Psychology 2000 - Jennifer Knapp - Exam 1

psychology

science of behavior and mental processes

Behavior

anything an organism does

mental processes

internal, subjective experiences we infer from behavior

levels of analysis

biological influences, psychological influences, social-cultural influences

biopsychosocial approach

integrates all three levels; provides more complete pictures of behaviors and processes.

Unique challenges of psychology

multiply determined, psychological influences are rarely independent, individual differences, people often influence one another, culture and gender.

culture

a fantastic album produced by the glamour hip hop group: Migos. jk, it's enduring behavior, ideas, traditions, attitudes, and values.

Gender

cultural role of "masculine" or "feminine"

gender socialization

expectations, descriptions, etc.

naive realism

our belief that the world is the way we see it. (gut feeling)

hindsight bias

after learning outcome, we believe we could have predicted it.

overconfidence

we tend to think we know more than we actually do

empirical approach

answering questions based on observation and experimentation

theory

statements that summarize past research, give direction to future research

hypothesis

stable prediction; implied by theory

confirmation bias

tendency to pay attention to info that fits our beliefs; dismiss info that doesn't.

scientific skepticism

approach of evaluating all claims with an open mind but insisting on persuasive evidence before accepting them

structuralism

an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind

introspection

examination of one's own thoughts and feelings

criticism of structuralism

too subjective, too concerned with internal behaviors, cannot directly observe thoughts.

functionalism

A school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish.

natural selection

inherent differences came about that enabled individuals more likely to survive and reproduce

Behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2).

Cognitive Revolution

The shift away from strict behaviorism, begun in the 1950s, characterized by renewed interest in fundamental problems of consciousness and internal mental processes.

cognitive neuroscience

study of brain activity linked with cognition

psychoanalysis

Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions

Eros

life instinct; creation, connections, sex

Thanatos

death instinct; destruction, separation, violence

humanistic psychology

focuses on individual potential of feeling loved and accepted - assumes people are basically good.

basic research

pure research aimed at increasing knowledge

applied research

aims to solve practical problems

clinical psychology

usually treat more serious mental problems

community psychology

helps community issues (outreach etc)

counseling psychology

usually treat less serious mental problems

developmental psychology

how people change throughout lifetime

Forensic Psychology

relationship between law and people

industrial-organizational psychology

how to make job/workplace better

pseudoscience

set of claims that seems scientific but isn't: overuse of ad hoc immunizing hypothesis, lack of self correction, and over reliance on ancedotes

emotional reasoning fallacy

using emotions rather than evidence as the guide

the bandwagon fallacy

believing a claim is true simply because it's in the status-quo

Not me fallacy

everyone believes they're more unique than reality permits

dangers of pseudoscience

opportunity cost, direct harm, inability to think scientifically

correlation v causation

does A cause B?

falsifiability

Can the claim be disproved?

replicability

can results be duplicated?

extraordinary claims

is the evidence as strong as claim?

Occam's Razor

does a simpler explanation fit the data just as well?

naturalistic observation

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

Hawthorne effect

A change in a subject's behavior caused simply by the awareness of being studied

case study

an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

Questionnares
vs.
Surveys

survey is about an experience while a questionnare is about the individual

wording effects

when a specific word used in a question affects how respondents answer the question or the order of the questions i.e: substance abuse v drug addiction

population

A group of individuals that belong to the same species and live in the same area

sample

a subset of the population - more realistic to study a sample than entire pop.

representative sample

has same ratio/characteristics as the whole population

random sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

convenience sample

a form of nonprobability sample using respondents who are convenient or readily accessible to the researcher—for example, employees, friends, or relatives

Reliability

consistency of measurement

test-retest reliability

a method for determining the reliability of a test by comparing a test taker's scores on the same test taken on separate occasions

Validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to - testing smokers to show that cigarettes are healthy would likely show reliable results, but invalid results. Also polygraphs are a good example of a test being reliable but invalid.

inter-rater reliability

measure of agreement among observers on how they record and classify a particular event

positive correlation

A correlation where as one variable increases, the other also increases, or as one decreases so does the other. Both variables move in the same direction. i.e. coffee and cigarette consuming

negative correlation

as one variable increases, the other decreases. i.e. good grades and procrastination.

illusory correlation

the perception of a relationship where none exists. i.e. an old smoker dies at 100 years old

experimental group vs. control group

EXPERIMENTAL GROUP is the group receiving the independent variable
CONTROL GROUP does not receive anything, in order to act as a comparison

independent variable

The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied. i.e: cigarettes in a study of whether smoking reduces stress.

dependent variable

The outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable. i.e: stress in a study of whether smoking reduces stress

operational definition

a statement of the procedures used to define research variables

confounding variable

a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment

placebo effect

experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent.

nocebo effect

harm resulting from the mere expectation of harm

experimenter expectancy effect

actual change in the behavior of the people or nonhuman animals being observed that is due to the expectations of the observer