Science Is a Process Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key concepts from Day 1: Science Is a Process.

Science

A process for asking questions, testing ideas, evaluating evidence, and revising conclusions when new information becomes available, rather than just a collection of facts.

Falsifiable

A property of a scientific claim meaning it can be proven false through empirical testing and evidence.

Scientific Evidence

Information that is systematic, repeatable, and grounded in data and testing.

Anecdotes

Personal stories or individual accounts that are not systematic or repeatable and are not based on data and testing.

Correlation vs. Causation

The concept that just because two events or variables occur together does NOT mean that one caused the other.

Pseudoscience

Statements or beliefs that sound scientific but lack evidence, rely on testimonials, cannot be tested, and reject contradictory evidence.

Wilhelm Wundt (1832 - 1920)

A German Psychologist who’s is considered the father of psychology. He also established the first laboratory in 1879.

G. Stanley Hall (1846 - 1924)

John Hopkins University: Established the first psychology laboratory in the US in 1883

Structuralism

Edward Titchener

was an idea to know the basic

Analyze consciousness into basic elements.

Introspection

Careful, systematic observations of one’s own conscious experience

Functionalism

Wiliam James.

investigates function of consciousness

influenced by natural selection

led to investigation of mental testing, development patterns

believes that the consciousness was always flowing

Gestalt

Max Wertheimer

the whole is greater than the sum of its parts (Phi Phenomenon)

challenged to structuralism

Sigmund Freud (1856 - 1939)

founded psychoanalytic school of thought

Emphasis on unconscious processes influencing behavior

• unconscious = outside awareness

Freuds Ideas

behavior is influenced by the unconscious

Unconscious conflict related to sexuality plays a central role in behavior

controversial notions caused debate/resistance

significant influence on the field of psychology

John B Watsom (1878 - 1958)

founder of behaviorism

behavior = overt or obstacle responses to activities

• radical reorientation of psychology as a science of observable behavior

• study of consciousness abandoned

B.F Skinner (19

environmental factors determine behavior

responses that lead to positive outcomes are repeated

more controversy regarding free will

Humanism

led by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers (1902 - 1987)

emphasis on the unique qualities of human: freedom and personal growth

Cognition

mental processes involved in acquiring knowledge

viewed humans as information processors

Piaget

application of scientific methods to studying internal mental events

James Olds (1956)

electrical stimulation of the brain evokes emotional responses in animals

Roger Sperry (1981)

left and right brain specialization

Evolutionary Psychology

Buss, Daly, and Wilson, Cosmides and Tooby

studied natural selection of mating preferences, jealousy, aggression, language, decision making, personality, and development

thought provoking perspective gaining in influence but not without criticism

Psychology

the scientific study of behavior, mental processes and the brain

• muitiple levels of explanation from biological to social influences

• - gain new knowledge from each perspective

scientific (testable ideas, behaviors (observable from actions), mental processes (unobservable psychological phenomena)

the scientific attitude

composed of curiosity, skepticism, and humility

review Yerkes Dodson Law

Kinds of research

descriptive, correlational, and experimental

Descriptive Research

goal to describe a population in terms of a variable

operational definition