Psychology Midterm Review

Critical Thinking

contains scientific attitude and examines assumptions, appraises the source, detects hidden bias, evaluates evidence, assesses solutions

Hindsight Bias

individuals convince themselves that a past event was “obvious” (“I knew it all along!”)

Peer Reviewers

scientists that evaluate a study’s theory, originality, and accuracy

Theory

explains behaviors or events by offering ideas that organize observations

Falsifiable

determines scientific strength of a hypothesis (can it be proven wrong?)

Operational Definition

how a concept or variable will be measured or manipulated; putting it into real life terms

Replication

repetition of original observations with different participants, materials, and circumstances

Case Study

examines one individual or group in depth in hopes of revealing things true of us all

Naturalistic Observations

recording responses in natural environments, rather than a lab to understand how people behave in their real-world environments

Survey

looks at many causes in depth, asking people to report their behavior or opinions

Social Desirability Bias

answering questions in a way they think will please the researcher

Self Report Bias

when people don’t accurately report or remember their behaviors

Sampling Bias

generalizing from a few individuals to a larger population but unrepresentable cases that doesn’t accurately represent larger populations

Random Sample

every person in the entire population has an equal chance of being included in the sample group

Population

total group of individuals or objects that a researcher is interested in studying

Correlation

one trait or behavior tends to coincide with another; does not show causation, (cause and effect) only an experiment can do so

Correlation Coefficient

statistical measure that helps figure out how clearly two things vary together and thus how well either one predicts the other

Variable

characteristic or attribute that can be measured and can vary/take on different values

Scatterplot

graph displaying relationship between two quantitative variables by plotting data points

Illusory Correlation

believing there is a relationship between two things, recalling instances that confirm our beliefs when no such relationship exists

Regression towards the Mean

illusion that uncontrollable events correlate with our actions (statistical phenomenon)

Experiment

research method where investigator manipulates one or more factors (ind. variables) to observe effect on some behavior or mental process (dep. variable)

Experimental Group

group exposed to the treatment, to one version of the ind. variable

Control Group

group NOT exposed to the treatment; serves as a comparison to control group

Random Assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between the different groups

Single-blind procedure

experimental procedure in which research participants are ignorant (received treatment/placebo)

Double-blind procedure

experimental procedure in which both research participants and research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants have received a treatment/placebo

Placebo Effect

experimental results caused by expectations alone; improvement in condition after receiving inert treatment

Independent Variable

factor being manipulated; variable whose effect is being studied

Confounding Variable

factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study’s results; object of the experiment is to prove A causes B. It is anything that could cause change in B, that is not A

Experimental Bias

bias caused when researchers may unintentionally influence results to confirm their own reliefs

Dependent variable

outcome that is measured; the variable that may change when independent variable is manipulated

Validity

extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Quantitative Research

research method that relies on quantifiable, numerical data

Qualitative Research

research method that relies on in-depth, narrative

Informed Consent

giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate

Debriefing

post experimental explanation of a study, included its purpose and any deception, to its participants

Descriptive Statistics

numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups; include measures of central tendency and measure variation

Histogram

a bar graph depicting a frequency distribution

Mode

Most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution

Mean

arithmetic average of a distribution obtaining by adding the scores then dividing by number of scores

Median

middle score of a distribution half the scores are above it and half are below it

Percentile Range

the percentage of scores that are lower than a given score

Skewed Distribution

a representative of scores that lack symmetry around their average value

Range

difference between highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Standard Deviation

computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean curve

Normal Curve

symmetrical bell shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data, most scores fall near the mean (about 68% fall within one standard deviation of it) and fewer and fewer scores lie near the extremes

Inferential Statistics

numerical data that allow one to generalize; to infer from sample data the probability of something being true of a population

Meta-analysis

statistical procedure for analyzing results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion

Statistical Significance

statistical statement of how likely it is that a result (such as a difference between samples) occurred by chance, assuming there’s no difference between the populations being studied

Effect size

strength of the relationship between two variables, the larger the effect size the more one variable can be explained by the other

Psychology

studies behavior and mental processes; behavior is observable, mental processes are not (began in late 1800s)

Trephination

cutting holes in skull to let evil spirits out (evidence of this in the Stone Age)

Phrenology

felt lumps on head, shows interest in mental processes

Overconfidence

more confident than correct; hindsight bias can lead to this. Fighting urge to perceive order in random events (can lead to ignoring facts, superstitions)

Scientific Method

Observation, Question, Theory, Hypothesis, Experiment, Data, Conclusions (OQTHEDC)

Case Studies

pros: very detailed data about individual/group

cons: not applicable to the whole

Surveys

pros: affordable, easy to get wide variety of individuals

cons: respondents may lie/inflate the truth which can be misleading

Naturalistic Observations

pros: no manipulation/interference, can really observe

cons: doesn’t explain data/observations

Longitudinal Study

following same cohort of people over extended amount of time

pro: can really see progress

con: takes a long time!

