Umich Psych 111

Exam 1

Applied Psychology

The branch of psychology concerned with everyday, practical problems.

Behavior

Refers to any overt (observable) response or activity by an organism.

Behaviorism

(Founded by John B. Watson) - A theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study only observable behavior.

Clinical Psychology

The branch of psychology concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and disorders.

Cognition

Refers to the mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge.

Critical Thinking

Purposeful, reasoned, goal-directed thinking that involved solving problems, formulating inferences, working with probabilities, and making carefully thought-out decisions.

Culture

Refers to the widely shared customs, beliefs, values, norms, institutions, and other products of a community that are transmitted socially across generations.

Empiricism

The premise that knowledge should be acquired through observation.

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to view one’s own group as superior to others and as the standard for judging the worth of foreign ways.

Evolutionary Psychology

Examines behavioral processes in terms of their adaptive value for members of a species over the course of many generations.

Functionalism

(William James) - Based on the belief that psychology should investigate the function or purpose of consciousness, rather than its structure.

Humanism

A theoretical orientation that emphasizes the unique qualities of humans, especially their freedom and their potential for personal growth.In

Introspection

The careful, systematic self-observation of one’s own conscious experience.

Natural Selection

Heritable characteristics that provide a reproductive advantage are more likely than alternative characteristics to be passed on to the subsequent generations.

Positive Psychology

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

Psychiatry

A branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of psychological problems and disorders.

Psychoanalytic Theory

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

Psychology

The science that studies behavior 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.

Structuralism

(Edward Titchener) - Based on the notion that the task of psychology is to analyze consciousness into its basic elements and investigate how these elements are related.

Testwiseness

The ability to use the characteristics and format of a cognitive test to maximize one’s score.

Theory

Systematic way of organizing and understanding repeated observations

Sigmund Freud

Coined psychanalysis that studied personality, motivation, and abnormal behavior.

G. Stanley Hall

Important contributor to rapid growth of psychology in America. Established first American research lab in psychology. Driving force behind American Psychological Association (APA).

William James

Principal contributor of functionalism

Carl Rogers

Principle contributor for humanism. Book - Principles of Psychology

B. F. Skinner

Principal contributor for behaviorism. Fundamental principle: organisms tend to repeat responses that lead to positive outcomes, and they tend not to repeat responses that lead to neutral or negative outcomes.

John B. Watson

Founder of behaviorism.

Wilhelm Wundt

Helped psychology become independent of philosophy and physiology. 1879 - Psychology’s birthday

4 Goals of Psychology

1. Describe how people and animals behave

2. Understand and explain the causes of behavior

3. Predict behaviors/reactions across situations

4. Control behavior through understanding its causes and consequences

9 Areas of Research Study

1. Developmental

2. Social

3. Educational

4. Health

5. Physiological

6. Experimental

7. Cognitive

8. Psychometrics

9. Personality

7 Organizing Themes of Psychology

1. Psychology is empirical

2. Psychology is theoretically diverse

3. Psychology evolves in a sociohistorical context

4. Behavior is determined by multiple causes

5. Behavior is shaped by cultural heritage

6. Heredity and environment jointly influence behvaior

7. People’s experience of the world is highly subjective

Anecdotal Evidence

Consists of personal stories about specific incidents and experiences.

Case Study

In-depth study of an individual or small group.

Confounding of Variables

Occurs when two variable are linked together in a way that makes it difficult to sort out their specific effects.

Correlation

Exists when two variables are related other.

Correlation Coefficient

A numerical index of the degree of relationship between two variables.

Indicates 2 things:

• Direction (±) of the relationship

• How strongly the two variables are related
  

Control Group

A group of people that all receive the same treatment except the independent variable to assess its impact.

Data Collection Techniques

• Direct Observation

• Questionnaires

• Interviews

• Psychological Tests

• Physiological Recordings

• Examination of Historical Records

Dependent Variable

Measured to assess any change in response to the manipulation.

Descriptive Statistics

Used to organize and summarize data.

Double-Blind Procedure

A research strategy in which either participants nor experimenters know which subjects are in the experimental or control groups.

Experiment

A research method in which the investigator manipulated a variable under carefully controlled conditions and observes whether and changes occur in a second variable as a result.

Experimental Group

Receive the special treatment in the experiment.

Experimenter Bias

Occurs when a researcher’s expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained.

Extraneous Variables

Variable other than the IV which can impact the results.

Hypothesis

Proposed relationship between two variables.

Independent Variable

The variable that is manipulated by the experimenter.

Inferential Statistics

Used to interpret data and draw conclusions.

Internet-Mediated Research

Refers to studies in which data collection occurs over the web.

Journal

A periodical that published technical and scholarly material, usually in a narrowly defined area of inquiry.

Mean

Scores added up and divided by total.

Median

Middle in range of scores.

Mode

Most common score repeated.

Naturalistic Observation

Can describe but not explain behavior.

Operational Definition

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

Subjects/Participants

Random sample which represents the population as a whole.

Placebo Effects

Expectancies can impact subjective experiences.

Population

The much larger collection of animals or people (from which the sample is drawn) that researcher want to generalize about.

Random Assignment

Occurs when all subjects have an equal chance of being assigned to any group or condition in the study.

Reactivity

Occurs when a subject’s behavior is altered by the presence of an observer.

Replication

The repetition of a study to see whether the earlier results are duplicated.

Research Methods

1. Develop a theory based on observations

2. Developed a hypothesis from the theory

3. Design a research study

4. Gather the data

5. Analyze the data and report findings

Response Set

Consistency in answers reflective of a patterned response.