Psychology Exam (chapters 1-3)

psychology

scientific study of behavior and the mind/mental processes

Goals of psychology

to describe, predict and explain behavior

psyche means…

soul

logos means…

study of the subject

the itellectual predecessors are ______ and _______

philosophy and physiology

Biological Foundations of Behavior

areas of the brain and how the nervous system affects behavior

Experimental Psychology

process of sensing, percieving, learning and thinking

Developmental Psychology/Personality

what are the sources of change and stability in behaviors across the life span

Evolutionary Psychology

how behavior is influenced by our genetic inheritance from our ancestors

Behavioral Genetics

how genes and chromosomes, enable inherited behaviors

Education of a Psychologist

most psychologists have a doctorate
PhD (doctor of philosphy)
OR
PsyD (doctor of psychology)

PhD

research degree that requires a dissertation

PsyD

obtained by psychologists who want to focus on the treatment of psychological disorders

Psychiatrists

have a medical degree

specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders

use prescription drugs

Where did Psychologists begin their jobs?

Military

there are more psychologists than _______

psychiatrists

Associated with Plato

• intellect

• spiritual center

• desires

• TRIPARTITE MIND

Associated with Aristotle

• Para psyche

• mind is reason for existence and functioning of the body

What did Joseph Gall found?

Phrenology in the early 1800s

Found of psychology

Wilhelm Wundt 1879

What did Wundt do?

• Established first formal laboratory for research in psychology in Germany

• Viewed psychology as a science with primary subject matter being consciousness awareness of immediate experience

Thus, psychology became the scientific study of consciousness experience

Introspection

procedure where people are presented with a stimulus and asked to describe, in their own words, and in much detail as they can, what they were experiencing

Structuralism

analyzing consciousness into its basic elements and investigate how these elements are related (these elements were sensations, feelings, & images)

Structuralism relied on ________

introspection

Functionalism

concentrated on what the mind does and how behavior functions

big proponent was William James (adhered to Darwin’s theory of natural selection…heritable characteristics that provide a survival or reproductive advantage will be passed along or “selected” & believed consciousness was important to our FUNCTION as a species)

Structuralists

more invested in the lab and construccts like sensation and perception

Functionalists

more invested on how people adopt their behavior to the demans of the world

Who is associated with behaviorism

Watson

who is associated with humanism

Roger & Maslow

Reinforcement increases ______

behavior

Positive Reinforcement

giving somebody what they want to increase behavior

Negative Reinforcement

taking something away that you don’t want to increase behavior 

Positive Punishment

adding something they don’t want, to decrease behavior

Negative Punishment

taking away something they want, to decrease behavior 

Humanists Perspective

all individuals strive to grow, develop and be in control of their lives & behavior.

Each of us has the capacity to seek and reach fulfillment.

Emphasis on FREE WILL compared to DETERMINISM 

Neuroscience

how people and nonhumans function biologically (e.g., how functioning of body affects hopes & fears)

Behavioral

don’t look inside the organism to determine the cause of its behavior. INSTEAD, focus should be on external behaviors that can be directly measured

Cognitive

focuses on how people think, understand, and know about the world

evolving in part from structuralism

Psychodynamic

behavior motivated by inner forces & conflicts over which we have little control or EVEN awareness

Scientific Method

approach used by psychologists to systemically acquire knowledge and understanding of our behavior and other phenomena 

Scientific Method consists of…

1. Identifying questions of interest

2. Formulating an explanation

3. Carrying out research designed to support/refute the expansion

4. Communicating the findings 

The Research Enterprise

• exercise in creative problem solving

• different questions require different strategies of in investigation

Why care about research?

1. Understand what you read in textbook

2. Improve your ability to think critically

• Being a good consumer of science makes you a good psychologist

Theories

• System of interrelated ideas used to explain a set of observations. 

• Goal is most closely associated with the scientific goal of understanding

• Example: “Misery Loves Company” “ Opposites Attract”

Theory

must be testable

If supported confidence in theory grows, but if not supported then confidence in theory decreases.

meant to be revised and discarded

hypothesis

stem from theories and help test underlying soundess of theories

more specific

what do theories and hypotheses allow psychologists to do?

• Make sense of unorganized, separate observations and bits of data

• Permit placing observations and data within a coherent framework

• Develop ideas for future investigations

Descriptive Research

not manipulating any variables looking at existing data 

Archival Research

Existing data are examined to test hypotheses.

Example: newspaper accounts, college records (e.g., Kitty Genovese, Goucher College)

Naturalistic Observations

Researcher records what occurs making no modifications in the situation observed

Survey Research

ask a sample of people chosen to represent a larger group of interest (a population) a series of questions about behaviors, thoughts, and attitudes. 

Case Study

In contrast to a survey, this is an in-depth, intensive investigation of a single individual or group.

Might use psychological testing…sometimes used to better understand people in general.

