Test 1 Flashcards
(166 cards)
Psychology
- Scientific study of behavior
- 16th century - Greek words:
- “psyche” = soul, spirit, or mind
- ”logos” = study of a subject matter
- these were put together to define a topic of study (psychology)
- Emerged in 1830’s
- Originated in Germany
- Has intellectual roots in physiology and philosophy
Wilhelm Wundt
- DEFINED PSYCHOLOGY AS the scientific study of conscious experience (will be on test)
- (1832-1920) University of Leipzig, Germany
- Campaigned to make psychology an independent discipline
- Established first laboratory for the study of psychology in 1879
- Trained psychologists who spread throughout Europe and North America
John B. Watson
- 1878-1958 United States
- He was a Behaviorist
- Founder of Behaviorism
- His definition of psychology: a scientific study of behavior
- Behavior = -Overt (observable) response or activity by an organism
- Radical reorientation of psychology as a science of observable behavior- Study of consciousness abandoned - Ignored emotional (feelings and cognition) aspect - Said to study psychological, had to be able to be observed - Nurture, Not nature (He didn’t believe in biological aspect, just how you were raised (environment)) - (“Give me a dozen infants, well-formed, and my own special world to bring them up and I’ll guarantee to take any one at random and train him to become any type of specialist I might select -- a doctor, lawyer, artist, merchant-chief, and yes, even beggarman and thief…”
- Behaviorist school of thought emphasized the environment
- Contributed to rise of animal research
- Responsible for “Little Albert” study
- We shouldn’t ignore what he did (emotions) because they led to people’s behaviors?
Behavior
-Overt (observable) response or activity by an organism
Sigmund Freud
1856-1939
- Austrian physician
- Approach to psychology grew
out of efforts to treat mental disorders
-Developed psychoanalytic theory
- Emphasis on unconscious processes influencing behavior (aka Freudian slip)
- Did a lot of work with mental disorders
Cognition
Mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge
-1950s and 60s: Major progress in the study of cognitive development, memory, language, and problem solving (these three are probably most important)
Pshyiology
Biological bases of behavior
- 1950s, and 60s: many discoveries which highlighted the interrelations among mind, body, and behavior
- ”biological” = genes (things that can’t really be seen)
1950s in Psychology
- Saw growth of the practical side of psychology
- Clinical Psychology: the branch of psychology concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and disorders
-WWII just ended, so VA funded for more people to study psychology
Modern Definition of Psychology?
The science that studies behavior and the physiological and cognitive processes that underlie it, and it is the profession that applies the accumulated knowledge of this science to practical problems
- It IS a science now (not just therapy)
- It’s a profession
- Hasn’t always been considered a science
- Majority of psychologists work at universities/colleges and medical settings
Clinical Psychology
- The branch of psychology concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and disorders
- Largest subfield
Themes Related to Psychology as a Field of Study
- Theme 1: Psychology is empirical (based within science and research)
- Theme 2: Psychology is theoretically diverse (lots of different theories that drive/have driven psychology)
- Theme 3: Psychology evolves in a sociohistorical context (has a long history)
- Theme 4: Behavior is determined by multiple causes (biology, nature, nurture, and environment all take part)
- Theme 5: Behavior is shaped by cultural heritage (nature vs. nurture)
- Theme 6: Heredity and environment jointly influence behavior (nature vs. nurture again)
- Theme 7: People’s experience of the world is highly subjective (the way I perceive the world is different from how others view the world (not one size fits all))
Research Methods
- Differing approaches to the observation, measurement, manipulation, and control of variables in empirical studies, and includes
- Experimental research methods
- Descriptive/correlational research methods
Experimental Research
- Looks for causes
- Includes experiments
- Advantages: conclusions about cause-and-effect can be drawn (getting to look at cause-and-effect relationships)
- Disadvantages:
- Artificial nature of experiments
- Ethical and practical issues
Experiments
- It’s a manipulation of one variable under controlled conditions so that resulting changes in another variable can be observed (allows for detection of cause-and-effect relationships)
- Independent Variable: condition or event varied by the experimenter to see its impact on another variable (what experimenter manipulates)
- Dependent Variable: variable affected by manipulation (depends on manipulation of the independent variable) (it’s what’s being measured)
- How does X affect y?
