Psychology Chapter 1

Psychology

scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Basic Psychology

type of psychology that aims to collect data to enhance our understanding of the the brain

Applied Psychology

type of psychology that aims to use the knowledge of basic psychology in the real world (e.g. CBT)

Four goals of Science

describe, explain, predict, control

Psychoanalytic Branch

focuses on the underlying causes of someone’s conflict, and using those to influence behavior

Behavioral Branch

focuses that behaviors are learned through the environment (association, reinforcement, observation)

Humanistic Branch

focuses that people develop who they are based off who they interact with, and that their true self can sometimes be repressed

Cognitive Branch

focuses on behaviors gained through cognition

biological branch

focuses on how physiology influence behaviors and mind

theory vs hypothesis

theory is a broad explanation to explain a ton of results form various experiments

hypothesis is a testable question for an experiment

double-blind study

experiment with a placebo, where not even the researchers know which is the placebo

extraneous variable

unforeseen factor or circumstance that would interfere with results

confounding variable

extraneous variable that changes with the independent variable

case study

in depth study on one single subject

criteria for something to be considered “scientific”

FORT

Falsifiable

Objective

Replicable

Testable

pseudoscience

beliefs or practices that claim to be scientific, but are INCOMPATIBLE with the scientific method

nature

inherited biological factors that cause our behaviors/personality

nurture

environmental factors influence our behaviors or personality