Psych Exam 1

Psychology

The scientific study of mental activity and behavior which are based on brain processes

empiricism

an evidence based approach to gain knowledge by conducting research that systematically investigates and measures phenomena of interest

science of learning

Research in psychology and other fields that suggest how you can improve your studying skills, learning, and academic performance

critical thinking

systematically evaluating information to reach conclusions based on the evidence present (carefully analyzing information before deciding what to believe, do, or conclude)

how empiricism helps

This approach lets psychologists gain insight into the mental activity and behavior of many people, not just one person.

Improving- I.M.P.A.C.T.

when you adopt a growth mindset, you believe you can do the hard work to change how you think, feel, act to improve in areas you have identified

Monitoring- I.M.P.A.C.T.

self-regulated learning helps you set goals, plan your studies, use good study strategies, and check your progress

Practicing- I.M.P.A.C.T.

by actively answering questions across several study sessions, you use repeated practice which will improve your quiz and test performance

Attending- I.M.P.A.C.T

By focusing on your selective attention on what you need to study and by ignoring other distractions, you will remember better

Connecting- I.M.P.A.C.T.

you can use clues to help you remember when you connect new information

Thinking deeply- I.M.P.A.C.T.

when you use elaboration, you use active process of explaining ideas and give ideas and examples in order to learn better

Domains of psychology

The five interconnected areas of empirical research in modern psychology: biological, cognitive, developmental, social, and personality. (Each domain explains a specific question/ perspective)

Ethics

What is right and wrong

who’s responsible for looking at research proposals

Institutional review boards

Privacy- ethics

Researchers must respect this. Example, it is ethical to observe people without their knowledge in public like at an airport. IT IS NOT ethical to observe private behaviors without people’s knowledge

Confidentiality- Ethics

Participants’ information must be kept secret. It can be made available only to the few people who need to know it. This confidentiality prevents other people from linking the study findings to the actual participants

example of critical thinking

you’re having a bad race, instead of blaming yourself → look at your recent race times, think about whether you got enough sleep, consider if you warmed up properly, check whether the weather affected your performance

think about the evidence before jumping to conclusions

five steps in the cycle of the scientific method

Formulate a theory → creating an explanation for a behavior or process you want to study. “students learn better when they use certain study techniques”

develop a testable hypothesis→ A specific testable prediction of what should be observed in a study if a theory is correct “ students will perform better on an exam after repeated practice versus repeated re-reading”

test with a research method→ descriptive, correlational, and experimental methods used

analyze the data → just analyze girl

share the results and conduct more research