Studied by 58 people
human processes
how humans perceive, think, feel, and behave
what are trigger warning and why are they not used in psyc?
advance notification at the start of information that contains potentially distressing content
Trigger warnings appear to not impact emotional reactions to upsetting content or worsen the negative emotions/anxiety before viewing something. They also cause avoidance of the topic which interferes with coping and learning
Coping
dedicating time and conscious effort to the management of stress levels and problems that you are faced with
mental hygiene
practices we engage in that are important for maintaining mental health and preventing psychological conditions such as burnout and mental illness
Burnout
state of physical, mental and emotional collapse caused by overwork or stress
what is science?
the use of systematic observation to acquire knowledge.
way of using observable data to help explain and understand the world around us in a trustworthy way
Systematic observation
The careful observation of the natural world with the aim of better understanding it. Observations provide the basic data that allow scientists to track, tally, or otherwise organize information about the natural world.
Empirical method
Approaches to inquiry that are tied to actual measurement and observation.
explicitly measuring something about the world.
What are the essential elements of science?
Systematic observation (core of science) Observation leads to hypotheses we can test Science is democratic Science is cumulative
Hypothesis
A logical idea that can be tested.
Theories
Groups of closely related phenomena or observations.
Peer report measures
asking close friends and family members about the feelings of a target individual to get more accurate results
What are ethics?
Professional guidelines that offer researchers a template for making decisions that protect research participants from potential harm and that help steer scientists away from conflicts of interest or other situations that might compromise the integrity of their research.
List the ethical considerations of psychological research
Psychologists must follow a code of ethics;
Informed consent (no coercion)
Confidentiality
Privacy
Benefits outweigh risks
Deception and debriefing
Data
in research, information systematically collected for analysis and interpretation
Sample
in research, a number of people selected from a population to serve as an example of that population
What are the 5 features of scientific theories?
Accurate: Can it explain lots of data and real-world observations? Relatively simple, broad, 3 or 4 factors
Consistent: Are there very few exceptions and does it fit with other theories?
Scope: Can it explain things beyond the current data or research findings?
Simplicity: Is it less complex than other theories that explain the pattern of data similarly well?
Fruitfulness: Does it generate new, testable hypotheses?
Falsifiable: Can it be tested and proven wrong?
Falsifiability
feature that has so permeated scientific practice that it warrants additional clarification
Pseudoscience
everyday reasoning. Beliefs or practices that are presented as being scientific, or which are mistaken for being scientific, but which are not scientific (e.g., astrology, the use of celestial bodies to make predictions about human behaviors, and which presents itself as founded in astronomy, the actual scientific study of celestial objects. Astrology is a pseudoscience unable to be falsified, whereas astronomy is a legitimate scientific discipline).
Falsified
the ability of a claim to be tested and possibly refuted, a defining feature of science (similar to testable)
What did Popper do?
Popper was dissatisfied with Freud’s explanations of mental illness and argued against statements that can’t be falsified
Popper claims ‘if science showed all the possibilities that were not true, we would be left only with what is true” - we need to know the evidence that will disprove our hypothesis so we can abandon it
Probabilities
measure of the degree of certainty of the occurrence of an event
Inductive reasoning
form of reasoning in which a general conclusion is inferred from a set of observations (a specific observation leads to a general conclusion)
Deductive reasoning
form of reasoning in which a given premise determines the interpretation of a specific observations (begins with general principles/premises applied to specific instances to prove something)
Representative
in research, the degree to which a sample is a typical example of the population from which it is drawn
Anectodal/unsystematic evidence
piece of biased evidence, usually drawn from personal experience, used to support a conclusion that may or may not be correct
Population
in research, all the people belonging to a particular group
Correlation
in statistics, the measure of relatedness of two or more variables
Null-hypothesis significance testing
in statistics, a test created to determine the chances that an alternative hypothesis would produce a result as extreme as the one observed if the null hypothesis were actually true
Null hypothesis
statement that two variables are not related
Alternative hypothesis
statement that two variables are related
Distribution
in statistics, the relative frequency that a particular value occurs for each possible value of a given variable
pattern of variation in a set of data. Must consider the distributions as a whole not just the median
Accurate detection
the researcher’s conclusion mirrors reality (finds a real relationship or not finding a relationship that doesn't exist)
Type 1 error
in statistics, the error of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true (research concludes that there is a relationship between two variables but in reality there is not)
Type 2 error
the error of failing to reject the null hypothesis when it is false. (researcher concludes that there is no relationship, but there actually is one)
Probability values (p-values)
inferential statistic that establishes threshold for determining whether a given value occurs by chance
tells you how often a random process would give a result at least as extreme as what was found in the actual study assuming everything was random. Lower p-value = stronger correlation.
