and present interact.
Self-Report
Refers to a series of answers to a questionnaire that asks people to indicate the extent to which sets of statements or adjectives accurately describe their own behaviour or mental state.
What does MMPI-2 stand for?
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory.
What is the MMPI-2?
A well researched clinical questionnaire used to assess personality and psychological problems.
MMPI-2 is based upon the ___ method.
Actuarial.
MMPI-2 has __ main subscales.
10.
MMPI-2 measures tendencies towards ___ concerns.
Clinical.
MMPI-2 has ___ scales to assess attitudes toward test taking and tendency to distort results.
Validity.
Projection Techniques
Consist of a standard series of ambiguous stimuli designed to elicit unique responses that reveal inner aspects of an individual’s personality.
What is the idea of Projection Techniques based upon?
People will project personality factors unconsciously onto ambiguous stimuli without censoring.
Rorschach Inkblot Test
A projective personality test in which individual interpretation of the meaning of a set of unstructured inkblots is analyzed to identify a respondent’s inner feelings and interpret his or her personality structure.
Thematic Apperception Test
A projective personality test in which respondents reveal underlying motives, concerns, and the way they see the social world through the stories they make up about ambiguous pictures of people.
Criticism of Projection Techniques:
There is sparse evidence of predictive value, the tests are open to examiner’s subjective interpretation and theoretic bias, and the interpretations could be examiner’s own projections.
Prior events approach was used by ___ ___.
Gordon Allport.
Gordon Allport believed that…
People can be described in terms of traits just as an object can be described in terms of its properties.
Trait
Refers to a relatively stable disposition to behave in a particular and consistent way.
Anticipated events approach was used by ___ ___.
Henry Murray.
Henry Murray suggested that…
Traits reflect motives.
