Psychology Test One Flashcards
What is Psychology?
The scientific study of overt behavior and mental processes (covert behavior)
Research Method
A systematic approach to answering scientific questions
Name Goals of Psychology
Description, Understanding, Prediction, Control
Explain Description
(In scientific research, the process of naming and classifying) Answering psychological questions often begins with a description of behavior.
Explain Understanding
(In psychology, understanding is achieved when the causes of behavior can be stated).
Explain Prediction
(An ability to forecast behavior).
Explain Control
(altering conditions that influence behavior)
Pseudopsychology
Fake psychology. Any false and unscientific system of beliefs and practices that is offered as an explanation of behavior.
Examples of Pseudopsychology
phrenology (claims that shape of skull reveals personality traits), palmistry (claims lines on hand reveal personality traits and predict the future), graphology (claims that personality traits are revealed by handwriting), astrology (claims that the positions of the stars and planets at the time of one’s birth determine personality traits and affect behavior).
Research Ethics
do no harm, accurately describe risks to potential participants, ensure that participation is voluntary, minimize any discomfort to participants, maintain confidentiality, do not unnecessarily invade privacy, use deception only when absolutely necessary, remove any misconceptions caused by deception, provide results and interpretations to participants, and treat participants with dignity and respect.
History of Psychology / Schools of Thought
Functionalism, Structuralism, Behaviorism, Gestalt psychology, Psychoanalysis, Humanism, Cognitive behaviorism, Determinism
Functionalism
concerned with how behavior and mental abilities help people adapt to their environments.
Structuralism
concerned with analyzing sensations and personal experience experience into basic elements
Behaviorism
emphasizes the study of overt, observable behavior
Cognitive behaviorism
an approach that combines behavioral principles with cognition (perception, thinking, anticipation) to explain behavior.
Gestalt psychology
emphasizes the study of thinking, learning, and perception in whole units, not by analysis into parts.
Psychoanalysis
Freudian approach to psychotherapy that emphasizes exploring unconscious conflicts
Humanism
focuses on human experience, problems, potentials, and ideals.
Determinism
idea that all behavior has prior causes that would completely explain one’s choices and actions if all such causes were known.
Three Perspectives on Behavior
biological (the attempt to explain behavior in terms of underlying biological principles) psychological (view that behavior is shaped by psychological processes occurring at the level of the individual) sociocultural (focus on the importance of social and cultural contexts in influencing the behavior of individuals)
Independent & Dependent Variables
the independent variable is altered by the experiment, and it’s the condition being investigated as a possible cause of some change in behavior. The dependent variable measures the result of the experiment, and it’s the condition that is affected by the independent variable.
Groups of participants
The experimental group is the group of participants who get independent variable. The control group is the group of participants who do NOT get the independent variable.
Single / Double Blind studies
A single blind experiment is an arrangement in which participants remain unaware of whether they are in the experimental group or the control group. A double blind experiment is an arrangement in which both participants and experimenters are unaware whether participants are in the experimental group or the control group, including who might have been administered a drug or placebo.
Bias in experiments
participant bias is the changes in the behavior of research participants caused by the unintended influence of their own expectations. Researcher bias is the changes in participant’s behavior caused by the unintended influence of a researcher’s actions.
Nonexperimental Research Methods
Naturalistic observation is observing behavior as it unfolds in natural settings. Correlation method is designed to measure the degree of relationship between two or more events, measures, or variables. Clinical method/case study is an in-depth focus on all aspects of a single person. A survey is a public polling technique used to answer psychological questions.
What are transducers?
Devices that convert one kind of energy into another
SENSE ORGANS
What are sensations?
Sensory impressions; the process of detecting physical energies with the sensory organs.
What are perceptions?
The mental process of organizing sensations into meaningful patterns.
Absolute threshold vs. difference threshold
Absolute threshold is the minimum amount of physical energy necessary to produce a sensation, while difference threshold is the minimum difference between two stimuli that is detectable to an observer.
Sensory adaptation
A decrease in sensory response to an unchanging stimulus
What is sensory coding?
They code the sense organs use to transmit information to the brain.
Selective attention
Giving priority to a particular to a particular incoming sensory message.
Inattentional blindness
A failure to notice a stimulus because attention is focused elsewhere
Bottleneck
narrowing in the information channel linking the senses to perception
Visible spectrum for humans
dimensions of light and vision. 400-700 nanometers. ROYGBIV
Hue
color sensations/ basic color categories