Psych exam 1

What is Psychology?

the study of the mind and behavior

What is pseudoscience?

fake psychology

Who is Wilhelm Wundt?

1. father of modern experimental psychology
2. first psychological lab
3. developed the method of introspection

Who is Edward Titchener?

1. structuralism
2. experiences can be broken down into basic elements

Who is William James?

1. functionalism
2. mind is too complex to be broken down
3. stream of consciousness

What is Behaviorism?

focused on observable behavior rather than subjective mental experiences

What is psychoanalysis?

patient and therapist try to bring unconscious thoughts to consciousness

What is the early clinical approach?

held that mental processes operate unconsciously

What is humanistic psychology?

1. emphasizes good in people
2. free will

What is the Cognitive Revolution?

neural mechanisms underly thought, learning, perception, language, and memory

What is a theory?

idea of how phenomenon works

What is a hypothesis?

specific, testable prediction

4 goals of psychology

1. Description
2. Explanation
3. Prediction
4. Control

What is a variable?

anything measured or manipulated in research

What is a measured variable?

values that are recorded

What is a manipulated variable?

values that are controlled

What are the research designs?

1. Descriptive
2. Correlational
3. Experimental

What are the three descriptive research studies?

1. Case studies
2. Observational studies
3. Surveys

What are Case Studies?

the examination of one person who has a unique abnormality, disease, or brain damage

What are Observational Studies?

observing behavior in a natural setting

What are pros of case studies?

provides highly detailed information

What are cons of case studies?

may not be representative

What are pros of observational studies?

high external validity

What are cons of observational studies?

observer bias; reactivity

What is reactivity?

change in behavior when people know they are being observed

What are surveys?

questionnaires and interviews

What are questionaries?

participants provide information about themselves

What are interviews?

researchers question participants

What are structured interviews?

scripted questions and responses

What are unstructured interviews?

creates questions as interview develops

What are pros of surveys?

easy to get a large amount of info from a lot of people

What are cons of surveys?

lying and over-reporting good qualities

What are pros of interviews?

1. useful for young children
2. allows more open-ended responses

What are cons of interviews?

lying and over-reporting good qualities

What is internal validity?

truth in the study

What is external validity?

truth in real life

What is reliability?

degree of accuracy

What is correlational research?

measuring the relationship between 2 or more variable

Positive correlation

when both variables increase or decrease together

Negative correlation

when one variable increases while the other decreases

Zero correlation

no correlation

Correlation coefficient

tells direction and strength of relationship between two variables from -1 to +1

Strong negative number

strong negative correlation

strong positive number

strong positive correlation

zero

no correlation

What are the pros of correlational research?

1. good for research that could not be studied ethically in a controlled experiment
2. help with making predictions

What are the cons of correlational research?

1. directional problem: there is no way to determine which variable is causing the other
2. third-variable problem: when another variable not being measured may be influencing the findings

What is experimental research?

experimental manipulation of variables utilizing randomization and control group

Independent variable

variable being manipulated

Dependent variable

variable being measured

Example of experimental variables: Multiple losses will result in increased risk taking.

Multiple losses: independent variable
Increased risk taking: dependent variable

What is a within-subjects design?

people in these studies serve as both experimental and control group

What is a between subjects design?

Two groups of different participants

What are pros of with-in subject experimental design?

1. less people needed
2. more statistically powerful

What are the cons of a with-in subject experimental design?

1. carry-over effect
2. fatigue

What are the pros of between subject experimental design?

1. less participant fatigue
2. no carry-over effects

What are the cons of between subject experimental design?

1. more people needed
2. selection bias
3. placebo effect

What are the pros of experimental research?

control and causality

What are the cons of experimental research?

generalization and experimental effect

What is quasi experimental research?

like an experiment, but lacks random assignment

What are the pros of quasi experimental?

1. useful when true experimental design is not possible
2. higher external validity than experimental design

What are the cons of quasi experimental?

1. lower internal validity
2. no true manipulation
3. no random assignment

What is IRB?

Institutional Review Board

What does the IRB do?

before study can be put into action, researchers must submit their study idea to an IRB to ensure its ethical

What does the IRB consist of?

administrators, legal advisors, trained scholars, and members of community

What are the three ethical concerns?

1. confidentiality
2. risk of participation
3. informed consent

What is confidentiality?

1. participant info cannot be released
2. using anonymity

What is risk of participation?

1. cannot conclude unreasonable amounts of pain or mental discomfort

What is informed consent?

where participants have the right to know what will happen and how they will be compensated

Animal Research

IACUC

Why is replication important?

1. knowledge of human behavior
2. understanding of what therapy options work

What is the replication crisis?

ongoing crisis in the social and life sciences in which scholars have found that the results of many scientific studies cannot be replicated

What is the Belmont Report?

ethical principles and guidelines for the protection of human subjects of research

What are the three parts of the Belmont Report?

1. Respect for persons
2. Beneficence
3. Justice

What are the two parts of the nervous system?

central nervous system and peripheral nervous system

What does the central nervous system do?

receives, processes, interprets, and stores incoming sensory information

What does the central nervous system consist of?

brain, spinal cord, nerves

What does the peripheral nervous system consist of?

everything else in the nervous system outside of the brain and spinal cord

What does the peripheral nervous system do?

helps carry messages from the CNS to the rest of the body

What are the two parts of the PNS?

somatic and automatic

What does the somatic nervous system do?

allows you to sense the world and move voluntarily

What does the automatic nervous system do?

regulates glands, blood vessels, internal organs

What are the two parts of the ANS?

Sympathetic and parasympatheic

What does the sympathetic nervous system do?

prepares body for fight or flight

What does the parasympathetic nervous system do?

calms the body

What are neurons?

basic unit of the nervous system

What do neurons do?

transmit information to, from, and within the central nervous system

What do the Gila do?

1. support, nurture, and insulate neurons
2. remove debris when neurons die
3. enhance the formation and maintenance of neural connections

Who is behaviorism associated with?

John Watson, B.F Skinner, Ivan Pavlov

Who is early clinical approach associated with?

Sigmund Freud

Who is humanistic psychology associated with?

Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

Who is cognitive revolution associated with?

George Miller

Resting membrane potential

when neuron is not sending signal

How does the resting membrane potential travel?

high concentration to low concentration

What is action potential?

the electrical signal that passes along the axon and causes the release of chemicals from the terminal buttons

Where do neurotransmitters reside?

inside the terminal buttons of each neuron

Where are neurotransmitters released?

into the synapse and bind to specific receptors on the dendrites of the neighboring neuron

What is reuptake?

neurotransmitter is re-absorbed back into the terminals

What is degradation?

enzyme destroys the neurotransmitters before binding

What is autoreception?

signals the presynaptic neuron to stop releasing