Psychology Exam 1

What does psychology mean (root words)

Greek roots “psyche”- meaning souls or mind and “logos” meaning word.

Psychology is the systematic study of behavior and expirence

What are the different fields of psychology?

-Clinical psychology: Mental disorders and psychological treatment

-Counseling psychology: Helping people with life problems, stress, relationships, etc.

-Developmental psychology: How people change throughout life

-Social psychology: How people influence and interact with one another

-Cognitive psychology: Thinking, memory, learning, problem-solving

Applied Research

-Study dealing with practical problems

-Studying which study technique helps college students remember information better

Basic Research

-Study that seeks theoretical knowledge for its own sake

-Studying how memory works

Intelligence Testing types

-Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test

-Wechsler Intellgience Scales

• -WAIS (adults)

• -WISC (children)

Behaviorism

• A field of psychology that concentrates on observable, measurable behaviors and not on mental processes

• Founded by John B Watson

Nature-nurture debate

Question of how differences in behavior relate to differences in heredity an environment

Steps of scientific study

-Hypothesis

-method

-Results

-Interpretation/Discussion

Burden of proof

The obligation to present evidence to support one’s claim

Correlation experiment

A measure of the relationship between two variables

Convenience sample

-Anyone who is available

-Easiest to get, but results may not generalize to the whole population

Representative sample

-Same percentage of male/female, white/black, etc. as the whole population

-Results probably similar to whole population although sample may be representative in some ways but not others

Random sample

-Everyone in population has same chance of being chosen

-Difficult to get this kind of sample, but it is best suited for generalizing to the whole population

Cross-cultural sample

-People from different cultures

-Difficulties include language barriers, cooperation problems, etc., but essential for studying many issues

Naturalistic observation

Careful examination of what happens under more or less natural conditions

Case study

An in-depth investigation of one person or a small group

Surveys

A study of the prevalence of certain beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors based on people’s responses to questions

Independent variable

the item that an experimenter changes or controls

Requirements for human research participants

-informed consent

-confidentiality

-protection from harm

-right to withdraw

-debriefing after study

-research must be reviewed

Types of cells in the central nervous system

-Neurons

-Glia

Neurons

cells of the nervous system that receive information and transmit it to other cells by conducting electrochemical impulses

Glia

cells that support the neurons in many ways such as isolating them, synchronizing activity among neighboring neurons, and removing waste materials

Neurotransmitter

chemical that activates receptors on other neurons

evolutionary psychology

examines how evolution may have shaped behavior and mental processes

stimulants

-increase energy, alertness, and activity

-can enhance alertness, cause confusion and impulsiveness, and physically increases heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature

Hallucinogens

-drug that induces sensory distortions

-can cause sudden emotional changes and sensory distortions

Depressants

-drugs that decrease arousal

-relaxation, drowsiness, slower reaction time

Narcotics

-produce drowsiness, insensitive to pain, and decreased responsiveness

-warm and happy feeling with little anxiety or pain

-nausea and withdrawal from the world

Monozygotic twins

develop from the same fertilized egg

dizygotic twins

those who share only half their genes because they developed from two eggs

Red-green color deficiency

X-linked

Because males have one x chromosome, a recessive allele on that X chromosome is more likely to be expressed

Trichromatic theory

Theory that color vision depends on the relative rate of response of three types of cones (short, medium, and long wavelengths)

negative afterimages

perception of new colors after the removal of other ones

Retinex theory

concept that the cerebral cortex compares the patterns of light coming from different parts of the retina and synthesizes a color perception for each area

Cochlea

canals which contains the receptors for hearing

Sound waves

vibrations of the air, water, or other medium

Hertz (hz)

cycles (vibrations) per second

pitch

perception closely related to frequency

loudness

perception of the intensity of sound waves

timbre

tone complexity, based on the relative amount of harmonics of the basic tone

eardrum

vibrates in response to sound waves

auditory nerves

carries information to the brain

Olfactory receptors

-detective airborne molecules (smell)

-thousands of them- we can distinguish among a huge number of odors and their mixtures

Taste buds

-fold on the surface of the younger that holds taste receptor cells

-five basic types: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami

-thousands of taste buds

optical illusion

misinterpretation of visual stimulus

Shape and size constancy

our tendency to perceive objects as keeping their shape, size, and color, despite distortions in the actual pattern reaching the retina

Gestalt psychology

a field that emphasizes perception of overall patterns

Principles of Gestalt psychology

-proximity

-similarity

-continuation

-closure

-common fate

-good figure (simple, familiar, symmetrical)

Bottom up process

tiny elements combine to produce larger images

top-down process

you apply your own experience and expectations to interpret each item in context

Cross sectional studies

Several groups of participants of various ages studied at one time

Longitudinal studies

one group of partcipants studied repeatedly as members grow older

Piaget’s stages of cognitive development

1. Sensorimotor (birth-1.5 years)

2. Pre-operational (1.5-7 years)

3. Concrete operations (7-11 years)

4. Formal operations (11 years onward)

Sensorimotor stage

Reacts to sensory stimuli through reflexes and other responses

Pre-operational

Develops language, can represent objects mentally by words and other symbols, can respond to objects that are remembered but not present

Concrete operations

understands conservation of mass, number, and volume; can reason logically with regard to concrete objects that can be seen or touched

formal operations

can reason logically about abstract and hypothetical concepts, develops strategies, plans actions in advance

Erikson’s stages of human development

-the idea that each stage involves a major conflict/crisis that must be addressed

-Infant (1-3): trust vs mistrust

-Preschool child (3-6): autonomy vs shame/doubt

-Preadolescent (6-12): initiative vs guilt

-Adolescent (early teens): industry vs inferiority

-Young adult (late teens and early 20s): intimacy vs isolation

-Middle adult (late 20s to retirement): generativity vs stagnation

-Older adult (after retirement): ego integrity vs despair

Vgotsky theroy

• Zone of proximal development which is distance between what a child can do alone and what is possible with help

• importance of social interaction and culture

Strange Situation

procedure in Which a Mother and Her Infant (Typically 12 to 18 Months Old) Come into a Room with Many Toys, and Psychologists Monitor the Child’s Behavior as the Mother and a Stranger at Various Times Enter and Leave the Room

Attachment Styles

Secure (slightly upset when caregiver leaves but is fine when she returns) , Anxious (clings to mother, cries profusely when she leaves) , Avoidant- Dismissive (avoids mom), and Avoidant- Fearful