Week 1 - Intro & Basic Principles Flashcards
What’s the basic goal of psychology
Describe the behaviour of organisms
The psychological approach originates in the “________ ________”?
The mind
What are the assumptions about a manipulated variable?
- All Behaviour is CAUSED
- Causes PRECEDE their effects
- PARSIMONIOUS is preferred (Occam’s Razor)
- The causes of behaviour include ONLY NATURAL (i.e., publicly observable) phenomena
What is the experimental method?
Independent variable (cause) ———> CAUSALITY ———> Dependent variable
Manipulation——-> Behaviour
Enviro A.
Enviro B.
What is a functional relationship? (Casual)
Behaviour = f (organism, environment)
“IS A FUNCTION OF”
What is an operational definition?
A description of a variable used to measure that variable
Ex) Measuring “mouth wateringness” of food
Label: Salivation
Operational Definition:
Number of milligrams of saliva absorbed by cotton balls (of size X) placed in a particular area in the mouth for specified period of time.
Why is a operational definition important? (5)
- Precise
- Interobserver reliability
- Quantitative
- Objective
- Practical
- Important
Different types of behavioural assessments?
- A-B (BEHAVIOURAL ASSESSMENT)
- determine if treatment is needed
-determine if treatment was successful - A-B-A-B (REVERSAL DESIGN)
-casual relationship b/w IV and DV
Difference b/w direct and indirect behavioural assessment?
Direct (IDEAL)
-behaviour is measured as it occurs
-observer can be camera or person etc..
-self-monitoring
Indirect
-interviews, questionnaires etc..
-testimony
-recall individual behaviour
- MAY BE BIASED/INACCURATE
What is B.F Skinners advice in research designs?
Individual subject ——> demonstrable truth emerges ——-> THEN ———> generalize
What is a single case design?
NOT THE SAME THING AS A CASE-STUDY
-individual acts as their own control group
-within-subject research
-principles that govern that individual
What are the 8 common behavioural measures?
***What are the 4 MAIN behaviour measures?
- Accuracy
- Topography
**3. Intensity (psychical force involved in the behaviour)
**4. Latency/speed (time span b/w stimulus and reaction)
**5. Duration (time where behaviour starts —-> end)
**6. Frequency (# occurrences of behaviour) - Distribution of behaviour
- Rate (# occurrences of a behaviour over set amount of time)
Overt VS covert behaviour?
Overt: can be observed or measured by a person
Covert “private events”: cannot be observed by others
Behaviour is “___________”
Lawful
-its occurrence is systematically influenced by enviro effects
What is target behaviour?
The behaviour to be MODIFIED
What is a behaviour excess?
Undesirable target behaviour the person wants to DECREASE (frequency, duration etc…)
What is a behaviour deficit?
Desirable target behaviour the person wants to INCREASE (frequency, duration etc..)
Who was Ivan P. Pavlov?
Basic process of respondent conditioning
Reflex (salivation) of food can be conditioned to a neutral stimulus
Who was Edward L. Thorndike?
Law of effect
A behaviour that produces a favorable effect on the environment is more likely to be repeated in the future
The cat, food and the cage
Who was John B. Watson?
Observable behavior was the proper matter of psychology and that all behavior was controlled by environmental events
Began behaviourism
Who was B.F Skinner?
Expanded the field of behaviourism originally described by Watson
Explained distinction b/w respondent conditioning and operant conditioning in which consequence of behaviour controls future occurrence of behaviour (thorndikes law of effect)
Foundation of behaviour modification
