Flashcards for Intro to Psychology Exam 1 (Ch. 1–3)

Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes; goals are to describe, explain, predict, and control behavior.

Why is psychology a science?

It uses the scientific method, empirical evidence, and critical thinking to study behavior and mental processes.

Critical thinking

Systematically evaluating information to reach conclusions supported by evidence.

Animism

The belief that spirits or souls exist in animals, plants, and objects.

Dualism

The idea (Descartes) that mind and body are separate but interact.

Structuralism

Early school of psychology (Wundt, Titchener) that used introspection to explore the structure of the mind.

Introspection

A method of self-observation in which participants report their thoughts and feelings.

Functionalism

School of thought (William James) focused on how mental and behavioral processes function in adapting to the environment.

Phrenology

Pseudoscience that claimed personality/abilities could be measured by skull bumps.

Psychoanalysis

Freud’s theory of unconscious drives influencing behavior; therapy focused on uncovering unconscious conflicts.

Behaviorism

Watson & Skinner; psychology should study observable behavior, not mental processes.

Humanism

Maslow & Rogers; emphasizes human growth, free will, and potential.

Gestalt psychology

School emphasizing perception as whole patterns rather than parts (e.g., 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts').

Cognitivism

Study of internal mental processes such as memory, problem-solving, and decision-making.

4 Levels of Analysis

Biological, individual, social, cultural approaches to studying behavior.

Subfields of psychology

Examples: Developmental, Clinical, Cognitive, Social, Biological, Industrial/Organizational, etc.

Socrates & Plato

Believed knowledge is innate (born within us) and mind is separate from body (dualism).

Aristotle

Believed knowledge comes from experience and observation (empiricism).

René Descartes

Proposed dualism (mind and body are separate but interact via the pineal gland).

John Locke

Argued for empiricism; mind is a 'tabula rasa' (blank slate).

Charles Darwin

Theory of natural selection; influenced functionalism and evolutionary psychology.

Wilhelm Wundt

Founded the first psychology lab in 1879; father of experimental psychology.

Edward Titchener

Student of Wundt; developed structuralism and introspection methods.

William James

Father of American psychology; founded functionalism; wrote Principles of Psychology.

Sigmund Freud

Founder of psychoanalysis; emphasized unconscious drives.

John B. Watson

Founder of behaviorism; studied observable behavior.

B.F. Skinner

Behaviorist; studied reinforcement and punishment in learning.

Abraham Maslow

Humanist; developed hierarchy of needs.

Carl Rogers

Humanist; emphasized client-centered therapy and self-actualization.

Max Wertheimer

Founder of Gestalt psychology; perception as wholes, not parts.

Jean Piaget

Studied cognitive development in children.

Subjective vs Objective

Subjective = based on personal feelings/opinions; Objective = based on measurable, observable facts.

Four goals of psychological science

Describe, Explain, Predict, Control.

Scientific method

Systematic procedure of observing, measuring, and testing hypotheses.

Experiment vs Correlational study

Experiments determine causation; correlational studies show relationships but not cause.

Correlation coefficient (r)

A statistical measure of the strength and direction of a relationship between two variables. Ranges from -1 to +1.

Correlation of +1

Perfect positive correlation; as one increases, the other always increases.

7 steps in research study

1. Research question 2. Literature review 3. Hypothesis 4. Design & conduct study 5. Analyze data 6. Develop theory 7. Report results.

Reliability vs Validity

Reliability = consistency of results; Validity = accuracy of measuring what it’s supposed to measure.

Random assignment

Placing participants into experimental/control groups by chance to reduce bias.

Participant/Experimenter bias

Expectations influence results; reduced using single-blind (participant unaware) or double-blind (both unaware) studies.

Confounding variable

An uncontrolled factor that could influence the outcome of an experiment.

Ethics in research

Guidelines to protect participants; includes informed consent, minimizing harm, debriefing.

Descriptive statistics

Summarize data (mean, median, mode, standard deviation).

Inferential statistics

Allow conclusions about whether results are due to chance; significance at p < 0.05.

p-value of 0.05

5% chance results occurred randomly; generally considered statistically significant.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

All nerves outside CNS; connects CNS to body.

Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

Controls involuntary functions (heart, glands, digestion).

Sympathetic Nervous System

Activates 'fight or flight' response.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Promotes 'rest and digest'; restores body to calm state.

Neuron

Basic unit of the nervous system; transmits information.

Parts of a neuron

Dendrites (receive), Soma (cell body), Axon (send signals), Terminal buttons (release NTs), Myelin sheath (insulation).

Neural communication

Electrical = action potentials; Chemical = neurotransmitters across synapse.

Action potential (AP)

Electrical impulse traveling down axon when neuron fires.

Myelin

Insulating layer that speeds up transmission of action potentials.

Neurotransmitters (NTs)

Chemical messengers in the brain; examples: dopamine, serotonin, GABA, glutamate.

GABA

Main inhibitory neurotransmitter.

Glutamate

Main excitatory neurotransmitter.

CSF & meninges

CSF = cerebrospinal fluid cushions brain; meninges = protective layers (pia, dura).

Brainstem (medulla, pons, midbrain)

Controls basic life functions like breathing, heart rate.

Thalamus

Relay station for sensory info (except smell).

Cerebellum

Coordinates movement, balance, learning motor skills.

Basal ganglia

Movement regulation, reward.

Limbic system

Includes amygdala (emotion), hippocampus (memory), hypothalamus (homeostasis).

Reward circuit

Includes nucleus accumbens, ventral tegmental area, dopamine pathways.

Corpus callosum

Connects left and right hemispheres.

Four lobes of cortex

Frontal (decision-making, movement), Parietal (touch, spatial), Occipital (vision), Temporal (hearing, memory).

EEG

Records brain’s electrical activity; high temporal resolution, low spatial.

fMRI

Measures blood flow; good spatial resolution, poor temporal.

PET

Uses radioactive tracers to measure brain activity; less precise.

Endocrine system

Glands that release hormones into bloodstream (pituitary, adrenal, thyroid, gonads, etc.).

Nature vs Nurture

Debate over influence of genetics (nature) vs environment (nurture).

DNA

Molecule carrying genetic information; bases = A, T, C, G.

Gene

Segment of DNA coding for proteins.

Genome

Entire set of genetic material in an organism.

Genotype

Genetic makeup.

Phenotype

Observable traits/characteristics.

Allele

Variant of a gene (dominant or recessive).

Homozygous vs Heterozygous

Homo = same alleles; Hetero = different alleles.

Allele frequency

Proportion of a particular allele in a population.

Genetic drift

Random changes in allele frequencies.

Founder effect

Reduced genetic diversity from a small group starting a population (e.g., Amish).

Sex determination

XX = female, XY = male.

Eye color inheritance

Polygenic trait influenced by multiple genes.

Types of twins

Monozygotic (identical, 100% shared genes) vs Dizygotic (fraternal, ~50% shared genes).

Heritability

Proportion of variation in a trait explained by genetic factors in a population.