Major Field Test in Psychology

Introspection

Focusing on inner sensations, images and feelings.

Wundt used this approach as did James with the stream of consciousness.

Behaviorists

John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner dismissed introspection and redefined psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior.

Humanistic Psychology

Rebelled against both Behaviorism and Freudian psychology. Pioneers Carl Rogers and Maslow emphasized the importance of current environmental influences on our growth potential.

Psychology

Science of behavior and mental processes.

Nature-nurture issue

The controversy over the relative contributions of biology and experience to the development of our traits and behaviors.

Biopsychosocial approach

Considers the influences of biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors.

Applied research

practical research- industrial organizational psychologists

Hindsight bias

The tendency to believe after learning an outcome, that we would have foreseen it. The I knew it all along phenomenon)

Overconfidence

Humans tend to think they know more than they do.

Theory

An explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

Hypothesis

Testable prediction

Case study

Examines one individual in depth in hope of revealing things true of us all

Naturalistic observation

Observing and recording behavior in a naturally occurring situation without trying to manipulate or control the situation

Correlation

the extent to which two factors vary together. Positive/negative ranges from -1 to 1. Correlation does not imply causation.

Experiment

Enable to the researcher to focus on the possible effects of one or more factors by 1) manipulating the factors of interest and 2) holding constant other factors

Experimental group

receives a treatment

Control group

receives a pseudotreatment

double-blind procedure

neither the participants nor the research assistants collecting the data will know which group is receiving the treatment

Dendrite

the neurons busy branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body

Axon

The neurons extension that passes messages through its branching terminal fibers that form junctions with other neurons

Action potential

short electrical charge that travels down its axon

Synapse

the meeting point between neurons

neurotransmitters

chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gap between neurons. will travel across the synapse and bind to the receiving neuron

Somatic nervous system

Enables voluntary control of our skeletal muscles

Autonomic nervous system

controls our glands and the muscles of our internal organs

Sympathetic nervous system

arouses and expends energy. will accelerate your heartbeat, etc.

Parasympathetic nervous system

produces opposite effects it conserves the energy as it calms you by decreasing your heart beat and lowering your heart beat.

Adrenal glands

on top of the kidneys and release epinephrine and norepinephrine.

Pituitary gland

located in the center of the brain and is controlled by the hypothalamus: master gland.

brainstem

the oldest part and central core of the brain: is responsible for autonomic survival

medulla

the base of the brainstem controls your heartbeat and breathing

pons

helps coordinate movements

thalamus

brains sensory switchboard: it receives information from all of the senses except for smell and routes it to higher brain regions

reticular formation

filters incoming stimuli and relays important information to other areas of the brain

cerebellum

"little brain" coordinating movement output and balance

limbic system

neural system located below the cerebral hemispheres associated with emotions and drives

amygdala

influence aggression and fear

hypothalamus

important link in the chain of command governing bodily maintenance: hunger, thirst, body temperature, sexual behavior. linked to emotion and reward

cerebral cortex

a thin surface layer of interconnected neural cells

aphasia

impaired use of language

Broca's area

damage to this area disrupts speaking

Wernicke's area

damage to this area disrupts understanding

plasticity

the brains ability to modify itself after some types of damage

corpus callosum

the wide band of axon fibers connecting the two hemispheres and carries messages between them

selective attention

your conscious awareness focuses like a flashlight on a very limited aspect of your experience

cocktail party effect

your ability to attend to only one voice among many

inattentional blindness

failing to see visible objects when our attention is directed elsewhere (gorilla experiment)

change blindness

failing to notice changes in the environment

circadian rhythm

the biological clock: regular bodily rhythms that occur on a 24 hour cycle

REM sleep

rapid eye movement: where vivid dreams often occur

insomnia

recurring problems in falling or staying asleep

narcolepsy

sufferers experience periodic overwhelming sleepiness

sleep apnea

a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations of breathing during sleep and repeated awakenings

manifest content

according to freud the remembered story line of a dream

latent content

according to freud the underlying meaning of a dream

depressants

drugs such as alcohol and opiates that calm neural activity and slow body functions

stimulants

temporarily excite neural activity and arouse body functions

social learning theory

assumes that children learn gender-linked behaviors by observing and imitating and by being rewarded or punished.

Continuity vs stages

Is development in a gradual continuous process or does it proceed through a sequence of separate stages

Stability vs change

do our early personality traits persist through life or do we become different persons as we age?

rooting reflex

when something touches their cheek babies turn toward that touch open then mouth and root for a nipple.

Schemas

concepts or molds into which we pour our experiences

assimilate

piaget stated that we interpret new things in terms of our current understanding (schemas)

accommodate

adjust our schemas to incorporate information provided by new experiences

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

1. Sensorimotor- experiencing world through senses

2. Preoperational- representing things with words

3. concrete operational- thinking logically

4. formal operational- abstract reasoning

object permanence

out of sight/out of mind. The awareness that objects continue to exist when not perceived.

conservation

the principle that the quantity remains the same despite changes in shape

egocentric

preschool childrens difficultly perceiving things from another's point of view

theory of mind

peoples ideas about their own and others mental states

critical period

an optimal period when certain events must take place to facilitate proper development

imprinting

the process by which certain animals form attachments

authoritarian parenting style

impose rules and expect obedience

permissive parents

submit to their children's desires

authoritative

parents that are both demanding and responsive.

kohlbergs stages of morality

1. preconventional morality- self interest

2. conventional morality- caring for others

3. actions are judged "right" because they flow from peoples rights

Erikson's stages of psychosocial development

1. trust vs. mistrust

2. autonomy vs shame

3. initiative vs guilt

4. industry vs inferiority

5. identity vs role confusion

6. intimacy vs isolation

7. generativity vs stagnation

8. integrity vs despair

crystallized intelligence

our accumulated knowledge as reflected in vocab and tests

fluid intelligence

our ability to reason speedlily and abstractly

Sensation

the process by which our sensory receptors and nervous system receive and represent stimulus energies from the environment

perception

the process of organizing and interpreting sensory information

bottom-up processing

sensory analysis that starts at the entry level

top-down processing

information processing guided by higher-level mental processes as we construct perceptions drawing on our experience and expectations

absolute threshold

minimum stimulation necessary to detect a particular stimulus. the point at which we detect a stimulus half the time

difference threshold

also called the just noticeable difference is the minimum difference a person can detect between any two stimuli half the time

Webers law

for their difference to be perceptible, two stimuli must differ by a constant proportion

sensory adaptation

our diminishing sensitivity to an unchanging stimulus

wavelength

the distance from one wave peak to the next

hue

the color that we experience

intensity

the amount of energy in a light wave: influences our perception of its brightness

cornea

light enters the eye here (bends the light and protects the eye)

rods

retinal receptors that detect black white and gray and are necessary for peripheral and twilight vision

cones

retinal receptors that are concentrated near the center of the retina and that function in daylight. they detect fine detail

optic nerve

carries information to your brain (where the thalamus will receive and distribute the information)

blind spot

where the optic nerve leaves the eye

fovea

the retina's area of central focus

Young-Helmholtz trichromatic (three-color) theory

the theory that the retina contains three different color receptors- one most sensitive to red, one to green, and one to blue which in combination can produce the perception of any color.

Hering's opponent-process theory

the theory that opposing retinal processes (red-green, blue-yellow, white-black) enable color vision.

kinesthesis

your sense of position and movement of your body parts

nociceptors

sensory receptors that detect harmful temperatures, pressures, or chemicals.

gestalt

an organized whole. Psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.