Test 1 (Ch 1,2, 13, 14) Flashcards
What is psychology?
Psychology is the scientific study of thought and behavior
What are the subfields of psychology?
1) Cognitive Psychology
2) Developmental Psychology
3) Behavioral Neuroscience
4) Personality Psychology
5) Social Psychology
6) Clinical Psychology
What is Cognitive Psychology?
Explores how thought and behavior change and show stability across the life span
What is Development Psychology?
Explores how thought and behavior change and show stability across the life span
What is Behavioral Neuroscience?
studies the links among brain, mind, and behavior.
What is Personality Psychology?
considers what makes people unique, as well as the consistencies in people’s behavior across time and situations.
What is Social Psychology?
considers how the real or imagined presence of others influences thought, feeling, and behavior.
What is Clinical Psychology?
focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and ways to promote psychological health.
What is Psychoanalysis?
A clinical approach to understanding and treating psychological disorders.
- the unconscious mind is the most powerful force behind thought and behavior
- dreams have meaning and are the most direct route to the unconscious mind
- experiences during childhood are a powerful force in the development of our adult personality.
What is empiricism?
that knowledge and thoughts come from experience.
-Mind begins as a blank slate onto which experience writes the contents of the mind (Early influence on modern psychology)
Who was Wilhelm Wundt?
Wundt set up a psychology laboratory now considered the birthplace of experimental psychology. He is credited with giving psychology its independence from philosophy and physiology by applying the scientific methods of physiology and physics to questions of philosophy
Compare Contrast Structuralism and Functionalism
Structuralism - breaking down experience into its elemental parts offers the best way to understand thought and behavior
Functionalism - looking at why the mind worked the way it did rather than to describe its parts
How would structuralists analyze experience?
Introspection - looking into one’s own mind for information about the nature of conscious experience
What is Behaviorism?
Psychology must examine observable behavior, not thoughts and ideas. Only way it could be considered a true science.
What is humanistic psychology?
Promotes personal growth and meaning as a way of obtaining one’s highest potential
What is Positivist psychology?
focus on studying, understanding, and promoting healthy and positive psychological functioning.
How do genes interact with experience?
genes get turned on and off by experience—that is, genetic influence changes how we think and behave over the course of our lives
What are the characteristics of Pseudoscience?
1) Make no advances in knowledge
2) Disregard well known and established facts
3) Do not challenge own assumptions
4) Offer vague explanations for conclusions
5) Use unsound logic
What is Research Design
A plan for how to conduct a study
WHat is population?
Entire group being studied
What is a sample??
A small subset of the population
What are descriptive studies? (Research methods)
Researcher make prediction but does not control variables. Used during exploratory phase.
What is a case study? (Research methods)
Observation of one person over time (limitation-not all cases generalizable to other people)
What is Naturalistic Observation? (Research methods)
Resarcher observes and records ppl in real world. (Limitation: conditions aren’t controlled)
What is the Interview and Survey method of Research Design? (Research methods)
A type of descriptive study, using interviews and surveys to measure results. (Limitation: biased responses, ppl not representative of population)
What is Meta analysis? (Research methods)
Combining all studies on one topic and drawing conclusions
What are correlational studies? (Research methods)
measure 2 or more variables and their relationship. (Limitation: Does not actually establish causation)
-Corellation Coeffecient: -1.00 to +1.00
What is an Experimental Study? (Research methods)
Two characteristics:
1) Manipulation of predicted cause (independent variable) and measurement of response (dependent variable) 2) Random Assignment - Experimental group, control group, single blind, double blind, placebo
What is a quasi experimental study? (Research methods)
Just like an experimental except the groups are not randomly assigned. They are naturally occurring.
What are self report measures?
Written or oral account (interview and survey) (limitation: social desirability bias)
What are behavioral measures?
Observation of behavior in natural environment (Limitation: training coders t measure same)
What are physiological measures?
Collecting data on bodily responses (Limitation: Specialized training on expensive equipment)