AP Psych Unit 1

Perspectives

pieces of a puzzle; the views of psychology

Biological Perspective

describes behavior as a reflection of biology and physiological nature

Behavioral Perspective

focuses on observable behaviors such as learned responses and response to stimuli; behavior shaped by nurture

Cognitive Perspective

Focuses on complex mental process such as perceptions of information and the ways it is stored, linguistics, problem solving, and decision making

Psychoanalysis / Psychodynamics

behavior as a result of abstract inner forces and conflicts within the subconscious psyche

Humanistic Perspective

human awareness of self-fulfillment and achievement

Sociocultural Perspective

behavior is viewed as unique combinations of both biological nature and environmental nurture

Evolutionary Perspective

describes behavior as being adapted similar to natural selection

Clinical Psychologist

• Therapists, MH professionals

• largest field

Counseling Psychologist

• clinical therapist that serve as behavior specialist

Developmental Psychologist

specialists who focus on physical and emotional maturation

Cognitive Psychologist

specialist who focus on the brain’s ability to think and problem solve

Educational Psychologist

• school therapist

• diagnose learning disabilities and academic accomodations

Industrial Psychologist

• at work therapist for high stress jobs

• improve workplace condition (HR)

Consumer Psychologist

specialist in marketing / advertisement that use psychology to better understand consumer’s buying and shopping

Research Psychologist

• psychologist focusing on testing and experimentation

• typically employed by colleges / universities

Sports Psychologist

psychologists focusing on needs of athletes

Forensic Psychology

Psychologist working in crime investigation, examining psychological evidence of crime scenes, as well as criminal prosecution, testifying the sanity of the defendant or witness.

Psychology (vs Psychiatry)

• doctorate in philosophy (Ph.D)

• can’t prescribe medicine

Psychiatry

• doctors in medicine

• can prescribe psychotropics

WHAT is Psychology

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Behavior

observable, quantifiable, reactions to stimuli

Mental Processes

cognitive functions that allow for human introspection

Scientific Study

application of the scientific method

• inquiry based research

• imperacle, analysis, testable

Scientific Research Process Step 1

formulate hypothesis

Scientific Research Process Step 2

choose a research method

Scientific Research Method Step 3

analyze statistical correlations (checkpoint)

Scientific Research Method Step 4

design experimental procedures to determine cause-effect

Scientific Research Method Step 5

publish results and procedures

Wilhem Wundt

• created 1st psychological laboratory

• structuralism

structuralism

explaining the complexities of the mind by analyzing basic parts and components

Edward Titchner

• student of Wundt

• promoted structuralism

• introspection

Introspection

analyzing ones own conscious thoughts and behaviors

William James

• Father of American Psychology

• Functionalism

• Psycho metrics

Functionalism

psychology explained by the brain’s function

Psychometrics

behavioral measurement based on quantifiable test (IQ Test, Personality Test)

Pseudo Psychology

abstract “abilities” of the human mind that can’t be tested (unscientific)

Correlations

• quantitative measures of variable relationships

• coefficients show the direction (±) and strength of the mathematical relationship

Positive Correlation

x and y both increase or decrease

Negative Correlation

if x increases, the y decreases and vice versa

Zero Correlations

no statistical relationship exists between variables

Spurious Correlation (Illusion)

• 2 variables that logically appear to have a correlative relationship, but upon mathematical examination, they have 0 correlation

• correlation =/ causation

Validity

degree to which a study measures what it is intended to represent

Reliability

degree to which the research remains accurate

Experiment

controlled scientific procedure conducted to determine cause-effect relationships among variables

variables

internal or external factors that change the effect of the experimental procedure

Independent Variable (IV)

primary factor researchers hypothesize to determine the cause of correlative relationships (test change of behavior)

Dependent Variable (DV)

measure results caused by the other variable (measure change of behavior)

Participation Selection

• sample must be stratified

• sample population is divided equally into a control group and test group using stratified random assignment

Procedures

• test groups receive IV

• control groups receive no IV

• behaviors compared between groups

• all confounding variables must be minimized

Sample Bias

• demographic compositions of control and test groups are not accurate representations of the larger population

• solution = stratified random sampling

Participation Bias (observational research)

participant behaviors / responses are not true representation of their real behavior

Social Desirability Response

• participants behave in ways and providing information which is socially acceptable or that meet assumed expectations of researchers

• solution = confidentiality agreement

Participant Bias (experimental research)

• participants realize which group they are assigned to and behave differently

• solution = single blind study

Single blind study

control group is given a placebo

Placebo Effect

participants expectations of thinking they ingested IV inadvertently compromises the authenticity of their behavior

Experimenter Bias

• tendency for researcher to inadvertently influence the direction & results towards their expected conclusion

• solution = double blind study

Double blind study

both participants and researcher are unaware of placebo and IV

Survey Method

• people are given a survey where they respond to questions about a topic

• advantage = lots of people, speed

• disadvantages = people might not answer truthfully, please the interviewers

Testing Method

• psychological test to gather information on human behavior

• advantage = data in numbers

• disadvantages = Personality tests can be different based on time

Case-study method

• an in-depth investigation of an individual or small group

• advantage = they can generalize about a population

• disadvantage = it can sometimes be bad to generalize

Longitudinal Method

• they observe people over years or months

• advantage = the data will be good and accurate

• disadvantage = you have to wait and it takes a long time

Cross-sectional method

• the researchers use different people, but more like longitudinal

• advantages = much quicker than longitudinal

• disadvantages = not as accurate

Natural Observation Method

• when you observe others in their natural habitat

• advantages = authentic data without interview bias

• disadvantages = you can’t interact

Laboratory-Observation Method

• you are observing the subject in a laboratory

• advantages = you can control the variables

• disadvantages = you don’t get authentic behaviors

Critical Thinking

thinking that doesn’t automatically accept arguments and conclusions

Hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it

Overconfidence

this causes us to think faster rather than thinking correctly

Perceiving order in random events

this happens because for most people, a random and unpredictable world is unsettling

Peer reviewers

scientific experts who evaluate a researcher article’s theory, originality and accuracy

theory

an explanation using an integrated set of principals that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

hypothesis

a testable prediction

When something is falsifiable

the possibility that an idea, theory, etc, can be dissproven by observation or experiment

operation definitions

statement of exact procedures used in a research study

self-report bias

people report incorrectly about themselves

Directionality Problem

this problem can’t tell us which variables are the cause of the correlation

regression towards the mean

the tendency for extreme scores to fall back to the average

confounding variable

a factor other than the one being studied that might influence the experiment

Quantitative Research

research method that relies on quantifiable data

Qualitative Research

research method that relies on in-depth narrative data not translatable to humans

confederates

people who look a part of the participants but are actually a part of the experiment

informed consent

giving potential participants enough information about the study to have them choose if they want to be a part of it

what is a debrief

when you explain the research after the experiment

descriptive statistics

numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups

skewed distribution

a representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value

standard deviation

a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

normal curve

bell shaped curve, most scores fall to the mean / center

inferential statistics

the process of using data from a sample to make conclusions about a larger population

meta-analysis

a stat procedure for analyzing the results from multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion

null hypothesis

a hypothesis that no difference exists

statistical significance

how likely it is that a result occurred by chance

effect size

the strength of the relationship between 2 variables

confidence interval

a range of variables that likely includes the population’s true mean value

percentile rank

__________ ___: the percentage of scores that are less than a given score