Psych Test One (Chapters 1-4)

What is Psychology?

The scientific study of behavior and experience

Determinism vs Free Will

Everything we do has a cause that can be measured, so if everything has a cause, do we have free will?

Dualism

Mind is separate from the brain but somehow controls the brain and body

Monism

Conscious experience is inseparable from the brain

Evidence for Monism?

Every mental activity is associated with some type of measurable brain activity. Brain damage leads to deficits in behavior.

Nature vs Nurture

Do genetics or experience cause behaviors?

What is the difference between a clinical psychologist and psychiatrist?

A psychiatrist has an MD

Who is the father of scientific psychology?

Wilhelm Wundt

What is Edward Titchener associated with?

Structuralism

What is Structuralism?

An attempt to describe the structures that compose the mind

Who is the father of American psychology?

William James

What is functionalism?

Learn how people produce useful behaviors

Psychophysical Function

Mathematical description of the relationship between physical stimulus and its perceived properties

Who prompted interest in the study of animal behavior?

Charles Darwin

Why was clinical psychology popularized?

WWII

What are psychologists that study animal behavior called?

Comparative Psychologists

Hypothesis

A clear predictive statement

What are the steps to research?

Hypothesis, Method, and Interpretation

Replicable Results

Results than anyone can obtain, at least approximately, by following the same procedures.

Meta-Analysis

Procedure that combines the results of many studies as if they were one big study

Theory

Explanation or model that fits many observations and makes accurate predictions

What makes a well formed theory?

A well formed theory is falsifiable

Falsifiable

Stated in such clear terms that we can see what evidence would count against it

Burden of Proof

A researcher’s obligation to present evidence that supports their claim

Parsimony

Principle that we try to explain something in the simplest way possible, avoiding new assumptions

What are the 2 categories of research?

Basic and Applied

Basic Research

Seeks theoretical knowledge (understanding how memory works)

Applied Research

Investigation that seeks solutions to practical problems (improve study habits)

Operational Definition

Definition that specifies the operations used to produce or measure something, using a numerical value (ex: Anger = frowns per minute)

Convenience Sample

Group Chosen because of its ease of study

Representative Sample

A group that resembles the population

Random Sample

Procedure in which every individual in the population has an equal chance of being selected

What is the best type of sample?

Random Sample

Cross Cultural Sample

Uses individuals from different cultures

In Cross Cultural samples, what are people in the U.S considered?

Western, Educated, Industrial, and Democratic (W.E.I.R.D)

Naturalistic Observation

Careful examination of what happens under more or less natural conditions

What is an example of Naturalistic Observation?

Jane Goodall and the Chimps

Case History

thorough description of someone’s abilities, disabilities, medical conditions, life history, and unusual experiences

What are the two groups in an experiment?

Experimental and Control groups

Experimental Group

Receives treatment that experiment is designed to test

Control Group

Treated the same as the experimental group except for the procedure the experiment is testing

Double Blind

Both observers and participants are unaware of which participants received each treatment

Single Blind

Either the observer or the participants are unaware of which participants received which treatment

Demand Characteristics

Cues that tell participants what is expected of them/what the experimenter hopes to find

Descriptive Statistics

mathematical summaries of results

Mean

Sum of scores divided by the number of scores

Normal Curve

Symmetrical frequency of scores clustered around the mean

Median

The middle score if you were to arrange the scores in nummerical orders

Mode

Score that occurs most frequently

Inferential Statistics

Statements about a larger population based on an inference from a smaller sample

What does it mean if the value of p is less than 0.05?

It means the results are statistically significant/reliable

What is HARKing?

Hypothesizing After the Results are Known

What is p-hacking?

Analyzing the data one way after another to find a way that is statistically significant

What is the Institutional Review Board?

A group that reviews the ethics of an experimental procedure before it begins

Informed Consent

Statement by a participant that he or she had been told what to expect and now agrees to continue with the experiment

When can you say an Independent Variable caused something?

If a control group was involved in the experiment

What should you consider when going over experiment result?

Your limitations (age, ethnicity, gender, and sample size)

What does it mean if a correlation coefficient is close to 1 (regardless of - or + value)

There is a HIGH correlation (A value of 1 is a perfect correlation)

What kind of correlation is it if both variables go up?

Positive

What kind of correlation is it if one variable goes up, while the other goes down?

Negative