UNIT 1

Plato

studied under Socrates - believed mind and body were separate and you were born with knowledge

Aristotle

studied under Plato - believed knowledge is gained through experience

Rene Descartes

dualism: agreed with Socrates and Plato that mind and body are completely independent, but believed they could influence each other through 'animal spirits'
paved the way for more advanced psychology in the future

Francis Bacon

one of the founders of modern science, discovered scientific method - believed in experiments and then judgment - logical reasoning

John Locke

believed we are born into the world as a blank slate, on which experience imprints knowledge

Empiricism

what we know comes from experience, and observation and experimentation enable scientific knowledge

Wilhelm Wundt

laid foundation for structuralism
founded first scientific laboratory for study of psychology
wanted to measure the most basic, simple, and fastest mental processes - perceiving sound

Structuralism

using introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind

Edward Tichener

student of Wundt
further promoted and popularized structuralism (often gets more credit than Wundt)
trained people to engage in self-reflective introspection to report elements of their experience based on their senses

Introspection

looking inward towards ourselves

William James

one of the most well-known promoters of functionalism
considered as American co-founder of psychology
- wanted to study the evolved functions of thoughts/feelings
- believed that thoughts developed because they were adaptive, contributing to our ancestors' survival

Functionalism

study of down-to-earth emotions, memories, willpower, habits, and moment-to-moment streams of consciousness (past, present, future) to help an organism thrive
- how mental and behavioral processes function and enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish
- inspired by Darwin - believed that all organisms adapted to their environments in order to survive

Mary Whiton Calkins

William James' best Harvard student
tutored alone because all men dropped out
was refuse PhD because she was a woman
first female president of APA in 1905

Margaret Floy Washburn

psychology's first female psychology PhD
emphasized use of evidence in psychological research
banned from joining organization of experimental psychologists due to gender
second female APA president in 1921

Experimental psychology

exploration of behavior and thoughts through experiments and analyzing evidence

Sigmund Freud

known for inventing psychoanalytic technique

Freudian psychology

emphasized the way that our unconscious thought processes and emotional responses to childhood experiences affect our behavior

John Watson

dismissed introspection and redefined psychology as "the study of observable behavior"

Behaviorism

the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

focused on how current environmental influences can nurture/limit our growth potential, and on how important it was to have our needs for love and acceptance satisfied
- found Freudian psychology and behaviorism too limiting
- Maslow: "hierarchy of needs" (physiology -> safety -> love/belonging -> esteem -> self-actualizing)
- Roger: client-centered therapyhumanistic psychology

Humanistic psychology

historically significant perspective that focused on the growth potential of healthy people and that our environment influences can make a difference in our growth
- emphasized the large capacity for personal growth and self-fulfillment

cognitive revolution

1960s
behaviorism and freudian psychology were rejected by many for being too limiting
how we perceive, process, and remember information -> led back to early interest in mental processes

cognitive neuroscience

an interdisciplinary study that has enriched our understanding of the brain activity underlying mental activity
- provided new ways to understand and treat disorders such as depression
traced back to 1920s and Gestalt psychology (mind is so complex that it developed rules on how we organize what we sense and what we perceive)

Psychology

the science of behavior and mental processes

G. Stanley Hall

earned first doctorate in psychology in America at Harvard
- established "recapitulation theory" saying that during development/adolescence, humans display and repeat behaviors of evolutionary ancestors

Psychoanalytic approach

emphasized the influence of unconscious motivations and memories, early childhood experiences, and talk therapy

nature-nurture

longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors

nature

our genetics determine our behavior, and our personality traits and abilities are in "our nature"

nurture

our environment, upbringing, and life experiences determine our behavior, and we are "nurtured" to behave certain ways

natural selection

evolutionary process in which among chance variations, nature selects traits that best enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a certain environment

approaches in psychology

ways of explaining/looking at behavior through different lenses

biopsychosocial approach

drawing from multiple approaches to understand thought and behavior
offers a more complete picture of any given behavior or mental process
- biological: natural selection
- social-cultural: presence of others
- psychological: learned fears, expectations, emotional responses, cognitive processing, etc

behavioral approach

how we learn observable responses
ex. which external stimuli trigger angry responses or aggressive acts

biological approach

how body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences
how genes combine with environment to influence individual differences
ex. how brain circuits cause us to be "red to the face" when angry

cognitive approach

how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information
ex. how our interpretation of a situation affects our anger and how our anger affects our thinking

evolutionary approach

how the natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes
ex. analyzing how anger facilitated the survival of our ancestors' genes

humanistic approach

how we meet our needs for love and acceptance and achieve self-fulfillment
incorporated in modern-day positive psychology with emphasis on human flourishing
ex. understanding how angry feelings affect a person's potential for growth

