psych 298 final r

Psyche (Soul) & Logos (study of a subject)

Greek meaning of Psychology

Descartes' ideas of naturalistic psychology

dualism of mind and body - mind is governed by God and body processes memory, dreaming, perception and emotions

Philosophy and Physiology

parents of psychology

Wundt's contributions to the feels of psychology

made phycology an independent study from science - gave psychology a scientific approach - made psychologies primary focus consciousness and the awareness of the immediate experience - kept focus on the mind and mental processes - first experimental laboratory

structuralism

analyse consciousness into it's basic elements and investigate how they are related (introspection) - identify and examine the fundamental components of the conscious experience

functionalism

belief that psychology should investigate functions of the purpose of consciousness instead of structure - based more on cultural and intellectual influences (darwin's natural selection)

introspection

systematic del-observation of one's own conscious experience

William james

consciousness is a stream of thoughts and wanted to understand that stream - interested in how people adapt to the demands of the world around them

John B. Watson

abandon the study of psychology and study behaviours - you cannot observe a persons thought but you CAN observe their behaviour - you can only scientifically verify (or disprove) behaviour - researched animal behaviours

Behaviourism

scientific psychology should study and observe behaviour ONLY

behaviour

refers to observable responses of an organism

stimulus

any detectible input from the surrounding environment

psychoanalytic theory

attempts to explain personality, motivation and mental disorders by focusing on unconscious determinants of behaviour

Sigmund Freud

concluded that psychological disturbances were caused by personal conflicts from THE UNCONSCIOUS - thus the cause of behaviour - spoke about sexual behaviours (was met with resistance).

B F Skinner

Proponent of behaviourism - organisms tend to repeat behaviour with positive outcomes - behaviour is controlled by environment "free will is an illusion"

humanism

theoretical orientation that humans are unique bc of their freedom and potential for growth

Rogers and Maslow - humanistic psychology

doesn't believe in animal research - animal and humans are nothing alike and therefore they cannot give any information on the human experience - have optimistic view: humans can rise above, humans are conscious/rational beings and are not dominated by the subconscious

behavioural, biological, cognitive, evolutional, humanistic, psychoanalytic

Six maj theoretical perspectives of psychology

Psychoanalytic

experiences in early childhood govern personality and mental disorders

behavioural

only observable events can be studied successfully

humanistic

humans are free rational beings able to evolve and grow - different from animals

cognitive

behaviour cannot be understood without examining how people acquire, store and process information

biological

functions of a person can be explained in terms of bodily structures and biomechanics processes

evolutionary

patterns in behaviour have evolved to solve adaptive problems of a species; natural selection, enhancing reproductive success

applied psychology

branch concerned with everyday practical problems

clinical psychology

branch concerned with diagnosis and treatment

cognition

mental process in acquiring new knowledge

Donald Hebb - Cell assembly

repeated stimulus leads to the development of new cell assemblies that facilitate behaviour

cross-cultural research / ethnocentrism

costly - time consuming - biased

positive psychology

better understand positive, adaptive, creative and fulfilling aspects of the human experience

psychology

the science that studies behaviour and the psychological/cognitive processes that underlie it

cognitive, developmental, experimental, personality, physiological, psychometrics, social

7 major research areas for psychology

developmental psychology

human development across a lifetime

social psychology

interpersonal behaviour and the role of social forces that govern it

experimental psychology

traditional core topics - sensation, perception, learning, conditioning, motivation and emotions.

physiological psychology

influence of genetic factors on behaviour and role of the brain, nervous system, endocrine system and bodily chemicals on behaviour

cognitive psychology

mental processes - memory, reasoning, processing, language, problem solving, decision making and creativity

personality psychology

understanding individuals consistency in behaviours which represents their personality

psychometrics psychology

measurement of behaviour through different types of psychological testing

clinical, counselling, educational, industrial

4 specializations in psychology

Clinical psychology and psychiatry

non-medical approach and a branch of medical treatment for psychological problems

empiricism

the idea that knowledge should be acquired through observation

SQ3R method

system designed to promote effective reading - survey, question, read, recite, review

behaviour is determined by multiple factors, behaviour is shaped by cultural heritage, heredity and environment influence behaviour, peoples experience of the world are subjective

