Quarter 1 - Cumulative Exam

Definition of psychology

study of behavior and mental processes

What did psychology develop from?

physiology and philosophy

What is the timeline of psychology?

1900 - study of consciousness

1920 - study of behavior

1960 - study of mental processes

1980 - study of behavior and mental processes

What is behavior?

anything an organism does

What are mental processes?

any internal, private, experiences

What are the four goals of psychology?

describe, explain, predict, and change behavior and mental processes

What are the three major ideas of the scientific method?

Theory

Hypothesis

Replication

What is a theory?

set of concepts, principles, ideas, etc. that organize and explain data

What is the basis for a hypothesis?

a theory

What is a hypothesis?

a testable question

What is replication?

getting the same results more than once, preferably by a different researcher

How do you use the scientific method in psychology?

1. Formulate a research question

2. Develop a testable hypothesis

3. Test hypothesis

4. Draw conclusions

5. Make findings available to others

6. Apply to the development of theory

What are the research methods used to collect data?

1. experiment

2. observation

3. case study

4. interview or survey

5. biological measures

   1. some combination of the above methods

What is skepticism?

doubt; the idea of critical thinking

Who had the 1st psychological laboratory that published?

Wilhelm Wundt

Where was the 1st publishing psychological laboratory located?

Leipzig Germany

What was Wilhelm Wundt known for?

speed of thought experiment (pendulum that measured reaction time)

What are the most important historical schools of psychology?

1. structuralism

2. functionalism

3. gestalt psychology

Who formed the school of structuralism?

Edward Titchener

What is structuralism?

determine WHAT consciousness was by determining the basic elements of consciousness

What are the elements of consciousness?

the basic building blocks of thought

What is introspection?

self-report of experience

What method did Titchener use to determine the basic elements of consciousness?

introspection

What were the issues with structuralism?

1. Titchener was the final authority

2. Introspection is not always accurate

3. Titchener ended with thousands of elements of consciousness, way too many to be useful

Who formed functionalism?

William James

What is functionalism?

determine WHY people were conscious

What is the stream of consciousness?

consciousness is about the big picture rather than the elements that make it up

What does the stream of consciousness indicate?

1. consciousness can never be understood just by understanding the “pieces”

2. consciousness can never be completely captured

3. trying to stop consciousness to understand it changes the nature of consciousness

Who founded Gestalt psychology?

Wertheimer, Kohler, Koffka

What is Gestalt psychology?

experiences are perceived as wholes rather than individual parts

What is famous phrase in Gestalt psychology?

“the whole is greater/other than the sum of its parts”

What is the phi phenomenon?

the perception of movement when it did not occur

What are the current perspectives of psychology?

1. behaviorism

2. psychoanalysis

3. humanistic

4. cognitive

5. biological

6. evolutionary

7. cultural

Who founded behaviorism?

John Watson

What is behaviorism?

all behavior is learned through conditioning

What is behaviorism also known as?

stimulus - response psychology

Who founded psychoanalysis?

Sigmund Freud

What is psychoanalysis?

childhood experiences and unconscious conflicts affect our personalities and behaviors

Who founded humanistic psychology?

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

What is humanistic psychology?

humans are innately good and strive to better themselves and society

What is humanistic psychology also known as?

positive psychology

Who founded cognitive psychology?

number of individuals

What time period is the “cognitive revolution?”

late 1950s and early 1960s

What is cognitive psychology?

thought and thinking processes

What is learning?

behavior; what you can do

What is cognitive?

thought process; anything that goes on in your mind

What is biological psychology?

the physical workings of the nervous system and how it results in behavior

What is evolutionary psychology?

natural selection, adaptation, and evolution of behavior patterns

What is cultural psychology?

behavior is influenced by the cultural context

How many divisions of psychology are there?

50+

Where do psychologists work?

1. academia

2. clinical settings

3. business and government

4. schools

What degree does a clinical psychologist have?

Ph.D.

Psy.D.

Ed.D.

Who can prescribe medications?

psychiatrist

What degree does a psychiatrist have?

M.D.

What are psychoanalysts?

psychiatrists with a specialization in psychoanalysis

What degree does a social worker have?

M.S.W.

What degree does a counselor have?

M.A.

Inductive reasoning

creating a general conclusion from specific observations

Deductive reasoning

deriving a specific conclusion based on a general principle

Basic research

conducted for knowledge’s sake alone

Applied research

Conducted to solve a real-world problem

Experimental studies

research design in which the researcher CONTROLS and MANIPULATES variables to determine cause-and effect relationships

What is the only research design that can make causal statements?

Experimental studies

Descriptive studies

research design in which the research describes the relationship between variables

Can descriptive studies determine cause-and-effect relationships?

No

What are all the parts of an experiment?

independent variable

dependent variable

experimental condition

control condition

random sample

Independent variable

variable that is controlled by the experimenter (the “cause”)

Dependent variable

variable that is measured (the “effect”)

Experimental condition

condition in which the participants are exposed to the independent variable

Control condition

Condition in which the participants are NOT exposed to the independent variable

Random sample

every member of the population of interest has an equal chance of being selected as a participant AND to be placed in the experimental and control conditions

Good points of experimental studies

ONLY way to determine cause-and-effect

Bad points of experimental studies

lacks ecological validity

experimenter/participant bias

difficulty with operational definitions

ethnocentrism

random sampling is difficult

What are the types of descriptive research?

naturalistic observation

surveys + tests

case studies

Naturalistic observation

systematic recording of behavior in participant’s natural state or habitat

Good points of naturalistic observation

ecological validity

may see unexpected behaviors

Bad points of naturalistic observation

no cause-and-effect

time-consuming

experimenter bias

subject reactivity

difficult to use with rarely-occurring behaviors

Surveys + tests

sample behaviors and attitudes of a participant

Good points of surveys + tests

quick and easy

large amount of data in a short time

Bad points of surveys + tests

no cause-and-effect

ambiguity of questions

framing of questions to lead participants to wanted answers

difficult to compare responses

use of forced-choice questions

sample bias

no way to determine truthfulness of replies

Case studies

in-depth study of a single research study (or very few), usually over many years or a life-time

Good points of case studies

great for very rare behaviors or conditions

Bad points of case studies

no cause-and-effect

lack of generalization from single subject to population as a whole

Correlational

a statistical method used to describe the relationship between variables

Correlation coefficient

the number that is generated by statistical analysis of descriptive data

What does the correlation coefficient indicate about the relationship between variables?

strength of the relationship

direction of the relationship

Strength

how closely related the two variables are

|0.00|

no relationship

|1.00|

perfect relationship

|0.20 - 0.30|

slight relationship

|0.30 - 0.40|

moderate relationship

|0.60+|

strong relationship

Direction

indicates how the variables are related

Positive correlation

the changes in both variables occur in the same direction (++ or --)

Negative correlation

the changes in the variables occur in the opposite direction (+-)

Does correlation equal causation?

Correlation does NOT equal causation

Confounding variable

a third, unknown variable that is the cause of the relationship

Illusory correlation

detected relationship between two variables when there is no relationship between them

What is superstitious behavior considered?

illusory correlations

Confirmation bias

the tendency to seek information which agrees with what one already believes to be true