Unit 1 AP Psych

psychology

the scientific study of behavior and mental process

prescientific osychology

rene Descartes theorized that the brain’s cavities were connected to muscles

Francis bacon interested in the mind was focused on experiment, experience, and common sense judgement

John locke-tabula rasa concept

Charles Darwin theory of evolution argued that animals and humans have evolved and changed

developement of the scientific attitude

curiosity, skepticism, humility

critical thinking does not blindly accept arguments, appraises the source, discerns biases, evaluates evidence, assessed conclusions

aims of modern psychology

use the science of psychology to benefit and improve the condition of society, or organizations, and individuals by:

• examining the relationships between brain function and behavior

• examining the relationships between environment and behavior

• applying scientific findings to improves the world around us

basic vs applied research

basic research psychologists study the orgin cause or results of behavior-they conduct studies

applied research psychologists make direct use of the finding of the research psychologists

moder psychology

the science of psychology has gone through different ways since it started

waves are different ways of thinking over time

there are 8 waves

wave one: structuralism

started with WIlhelm Wundt’s (Fathher of Modern Psychology) first psychological lab in Germany in 1879 and his concept of introspections (looking into one’s own self and describing what is there)

Edward B Titchener built up on Wundt’s ideas and introduced structuralism the first major school of thought in psychology

he tried to understand the basic structural elements of consciousness (describing what you feel, see, think, experience, etc. requires intellect, training and communication skill

wave two: functionalism

William James wrote the Principles of psychology in 1980 and started functionalism

rather than focusing on the elements of consciousness, functionalism focused on the purpose of consciousness (or ways it helps us adapt to the environment)

argued that all cognition (thinking, memories, emotion, habits) were adaptive in mature

structuralism vs functionalism

structurlaism looks at the form of it (structure)(reaction time)

functionalism looks at what the function of it is

wave three: Gestalt Psychology

led by Max Wertheimer

focused on understanding the mind and behavior as a while ( Not breaking down the mind into small parts as a structuralist would do)

want to understand how the mind created perception

wave four: psychoanalysis

sigmund Freud (early 1900s) became the mostt famous psychologist of the 20th century

psychoanalysis focused on thee unconscious mind

he believed that behavior is influenced by sexual and aggressive desires and childhood experiences and conflicts that are hidden in the unconscious

we protect yourself from our real feelings by using defensive mechanisms

his form of therapy was different because it invoved talking with patients about their problems

wave five: behaviorism

during early to mid 1900s people started to ignore how you feel inside

all that mattered was how you behaved or acted (something observable)

Pavlov started the movement

John Watson conditioned “Little Albert” to fear rates

B.F. SKinner (most famous behaviorist) trained animals in his “Skinner box” through rewards (operant conditioning)

wave six: humanism

in the 1960s humanistic psychologists focused on conscious experience, the individual’s freedom to choose and personal growth

they were led by Abraham Maslow and his concept of self-actualization (full potential)

and by Carl Rogers who stressed the importance of acceptance, genuineness and empathy to foster human growth

wave seventh: child development

Jean Piaget pioneered the movement in child development

his focus was on how children think (cognitive development) and how their thinking differs from adult thinking

wave eight: eclectic approach

psycholigists combine ideas from multiple perspectives depending on the situation and the client

Psychodynamic perspective

things that happen in the past

focuses on the unconscious mind (unconscious drive and conflicts)

we repress many of our true feelings and are not aware of them

in order to get better we must bring forward the true feelings we have in our unconscious

cognitive perspective

thinking

focuses on mental processes (thoughts)

how do we see the world?

how did we learn to act sad or happy events?

cognitive therapists attempt to change the way you think

behavioral perspective

focuses on observable behaviors, not the unconscious thoughts or feelings

our behavior is a product of learning, rewards, and consequences

social-cognitive perspective

focus on how your culture affects your behavior

even in the same high school, behaviors can change in accordance to the various subcultures

humanist persepctive

peaked in late 1960-70s

focused on positive growth and free will

we have to strive to be the best we can be or “self actualized”

biological perspective

all your feelings and behaviors have an organic root

in other words, they come from your brain, body chemistry, neurotransmitters, etc

behavior genetics perspective

focuses on darwinism

we behave the way we do because we inherited those behaviors

thus those behaviors must have helped ensure our ancestors survival

positive psychology

focuses on optimum human functioning

started by Martin Seligman, it evolved out of humanistic psychology

qualitative vs quantitative research

quantative: numerical data, objective, generalizable, deductive logic, theory testing

qualative: non numerical data, subjective, context specific, inductive logic, theory building

mixed methods:combination

hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome that one would have for seen in

“I knew it all along"

overconfidnce

humans tend to think we know more then we do

tendency to perceive patterns in random events (illusory correlations) tempt us to overestimate the value of common sense thinking

hypothesis

a testable prediction about the relationship between two variables

falsfiable- the ability to prove that a statement, theory, hypothesis, or propositiion is worng

hypothesis testing

How do you decide if the results are reliable/reproducible and not due to chance? All inferential statistics tests start by assuming the NULL hypothesis—any differences observed ARE due to chance. We then calculate the probability (p value) of the results NOT occuring by chance. If the p value is less than .05, we conclude that the results did NOT happen randomly by chance. We say the results are SIGNIFICANT (aka: Statistically significant) 

expirmentor bias can occur when scientist’s hypothses influence their results, even if involuntarily

hypothesis vs theory

hypothesis is an assumption mode before any research has been completed for the sake of testing

theory is a principle set to explain phenomeno already supported by data they will pull together experimnetal results to provide full explanations like the big bang theory

