AP Psych unit 1

Plato

Believed that truth comes by looking beyond the physically observable. Experiences create a subjective reality.

Aristotle

Believed that there is a difference between experience and thinking. Studied motivation, linguistics, and perception.

Descartes

Believed that there were 2 parts to human existence: the mind and the body. Believed in dualism.

Locke

Believed in behaviorism. Behavior and environment affect personality. Differentiated nature vs nurture.

William Wundt

Father of psychology. Combined physiology and philosophy to create psychology and established the first psychology lab in Germany (1879). He believed in introspection and structuralism.

Ivan Pavlov

Russian psychologist. Known for classical conditioning, the concept of paired association, with salivating dogs.

William James

American philosopher who studied consciousness. Asked the function of consciousness. His studies are known as functionalism. Consciousness is a continuous flow.

Charles Darwin

Developed theories of evolution and natural selection. His beliefs inspire the evolutionary approach in psychology.

Mary Whiton Calkins

Believed the conscious self was the primary focus of psychology. First female president of APA.

Margret Floyd Washburn

Studied animal behavior and impacted behaviorists who studied animals.

Dorthea Dix

Studied poor people with mental illnesses. Led to the first mental asylums in the US.

G Stanley Hall

First president of the APA. Founded journal of research in psychology. Created the first psychology lab. Helped spread the field of psychology.

John Watson

Believed that behavior needs to be observable to be objectively and empirically measured. Studied law of effect: actions that cause good responses will happen more often.

Sigmund Freud

Studied medicine and realized that not all ailments are physical. Wrote a book on the meaning of dreams.

BF Skinner

Believed in radical behaviorism. Behaviorism should be studied objectively. Experimented on mice in cages. Believed human decisions are conditional and that humans dont have free will over some decisions.

Jean Piaget

Studied children development

Carl Rogers

A founder of humanistic approach

Gestalt approach

Focuses on studying a whole pattern rather than smaller ones. Believe people naturally seek out patterns in sensory info

Behavioralist approach

Focuses on observable behavior Study of stimulus and response learning

Structuralist approach

Study of the conscious experience by breaking it don into its most basic components or structures.

Psychoanalytical approach

Emphasized role of unconscious mind where memories, feelings, and drives are kept

Cognitive approach

How thinking and perception influence behavior. Includes memory, problem solving, decision making, and perception

Humanistic approach

Positive outlook on people related on motivation to fulfill their potential. Focuses on the future rather than the past.

Sociocultural approach

Emphasizes culture, religion, ethnicity, gender, income, and overall a person's enviroment

Biological approach

Examines how genes, the nervous system, hormones, and brain structure influence thinking and behavior

Evolutionary approach

Natural selection. Aspects of human thought and behavior that may give people genes to better survive

Biopsychosocial approach

Studies biology, personality, and social influences

Clinical Psychology

is a section of psychology focused on assessing and treating mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.

Counseling Psychology

focuses on personal issues that are not classified as mental disorders. These types of therapists help people cope with challenges and crises in life. For example, they can help a student with social or academic struggles. They could even help an individual with marital issues.

Developmental Psychology

studies social, physical, and cognitive changes throughout the lifespan. So, they study from "womb to tomb."

Educational Psychology

is the study of how psychological processes can impact and improve learning and teaching.

Experimental Psychology

uses the experimental method to examine relationships between behavior and the mind.

Industrial Psychology

studies the relationships between work and people in order to help companies increase productivity, boost morale, and select and train employees.

Personality Psychology

is the study of how personality affects the way people think and behave.

Psychometric Psychology

focuses on psychological measurement and is concerned with the design of psychological examinations.

Social Psychology

studies how humans are influenced by one another and how we relate and think about each other.

Positive Psychology

focuses on making human existence more fulfilling, rather than focusing on the treatment of mental illness. It promotes strengths and virtues to improve the lives of people and communities.

Hindsight Bias

Tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have forseen it.

Overconfidence

We tend to think we know more than we do

Critical thinking

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions

Theory

A prediction using an integrated set of principles that organizes and predicts behaviors or event

Hypothesis

A testible prediction

Operational definition

A statement of procedures used to define researched variables

Replication

Using operation definition to recreate previous experiment

Cross sectional study

Researchers compare several groups to one another based on variables such as age, social class, and gender. Less expensive and faster

Longitudinal study

Studies individuals at several points during lifespan

Case Study

Uses many testing methods on one person or small groups

Survey

Self reported behavior or attitudes

Naturalistic observation

Uses naturally occurring situations without manipulating control the situation

Correlational studies

A stat measure where 2 factors are tested to determine how well one factor predicts the other

Sample

Subset of population selected to participate in the study

Population

All members from a class or set from which a smaller sample is drawn

Random Sample

Every member of the population being studied has an equal chance of being chosen

Biased Sample

Every member does not have an equal chance to be chosen

Stratified Sample

Relevant subgroup of the population is selected proportional to its side

Subject

Person being tested

Experiment

Enables researcher to focus on the effects of one or more factors. Determines cause and effect

Independent variable

Experimental factor being manipulated

Dependent Variable

Results that respond to the manipulation of the independent variable

Generalize

Applying results to all people

External validity

The ability to generalize the results of a study to a larger population

Experimental group

Group that receives ind variable. Used to establish cause and effect

Control group

Comparison group that does not receive ind variable

Internal validity

The liklihood that the difference in dep variable are caused by the ind variable instead of other factors

Confounding variables

May interfere with ind variable therefore can impact results

Single blind study

Participants dont know whether theyre in the control or experimental group

Double blind study

Both researchers and participants dont know if the subject has received the ind variable or not

Placebo

An inert substance or condition used to see if it triggers the effects of the ind variable

Mode

Most frequently occurring score in a distribution

Mean

Average of distribution

Median

Middle score

Range

Difference between highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Standard deviation

How much the scores vary around average

Scatterplot

Graph with points representing values from 2 variables

Descriptive stats

measures of central tendency

Inferential stats

T-tests compares 2 means

Positive skew

Caused by extremely high score

Negative skew

Caused by extremely low score

Coercion

Participants must be voluntary

Informed consent

Research must be similar enough to the actual study

Anonymity

Participants privacy must be protected.

Risk

Participants cant be put at significant risk. Temp discomfort is ok but no long term damage

Debriefing

After study, participants should be told the purpose of the study and given contact info regarding results