Unit 0 - Foundations Of Psychology

Psychology

Psychology is a scientific study of human and animal behavior and mental processes.

Behaviors

-Body Language

-Facial Expressions

-Tone

Mental Processes

-Thinking

-Problem Solving

-Decision Making

Describe

Describe particular behaviors by careful observation.

Describe Key Words

-Observe

-Document

-Gather Data

-Categorize

Explain

Explain behaviors by conducting experiments.

Explain Key Words

-Understand

-Cause And Effect

Predict

Predict when a behavior that is being studied will happen in the future.

Predict Key Words

-Relationship

-Correlate

-Anticipate

-Forecast

Control Or Change

Modify inappropriate behavior.

Control Or Change Key Words

-Change

-Control

-Adjust

-Implement

-Introduce

Ethical Practices

Legal protection for participants in research studies.

Human Research Guidelines

-Informed Consent

-Deception

-Coercion

-Debriefing

-Protection From Harm

-Anonymity

Psychologist

Conduct research and provide professional services.

Most Popular Psychology Careers

-Clinical Psychology

-Counseling Psychology

Psychiatrist

Conduct research and provide professional services, with a medical degree.

Basic Research

Research done to increase our scientific knowledge.

Basic Research Psychologists

-Research Psychologist

-Developmental Psychologist

-Neuropsychologist

-Cognitive Psychologist

Applied Research

Research intended to solve practice problems.

Applied Research Psychologists

-Forensic Psychologist

-School Psychologist

-Health Psychologist

-Consumer Psychologist

Pseudoscience

Collection of beliefs or practices mistakenly regarded as being based on scientific method.

Examples Of Pseudoscience

-Psychic

-Tv Mentalist

-Extrasensory Perception

-Phrenology

-Astrology

Scientific Method Steps

1. Ask A Question

2. Do Background Research

3. Construct A Hypothesis

4. Select A Research Method

5. Participant Selection

6. Make Sure Procedure Working

7. Analyze Data And Draw Conclusions

8. Report Findings

Operation Definition

A carefully worded statement of how variables are measured. Must be a number that researcher can record.

Experimental Research Methods

1. Independent Variable Controlled By Researcher.

2. Randomly Assigning Participants Into Groups.

Independent Variable

What is being controlled.

Dependent Variable

What is being measured.

Confounding Variable

Variable that might affect results of the study.

Experimental Group

Receive the independent variable or treatment.

Control Group

Does not receive the independent variable and used to compare.

Random Assignment

Divide participants within the study. Everyone has an equal chance of inclusion.

Random Sampling

Chooses people for the study.

Case Study

A research study focusing on one person or just a few individuals with a rare condition.

Naturalistic Observation

Observing behavior in its natural setting, no experimenter influence.

Meta-Analysis

Combining results from lots of research studies on the same topic to find patterns or trends.

Correlation

Studies the relationship between two or more variable such as one variable changes, so does the other.

Positive Correlation

Variables move together.

No Correlation

Variables are not related.

Negative Correlation

Variables move in opposite.

Correlation Coefficient

A number from -1 to +1 that indicates the strength and direction of the relationship between variables.