psychology 1-3

What is Psychology

Scientific study of thought and behavior

Cognitive Psychology

Study of how we perceive information

Developmental Psychology

The study of how thought and behavior change and show stability across the life span

Behavioral Neuroscience

The study of the links among brain, mind, and behavior

Biological Psychology

The study of the connections between bodily systems and chemicals, and their relationship to behavior and thought

Personality Psychology

The study of what makes people unique and the consistencies in people’s behavior across time and situations.

Social Psychology

The study of how the real or imagined presence of others influences thought, feeling, and behavior.

Cross-Cultural Psychology

The study of how thought and behavior varies and is similar across different cultures.

Clinical Psychology

The study of the treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders and ways to promote psychological health.

Counseling Psychology

Involves work with less severe psychological disorders.

Industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology:

Applies psychological concepts and questions to work settings

Forensic Psychology

A field that blends psychology, law, and criminal justice

Evolutionary Psychology

Studies how certain behaviors/characteristics helped early human ancestors

Nature-only side

Who we are comes from inborn tendencies and genetically based traits

Nurture-only side

We are all essentially the same at birth, and we are the product of our experiences

The Scientific Method

OPTICR Observe, Predict, Test, Interpret, Communicate ,Replication

Pseudoscience

Claims presented as scientific that are not supported

by evidence obtained with the scientific method

Operational Definition

Clear, objective and replicable procedure for measuring and defining variables in a study

Validity

Degree to which a test measures what it is intended to measure

How Do Psychologists Get Their Data

Research Design, Research Setting Data Collection

Methods

Research Designs in Psychology

Descriptive Studies Correlational Studies Experimental Studies

Third-variable problem

Correlation between two variables may actually be the result of some third, unspecified variable

Direction-of-causation problem

A correlation between two variables does not indicate which, if either, variable is the cause of the other

Longitudinal design

Tests the same person over time

Heritability

Degree to which a characteristic is influenced by genetic transmission

Twin-Adoption studies

Study of hereditary influence on twins who were raised together and apart

Gene-by-Environment studies

Examine whether certain genes that vary among people correlate with whether people have a particular trait

Monozygotic

Identical twins share 100% of their genes

Dizygotic

Fraternal twins share 50% of their genes

Epigenetics

How the environment changes gene expression

Somatic Nervous System

Sense and respond to our environment

Autonomic nervous system

Senses the body’s internal functions

Sympathetic

Activation or arousal function

Parasympathetic

Maintains internal state of equilibrium and homeostasis

Central Nervous System

Brain and spinal cord

Spinal cord

Densely packed bundle of nerve fibers

Sensory Neurons

Carry information from sense organs to spinal cord or brain

Motor Neurons

Carry messages from spinal cord or brain to the muscles and organs

Interneurons

Carry messages from one neuron to another

Synaptic gap

is the space between the axon terminal of the

sending neuron and the dendrite of the receiving neuron

Neurotransmitters

Chemical substances that carry messages across the synapse to other neurons, muscles, or glands

Action potential

The impulse of positive electrical charge that runs down an axon

Thalamus

Sensory relay station for all senses

Hypothalamus

Hunger, thirst, temperature, sexual behavior, fight/flight; controls pituitary gland

Hippocampus

Formation of new long-term memories

Amygdala

Linked to fear and anger

Cingulate Gyrus

Attention

Basal Ganglia

Voluntary control

Cerebrum

Uppermost portion of the brain

Cerebral cortex

Thin outer layer of the cerebrum

Frontal Lobe

Attention

Parietal Lobe

Sensation and perception of touch

Occipital Lobe

Processing visual information

Temporal Lobe

Processes sound information

Corpus callosum

Transfers information across hemispheres

Right hemisphere

Spatial tasks, emotions, recognition of faces

Left hemisphere

Verbal and language tasks

Broca’s Area

Speech production

Wernicke's Area

Speech comprehension

Medulla

the lowest part of the brainstem, responsible for regulating vital autonomic functions like breathing

pons

a part of the brainstem located between the midbrain and medulla oblongata

Reticular formation

a network of nerve cells and fibers located in the brainstem

reliability

the consistency and dependability of a measurement tool or test

interrater reliability

the degree of agreement among different raters or observers when assessing or evaluating the same phenomenon, behavior, or characteristic

test retest reliability

the consistency of a measure when administered to the same group of individuals at different points in time, indicating how stable and dependable a test or instrument is over time

medical model refering to

a philosophy of health and wellness that is medically based and looks at fitness as part of a lifelong pursuit of total wellness

moral treatment 18 century

an approach to mental disorder based on humane psychosocial care

Psychophysics

The branch of psychology that deals with the relationships between physical stimuli and mental phenomena

Psychoanalytic

Unconscious mind, early childhood experiences, and inner conflicts

Behavioral learning

Observable behavior and how it's shaped by the environment

Humanistic Positive Perspective

Personal growth, self-actualization, and human potential