4 themes of psychology

critical thinking

use skills and strategies to increase probability of desired outcome

multifactorial causation

psychologists assume ------ in looking for the cause of a particular behaviour

theory

system of ideas used to explain observations

Measurement and description, understanding and predicting, application and control

3 goals of scientific enterprise

theory, hypothesis, research

How are theories constructed?

formulate hypothesis, select research method, collect data, analyse data, report findings

5 steps in scientific investigation

operational definition

actions or operations used to measure/control a variable

participants

person(s) or animal(s) behaviour observed in a study

data collection techniques

procedure of making empirical observations and measurements

dutton and aron's experiment

males who encountered a female after experiencing 'fear' were more attracted to her then when NOT experiencing fear.

clarity and precision, relative intolerance to error

2 advantages of the scientific approach in relation to behaviour

experiment

method where researcher manipulates variable, under controlled conditions and then observes the result

independent variable

event or condition that experimenter manipulates in order to see it's impact on another variable

dependent variable

variable effected by the independent variable

experimental group

subjects who receive special treatment in regards to the independent variable

control group

subjects (like the experimental group) that receive NO special treatment in the experiment

extraneous variables

any variable that effects the dependent variable - that is NOT the independent variable - in the experiment

confounding variables

when two variable are connected in a way that make it hard to distinguish between the two

random assignment

all subjects are equal, assigned to a specific group or condition of the study

between-subjects design

when subjects serve as their own control group

within-subjects design

when two groups of subjects are exposed to manipulation of an independent variable

interaction

effect on one variable depends on the effect of another variable

descriptive / correlational research method

1. naturalistic observation - careful observation of a subject - no interference

2. case study - in-depth investigation of a subject

3. survey - questionnaire, interview to gather specific information

statistics

use of math to organize and interpret numerical data

descriptive statistics

organize and summarize data

Central tendency

1. mean - average of scores (the most useful)

2. median - score that falls in the centre

3. mode - frequency of score

negative skewed distribution

scores pile up on the high end of the scale

positive skewed distribution

scores piled up on the low end of the scale

variability

how much do the scores and data set vary from each other from the mean

standard deviation

index of the amount of variability in a set of data

correlation

when two variables are related

correlation coefficient

numerical index of the relationship btw the two variables

positive correlation

how two variable co-vary in the same direction - X and Y scores are the same

negative correlation

how to variables co-vary in the opposite direction - X and Y scores are on the opposite ends

Prediction and causation

as correlation increases in strength, the ability to predict one variable (based on knowledge of the other variable) increases

inferential statistics

used to interpret data and draw conclusions

statistical significance

said to exist when the probability that the observed findings are due to chance is very low

null hypothesis

assumption in an experiment that any difference between groups is due to chance - when you REJECT the null hypothesis, you conclude that you have found statistically significant results

replication

repetition of a study to see if the results can be duplicated

sampling bias

when the sample is not representative of the population from which it was drawn

placebo effect

when participants expectations lead them to experience some change (even though they received FAKE treatments).

experimenter bias

researchers expectations influence outcome of study

sample

collection of subjects selected for observation of a study

population

larger collection of animals or people researchers want to generalize about

social desirability bias

gives socially approved answers about oneself

response set

responding to a question that is unrelated to the question

halo effect

when ones overall evaluation of a person/object, spills over to other areas

double-blind procedure

when neither the subject nor the experimenter knows what the outcome is supposed to be of the research

deception

some topics cannot be investigated unless deception is used

anecdotal evidence

personal stories about specific incidents and experiences - inaccurate and embellished

effective critical thinking

depends on evidence-based decision making

glia cells

support neurons