psych units 1-5

Trephination

A Middle Ages idea, believing that mental disorders were demons possessing you. They would drill a hole in your skull to “get the demons out of your head”

What did the European Enlightenment do for psychology?

Psychology has now been separated from philosophy, and the scientific method and experimentation are developed

Structuralism

An aspect of experimental psychology that focuses on how the adult mind forms the components from birth to present into more complex experiences, and studies how they correlate to physical events. Looks at the structure of your internal mental processes: WHY you do what you do

Functionalism

Developed as a counter-argument to structuralism. Identifies mental states by what they do rather than what they are made of, and focuses on the adaptation of the brain to different external environments. HOW you function and how it affects society

Behavioralism

The study of observable behavior. Only focuses on the effects (actions), not the causes (thoughts)

Psychoanalysis

studies the effect of the unconscious mind and childhood on behavior

Mary Whiton Calkins

First female president of the APA. Believed psychology should focus on the study of the conscious self and created personalistic introspective psychology

Personalistic introspective psychology

the study of conscious, functioning, experiencing selves that exist in relationship to others

Charles Darwin

Known as the father of evolutionary psychology. Applied the idea of natural selection to the mind. “Survival of the fittest”

Evolutionary psychology

The study of behavior, thought, and feeling viewed through the lens of evolutionary biology. How the natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes

Dorothea Dix

a 19th century nurse who challenged the idea that people with mental disturbances could not be cured or helped

Sigmund Freud

Known as the father of psychoanalysis and was very focused on childhood. First talk therapist

G. Stanley Hall

formulated the recapitulation theory

Recapitulation theory

as people develop, they will repeat the behaviors of their evolutionary ancestors

William James

Known as the father of functionalism. Helped found psychology as a formal discipline

Ivan Pavlov

Studied classical conditioning. Famous for his “Pavlov’s dog” experiment

Classical conditioning

Changes in behavior by learning to anticipate events by connecting a neutral stimulus to a positive stimulus. The learned behavior is called a conditioned response

Pavlov’s dog experiment

Ivan Pavlov used classical conditioning to train his dog to drool at the sound of a bell. He connected ringing a bell (neutral stimulus) to giving his dog a treat (positive stimulus). Over time, his dog’s conditioned response to hearing a bell was drooling.

Jean Piaget

Believed that children’s intelligence undergoes changes as they grow. Was extremely influential in developing educational policy and teaching practices. Also the first person to do a systematic study on understanding in children

Genetic epistemology

A theory introduced by Jean Piaget that combined cognitive development with epistemology. Explains how fundamental concepts emerge in the brain

Carl Rogers

Known as the father of humanism. Focused on client-centered therapy

Humanism

Focuses on each individual’s potential for growth with an emphasis on self-actualization. Says that people are innately good and that mental problems result from deviations. How or why you have bad behaviors doesn’t matter, as long as you can learn from them and be better

BF Skinner

A leading figure in behavioral psychology. Studied operant conditioning with the Skinner Box

Operant conditioning

Learning to associate a behavior and its responded consequences. Rewards positive behavior and punishes negative behavior, establishing an associative connection between behaviors and their consequences

Margaret Floy Washburn

Studied animal behavior and cognition to understand the basic psychological processes of sensation and perception. Concluded that all thought can be traced back to bodily movements

John B. Watson

Known as the father of behavioralism. Studied observable behaviors in humans via classical conditioning. Conducted the “Little Albert” experiment

Wilhelm Wundt

Known as the father of experimental psychology, and a pioneer of cultural psychology. Developed a system of philosophy and ethics from the basic concepts of his psychology

Gestalt psychology

organisms perceive pattern easier than individual components and helps us organize pieces of information into meaningful wholes

Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic psychology

how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts

Biological psychology

How the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences. How our genes and environment influence our individual differences

Cognitive psychology

how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information

Biopsychosocial psychology

an integrated psychological approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and sociocultural viewpoints

Sociocultural psychology

how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures

Experiment

a research method in which an independent variable is manipulated under controlled conditions to measure effects on a dependent variable

Strengths and weaknesses of experiments

Strengths: direct testing, to learn what does/doesn’t have an effect

Weaknesses: uncontrollable factors

Correlational studies

non-experimental research to measure the relationship between two or more variables

Strengths and weaknesses of correlational studies

Strengths: single and double blind studies, safer

Weaknesses: limited data, lack of control

Survey

a data collection tool used to gather information about a large sample of individuals

Strengths and weaknesses of surveys

Strengths: tons of data

Weaknesses: people can lie, people have to take time to actually do the survey, sample does not equal population

