psychology exam 1

Empirical approach

an evidence-based method that draws on observation and experimentation

scientific attitude

with careful testing, will help us determine which ideas fit the fact

critical thinking

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions, looks for hidden bias and evaluates evidence

Aristotle in psychology

first “psychologist” who theorized about personality, memory, and emotion

Wilhelm Wundt

psychology’s first graduate student who studied the “atoms of the mind” and used the scientific method

What makes psychology considered a science?

1. carefully measured observations
2. separate from philosophy

structuralism

developed by Edward Titchener, it used introspection to explore the structural elements of the mind, UNRELIABLE & didn’t last long

functionalism

developed by William James, it focused on the function of human thoughts, feelings and behaviors and connected them to how they contribute to our ancestors’ survival

types of psychological sciences (developed chronologically)

behaviorism; psychoanalysis; humanistic psyc; cognitive psyc

behaviorism

a type of psychological science that dismissed introspection, and focused only on what we can see and measure, NO thoughts/feelings

psychoanalysis

a type of psychological science that was founded by Sigmund Freud and focused on the role of unconscious drives, wishes and needs and the importance of childhood experiences, NONE based off of research

humanistic psychology

a type of psychological science founded by Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers that focused on our need for love and acceptance and our potential for growth, POSITIVE MINDSET

cognitive psychology

a type of psychological science that studies how we perceive, process and remember information, combines brain activity underlying mental activity

Psychology

the science of behavior and mental processes

Nature-Nurture question

Why are you the way you are?

nature

genes, traits already set

nurture

everything non-genetic, traits developed in response to our environment/experience

evolutionary psychology

study of how we’re all alike because we’re all homosapiens

behavior genetics

study of differences that are shaped by our environment

cross-cultural psychology

comparing different findings across the world

EX: in another country teenagers do not go through an angry phase like in western culture

gender psychology

Where do you learn your gender identity?

positive psychology

study of what leads to health, success and happiness

“Biopsychosocial” deep level of analysis

Biology: genes, brain, neuro-transmitters, survival, reflexes & sensation

“Biopsychosocial” middle level of analysis

Psychology: thoughts, emotions, mood, choices, behaviors, traits, motivations, knowledge and perception

“Biopsychosocial” outer level of analysis

Environment: social influences, culture, education, relationships

Intuition and common sense reliable?

humans cannot rely solely on this as the brain is not the best tool for seeing “reality” clearly

When does our natural thinking fail?

1. hindsight bias
2. mistakenly perceiving order in random events
3. over confidence

Hindsight bias

believing that you could have predicted something that has happened

Mistakenly perceiving order in random events

thinking you can make a prediction from a random series (humans want to find order)

over confidence

in performance, our rate of work and our skills and very certain of our accuracy

“post-truth” world

people rely on emotions and personal belief over had evidence based facts

scientific method

1. theories lead to…
2. hypothesis lead to…
3. research and observations get revised and rewritten

CYCLE!

theory

the big picture: a set of principles that explains some phenomenon and predicts its future behavior

hypotheses

informed predictions: a testable prediction consistent with our theory

operational definition

a precise statement of the exact procedures used in a research study, observable terms (numbers) & objective

replication

trying it again using the same operational definitions of the concepts and procedures

research goals/types

descriptive research, correlational research, experimentation

descriptive research define

systematic objective observation of people

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descriptive research goal

to provide a clear, accurate picture of people’s behaviors, thoughts, and attributes; NO explanation for why something happens

methods of conducting descriptive research

case study, naturalistic observation, survey

case study

a type of descriptive research that examines one individual or group in depth (DANGER: may not be representative of entire population)

naturalistic observation

a type of descriptive research that observes “natural” behavior meaning just watching and not trying to change anything

survey

a type of descriptive research that gathers information through self-report, LESS DEPTH

why take a sample?

