UNIT 1: SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATIONS Flashcards
What is psychology?
Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes
Why is psychology is a science?
Psychology is a science due to the use of empirical evidence and the scientific method.
What are psychology’s foundations?
Psychology’s foundations were in philosophy and physiology.
Structuralism
Was an early approach focused on the structure of the mind.
Introspection
(the process of looking inward) Edward Titchener
Functionalism
Was focused on the purpose of the mind. Developed by William James.
Nature & Nurture Debate
Nature is your genetics & Nurture is your enviroment.
Basic Research
Builds psychology’s knowledge.
Applied Research
Is application of existing knowledge in the real world
Operational Definition
Is a way of measuring or quantifying a variable. (MOST LIKELY WILL BE USED ON A RESEARCH FRQ).
Example:
Variable: Happiness
Operational Definition: The number of smiles a person emits during an observation period of specified length.
Replication
Is repeating an experiment with different participants. This will determine if the results can be generalized to other participants & other situations.
Case Study
Examine one person or group in depth.
Example: Phineas Gage survived an accident with a large iron rod through his head (one person studied in depth).
Naturalistic Observation
Describes behavior in its most natural state without interference or intervention.
Survey
Is self-reported data, questions influenced by wording.
Random Sampling
Gives every member of a population an equal chance of being selected for the sample (use a random number generator to select).
Random Assignment
Randomly (by chance) assigning participants to the control group or experimental group to help establish cause and effect. It would eliminate or reduce the impact of specific individual differences/confounding variables in a study. THIS TERM WILL MOST LIKLEY BE ON THE RESEARCH FRQ.
Correlation is not…..
Correlation is not causation.
Correlations predict
No correlation = ?
No correlation=0. Correlation coefficient close to 0=weaker, closer to 1=stronger (+/-).
Independent Variable
Is the variable you think is the cause
Dependent Variable
Is the effect person or group in depth.
Confounding Variable
Is a factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study’s results.
Experimental Group
Is the treatment group.
Control Group
Is the comparison group (no treatment).
Placebo Effect
Seems to be a “real” medical treatment — but isn’t.
Single Blind Procedure
Is when participants don’t know if they get the treatment or placebo.
Double Blind Procedure
Is when neither the researcher or participants know who received the treatment or placebo.
Experiments establish_______. Experiments manipulate ________.
Experiments establish cause and effect. Experiments manipulate variables.
Descriptive Statistics
Describes sets of data.
Inferential Statistics
Draw conclusions about the sets of data.
Mean=?
Median=?
Mode=?
Mean= Average Value
Median= Middle Value
Mode= Occurs Most
Standard Deviation
How scores vary around the mean score
Statistical Significance
How likely that a result occurred by chance (p value less than 0.05).
Ethics
Rules of Conduct
American Psychological Association (APA)
Establishes ethic codes
Institutional Review Board
Review proposals for research, approval needed for experiment.
Informed Consent
All subjects given necessary information to decide to participate in study, or not.
Confidentiality
Any data collected in the experiment should remain confidentiality (use pseudonyms).
Debriefing
Experimenter tells the subject more information about the study’s purpose and procedures after the study is completed.
(SCIENTIFIC FOUNDATIONS IS REALLY IMPORTANT DUE TOO THE FRQ’S BEING BASED ON RESEARCH METHODS).