Naturalistic observations

careful observations of humans or animals in real life

Strengths and weaknesses of naturalistic observations

Strengths: real reactions and responses

Weaknesses: lack of control, small sample size

Case study

an intensive investigation of processes associated with a specific person or situation

Strengths and weaknesses of case studies

Strengths: close detailed deep dive, hands-on experience

Weaknesses: very small sample size, non-repeatable

Longitudinal study

study of the same person or sample over a long period of time to detect changes which might occur

Strengths and weaknesses of longitudinal studies

Strengths: deep dive, gain data over time

Weaknesses: takes a long time, non-repeatable, people could die or withdraw from the study

Cross-sectional study

collection of data from a large group of individuals at a single point in time

Strengths and weaknesses of cross-sectional studies

Strengths: large samples

Weaknesses: single point in time

Quasi experiment

an experiment with a majority of uncontrolled variables

Operational definition

observable, measurable description of an experiment

Experimental group

group exposed to treatment, the independent variable

Control group

group not exposed to treatment, allows for evaluating effects of treatment

Independent variable

the manipulated variable in an experiment

Dependent variable

the variable that is affected in an experiment

Confounding variable

unstudied variable that could affect the dependent variable

Control variable

element not changed by a study

Single blind study

participants don’t know who receives the real treatment

Double blind study

neither researchers nor participants know who receives the real treatment (controls for placebo effect)

Random selection/sampling

selecting your participants (sample) from a larger group (population)

Random assignment

sorting sample participants into control and experimental groups

Correlation

how specific traits of behaviors relate to each other

Correlation coefficient

A number representing how closely two things relate. Will always be from a scale of -1 to 1, with a strong or weak negative or positive correlation. The closer the number is to 0, the weaker the correlation will be

Positive correlation

two variables moving in the same direction, increasing or decreasing together

Negative correlation

two variables moving in opposite directions, as one increases the other decreases

Statistical significance/P-value

determines the likelihood that the correlational outcome is a result of chance

Mean

the average of a group of numbers

Median

the midpoint in a group of numbers

Mode

the number that occurs the most in a group of numbers

Range

the gap between the lowest and highest number in a group of numbers

Standard deviation

how much the scores vary around the mean

Example of standard deviation

if you’re in the 80th percentile for height of 17 year olds, it means you’re taller than 80 percent of people your age

Confidentiality

a participant’s right to have certain identifying information redacted or hidden

Informed consent

The subjects know what the purpose of the experiment is. The most popular way to go about this is through a signed document

Freedom from deception

not misleading participants about the nature of the study, or giving false information regarding the experiment that could result in harm

Debriefing

Letting the subjects know what was done and why. Done after the experiment

Right to withdraw

Subjects may leave the experiment at any time for any reason. Any credit or payment must be given to participants at the beginning of the experiment

Participant protection

participants must be protected from any mental or physical harm

Protection for working with animals

Focus on preventing harm to their wellbeing. Test anything you would on them, on yourself

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

must approve all research and make sure it is humane

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

ensures humane treatment of animals

Phrenology

An idea formed in the 1800s that said that personality traits are based on the shape of the skull. Goes towards the idea that your personality is located in your brain

Reflexes

produce involuntary responses that happen without conscious effort

Behavior genetics

studying power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior (nature vs nurture)

Chromosomes

structures of DNA that contain genes

Genes

biochemical units of heredity

Heritability

how much difference among individuals is due to genes

Epigenetics

study of how behavior and environment can cause changes in your genes without changing your DNA

Endocrine system

The hormone release system. Consists of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, thyroid and parathyroid glands, adrenal gland, kidney, pancreas, ovaries/testes

Hormones

chemical messengers that travel through your bloodstream

Pituitary gland

“master gland” that triggers other glands to secrete hormones

Adrenal gland

controls your body’s reaction to sudden things (fight or flight)

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

contains the somatic and autonomic nervous system

Somatic nervous system

controls voluntary responses

Autonomic nervous system

controls autopilot functions (digestion, swallowing, blinking)

Sympathetic nervous system

Part of the autonomic nervous system. Expands energy upon excitement

Parasympathetic nervous system

Part of the autonomic nervous system. Calms the body and its systems after stress or a crisis has passed

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Contains the brain and spinal cord. The spinal cord connects to the PNS and controls reflexes

Sensory neurons

carry messages from sensory organs to the brain and spinal cord

Motor neurons

send instructions from the brain or spinal cord to the body’s tissues

Interneurons

Only inside the brain and spinal cord. Communicate internally with the sensory and motor outputs

Dendrite fibers

catch messages and send them to the cell body