psych exam 1: lecture 1 and 2

compare the early philosphers plato, aristotle, and descartes

Plato: nativisism (knowledge is innate)

aristotle: empiricisim (knowdlege comes from experience)

descartes: dualism (mind and body are separate)

what is the difference between nativisim and empiricism?

nativism believes that people are born with certain knowledge and abilities

empiricism believes that knowledge comes from sensory experience

what is dualism and what is the opposing view

dualism believes that the mind and body are separate

opposing view is materialism that believes mind and body are not separate

who is wilhehm wudnt and why is he important

father of psychology who founded the first psychology lab

made psych a scientific discipline

what is structuralism and who developed it?

edward titchner

studies the three basic structures of consciousness

• sensations, images and affections

who was william james and what is functionalism

influenced by darwin

functionalism studies purpose of thoughts and behaviors

focuses on adaptation and survival

compare structuralism and functionalism

structuralism: mental structures —> what is consciousness made of?

functionalism: purpose of behavior —> why does consciousness exist?

what was freuds psychoanalytic theory

personality is influenced by the unconscious

early childhood experiences shape personality

studied dreams, defense mechanisms, unconscious motivations

compare behaviorism, psychoanalysis, and humanisitc psychology

behaviorism: observable behvior

psychoanalysis: unconscious mind

humanism: personal growth and reaching potential

what is behaviorism and who contributed to it?

behaviorism: study of observable behaviors

contributors are:

• pavlov: classical conditioning

• watson: applied conditioning to humans

• skinner: operant conditioning

Compare classical conditioning and operant conditioning

classical conditioning: learning through association (PAVLOV)

operant conditioning: learning through rewards and punishments (SKINNER)

what is humanistic psychology

focuses on helping people thrive

• personal growth, active listening, unconditional positive regard

• evidence based therapy

who was abraham maslow and what is self-actualization

founder/proponent of humanisitc psychology

developed the hiearchy of needs

self actualization: reaching your full potential and becoming the best version of yourself

What developments make up the Biological Revolution?

• Neurotransmitters

• Brain imaging

• Neuropsychopharmacology

• Human Genome Project

• Epigenetics

what is neuropsychopharmacology

study of how medications affect the brain

what is epigenetics

environmental experiences change gene expression without changing dna sequence

what is brain plasticity

the brain changes physically because of experiences

what is hedonic adaptation

people return to a normal happiness level after positive or negative experiences

what personality traits generally increase with age

agreeable and consciosness

what are the 4 essential characteristics of science?

science has to be

• non-dogmatic (ideas can change with evidence)

• skeptical (claim needs evidence)

• cumalative

• falsifiable

what are the three types of descriptive studies?

naturalistic observation, case studies, and self-report studies

what is naturalistic observation and what is the limitation of it

“fly on the wall”

observing behavior in a natural setting without interfering

LIMITATION: it cant show cause and effect bc n variables are manipulated

what is a case study and what are the limitations

in depth study of one person or small group

provide detailed info about a case but info cannot be applied/generalized to every

one

what is a self-report study?

study where participants answer questions about themselves through surveys, questionares or interviews

what is a likert scale

rating scales used in surveys (ex. strongly agree —> strongly disagree)

Case study: Phineas Gage

Phineas Gage was a man whos frontal lobe was damaged by a tamping iron accident

• showed importance of the frontal lobe

• the brains ability to change (brain plasticity)

• PTSD

Case Study: Andrea Yates

andrea yates was a former nurse who drowned her 5 children and had severe mental illnesses

• showed postpartum depression

• psychosis

• auditory hallucinations

has still not been found guiilty bc she couldnt tell right from wrong

popuation vs sample

population: entire group

sample: smaller group selected from population

why is representative sampling important

makes sure that the sample reflects the population so researches can make accurate conclusions

what is correlation coefficient

number showing the strength and direction of a relationship between 2 variables

range is -1 to +1

(-) means variables move in opposite direction

(+) means variable moves in same direction

closer to 0 = weaker relationship between variables

closer to +1 = stronger relationship between variables

can correlation prove cause and effect?

NO

correlation does not mean causation

because we cant tell that if X caused Y or if Y caused X

there may be a third variable that is causing the relationship

what is the third variable problem?

an outside variable that may explain why 2 variables are related

ex. violent media —> aggression

• third variable: family environment

what is independent variable?

the variable the researcher changes/manipulates

what is dependent variable

variable the researcher measures

experimental group

group that recieves the treatment/manipulation

control group

group that does not recieve the the treatment and used for comparison

placebo

inactive treatment used to control expectations

what is an operational definition

spedific way researchers define and measure a variable

random assignment

randomly placing participants into groups to reduce bias

blind study

participants dont know which group they are in

double blind study

people and researchers dont know which group they are in

confounding variable

uncontrolled variable that could affect results

why can experiments show cause and effect but correlations cannot?

experiments manipulate variables and use control groups/random assignment, which allow researchers to determine causation