International Psychology Olympiad

Psychology

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Behavior

Any observable action

Mental processes

internal, subjective experiences

Empiricism

Knowledge comes from systematic observation and data, not speculation or authority

Objectivity

Researchers use standardized procedures to minimize personal bias

Replicability

Studies must be repeatable by independent researchers to confirm findings

Falsifiability

Scientific claims must be testable and capable of being proven wrong (Karl Popper’s criterion)

Systematic methodology

Psychology uses the scientific method: observe, hypothesize, test, analyze, conclude

Clinical Psychology

Diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders

Counseling Psychology

Helping people with everyday life challenges and adjustment

Developmental Psychology

How people change physically, cognitively, and socially across the lifespan

Cognitive Psychology

Mental processes: memory, thinking, perception, language

Social Psychology

How people influence and relate to one another

Biological psychology/neuroscience

Brain, nervous system, and biological bases of behavior

Industrial-Organizational (I/O) Psychology

Behavior in the workplace: hiring, motivation, leadership

Educational Psychology

How people learn; improving teaching methods

Forensic Psychology

Psychology applied to the legal and criminal justice system

Health Psychology

How psychological factors affect physical health and illness

Basic (pure research)

How psychological factors affect physical health and illness

Applied Research

aims to solve specific, practical problems

Research psychologists

work in universities and labs, conducting studies.

Clinical and counseling psychlogists

provide therapy and assessment (typically require a Ph.D. or Psy.D.)

Psychiatrists

medical doctors (M.D.) who can prescribe medication — they are NOT psychologists

School psychologists

work in educational settings to support student learning and well-being

Industrial-organizational psychologists

work in businesses to improve productivity and employee satisfaction

Sensations

Basic experiences from stimuli (color, sound, taste, smell, touch)

Images

Mental pictures or representations

Feelings

Emotional states (pleasure, tension, excitement)

Structuralism

studying the anatomy of the mind (cataloguing its parts). Goal is to identify the basic elements of conscious experience (breaking consciousness down into sensations, images, and feelings)

Functionalism

Studies the purpose and function of mental processes

Experimental Psychology

For studying basic mental processes (sensation, perception, reaction time) — this required lab methods.

Völkerpsychologie

For studying higher mental processes (language, myth, social customs) — these were too complex for lab experiments and required historical/cultural analysis

Pragmatism

philosophy that the value of an idea lies in its practical consequences

Id

Operates on the pleasure principle — seeks immediate gratification of basic drives

Ego

Operates on the reality principle — mediates between id, superego, and the real world

Superego

The internalized moral conscience — represents society's rules and ideals

Self-actualization

The drive to fulfill one's unique potential — the highest human need.

Serotonin

mood regulation (low levels linked to depression)

Dopamine

Reward, motivation, movement (involved in addiction, Parkinson's, schizophrenia)

Acetylcholine

Memory and muscle contraction

GABA

Inhibition and anxiety reduction

Norepineephrine

Alertness and arousal

Endorphins

Natural pain relief

Direct replication

Repeating the exact same procedure to verify results

Conceptual replication

Testing the same idea using different methods or populations

Correlation Coefficient

A statistical value that indicates the direction and strength of the relationship.

Descriptive statistics

summarize and describe data

Inferential statistics

Draw conclusions and test hypotheses

Type l Error

Concluding there is an effect when there isn’t one. Like a fire alarm going off when there’s no fire

Type ll Error

Concluding there is no effect when there actually is one. Like a alarm failing to go off during a real fire