When p < 0.05, if the study were repeated 100 times, we would see the result less than 5 times, is usually the cutoff
What impacts statistical significance?
larger sample size = greater statistical significance because outliers have less impact on average
larger initial difference between groups = greater statistical significance
greater variation in the measures = lower statistical significance
Scientific theory
explanation for observed phenomena that is empirically well-supported, consistent, and fruitful (predictive)
comprehensive framework for making sense of evidence regarding a particular phenomenon
Empirically
concerned with observation and/or the ability to verify a claim
Objective
being free of personal bias (unbias)
Facts
objective information about the world
Values
belief about the way things should be
Levels of analysis
in science, there are complementary understandings and explanations of phenomena
Causality
in research, the determination that one variable causes (is responsible for) an effect
Empiricism
belief that knowledge comes from experience
Neural impulse
An electro-chemical signal that enables neurons to communicate
Psychophysics
Study of the relationships between physical stimuli and the perception of those stimuli.
Introspection
method of focusing on internal processes
Structuralism
A school of American psychology that sought to describe the elements of conscious experience.
looks at actual structures of brain and our thoughts.
Functionalism
A school of American psychology that focused on the utility of consciousness.
looks at what we observe and function of mind instead of physical structure.
Cognitive psychology
study of mental processes, information processing. formed as reaction to behaviourism.
Behaviourism
study of observing behaviour (neglects mental processes). Focuses on external processes, rejects introspection.
Major school's of thought
Flashbulb memory
A highly detailed and vivid memory of an emotionally significant event.
Typically related to; Emotional? Detailed? Confident? Accurate?
Often they are not accurate
Tip of the tongue phenomenon
The inability to pull a word from memory even though there is the sensation that that word is available.
Scientist practitioner model 1949
A model of training of professional psychologists that emphasizes the development of both research and clinical skills.
Scholar practitioner model 1973
A model of training of professional psychologists that emphasizes clinical practice.
Brown v. board of education
a supreme court ruling that ended school segregation, 1954
Name and explain some fo the scientists that used psyc to advance social rights/activism?
Thompson Woolley examined women being ‘overemotional’
Hollingworth examined women’s emotions during menstruation
the Clarks demonstrated that school segregation was negative,
Hooker got homosexuality removed from the APA mental disorders, 1957
Founding of the Association of Black Psychologists
1968
Wilhelm Wundt
1879, formal development of modern psychology, he worked on psychoanalysis (inernal processes) and reductionism. He promoted that psychology could be an experimental field, provided classes, books, and labs for it in germany
What happened in the year 1879?
Wundt added a lab to his psychology class, this date is considered the ‘establishment of the science of psychology’
Edward Titchener (1867-1927)
student of Wundt that introduced psychology to America as structuralism and inrospection.
what year was the APA created
1892
What year did Titchener organize a group of colleagues to create the society of experimental psychologists
1904
Margaret Washburn
1894, Tichener’s woman student, first to earn a PHD in psychology 1921, she is second woman president of APA
when was the Society for the psychological study of social issues founded?
1936
What year was the American psychological society founded?
1988
William James
1890, wrote the book principles of psychology that proposed consciousness as ongoing and continuous.
took a functional approach (functionalism)
G Hall
founded the first psychology lab in America (1883), created the american journal of psychology (1887), founded the APA (1892) hosted Freud in America (1909)
Francis Sumner
1920, first African American to earn a PHD in psyc in america, student of G Hall
Eugenics
the practice of selective breeding to promote desired traits
when was the American Association of Applied Psychology (AAAP) founded?
in the 1930s, but it later joined with APA
Psychology
study of behaviour, thought, experience and the science of the mind and behaviour
Experiment
something that has controlled conditions for which people are randomly assigned and observe the outcome.
