AP Psychology First Topic

Psychology

the science of behavior and mental processes.

Monism

seeing mind and body as different aspects of the same thing.

Dualism

seeing mind and body as two different things that interact.

Nature-Nurture Controversy

the extent to which behavior results from heredity or Experience.

Plato and Descartes believed

that behavior is inborn (nature).

Aristotle

Locke

School of Structuralism

early psychological perspective that emphasized units of consciousness and identification of elements of thought using introspection.

Wilhelm Wundt

founder of scientific psychology in Leipzig

G. Stanley Hall

brought introspection to his lab at Johns Hopkins University in the United States

Edward Titchener

studied elements of consciousness at his Cornell University lab.

Margaret Floy Washburn

first woman to complete her PhD in psychology.

School of Functionalism

early psychological perspective concerned with how an organism uses its perceptual abilities to adapt to its environment.

William James

wrote Principles of Psychology.

Mary Whiton Calkins

first woman president of the American Psychological Association.

Behavioral approach

psychological perspective concerned with behavioral reactions to stimuli

Ivan Pavlov

known for classical conditioning of dogs.

John Watson

known for experiments in classical aversive conditioning.

B. F. Skinner

known for experiments in operant conditioning.

Psychoanalytic/psychodynamic approach

psychological perspective concerned with how unconscious instincts

Sigmund Freud

"Father of psychoanalysis."

Jung

Adler

Humanistic approach

psychological perspective concerned with individual potential for growth and the role of unique perceptions in growth toward one's potential.

Carl Rogers

Abraham Maslow

Biological approach

psychological perspective concerned with physiological and biochemical factors that determine behavior and mental processes.

Cognitive approach

psychological perspective concerned with how we receive

Jean Piaget

studied cognitive development in children.

Evolutionary approach

psychological perspective concerned with how natural selection favored behaviors that contributed to survival and spread of our ancestors' Genes

Sociocultural approach

psychological perspective concerned with how cultural differences affect behavior.

Biopsychosocial model

overarching psychological perspective that integrates biological processes

Eclectic

use of techniques and ideas from a variety of approaches.

Clinical psychologists

evaluate and treat mental

Counseling psychologists

help people adapt to change or make changes in their Lifestyle.

Developmental psychologists

study psychological development throughout the life Span.

Educational psychologists

focus on how effective teaching and learning take place.

Experimental psychologists

do research to add new knowledge to the field.

Forensic psychologists

apply psychological principles to legal issues.

Health psychologists

concentrate on biological

Industrial/organizational psychologists

aim to improve productivity and the quality of work life by applying psychological principles and methods to the workplace.

Neuropsychologists

explore the relationships between brain/nervous systems and behavior. Neuropsychologists are also called biological psychologists or biopsychologists

Personality psychologists

focus on traits

Psychometricians (also known as psychometric or measurement psychologists)

focus on methods for acquiring and analyzing psychological data.

Social psychologists

focus on how a person's mental life and behavior are shaped by interactions with other people.

Theories

organized sets of concepts that explain phenomena.

Hypothesis

prediction of how two or more factors are likely to be related.

Replication

repetition of the methods used in a previous experiment to see whether the same methods will yield the same results.

Independent variable (IV)

the factor the researcher manipulates in a controlled experiment (the cause).

Dependent variable (DV)

the behavior or mental process that is measured in an experiment or quasi-experiment (the effect).

Population

all the individuals in the group to which the study applies.

Sample

the subgroup of the population that participates in the study.

Random selection

choosing of members of a population so that every individual has an equal chance of being chosen to participate in a study.

Experimental group

the subgroup of the sample that receives the treatment or independent variable.

Control group

the comparison group

Random assignment

division of the sample into groups so that every individual has an equal chance of being put in any group or condition.

Confounding variables

factors that cause differences between the experimental group and the control group other than the independent variable.

Operational definition

a description of the specific procedure used to determine thepresence of a variable.

Experimenter bias

a phenomenon that occurs when a researcher's expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained.

Demand characteristics

clues participants discover about the purpose of the study that suggest how they should respond.

Single-blind procedure

research design in which participants don't know whether they are in the experimental or control group.

Double-blind procedure

research design in which neither the experimenter nor the participants know who is in the experimental group and who is in the control group.

Placebo

a physical or psychological treatment given to the control group that resembles the treatment given to the experimental group

Placebo effect

a response to the belief that the independent variable will have an effect

Reliability

consistency or repeatability of results.

Validity

the extent to which an instrument measures or predicts what it is supposed to measure or predict.

Statistics

a field that involves the analysis of numerical data about representative samples of populations.

Descriptive statistics

numbers that summarize a set of research data obtained from a sample.

Frequency distribution

an orderly arrangement of scores indicating the frequency of each score or group of scores.

Central tendency

average or most typical scores of a set of research data or distribution.

mode

most frequently occurring score in a set of research data ("quick and dirty").

median

the middle score when a set of data is ordered by size.

mean

the arithmetic average of a set of scores.

Variability

the spread or dispersion of a set of research data or distribution.

Range

the difference between the largest score and the smallest score ("quick and dirty").

Standard deviation (SD)

measures the average difference between each score and the mean of the data set.

Normal distribution

bell-shaped curve that represents data about how lots of human characteristics are dispersed in the population.

Percentile score

the percentage of scores at or below a particular score (from 1 to 99).

Correlation coefficient (r)

a statistical measure of the degree of relatedness or association between two sets of data that ranges from −1 to +1.

Inferential statistics

statistics that are used to interpret data and draw conclusions.

Statistical significance (p)

the condition that exists when the probability that the observed findings are due to chance is less than 1 in 20 (p < .05) according to some psychologists

Ethical guidelines

suggested rules for acting responsibly and morally when conducting research or in clinical practice.