Psychology Test Flashcards
What year was experimental psychology?
17th - 19th century
When was Rene Descartes, and why is he important?
1596 - 1650
“Cogito ergo sum” = “I think, therefore I am”
Idea of dualism, believed two substances made up the world; the mind and the body
First person to speak about the mind
STATED THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MIND
When was John Locke and why is he important?
1632 - 1704
Theory of EMPIRICISM = experience is learnt
This theory formed the basis of behaviour approach
When was Charles Darwin, and why is he important?
1809 - 1882
Said life was material
Theory of natural selection
Theory of EVOLUTION formed the basis of biological approach
What does “Psyche” mean
The mind
What does “Logos” mean?
Study of
When was Wilhelm Wunt?
1879
4 facts about Wilhelm Wunt?
1) First ever psych lab and first ever journal and textbook
2) Used the method of introspection
3) Used structuralism
4) His samples were himself and his co-workers
What does introspection mean?
Examining and considering your own ideas, thoughts, and feelings instead of talking to other people about them
What does Structuralism mean?
Isolating the different parts
What scientific methods did Wundt use and why?
Controlled conditions using the same stimulus (ticking metronome)
Standardised instructions for all ppts as this allows replication
What was a strength to Wundts method of introspection?
He used the scientific method of a controlled environment and, therefore, he influenced later scientific approaches to psychology
What was a weakness to Wundts method of introspection?
Subjective data - this was unscientific as we can’t create general laws of behaviour from subject data
What is subjective data?
Information provided by the patient focuses on perceptions and feelings
Why is John B. Watson important?
He created the idea of behaviourism
He questioned the value of introspection (subjective)
he created more scientific methods:
- Only study phenomena that could be observed and measured
- Controlled lab experiments
When and what is cognitive psychology?
1950s
Influenced by the digital revolution at the time (found similarities of the mind & computers)
Tested their theories about memory & attention with experiments
Reinforced the scientific aspect of psychology
When and what is biological psychology?
1980s
Advances in technology made psychology more scientific
We can now see biological processes happening inside the body
Genetic testing has allowed us to see the relationship between genes and behaviour
When and what is pyschodynamics?
1909
- Developed by Sigmund Feud
- Forces outside a person’s awareness explains why they behave a certain way
When and what is humanism?
1950s
- Focuses on human beings rather than supernatural or divine insight
- Known as studies humansas
When and what is social learning?
1960s
- Developed by Albert Bandurou
- Came up with the conclusion that prior learning theories focused too much on condition
When and what is cognitive neuroscience?
Today’s approach
- Studies the biological processes that underline human cognition
- Looks at how the brain functions and achieves performance
What is classical conditioning?
Learning through association
What is conditioning?
The process by which specific types of experience make certain behaviours more or less likely
What experiment did Pavlov do?
He used different stimuli and watched how the dog reacted to them in association with food due to classical conditioning
What experiment did Watson and Rayner do?
Made a baby scared of white rats due to the association of a loud noise when it came to different animals
What is operant conditioning?
Learning via consequences
What is reinforcement?
A consequence that makes a behaviour more likely to occur
What is punishment
A consequence that makes a behaviour less likely to occur
What are the two types of reinforcement?
Negative and positive (consequences)
What experiment did Skinner do?
Put a rat inside of a Skinner box and used operant conditioning to enforce positive (rewarded with food) or punishment (shock the rat) when it pushed a lever
Experimental method:
What does the aim mean
The purpose of the study
Experimental method:
What does the hypothesis mean
Clear statement of the relationship between 2 variables that can be tested
Experimental method:
What does the variables mean
A thing that can change or vary within an investigation
Experimental method:
What does the theory mean
What we think happens based on research and understanding
Write 3 things about the “aim” part of the experimental method
- Developed from the theory stage (narrows the focus of research)
- A general statement that describes the purpose of the study
- Starts with “To investigate whether…”
(e.g. to investigate whether observing aggressive behaviour makes people more aggressive)
Write two things about the “hypothesis” stage of the experimental method
- From the aim, we formulate a hypothesis (what we expect to happen)
- Clearly states the relationship between variables
(E.g. Observing aggressive behaviours will cause children to imitate those aggressive behaviours)
What is the independent variable of an experiment?
The thing changed or manipulated by the researcher
(e.g. OBSERVING AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOURS causes children to imitate those aggressive behaviours)
What is the dependent variable of an experiment?
The thing which is affected by the IV (effects are recorded)
(e.g. Observing aggressive behaviours causes children to IMITATE THOSE AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOURS)
What are the two different ways we can test the effect of the independent variable?
Comparing participants before and after
Comparing 2 groups of participants
What are the 2 levels of the independent variable?
Control condition (before or group observing now behaviours)
Experimental condition (after or group observing aggressive behaviour)
What is directional hypothesis? (One-tailed)
- Clearly states the anticipated differences between the 2 conditions
- e.g. more, less, higher, lower, faster, slower
What is non-directional hypothesis? (Two-tailed)
- Simply states that there is a difference between conditions but doesn’t specify
- Usually starts with “There is a difference”
Which hypothesis should be used in this experiment? (Directional or non-directional) :
No previous research or previous findings are contradictory
Non-directional
Which hypothesis should be used for this experiment? (Directional or non-directional):
Previous research suggests a particular outcome
Directional
