Psychology

all psych modules up to present

psychology

scientific study of the behavior and mental process of humans and animals

cognition

how the mind processes and retains information

behavior

refers to almost any activity that can be observed or measured 

introspection

an objective approach to describing one’s mental content; looking within yourself (inward) to observe one’s own psychological process

John Locke

1689 English philosophe - wrote “An Essay Concerning Human Understanding”

• tabula rasa - the mind at birth is a blank slate on which experiences are written 

structuralism

founder: Wilhelm Wundt

attempts to define the makeup of conscious experience by dividing it into 3 basic elements: emotion, feeling, and mental images

• problems - the results are personal, they vary from person to person and experience to experience

functionalism

founder: William James (influenced by Charles Darwin) - also famous for authoring the first psychological textbook “Principle of Psychology” (1890)

proposed that more adaptive behavior patterns are learned and maintained while less adaptive patterns tend to discontinue

behaviorism

founder: John B. Watson - more likely Ivan Pavlov

defines psychology as the objective study of observable behavior and the study of relationships between stimuli and responses, without reference to mental process

gestalt

founders: Max Wertheimer, Kurt Koffka, and Wolfgang Kohler

emphasizes the tendency to organize perceptions into whole) greater than the sum of its parts

• we can see patterns, distinguish an object from its background, and complete a picture with just a few clues

psychoanalytic

founder: Sigmund Freud

emphasized the importance of unconscious motives and conflicts as determinants of human behavior

• says people are driven by deeply hidden impulses

humanistic

founders: Carl Rogers and Abraham

says people are motivated by the conscious desire for personal growth

• argue that sometimes our drive to fulfill such needs sometimes outweighs our drive to meet more basic needs

stimuli

a feature in the environment that is detected and leads to a change in behavior; triggers a response

response

a movement or observable reaction to a stimulus

reinforcement

a stimulus that follows a response and increases the frequency of the response

eclecticism

the process of making your own system by borrowing from two or more perspectives

biopsychosocial perspective

combines three major facets of an individual; biology, psychology, and socio-cultural interactions

• says not only can mind and body influence social interactions, a person’s social interactions can influence mind and body

behavioral perspective

focuses on studying observable behavior and the principles of learning

• someone working from this perspective might attempt to determine what triggers angry responses and aggressive acts in people

biological perspective

emphasizes behavior as a product of biological responses - made possible by the nervous system, the brain, hormones, disease, and genes

• studies the influence on genes on personality traits, psychological health, and various behavior patterns

cognitive perspective

focuses on the role of thinking in determining behavior

• thinking is the most important human ability, and because of this, decision making skills are the focus of cognitive strategies

evolutionary perspective

focuses on the evolution of social behavior and mental process

• believe that behavior patterns have a hereditary basis and tend to influence people to act in certain ways

humanistic perspective

views behavior as a reflection of self-awareness, including personal goals and internal growth

• consider personal experiences to be the most important aspect of psychology

psychodynamic perspective

views the individual as a product of both conscious and unconscious forces

• these psychologists try to understand what kinds of perception, thinking, and memory go on below our level of awareness

sociocultural perspective

view behavior as influenced by rules and expectations of social groups or cultures

• because of this, cultural values vary from society to society

psychiatrist

medical doctors who can prescribe drugs

psychologists

can develop treatment plans, but cannot prescribe drugs

hindsight bias

viewing an event as more predictable than it really is; “I knew all along”

self-fulfilling prophecy

prediction that results in behavior that makes the prediction come true

hypothesis

a prediction about behavior that is tested through research

replication

for findings to be confirmed, the study must be repeated and the same results must be produced

meta-analysis (observation)

a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies

case study (observation)

a carefully detailed/in-depth investigation of an individual or small group

naturalistic-observation (observation)

organisms are observed in their natural environments; “field study”

survey (observation)

a method of scientific research in which a large sample of people is questioned about their attitudes or behavior

longitudinal (observation)

observing selected participants over a long period of time (usually at periodic intervals)

cross-sectional (observation)

instead of following a group over a number of years, researchers select a sample that includes people of different ages and then compare behavior

laboratory-observation (observation)

takes place in a lab - a place in which theories, techniques, and methods are tested and demonstrated

experiment/study (observation)

takes place using independent and dependent variables and random assignment of groups

self-report bias

asking people about their thoughts/feelings/behaviors as opposed to directly observing and measuring them

social desirability bias

the tendency for respondents to answer questions in a manner that would be viewed as favorable by others

