PSY 200 Chap 1&2

Psychology

The scientific study of mind and behavior

scientific = objective NOT subjective

Plato and Aristotle

1. 400s BC, innate, nature, biology, genetics

2. blank slate, nurture, environment, experiences

Wundt

late 1800s

Structuralism

Introspection

1879-1st psychology laboratory

James and Darwin

1. Functionalism

2.United States (read James book)

Freud

Psychoanalytic Theory

Unconscious

Negative

Childhood

Pavlov, Watson, and Skinner

Behaviorism

Focused on behavior NOT the mind

1920s-1960s

Maslow and Rodger's

Humanism

animals/humans

conscious

positive

Chomsky

Cognitive Revolution

the mind

1950's

What 3 things does scientific research need to be?

Scientific

Objective

Replicated

what is the first step of the scientific method?

Theory - Explanation based on observations.

what is the second step of the scientific method?

Hypothesis - testable prediction

what is the third step of the scientific method?

Test - descriptive, correlation and experimental research.

what is the last step of the scientific method?

Report - Peer-reviewed journals (replicated)

what are the three kind of researches?

descriptive correlational and experimental

Descriptive Research

ONLY describes

Correlational Research

predicts WITHOUT cause and effect

Experimental Research

predicts WITH cause and effect

Cross Sectional Research

A researcher compares multiple segments of the population at the same time.

- cohort effect

Longitudinal Research

Data gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time.

-attrition

what two things do you need in a research study?

Reliability - Consistency

Validity - are you measuring what you intended to measure?

Informed Consent

1. what to expect

2. confidential

3. voluntary participation

4. can quit

Case Study

- 1 person or small group

- in-depth info

- hope to find universal principles

weakness = may not be generalizable.

what are the two observations in descriptive research?

naturalistic - realistic/natural but little to no control.

structured - control, but not realistic

Surveys

these are a list of questions to be answered by research participants.

1. random sample

2. representative sample

3. may be bias

Sample

A subset of individuals selected from a population.

Population

The overall group of individuals, the researchers are interested in.

Archival Research

collecting a lot of data without interacting with a single person.

1. existing sources

(US census)

2. content analysis

(old TV shows)

what is correlational research?

there is a relationship between two or more variables, but this relationship does not necessarily imply cause-and-effect.

these variables can increase or decrease.

Positive Correlation

variables increase or decrease together.

Negative Correlation

variablescan change in opposite direction

correlation coefficient

direction ( + or - )

strength (number)

The closer the number is to 0 means that it is weaker. ignore the negative.

cofounding variable

A third, outside factor that messes up your results because it influences both the IV and the DV.

what is the correlation called when there's no relationship between variables?

illusory correlation

confirmation bias

noticing supporting evidence and ignoring contrary evidence.

experimental research

1. The only research where you can find cause-and-effect.

2. There is manipulation.

3. IV, DV, EG, CG

independent and dependent variable

An independent variable is the variable that is changed or controlled in a scientific experiment to test the effects on the dependent variable. A dependent variable is the variable being tested and measured in a scientific experiment.

experimental group and control group

1. exposed to the IV and is manipulated (changed).

2. not exposed to IV and is left alone to compare.

what is random assignment?

all participants have an equal chance of being assigned to either group.

placebo effect

when a person's physical or mental health improves after taking a fake treatment, simply because they believe that the treatment is real and will work.