PSYCH 289/290 Quiz 1

Structuralism

Based on the notion that the task of psychology is the analyze consciousness into its basic elements and investigate how these elements are related, wanted to identify the fundamental components of conscious experience such as sensations/feelings/images

Functionalism

Based on the belief that psych should investigate the function of purpose of consciousness rather than structure, more interested in how people adapt their behaviour to the demands of the real world around them

Introspection

Careful, systematic observation, self-observation of one’s own conscious experience; required training of the subject to be more objective and aware, practiced by structuralists

Behaviourism

Theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psych should study only observable behaviour

Behaviour

Any overt response or activity by an organism

Unconscious

Contains thoughts, memories, desires that are well below the surface of conscious awareness but that nonetheless exert great influence on behaviour

Psychoanalytic theory

Attempts to explain personality, motivation and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behaviour

Humanism

Theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth

6 major contemporary theoretical perspectives in psychology

behavioural, psychoanalytic, humanistic, cognitive, behavioural neuroscience, evolutionary

Cognitive psych

Human behaviour cannot be fully understood without examining how people acquire, store and process information

Behavioural neuroscience

An organism’s function can be explained in terms of the brain structures and biochemical processes that underlie behaviour

Evolutionary psychology

Behaviour patterns have evolved to solve adaptive problems, natural selection favours behaviours that enhance reproductive success

Clinical psychology

Branch of psych concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and disorders

Cognition

Mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge (thinking or conscious experience)

Cell assembly (Hebb)

Suggested that repeated stimulation leads to development of cell assemblies, these assemblies resemble cognitive units that together or in concert with other cell assemblies facilitate behaviour, proposed that the key to understanding this activity was at the neuronal level

Positive psychology

Uses theory and research to better understand the positive, adaptive, creative and fulfilling aspects of human existence

Psych

The science that studies behaviour and the physiological and cognitive processes that underlie it, and it is the profession that applies the accumulated knowledge of this science to practical problems

Social psych

Focuses on interpersonal behaviour and the role of social forces in governing behaviour

Personality psych

Interested in describing and understanding individuals’ consistency in behaviour, which represents their personality, also concerned with factors that shape personality and personality assessment

Psychometrics

Measurement of behaviour and capacities, usually through the development of psychological tests

Educational psych

Studies how people learn and the best ways to teach them

Health psych

Focuses on how physiological factors relate to the promotion and maintenance of physical health and the causation, prevention, and treatment of illness

Empiricism

Premise that knowledge should be acquired through observation

Themes related to psych as a field of study

Psych is empirical, Psych is theoretically diverse, Psych evolves in a sociohistorical context

Themes related to psych’s subject matter

Behaviour is determined by multiple causes, behaviour is shaped by cultural heritage, heredity and environment jointly influence behaviour, people’s experience of the world is highly subjective

Wundt

Established first formal lab for psych research and first psych journal, declared psych should be a science, subject matter was consciousness

James

Functionalist view, argued that structuralists missed the real nature of conscious experience, consciousness consists of a continuous flow of thoughts, wrote Principles of Psychology

Watson

Founded behaviourism, proposed that psychologists abandon the study of consciousness and focus on observable behaviour, power of the scientific method rested on verifiability

Freud

Treated people with psychoanalysis, unconscious, concluded that psychological disturbances are largely caused by personal conflicts existing at an unconscious level

Skinner

Insisted that internal mental events did not need to be studied scientifically and that there was no need, organisms tend to repeat responses that lead to positive outcomes and not repeat responses that lead to negative/neutral outcomes, asserted that all behaviour is fully governed by external stimuli, free will is an illusion

Rogers

Humanist, argued that human behaviour is governed primarily by each individual’s sense of self (self concept), psychologists must take into account the fundamental human drive toward personal growth

Hebb

Emphasis on the importance of the brain in behaviour, locus of behaviour should be sought in the brain, cell assemblyS

Seligman

Argued psych devoted too much attention to pathology, weakness, damage, and ways to heal suffering, founder of positive psychology

Measurement and Description

Develop measurement techniques that make it possible to describe behaviour clearly and precisely

Understanding and Precision

Explaining why events occur and making/testable predictions

Application and Control

Integrating apparently unrelated facts and principles into a coherent whole, theories make the leap from describing behaviour to understanding behaviour, guides future research by generating new predictions and suggesting new lines of inquiry

Essential features of error control in science

Peer review and replication

Operational Definition

Describes the actions/operations that will be used to measure or control a variable