Cross-sectional Study

taking people in different stages of life (lots of variables to consider. How are we seeing change/how can we compare if all people are different?)

Positive Correlation

variables go in the same direction

Negative Correlation

variables go in the opposite correlation

Correlation Coefficient

number that measures strength of a relationship, range is from -1 to +1, relationship gets weaker as you get closer to zero/as number gets bigger or smaller to 1

Animal Research

Must have clear purpose, treated in a humane way, acquire them legally, least amount of suffering as possible

Human Research

No coercion, must be voluntary, informed consent, anonymity, no significant risk, must debrief after

Statistics

Look at statistics carefully as they can be manipulated; mean, median, and mode

Normal Distribution

Normal: 68%, 95%, 98%

1.5 SD = 84-88%

2.0 SD = 82-90%

3.5 SD = 80-92%

nature–nurture issue

the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today’s science views traits and behaviors as arising from the interaction of nature and nurture.

Charles Darwin

all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce

Roger Sperry

severed the corpus callosum in cats and monkeys to study the function of each side of the brain. He found that if hemispheres were not connected, they functioned independently of one another, which he called a split-brain. The split-brain enabled animals to memorize double the information

Michael Gazzaniga

the right and left hemispheres of the brain can act independently from one another and have different strengths

Sigmund Freud

founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method that analyzes the psyche through dialogue. His theories, which popularized the idea that unconscious motives control behavior, influenced psychology, anthropology, and popular culture. Freud's ideas include: The psychodynamic approach** Human behavior is explained by unconscious drives, and the mind is made up of the id, ego, and superego.

Gustav Fechner

most significant contribution was demonstrating that the mind could be measured and subjected to mathematical treatment, creating a path for psychology to become a quantified science

Ernst Weber

law states that the change in a stimulus that will be just noticeable is a constant ratio of the original stimulus

David Hubel

discoveries in visual processing and development ushered in the modern study of the cerebral cortex and changed the way childhood cataracts and strabismus (“cross-eye”) were treated

Torsten Wiesel

revealed the pattern of organization of brain cells that process vision and how this organization relates to function

natural selection

the principle that the inherited traits enabling an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will (in competition with other trait variations) most likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

evolutionary psychology

the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection.

behavior genetics

the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior.

mutation

a random error in gene replication that leads to a change.

environment

every nongenetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to our experiences of the people and things around us.

heredity

the genetic transfer of characteristics from parents to offspring.

genes

the biochemical units of heredity.

genome

the complete instructions for making an organism.

identical (monozygotic) twins

individuals who developed from a single fertilized egg that split in two, creating two genetically identical organisms.

fraternal (dizygotic) twins

individuals who developed from separate fertilized eggs. They are genetically no closer than ordinary siblings, but they shared a prenatal environment.

interaction

the interplay that occurs when the effect of one factor (such as environment) depends on another factor (such as heredity).

epigenetics

“above” or “in addition to” (epi) genetics; the study of the molecular mechanisms by which environments can influence genetic expression (without a DNA change).

nervous system

the body’s speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous systems.

central nervous system (CNS)

the brain and spinal cord.

peripheral nervous system (PNS)

the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system (CNS) to the rest of the body.

nerves

bundled axons that form neural cables connecting the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sensory organs.

sensory (afferent) neurons

neurons that carry incoming information from the body’s tissues and sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord.

motor (efferent) neurons

neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands.

interneurons

neurons within the brain and spinal cord; they communicate internally and process information between the sensory inputs and motor outputs.

somatic nervous system

the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body’s skeletal muscles. Also called the skeletal nervous system.

autonomic [aw-tuh-NAHM-ik] nervous system (ANS)

the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs (such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms.

sympathetic nervous system

the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, mobilizing its energy.

parasympathetic nervous system

the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy.