Biological Psychology Chapter 1

Basics of Psychology

- Describe symptoms (DSM)

- Form hypotheses (what's causing it?)

- Try to predict its occurrences (what's leading up to it?)

Why do we want to try to predict the occurrences of behavior?

To control it

Different fields of psychology

Research, IO, marketing, sports

Parapsychology

- NOT A FIELD OF PSYCH

- the study of paranormal phenomena; mediums, psychics

Pop Psychology

- NOT A FIELD OF PSYCH

- Psychological information presented for the purpose of entertainment and/or profit; self-help books

Pseudoscience

- NOT A FIELD OF PSYCH

A fake or false science that uses "scientific language" and testimonials to convince individuals

Are pop psychology, parapsychology, and pseudoscience fields of psychology?

No

Does the mind-body connection exist?

Yes

What you ___ determines what you brain ___

Think; does

Monism

Mind & brain are the same thing

Dualism

Mind & brain are separate

Is monism or dualism correct?

Monism, a diseased body = a diseased mind

Is nature or nurture more relevant to explaining behavior?

Trick question as epigenetic makes it impossible to separate them

Epigenetics

The study of environmental influences on gene expression that occur without a DNA change

Some research findings are universally ___

Correct

W.E.I.R.D. participants in Psychology

Western countries, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic countries

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one's own ethnic or cultural group is superior, using their own standards as the norm to judge other cultures

Most early psychology research was done with ___ participants

W.E.I.R.D.

Why might only using W.E.I.R.D. participants be a problem today?

Unable to generalize findings

Biological perspective

View psychological disorders as linked to biological phenomena: genetic factors, chemical imbalances, and brain abnormalities

Neuroscience perspective

Views behavior, thoughts, and emotions as products of the brain and nervous system

Biopsychosocial approach

An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis

Scientific method in Psychology

- Generate an idea

- Formulate a hypothesis

- Decide operational definitions

- Decide independent variable

- Do analysis

- Generalize findings

Hypothesis

Research question; a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Independent variable

The variable being manipulated

Dependent variable

The outcome variable; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable

Operational definition

Clear and specific definition of a variable; how it will be measured, amount, etc.

Quasi-experiment

A type of research design looking for causality, but no random assignment of participants to groups occurs

When are quasi-experiments done?

When random assignment of participants to groups is not feasible

Control group

Group that does not receive independent variable (no manipulation)

Experimental group

Group that receives independent variable (manipulation)

Steps of an experiment (rat study)

- Control all potential confounding variables

- Randomly assign set # of participants to either the experimental or control group

- Operationally define variables

- Administer IV manipulation to the experimental group, control group gets placebo

What does the control group receive in an experiment?

Placebo

Experimenter bias

When researchers unconsciously influence their experiment's results based on their own expectations or preferences

Double-blind study

Neither researcher nor participants know who is receiving the treatment or placebo

Volunteer bias

If receiving credit or incentive for participation, participants behavior may change

Demand characteristics

Participants pick up on subtle cues that reveal the researcher's hypothesis, causing them to change their behavior to fit expectations

Internal validity

The confidence with which we can conclude that the independent variable, and not confounding factors, caused the change in the dependent variable

What does it mean when a study has high internal validity?

All confounding variables have been controlled for and good operational definitions = high internal validity

External validity

Extent to which we can generalize findings to real-world settings

What does it mean when a study has high external validity?

Its findings can be generalized to multiple real-world settings

Random assignment

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups

Only __ determine causality

Experiments

Naturalistic observation

Observations in normal, non-manipulated environments

In naturalistic observations, researchers must remain ___ in observations

Unobtrusive

Interrater reliability

At least two researchers use the same operational definition when observing naturalistic settings

Reliability coefficient

How well observations line up among raters, needs .8 or greater to be valid

Interrater reliability can also be measured through ___

Watching videos

Case study

In-depth examination of one or very few people, looking to determine new findings

Examples of case studies

Finneas Gage, H.M.

Survey

Set of questions looking to gather data/information

Why are surveys susceptible to social desirability bias?

They are self-report

Social desirability bias

A tendency to give socially approved answers to questions about oneself

What is a solution to social desirability bias?

Anonymous responses

Correlational analysis

Research approach studying associations between variables

Correlation ___ ___ ___ causation

Does not equal

IRB

Institutional Review Board

What is the purpose of the IRB

Committees at institutions who evaluate the ethics of studies occurring at the institution

IRB boards also exist for ___

Animals

Who sits on the IRB boards regarding people studies?

Physicians

Who sits on the IRB boards regarding animal studies?

Veterinarians

Informed consent form

A form given to individuals before they participate in a study to inform them of the nature of the study, its benefits/risks, confidentiality, and to obtain their volunteer consent to participate

When can an informed consent form lie about the purpose of the study?

If real things that will actually occur in the study are included in the consent

If any deceptions are used in an experiment, ___ must occur immediately after study ___

Debriefing; concludes

Debriefing

The post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants

Confidentiality

Respecting the privacy of both parties and keeping any details shared secret

When can a breach of confidentiality occur?

When a participant indicates a desire to hurt themselves or others

What must be documented from participants for IRB to approve study?

Volunteer consent