operational definition

the researcher defines the variables

a specification of the exact procedures used to measure a variable

help ensure when a study is being replicated, it’s being replicated exactly

replication

safeguard in a research study process is to see if you can repeat a study and see if the results can be reliably reproduced (replication)

naturalistic observation

watches subjects in their natural environment

no interference

no control of cause and effect conclusion

confirmation bais

when we look for evidence to confirm our beliefs and ignore evidence that contradicts them

case study

a detailed picture of one or a few subjects

in depth detail

individual or group

correlational study

investigates the degree to which two variables are related

doesn’t show cause and effect

Illusory Correlation

perceiving a relationship between variables even when no relationship exists

correlation coefficient

statistical index of the relationship between two things (from -1 to 1)

the closer the score gets to -1 or 1, the stronger the correlation

the closer it gets to 0 the weaker the relationship

Effect size

a variable measuring the strength of the relationship between two variables in a population

a large effect size means that a research findings has practical significance while a small effect size indicates limited practical applications

the bigger the bettwe

correlation problems

directionality problem-occurs when two or more variables correlate, but it’s unclear which variable is causing changes in the other

does depression cause isolation or does isolation cause depression? goes both directions

third variable problem-occurs when a third variable affects two other variables making them appear to have a casual relationship when they don’t

scatter plot

illustrates correlation

types of correlation

positive correlation-the variables go in the same direction

negative correlation-the variables go in the opposite direction

survey

quick, easy to implement, efficient, inexpensive

structered interviews- uses predetermined questions in order (increases relaibalilty)

likert scales-sale of # to # (agree to disagree)

social desirbalilty bais-tendency of survey respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others

representative sample

a subset of the population carefully chosen to represent the proportionate diversity of the population as a whole

random sample

a sample in which every person in a population has an equal chance of being selected

sampling bais

occurs when a sample statistic doesn’t accurately reflect the true value of the parameter in the target population

longitudinal study

studying the same group of people over the years and noting changes

more than a year

changes over time

cross sectional study

various age groups studied at the same time

one time comparison

meta analysis

statistical procedure for combining data from multiple studies to develop a single conclusion that has a greater statistical power

experimental method

looking to prove casual relationship

shows cause and effect

independent variable is being manipulated

dependent variable is the outcome

random assignment

quasi experiment method

used to establish a cause and effect relationship

similar to experimental but there’s no random assignment

groups are pre-formed before the study

findings apply to other real world contexts

researchers use existing non equivalent groups that may differ in ways other than the intervention

sampling

identify the population you want to study

the sample must be repsentative of the population you want to study

convinience sampling involves using respondents who are “convinient” to the researcher

variables

independent variable stays constant. it’s whatever is being manipulated (predictor)

dependent variable is whatever is being measured (outcome)

experimental group receives the iv

control group receives placebo or nothing

confounding variables

a variable other than the IV that causes a change in the DV

researchers must anticipate potential confounds and eliminate them

validity and generalizability

internal validity: results are trustworthy and not influenced by outside factors (random sample)

external validity: genralizability

ethical guidelines for research

IRB: process that involves an independent committee at an institution reviewing research methods to ensure that they are ethical and meet regulations

animal research

clear purpose

treated in a humane way

acquire animals legally

protection from harm

obligation to correct any harmful effects

human research

must be voluntarily

informed consent

informed assent

confidentiality

protection from harm

must debrief

obligation to correct any harmful effects (can withdraw)

approved by the IRB

Statistics

recording the results from our studies

help make data meaningful

descriptive statistics

visual displays of collected research results (data)

frequency distribution, frequency polygons, or histograms, bar graphs, pie charts, etc

frequency distribution table

a list of scores from highest to lowest

shows how often each value occurred

value is listed in the first column, how many individuals with that score are listed in the second column

pie chart

illustrates numerical proportion

bar gram/histogram

putting the info into a bar graph makes that info even more meaningful because we can see how the scores cluster

bar graph shorts categorical data

histogram sorts numerical data

frequency polygon

same purpose as histograms but are especially helpful for comparing sets of data. X axis repsents calues and the Y axis represents frequencies

comparative statistics

percentage: compares to a perfect score of 100

percentile rank: compares to other scores of an imaginery 100 people

measures of central tendency

mean- average

mode-most frequent

median-middle score

extreme scores and outliers affect the mean the most

regression towards the mean

phenomenon where if one sample of a random variable is extreme, the next sampling of the same random variable is likely to be closer to its mean

normal curve/distribution

in a normal distribution, the mean, mode, and median are all the same

distributions

outliers lead to skewed distribution

if a group has one high score, the curve has a positive skew (contains more low scores)

if a group has a low outlier, the curve has a negative skew (contains more high scores)

if the tail is on the left it’s negatively skewed, if on the right then it’s positively skewed

bimodal distribution- a statistical frequency distribution with two distinct peaks, or modes, that represent two different concentrations of values in a dataset. the peaks appear as humps in a distribution graph, seperated by a valley, with each peak representing a local minimum.

other measures of variablility

rangeL distance from highest to lowest socres

standard deviation: the variance of scores around the mean, how spread out the numbers are. the higher the variance the more spread out the distribution . a small one means there’s less variance

normal distribution

68% of the population fall within one standard deviation of the average

95% fall within two SD’s of the average

inferential statistics

the purpose is to discover whether the findings can be applied to the larger population from which the smaple was collected

repsentative samples are better than abused samples

less variable observations are more reliable than those that are more variable

staistical significance

when two distributions show little overlap