- X = IV and Y = DV
-Experimental Group: subjects who receive some special treatment in regard to the independent variable
- Control Group: similar subjects who do not receive the special treatment
- Logic: -two groups alike in all respects, except for manipulation of independent variable
- manipulative independent variable for one group only
- resulting differences in the two groups must be due to the independent variable
- Logic: -two groups alike in all respects, except for manipulation of independent variable
-Extraneous and Confounding Variables
- Variations in designing experiments:
- Expose a single group to different conditions
- Manipulate more than other independent variable
- Use more than one dependent variable
- Can manipulate two or more independent variables (the main advantage is that it allows an experimenter to see whether two variables interact)
- LOOK IN CHAPTER 2 PACKET
Schacter’s Experiment
- About shocking the patient and if they wanted to be with others or wait alone
- Dealt with affiliation
- Results of Schachter’s Study of Affiliation: The percentage of people wanting to wit with others was higher in the high-anxiety (experimental) group than in the low-anxiety (control) group, consistent with Schachter’s hypothesis that anxiety would increase the desire for affiliation.
- IV = anxiety (high or low)
- DV = Affiliation
- Control Group = low-anxiety group
- Experimental Group = high-anxiety group
- Evidence from his experiment supported his hypothesis
- *LOOK IN CHAPTER 2 PACKET
Descriptive/Correlational Methods
- Used when a researcher cannot manipulate the variables under study
- Naturalistic Observation
- Case Studies
- Survey Research
Correlation
- Correlation is not causation!
- When two variables are related to each other, they are correlated (related)
- Correlation Coefficient = statistic used to summarize degree of relationship
- Correlation expressed as a number between 0 to 1
- Can be positive or negative
- Numbers closer to 1 (+ or -) indicate stronger relationship
- Higher correlation coefficients = increased ability to predict one variable based on the other (SAT/ACT scores moderately correlated with first year college GPA
- 2 variables may be highly correlated, but not causally related
- studies show a positive correlation between smoking and depression, but does that mean smoking causes depression or vice versa?
- Third variable problems (environment of person, relationship issues, how easily person can get addicted, etc.) can also influence smoking/depression.
Positive vs. Negative Correlation
- Positive Correlation: 2 variables change together in same direction (ex: studying and test scores)
- Negative Correlation: The variables move in opposite directions; as X goes up, y goes down (or vice versa) (ex: the more you exercise, the less likely you are to get diseases)
- +0.5 and -0.5 are same in strength (+ and - just indicate direction)
Three possible relations between correlated variables?
- If variables X and Y are correlated, does X cause Y, does Y cause X, or does some hidden variable, Z, account for the changes in both X and Y?
- As relationship between smoking and depression shows, a correlation alone does not provide the answer.
-We don’t know if X causes Y, or if Y causes X.
Naturalistic Observation
- A researcher engages in careful observation of behavior without intervening directly with subjects
- Benefits: no placebo, naturality act of people (not synthetic setting)
- Ex: Levine study: pace of life in different countries (U.S. is faster than Europe)
Case Studies
- An in-depth investigation of an individual subject
- Studying ONE person
- Can include: interview/Q&A, interview/talk to the people close to the subject, directly observe subject (especially nice if naturalistic observation, psychological testing (ex: IQ), and examining records (like medical)
- Disadvantages: cannot generalize!
Survey Research
- Researchers use questionnaires or interviews to gather information about specific aspects of participants’ behavior
- Advantages: cost and time effective, social desirability bias (subjects can under/over report)
Advantages and Disadvantages of Descriptive/Correlational Research?
- Advantages:
- explore questions that cannot be examined experimentally
- Disadvantages:
- Investigators cannot control events to isolate cause and effect (this will be on exam)
Possible flaws in research? (Will definitely be on test)
- Sampling Bias (know difference between sample and population – sample comes from population, which is the whole group of people the research is about)
- Placebo Effects (subjects have expectations, aren’t sure if they have it or not, and change behavior; ex: alcohol vs. mocktails thing)
- Distortions in self-report data:
- Social desirability bias
- Misunderstood questions
- Memory errors
- Responding positively or negatively to all items
- Experimenter Bias
- The double-blind solution