Correlational (related/associated) Research

not manipulating anything.

Relation between two variables (behaviors, events, or other characteristics that can change or vary in some way).

For example, does studying make a difference in test scores?

CANT SAY ONE CAUSED THE OTHER

What does negative mean?

direction—doesn’t mean bad

what does positive mean?

direction—doesn’t mean good

Correlation can only be from…

1.0 to -1.0

CANNOT BE HIGHER THAN 1

POSITIVE correlation

as the value of one variable increases, we can predict that the value of the other variable will also increase

EX: amount of time studying and grades, height and dunking a basketball

NEGATIVE correlation

as the value of one variable increases, the value of the other variable will decrease.

EX: hours studying and hours partying

Experimental Research

investigator manipulates variables under carefully controlled conditions & observes if changes occur in a second variable as a result

In a FORMAL experiment what occurs?

researcher investigates the relation between 2 (or more) variables by deliberately changing one variable in a controlled situation and observing (evaluating) the effects of that change on other aspects of the situation 

Experimental manipulation

change the experimenter makes

Experimental Group

any group that receives a treatment group 

Control Group

a group that receives no treatment 

Independent Variable

condition or event that investigator varies or manipulates in order to assess its impact on another variable

it is INDEPENDENT of the actions of those taking part in the experiment; it is controlled by the experimenter

Dependent Variable (DV)

thought to be affected by manipulation of IV

called DV since it depends on manipulation of IV

also is dependent on the actions of the participants

Experimenter Bias

unintentional transmissions of expectations to participants by the experimenter

Participant Expectations

participants might develop their own hypotheses about the study and then try to act on their hunches

Extraneous Variables

any variables other than IV that could influence the DV

Confounding of variables

occurs when two variables are linked together in a way that makes it difficult to sort out specific effects

Advantages of Experimental Design

• Permits conclusions about cause & effect relationships

• Allows isolation of IV and DV

Disadvantages of Experimental Design

• Often artificial

• Often need to use contrived situations

• Can’t explore some research questions (does poor diet during pregnancy lead to birth defects)

Ethical Guidelines for Research

Both human and animal subjects should be treated with dignity

Central Nervous System

part of the nervous system that includes the brain and spinal cord

Spinal Cord

bundle of neurons that leaves the brain and runs down the length of the back

Reflex

automatic, involuntary response to an incoming stimulus

Sensory (afferent) neurons

Transmit information from the perimeter of the body to the central nervous system

Motor (efferent) neurons

Communicate information from the nervous system to muscles and glands

Perpheral Nervous System

made of neurons with long axons and dendrites

branches out from the spinal cord and brain

reaches extremities of the body

Somatic (skeletal)

voluntary actions

walking and sensing touch

Autonomic

involuntary actions
heart beat, breathing, digestion

sympathetic

flight or flight

parasympathetic

rest or digest

The Central Nervous System includes…

• the brain

• the spinal cord

The Peripheral Nervous System includes…

• somatic

• autonomic

• sympathetic

• parasympathetic

Nerve Cell

roughly 86 billion neurons in human brain

may be 100 trillion synapses in the human brain

Neuron

nerve cells

basic elements of the nervous system

Neurons are physically held in place by _____ _____

glial cells

Glial Cells

• Provide nourishment to neurons and insulate them

• Help repair damage

• Support neural functioning

• account for 50% of brain’s volume

Distinctive feature of neurons

• Ability to communicate with other cells

• Transmission of information across relatively long distances

parts of a neuron

• dendrite

• axon

• terminal buttons

• myelin sheath

Dendrite

cluster of fibers at one end of a neuron that receives messages from other neurons

axon

carries messages destined for other neurons

Terminal Buttons

small bluges at the end of axons that send messages to other neurons

Myelin Sheath

protective coat of fat and protein that wraps around the axon

how do neurons communicate?

• Electrical to chemical energy cause cells to fire or not fire

• A neuron may receive signals from thousands of other neurons (may be excitatory or inhibitory)

• Neurons release neurotransmitters

• Millions of neurons must fire in unison to produce the most trivial thought

• Neurotransmitters drift away, are inactivated by enzymes that metabolize (convert) them into inactive forms, or are reabsorbed into presynaptic neuron through reuptake (sponged up from synaptic cleft by presynaptic membrane)

• Elimination of old synapses (synaptic pruning)

Synapse

Space between two neurons where the axon of a sending neuron communicates with the dendrites of a receiving neuron by using chemical messages

Neurotransmitters

Chemicals that carry messages across the synapse to the dendrite (and sometimes the cell body) of a receiver neuron

Every neuron is not capable of…

receiving the chemical message carried by a neurotransmitter

Successful chemical communication is possible only when…

a neurotransmitter fits precisely into a receptor site

Excitatory message

Makes it more likely that a receiving neuron will fire and an action potential will travel down its axon