random sampling is a technique for making sure that every individual in a population has an equal chance of being in your sample, driven only by chance

correlational research

the extent to which two variables change/vary together, and thus how well either factor predicts the other

positive correlation

change together in the same direction

negative correlation

change together in opposite directions

correlation equation

r= +/- NUMBER, r is correlation coefficient, +/- indicates if the relationship is positive or negative, NUMBER indicates, strength of relationship (closer to 1.00 or -1.00 is strongest)

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experimentation

only one that can determine cause, manipulating one factor to determine its effect one some behavior or mental process, while other factors are kept under control

experimental group

receives treatment (manipulated)

control group

does not receive treatment (comparison group)

random assignment

of participants to control or experimental groups is how you control all variables except the one you’re manipulating

placebo effect

experimental effects that are caused by expectations about the intervention

placebo

an inactive substance or other fake treatment

\*the control group is ideally “blind”

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double-blind study

the research assistants and the participants are unaware of who is receiving the placebo

independent variable

variable manipulated by the experimenter

dependent variable

the outcome factor (the effect)

confounding variables

other variables that might have effect on the dependent variable

purpose of value in statistics

to present a more accurate picture of our data then we would see otherwise (ex: scatterplot); to help us reach valid conclusions from our data

mode

most common level/number/score

mean

average, sum of scores divided by # of scores

median

exact middle score

what are the measures of central tendency?

1. mode
2. mean
3. median

what are the measures of variation?

1. range
2. standard deviation

range

difference between highest and lowest scores

standard deviation

a measure of how scores vary around the mean score

normal curve

a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data

questions to ask when drawing conclusions?

1. Is the difference reliable?
2. Is the difference significant?

neurons

atoms of the mind

dendrites

part of neuron that receives messages from other cells

axon

part of neuron that passes messages out

neural impulse

action potential

myelin sheath

part of neuron that covers axon and helps speed neural impulses

terminal branches of axon

part of neuron where message goes out

glial cells

support, nourish, & protect neurons and assist neural transmission

action potential

a neural impulse that travels down an axon like a wave, inflow of positive ions when a neuron fires

axon’s resting potential

the positive-outside/negative-inside state

excitatory neurons

most neurons which give the message “Fire!”

inhibitory neurons

some neurons which give the message “Don’t Fire!”

threshold

reached when excitatory signals outweigh inhibitory, which triggers an action potential

all-or-none response

applies to neurons and means they either fire or don’t, there’s no inbetween

chemical messengers

used to jump across the space between neurons because they are very close but not touching

the synapse: neurotransmitters

chemicals used to send a signal across the synaptic gap, electro-chemical communication system

receptor sites in neurons are what?

specific to a certain kind of neurotransmitters, the neurotransmitter molecule has a molecular structure that precisely fits the receptor site on the receiving neuron

reuptake

the excess neurotransmitters are reabsorbed by the sending neuron

agonist and antagonist molecules

not made naturally by the body

agonist molecules

molecule fills the neuron receptor site and activates it thus increasing the neurotransmitter’s action

EX: morphine mimics the action of endorphins (dull pain)

antagonist molecules

molecules fill the lock so that the neurotransmitter cannot get in, thus decreasing the neurotransmitter’s action

EX: antihistamine inhibits the action of histamine (inflammation)

central nervous system

brain and spinal cord

peripheral nervous system

the rest of the nervous system, gathers and send info to rest of body

sensory neurons

carry messages IN from the body’s tissues and sensory receptors to the CNS for processing

motor neurons

carry instructions OUT from the CNS to the body’s tissues

interneurons

CNS process info between the sensory input and motor output

parts of peripheral nervous system

autonomic & somatic

parts of nervous system

peripheral & central

autonomic

part of peripheral nervous system that controls self-regulated action of internal organs & glands

somatic

part of peripheral nervous system that regulates voluntary movements of skeletal muscles

parts of autonomic system

sympathetic & parasympathetic

sympathetic

part of the autonomic system that arouses (fight or flight)

parasympathetic

part of the autonomic system that calms (rest and digest)