Experiments allow researchers to make causal inferences
Statistics
science of gaining insight from data
components of statistical investigation
Planning the study (asking testable research questions and deciding how to collect data)
Examining the data (patterns, graphs, observations)
Inferring from the data (draw reasonable statistics from the data)
Draw conclusions (who do the conclusions apply to, is it cause and effect)
Statistical thinking
careful design of a study to collect meaningful data to answer a focused research question, detailed analysis of patterns in the data, and drawing conclusions that go beyond the observed data
Random assignment
Using a probability-based method to divide a sample into treatment groups. Creates groups that are similar in characteristics except what the experiment manipulates
Probability models
help us assess how much random variation we can expect in our results
Random Sample
gives every member of the population an equal chance of being selected for the sample. should produce groups that are as similar as possible. Necessary for generalizing results
Margin of error
certain percentage that accounts for anything that is randomized. Calculated by doing 1/sqrt of the sample size. The expected amount of random variation in a statistic; often defined for 95% confidence level
Reliability
consistency of a measure, same results each time
synonymous with dependable
reliable vs face valid
Statistical significance
a result is statistically significant if it is unlikely to arise by chance alone. If the P-value is less than 5%.
Confidence interval
An interval of plausible values for a population parameter; the interval of values within the margin of error of a statistic.
Parameter
A numerical result summarizing a population (e.g., mean, proportion).
Placebo effect
Sometimes a person just knowing that he/she is receiving special treatment or something new is enough to actually cause changes in behaviour or perception
Generalize
the ability to arrive at broad conclusions based on a smaller sample of observations. For these conclusions to be true the sample should accurately represent the larger population from which it is drawn.
the degree to which one can extend conclusions drawn from the findings of a study to other groups or situations not included in the study
operational definition
how researchers specifically measure a concept (scale, measurement, system)
confounds
something that can undermine your ability to draw causal inferences (for example the placebo effect or participant demand)
AKA 3rd variable problem
5 characteristics of good scientific research
based on measurable data that was collected in an objective, reliable, valid way
generalizable
unbiased
available to whole scientific community
it is replicable
list the types of research experiments/design
experimental research
correlational design
qualitative designs (including participant observation, case study, narrative analysis)
quasi-experimental design
longitudinal study
survey
field study
experience sampling (DRM, EAR, daily diary, lived day analysis)
Correlational designs
When scientists passively observe and measure phenomena without intervening or changing behaviour
Identify patterns of relationships without determining the cause and effect relationship
Only 2 variables at a time
Use scatter plot to plot the relation between two scores to find out how well 2 variables correspond
often includes confounds
Correlational coefficient (r), positive vs negative correlation
summarizes the association between two variables and provides info about the direction/strength of the association. The more exceptions/outliers an association has, the weaker the correlation, and the lower the r value. Ranges from -1 to 1.
Positive correlation: two variables go up or down together, going from bottom left to upper right corner on a graph. The r value is positive
Negative correlation: the two variables move in opposite directions (one variable goes up the other goes down). Graph goes from top left to bottom right. The r value is negative.
When it is 0 there is no correlation at all.
Qualitative design
gather observation without attempting to examine relaionships between variables
Name and explain the 3 main qualitative designs
Participant observation: distinct methodology that involves the researcher embedding themselves into a group to study it’s dynamic
Case study: intensive examination of specific individuals or specific contexts. Lots of depth but low generalizability.
Narrative analysis: study of stories and personal accounts of people, groups or cultures. Analyzes the themes, structures and dialogue of each person’s narrative. Personal testimonies.
Experimental studies
isolate effect of one or more variables on another variable (independent on dependent)
only type of study that can infer cause and effect. Includes experimental group and control group that are randomly assigned.
Quasi-experimental design
Experiment that does not require random assignment to conditions and instead relies on existing group members (ex married vs single). Causal inference is more difficult
longitudinal studies
track the same people over time (weeks to years). Can be valuable but costly.
Note 
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