correlation

a measure of the extent in which two factors vary together, and thus how well either one predicts the other

independent variable

a condition in a scientific study that is manipulated so that its effect may be observed

dependent variable

a measure of an assumed effect/outcome of an independent variable

• changes as a result of independent variable

confounding variable

a factor other than the factor being studied, influencing a study’s results (third variable)

directionality problem

a problem that occurs with two variables, where it is unclear which is cause and which is effect

operational definition

a specification of how a particular variable will be quantified and measured

population

group of interest to be studied

sample

a segment of the population used in a study/experiment

representative sample

the degree to which a sample reflects a fair/diverse characteristic of the population being studied (stratified sample)

convenience sampling

subjects are selected for sampling participation because they are the easiest for a researcher to access

sampling bias

the sample does not accurately represent the population, thus skewing results

generalized results

extended to the population

experimental subject/group

participants that receive a treatment (the independent variable) in an experiment

control subject/group

participants who do not receive the experimental treatment but for whom all other conditions are comparable to those of experimental subjects; used as a comparison for all evaluating the effectiveness of the treatment

placebo

a bogus treatment that has the appearance of being genuine

placebo effect

results caused by expectations that the substance or condition is real/active

single-blind study

participants don’t know whether they are in the control or experimental group

double-blind study

experimenters and participants are unaware of who receives the treatment

experimenter bias

treating groups differently to get desired results

qualitative measures

collects and evaluates descriptive data (such as words) to understand thoughts, feelings, and attitudes

quantitative measures

collects and evaluates numerical data to understand effect/relationship

ethics

morality; referring to one’s system of standards for proper/responsible behavior

institutional review

the US federal government has a series of rules and regulations that must be followed in research - states, institutions, or ethics committees oversee research on human or animal subjects to ensure that research is ‘scientific, ethical, and regulatory’

confidentiality

secret; not to be disclosed

informed consent

the term used to indicate that a person has agreed to participate in research after receiving information about the purpose of the study and the nature of the study/treatments

informed assent

term to indicate that a person not competent to give informed consent (under the age of 18 or cognitively-impaired), has agreed to participate in a research study

confederate

research actor who agrees to participate along with actual test subjects

debriefed

given full information about a just-completed procedure, including any deception that may have been used

descriptive stats

summarize/describe numerical data

inferential stats

numerical data that allows one to generalize; estimates based on sample data

correlation coefficient

a numerical measure of the strength of two variables; falls somewhere between -1 and 1, with 0 being no correlation

mean

the arithmetic average (sum total of all scores divided by the number of scores)

median

the midpoint/halfway point in a data set (50th percentile)

mode

the most frequently occurring score or scores in a data set

skewed

a representation of scores that is lopsided due to a few way-out scores

regression towards the mean

as more data is collected, the chance that random factors could influence the data is reduced

range

the difference between the lowest and highest scores in a distribution

standard deviation

the amount of variation in a relation to the mean score

normal curve

bell-shaped curve that represents a normal distribution of scores

phrenology

studying bumps on the skull

neurons

neural cells specially designed to share information

soma/cell body

the cell’s nucleus and life-support center; directs synthesis of neurotransmitters

dendrites

fibers that receive and integrate information, conducting it toward the cell body

axon

the cell’s single lengthy that passes messages through it’s branches to other neurons

myelin

insulates the axons of some neurons and helps speed their impulses

glial cells

provide structure, ‘insulating’ myelin, communication, and mop up neurotransmitters

action potential

neurons send a message by firing an electrical impulse down its axon

synapse

gap/junction between two cells

reuptake

a neurotransmitter’s reabsorption by the sending neuron

acetylcholine (NT)

involved in control of muscle memory

dopamine (NT)

involved in reward/pleasure/emotion, motor behavior, and attention

serotonin (NT)

sleep, mood, and appetite

norepinephrine (NT)

alertness and arousal; “fight or flight”

endorphins (NT)

morphine-like effects on the mind and body for pain and pleasure

substance P (NT)

transmits pain signals

GABA (NT)

inhibitory neurotransmitter; increases tranquility

glutamate

involved in learning and memory

agonist

molecule that mimics/increases a neurotransmitter’s action

antagonist

molecule that inhibits/blocks a neurotransmitter’s action

reuptake inhibitor

molecules that attach to an axon, blocking reabsorption; build up causes more action potential

nervous system

the body’s electrical communication network, consisting of the nerve cells of the central and peripheral nervous systems