Week 1 Flashcards
William James 1890 defined psychology as …
The science of both mental life, both of its phenomena and their condition
What is psychology defined as?
The scientific investigation of mental processes (thinking, feeling, remembering) and behaviour, and the interaction between them
What are the 3 key aspects of the scientific study of psychology?
Affect - feeling and emotions
Behaviour - actions and conations (desires to perform a certain actions)
Cognition - thoughts and beliefs
What are the 5 major perspectives of psychology?
- Psychodynamic
- Behaviourist
- Cognitive
- Evolutionary/Biological
- Humanistic
What is the iceberg analogy?
conscious - above
pre-conscious - middle
unconscious - below
What is the psychodynamic perspective and which theorists developed this theory?
Behaviour is largely the result of unconscious
processes, motivation, and early experiences
Sigmund Freud
Peoples actions are determined by the way thoughts, feelings and wishes are connected in their minds
What is the behaviourist perspective?
Behaviour is learned and selected by its
environmental consequences
B. F. Skinner observed that behaviour can be controlled by environmental consequences that either
increase (reinforce) or decrease (punish) their likelihood of occurring
What is the Humanistic perspective?
Behaviour and experience are shaped by the
need to self-actualise; to reach one’s potential.
Focuses on the uniqueness of and individual.
What is the Cognitive perspective?
Behaviour is the product of information
processing. Focuses on the way people perceive, process and retrieve information.
Computer Analogy (input, store, retrieve data)
What is the Evolutionary/Biological perspective?
Behaviours develops due to factors such as survival and reproductive pressures and it reflects the process of natural selection
and survival
What is the Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs?
- Self Actualisation - creativity, spontaneity, morality
- Self Esteem - confidence, achievements
- Love and Belonging - friendships, family, intimacy
- Safety and Security - health, employment, property, family
- Physiological needs - food, water, sleep, clothes
What is a theory?
A systematic way of organising and explaining observations. Different schools of though promote different theories
What is a hypothesis?
A belief about the way two or more variables interact or impact each other
Outcome predictor - an idea you can test
What is standardised procedure?
the process in which procedures used in research are kept the same. This ensure unbiased results and ensure further researchers are able to make comparisons - everyone has to do the same thing
What is a variable?
Any phenomenon that can differ, or vary, from
one situation to another or from one person to another, it is a characteristic that
can take on different values
What are three characteristics variables need to be?
- Reliable
- Objective
- Valid
What is categorical variables?
Categorical data is data which is grouped into categories, such as data for a ‘gender’ or ‘smoking status’ variable. Categorical data can be further classified as:
nominal - when the categories do not have an order such as martial status, hair colour
or
ordinal when the categories do have an order, such as for a satisfaction level, gold silver bronze variable.
What is continuous variables?
Continuous data is data which is measured on a continuous numerical scale and which can take on a large number of possible values, such as data for a ‘weight’ or ‘distance’ variable. Continuous data can be further classified as:
interval - when it does not have an absolute zero, and negative numbers also have meaning, such as for a ‘temperature in degrees Celsius’ variable
or
ratio - when it does have an absolute zero, and negative numbers don’t have meaning, such as for a height, speed variable.
What are the different research concepts?
- Theories
- Hypothesis
- Standardised Procedure
- Variables
- Measures
- Generalisability
What are the two characteristics measure needs to be in a research concept?
- Reliable - consistently producing the same results
2. Valid - True measure that the variables are interested in
What are the test used to ensure measure is reliable and valid?
- Test-retest reliability - if the same participant takes the same test two times, they should give similar
scores. - Internal consistency - is used to determine that different items used to measure the same variable should produce similar answers
- Inter-rater reliability - means that if two testers were to rate the same person on the same
variable, they should give similar ratings to the participant.
What does generalisability mean?
The applicability of a study’s finding to the entire population of interest, should be representative
What are the two types of validity?
Internal validity - Checking and ensuring the procedure of a study is not flawed
External validity - weather the experimental situation resemble how the situation would present in the real world
What are the different types of research methods in Psychology?
In psychology we are interested in describing, predicting and understanding behaviour
- Descriptive - Describing behaviour
- Experimental - Understanding behaviour
- Correlation - Predicting behaviour
What are the different descriptive research methods?
Case study - in depth observation do a person or a small group
Naturalistic observation - in depth observation of a phenomenon in its natural setting
Survey results - Research asking a large sample of participants questions, often about attitudes or
behaviours, using questionnaires or interviews.
What are some limitations to descriptive methods?
- Can be difficult to generalise to the wider population
- Whether actually being observed changes behaviour
- Finding of these results are difficult to produce
- Experimenter bias
What is correlations research?
Look to find the underlaying relationship between two variables, knowing the value of one variable can lead to prediction of a second variable
What is experimental research?
A research design in which investigators manipulate some aspect of a situation
and examine the impact of this manipulation on the way participants respond
What is descriptive research?
refers to the methods that describe the characteristics of the variables under study. There are three types
What is a dependable variable?
The responses the experimenter measures to see if the experimental manipulation
has had an effect. It the one that is potentially influenced, affected or predicted. Also know as the outcome variable
What is a cause and effect relationship?
A relationship in which one event causes another to happen. The cause must occur before the effect. Whenever the cause occurs, the effect must also occur
E.g eating too much and not exercising effects ones weight
What is positive and negative correlation?
Positive correlation - A relation between two variables in which the higher one is, the higher the other tends to be
Negative correlation - A relationship between two variables in which the higher one is, the lower the
other tends to be
What is a independent variable?
Variables an experimenter manipulates. It is the one that potentially influences, affects or predicts the other variable. Also know a the predictor variable
What does demand characteristics mean?
The way participants’ perceptions of the researcher’s goals influence their
responses
What is researchers bias?
Errors in measurement due to the researcher seeing what he or she expects
to see
What is a confounding variable?
A variable that produces effects that are confused or confounded with the
effects of the independent variable
What is a quasi-experimental designs?
Research designs that employ the logic of experimental methods but lack
absolute control over variables.
