Week 1

Question 1

Psychodynamic Theory

Answer 1

Freud
• We are driven by instincts and urges (typically sexual)
• Psychic determinism
Our behaviours, etc are predetermined from our childhood experiences
• Our thoughts, feelings, & behaviours are all influenced by unconscious motives and rooted in childhood experiences
• Iceberg analogy

Question 2

Oedipus Complex

Answer 2

At a certain age, around 3 or 4, a son will start to resent his father as he as jealous of the attention to the mother.

Question 3

Behavioural Theory

Answer 3

• Objective, scientific approach
• Not focused on inner workings
• “Black box” analogy
• Empiricism: controlled observation/measurement of behaviour Learning
• Stimulus (environment) → response association
• Most studies use animals
• Pavlov’s dog (classical)
• Skinners rats (operant)

Question 4

Cognitive Theory

Answer 4

• Internal mental processes DO matter – But what are they?
• Internal information processing (e.g. thoughts, perception, memory) can be scientifically studied
• Computer analogy
(e.g. input, store, retrieve data)
• Psychology = stimulus → mental event → response

Question 5

Humanistic Theory

Answer 5

• Focus on subjective experience of individual
• Other approaches too deterministic / dehumanizing
• People have free will, are good, & have innate need to make themselves & world better – personal growth/fulfilment motives
➢Personal growth > Self-actualisation
• Reject scientific approach – qualitative methods

Question 6

Biological Theory

Answer 6

• Our thoughts, feelings, & behaviours
have underlying biological cause
• Psychology = genetics + physiology (e.g. brain, nervous system)
• Psychiatry
• Evolutionary psychology
► Our thoughts, feelings and behaviours
are evolutionarily adaptive 
► Natural selection

Question 7

The Scientific Method

Answer 7

1. Develop a research question
2. Formulate a testable hypothesis
3. Design a study
4. Conduct the study
5. Analyse & evaluate the data
6. Report the findings

Question 8

Independent V

Answer 8

What you are changing

- the cause

Question 9

Dependent V

Answer 9

What you are measuring

- the effect

Question 10

Quasi Experiment

Answer 10

• Natural test of the effect of one variable (categorical / grouping) on another continuous variable
► Groups occur naturally on variable X
(no manipulation or random allocation)
(males v females , smokers v non-smokers)
► Measure variable Y
- Used when manipulation is difficult / unethical
- Susceptible to confounding variables
- Difficult to draw causal conclusions

Question 11

Experiment

Answer 11

Used to find out whether one variable (categorical / grouping) affects or causes changes in another continuous variable

• Manipulation on the IV
• Groups are randomly allocated
• Effect on the DV is measured

Question 12

Extraneous Variables

Answer 12

Something not considered or measured that may have an effect on the DV

• Can be controlled through random allocations etc
• Also called confounding

Question 13

Correlation Studies

Answer 13

Used to find out whether there is a relationship between two continuous variables
Used when variables are hard to manipulate or when naturally occurring continuum rather than groups
- Measure whether two or more things are statistically correlated
- Susceptible to confounding variables
- Cannot make causal conclusions

Question 14

Correlation Coefficients

Answer 14

• Positive correlation
• Negative correlation
• Zero / No correlation

NOT equal to causation

Question 15

Positive correlation

Answer 15

The higher (lower) the scores on one variable the higher (lower) they are likely to be on the other variable (up to +1)

Question 16

Negative correlation

Answer 16

The higher (lower) the scores on one variable the lower (higher) they are on the other variable (down to -1)

Question 17

Zero / No correlation

Answer 17

Variables not related / no associations between variable scores