Chapter 1 : Intro to Psychology

What do psychologists study?

Behavior, mental processes

What are the 5 major perspectives

neuroscience, cognitive, behavioral, humanistic, psychodynamic

Neuroscience

views behavior from the perspective of biological functioning

Cognitive

examines how people understand and think about the world

Behavioral

focuses on observable behavior

Humanistic

people can control their behavior and naturally try and reach their full potential

Psychodynamic

behavior is motivated by inner unconscious forces over which a person has little control

Scientific method

approach through which psychologists systemically acquire knowledge and understanding about behavior and other phenomena of interest

Archival research

based on info already available

Naturalistic observation

observing people in natural habitat

survey research

collecting data based on people answering questions

Case study

small study → get a lot of detail

Correlational research

see if variables correlate

Does correlation imply causation?

No → many variables

experimental research

manipulate variables to see what happens

Control groups

nothing changes

independent variable

experimenter changes variables

dependent variable

measured in an experiment → expected to change

Why do researchers use placebos

helps for comparison