Steps in a Scientific Investigation

1. Formula a testable hypothesis

2. Select the research method and design the study

3. Collect the data

4. Analyze the data and draw conclusions

Key data collection techniques

Direct observation, questionnaire, interview, psychological test, physiological/neural recording, examination of archival records

Advantages of Scientific Approach

1. Clarity and precision (requires that people specify exactly what they are talking about when they formulate hypotheses/enhances communication)

2. Relative intolerance of error (scientists are trained to be skeptical and subject their ideas to tests and demand objective data)

Anecdotal Evidence

Personal stories about specific incidents and experiences. Cannot be used to generalize, similar to self-reported data which can be distorted, often inaccurate and riddled with embellishments/manipulated

Descriptive/Correlational Research

Permit investigators to only describe patterns of behaviour and discover links/associations between variables

Naturalistic Observation

Observing behaviour in natural settings without interference, behaviour is allowed to unfold naturally in its natural environment

Reactivity

Participant’s behaviour is altered by the presence of others

Strength of Naturalistic Observation

Less artificial conditions, good starting point when little is known about the behaviour under study, can be used to study animal behaviour

Weakness of Naturalistic Observation

Difficulty making their observations unobtrusively so they don’t affect their participant’s behaviour, often difficult to translate naturalistic observations into numerical data that permit precise stat analyses

Case Study

In-depth analysis of one individual or group

Strength of Case Study

Useful for investigating certain phenomena, such as psychological disorders and neuropsychological issues

Weakness of Case Study

Can be highly subjective, information from several sources must be knit together in an impressionistic way, researchers may focus selectively on information that fits with their expectations

Survey

Questionnaires/interviews to gather information about specific aspects of participants’ behaviour

Strength of Surveys

Gather information on important social issues, obtain information on aspects of behaviour that are difficult to observe directly, relatively easy to collect data on attitudes/opinions from large samples of participants

Weakness of Surveys

Self-report data is subject to intentional deception, wishful thinking, memory lapses, poorly worded questions that can distort participants’ verbal reports about their behaviour, tendency to cooperate with surveys has declined

Correlational Research Advantage

Way to explore questions they could not examine with experimental procedures, broadens the scope of phenomena that psychologists are able to study

Correlational Research Disadvantage

Cannot control events to isolate cause and effect, cannot demonstrate conclusively that correlated variables are causally related

Experiment

Research method in which the investigator manipulates a variable under carefully controlled conditions and observes whether any changes occur in a second variable as a result

Confounding Variables

When two variables are linked in a way that makes it difficult to sort out their specific effects

Random Assignment

All participants have an equal chance of being assigned to any group or condition in the study

Within-Subjects Design

Only one group of participants who serve as their own control group

Order Effects/Carry Over Effects

Order of the conditions could itself be an extraneous variable that acts to confound the results

Between-Subjects Design

Two ore more independent groups of participants are exposed to a manipulation of an independent variable

Interaction

When effect of one variable depends on another

Advantage of Experiments

Permits conclusions about cause and effect relationships between variables, no other research method can duplicate the strength of the experiment

Weakness of Experiments

Often artificial, researchers must often construct simple and contrived situations to test their hypotheses experimentally, doubt arises about applicability of findings to everyday behaviour, can’t be used to explore some research questions

Field Experiment

Research studies that use settings that are very much like real life; may occur in the context of everyday life and events, researchers may sacrifice some control over extraneous variables for greater generalizability

Descriptive Statistics

Organize and summarize data, provide an overview of numerical data, measures of central tendency/variability/coefficient of correlation

Central Tendency

Mean, median, mode

Standard Deviation

Index of the amount of variability in a set of data

Variability and SD

If variability is great, SD will be high; if variability is low, SD will be smaller

Percentile Score

Percentage of people who score at or below a particular score

Correlation

When two variables are related to each other

Correlation Coefficient

Degree of relationship between two variables (-1 to +1)

Correlation Limitation

Does not tell is whether a cause and effect relationship exists between the two variables

Inferential Statistics

Used to interpret data and draw conclusions

Statistical Significance

Probability that the observed findings are due to chance is very low

Sampling Bias

Exists when a sample is not representative of the population from which it was drawn

Placebo Effect

Participants’ expectations lead them to experience some change even though they receive empty, fake, or ineffectual treatment

Social Desirability Bias

Tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself

Response Set

Tendency to respond to questions in a particular way that is unrelated to the content of the questions

Halo Effect

One’s overall evaluation of a person/object/institution spills over to influence more specific ratings

Experimenter Bias

Researcher’s expectation/preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained

Double-Blind Procedure

Neither participants nor experimenters know which participants are in the experimental or control groups