Study Guide for Psychology Test Preparation

Psychodynamic Perspective

Emphasizes unconscious processes and early childhood experiences influencing behavior.

Evolutionary Perspective

Focuses on how natural selection influences behavior and mental processes.

Correlation Coefficient

A statistical measure that indicates the strength and direction of a relationship between two variables.

Naturalistic Observation

A research method where individuals are observed in their natural environments without interference.

Case Study

An in-depth analysis of an individual, group, or event to explore underlying principles.

Ethics in Research

Guidelines and principles that ensure research participants are treated ethically and with respect.

Random Sampling

A method of selecting a sample from a population in which each member has an equal chance of being chosen.

Experiment

A research method where a researcher manipulates one or more variables to observe the effect on another variable.

Psychology

The scientific study of the mind and behavior.

Nature/Nurture

The debate about whether genetics (nature) or environment and experience (nurture) is the primary influence on behavior.

Neuroscience Perspective

How body and brain create emotions, memories, and sensations

Cognitive Perspective

Studies mental processes such as perception, memory, and problem-solving.

Social-Cultural Perspective

Explores how culture and social situations shape behavior and thinking.

Roots of Psychology

The historical influences and philosophical roots that contributed to the development of psychology as a field of study.

Biopsychosocial Approach

An integrated approach that considers biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors in explaining behavior or mental processes.

Psychological Subfields

Specialized areas within psychology that focus on different aspects of behavior and mental processes.

Operational Definition

A clear, specific, and measurable definition of a variable in terms of how it is observed, measured, and manipulated in a particular study.

Experimental Conditions

Various components of an experiment including random assignment, placebo, double-blind, control group, and replication.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it; also known as the 'I-knew-it-all-along' phenomenon.

Independent Variable

The variable that is manipulated or changed in an experiment.

Dependent Variable

The variable that is measured in an experiment and is expected to change as a result of the independent variable.

Double-Blind Procedure

An experimental procedure where both the participants and the researchers are unaware of who is receiving the treatment.

Placebo Effect

A phenomenon in which people's expectations or beliefs in a treatment lead to improvements in their condition, even if the treatment is inert.

Mean, Median, Mode

Measures of central tendency used in statistics to describe the average, middle, and most frequent values in a data set.

Central tendency

Statistical measure affected by extreme scores

Positive correlation

Relationship where scores rise and fall together

Negative correlation

Relationship where one score falls as the other rises

Mean

Average of a set of numbers

Median

Middle number in a set when arranged in order

Mode

Most frequently occurring number in a set

Range

Difference between the highest and lowest numbers in a set

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that transmit signals across synaptic gap between neurons

Myelin sheath

Insulating layer around axons for signal speed. More fat = more speed. This wears down over time.

Glial cells

Support cells in the nervous system

Autonomic nervous system

Controls involuntary bodily functions

Dendrites

Receive signals from other neurons

Cell body

Contains the nucleus and maintains cell function. Life support center

Axon

Send messages to terminal branches

Terminal branches

End of the axon where neurotransmitters are released

Synaptic gap

Space between neurons where neurotransmitters travel

Sympathetic nervous system

Activates fight-or-flight response

Parasympathetic nervous system

Promotes rest and digest response

Motor neurons

Carry signals from the brain to muscles

Sensory neurons

Transmit sensory information to the brain

Interneurons

Connect sensory and motor neurons within the central nervous system

Neurogenesis

Formation of new neurons in the brain

Epigenetics

Study of changes in gene expression without altering DNA sequence. How the environment trigger/block genetic expression.

Natural selection

Process where favorable traits are passed on in a population

Evolutionary psychology

Study of how evolutionary principles shape behavior

Freudian psychology

Emphasizes unconscious thought processes

Humanistic psychologists

Focus on the importance of people's potential for growth

Cognitive psychology

Scientific study of mental activities associated with perceiving, processing, and remembering information

Psychodynamic perspective

Distinctive feature is its emphasis on unconscious conflicts

Behavioral perspective

Focuses on how we learn observable responses

Operational definition

Describes the exact procedures for measuring an anticipated experimental outcome

Replication

Process that assesses the reliability of research findings

Correlational research

Assesses how well one variable predicts another without demonstrating a cause-effect relationship

Blind participants

Participants who are uninformed about the experimental hypothesis being tested

Random assignment

Minimizes differences between experimental and control groups

Independent variable

Variable manipulated in an experiment to observe its effects on the dependent variable

Dependent variable

Variable that may be influenced by the manipulated experimental treatment

Ethical principles

Urge investigators to treat information about individual research participants confidentially

independent variable

In an experimental study of the effects of dieting on weight loss, dieting would be

Confounding variables

Minimized in a well-controlled experiment

Debriefing

Process that typically takes place shortly after people complete their participation in a research study

Biological psychologist

Interested in conducting research on the relationship between neurotransmitters and depression

The young science of psychology developing from the more established fields of

philosophy and biology

Structuralism

Use introspection to reveal mind’s structure

Who came up with Structuralism?

Wundt and Titchener

Introspection

looking inwards

Who came up with Functionalism?

James

Behavior genetics perspective

how genes and environment influence individual differences

Basic Research (pyschology’s subfields)

pure science to increase scientific knowledge base

Applied Research (psychology’s subfields)

scientific studies to solve practical problems

Biological (psychology’s subfields)

studies between biological and psychological processes

Developmental (psychology’s subfields)

studies of physical, cognitive, and social change throughout a person’s lifespan

Clark studies

Studies of colored children and how they feel and taught about their skin colors. They are coloring the skin was two people, one is they color they are, and the other is the color they want.

Lightskinned- Same colors

Dark skinned- different colors

Doll studies (possibly on test)

Black and white dolls were given to children. They are to answer which is the pretty and ugly, or bad and good dolls.

A psychologist conducting basic research to expand psychology’s knowledge base may: (POSSIBLY ON TEST)

observe 3- and 6-year-olds solving puzzles and analyzing differences in their abilities

As scientists, psychologists

are willing to ask questions and to reject claims that cannot be verified by research

Neurons

Basic building blocks of the nervous system

What happens if the myelin sheath is gone?

Results to Multiple sclerosis (MS)

Action Potential (ON EXAM)

neural impulse; electric charge travel down the axon

Acetylcholine (ACH)

Muscle contraction, learning, memory

What happens if there’s not enough Acetylcholine (ACH) being released?

Alzheimer’s

Dopamine

Movement, learning, emotion

What happens if there’s not enough dopamine released?

Parkinson’s (poor movement controls)

What happens if there’s too much dopamine released?

Schizophrenia (hallucinations, etc)

Serotonin

Mood, hunger, sleep, arousal

What happens if not enough serotonin is released?

depression

Endorphins

Natural painkillers (runner’s high; opiates)

Peripheral nervous system (PNS)

Includes autonomic and somatic. GATHER AND TRANSMIT INFO

Autonomic system

Part of the Peripheral Nervous System.

Involuntary/ unconscious movements. ex. digesting, blinking, etc. Glands and organs

Somatic

Part of the Peripheral Nervous System.

Voluntary movements. Like using muscles.

Which system uses sensory and motor neurons? PNS or CNS?

PNS (Peripheral nervous system)

Which system is comprised of brain and spinal cord? PNS or CNS?

CNS (Central nervous sytem)

Interneurons

communicates between sensory and motor neurons

How many interneurons in the body? (ON THE TEST)

100 BILLIONSSSS

What is the autonomic branch of PNS responsible for?

regulating and maintaining homeostasis.

Autonomic includes what?

Sympathetic and parasympathetic