psychodynamic approach

how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts
ex. viewing an outburst as an outlet for unconscious hostility

social-cultural approach

study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking
ex. exploring how expressions of anger vary across cultural contexts

psychometrics

scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits

basic research

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

subfields/domains

ways of practicing/doing psychology

developmental psychology/domain

studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan
studies our changing abilities from womb to tomb

educational psychology/domain

how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning
studies influences on teaching and learning

personality psychology/domain

study of an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting
investigates our persistent traits

social psychology/domain

how we think about, influence, and relate to one another
explores how we view and affect one another

industrial-organizational psychology/domain

application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces
helps train employees, boost morale and productivity, design products

human factors psychology/domain

an i/o psychology subfield
explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use

counseling psychology/domain

assists people with problems in living (life, marriage, work, etc.) and in achieving greater well being
helps people to cope with challenges and crises
helps people improve their personal and social functioning

clinical psychology/domain

studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological diseases

positive psychology/domain

study of human functioning, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths/virtues that help individuals thrive
explores positive emotions, character traits, how psychology can contribute to having a good life, and enables institutions

community psychology/domain

studies how people interact and their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups
work to create social and physical environments that are healthy for all

hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it (I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon)

overconfidence

when we humans tend to think we know more than we do

perceiving order in random events

in our natural eagerness to make sense of our world, we are prone to perceive patterns

curiosity

a passion to explore and understand without misleading or being mislead

skepticism

doubt

humility

an awareness of our own vulnerability to error and an openness to surprises and new perspectives

people still trust intuition over data/evidence because...

it may be easier, how we feel, or because we overestimate our own abilities and confidence in being right

intuition can lead to overconfidence

!!

confirmation bias

the tendency to seek and accept evidence that confirms our beliefs, and reject and/or ignore evidence that contradicts those beliefs

modern science and forming science-based answers would not be possible if it weren't for...

curiosity, skepticism, and humility

theory

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

pothesishy

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

operational definition

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations) used in a research study

replication

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances

descriptive methods

describe behaviors, often by using case studies, surveys, or naturalistic observations

correlational methods

associate different factors, or variables (anything that contributes to a result)

experimental methods

manipulate variables to discover their effects

case study

a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing principles

observational studies

lab setting
naturalistic observation (field study)

benefits and drawbacks of a lab setting

benefits: situation can be controlled by the observer

drawbacks: the settings can be unnatural and the subjects might be aware that they are being studied

Hawthorne effect/participant bias:

individual behaviors may be altered aka the way they respond because subjects know they are being studied (can be positive or negative)

naturalistic observation

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

advantages and disadvantages of naturalistic behavior

advantages: describes behavior, paved the way for later studies of animal thinking, language, and emotion, and further extended our understanding of animals

disadvantages: does not explain behavior, does not control all variables that may influence behavior

survey/questionnaire

a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group

advantages and disadvantages of a survey

advantages: quick, efficient way of collecting information on large groups of people; easy to compare across varying ethnic, age, socioeconomic, and cultural groups

disadvantages: if voluntary, then responses might not represent general population; poorly constructed surveys can be biased, misleading, and inaccurate; subjects' motivation and honesty can alter results

wording on surveys

can have major effects on the results of a survey and how the question is framed determines how people answer it

sampling bias

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

population

all those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn

random sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

scientific method

make observations and ask a question
conduct background research
form your hypothesis
test hypothesis by doing an experiment
analyze your data and draw a conclusion
report on your findings

critical thinking

curiosity, skepticism, humility

confounding variables

a third variable that affects the dependent and independent variable (extra that you didn't account for)

independent variable

the treatment, or something that the researcher controls/manipulates ('cause' or variable that we change)

dependent variable

one or more of the subject's behaviors that are used to measure the potential effects of the 'treatment' ('effect' or variable that changes as a result of the IV)

descriptive studies

goal of these studies is to get a picture of the current thoughts, feelings, or behaviors in a given group of people

how can we tell when a study/experiment is valid and its outcomes can be trusted?

scientific method
testable hypothesis
operations definitions that allow for replication

correlation

a measure of the extend to which two variables change together, and thus of how well either variable predicts the other

advantages and disadvantages of correlations

advantages: suggest ideas about possible causes and inspire future research and experimentation
disadvantages: can be misleading for members of the population who don't understand the function of correlational studies, thinking correlation = causation spreads misinformation

correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between two variables
from 1-10
helps figure out how closely two things vary together

scatterplot

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables

amount of scatter in scatterplot

suggests the strength of the correlation (little scatter = high correlation)

negative (inverse) correlation

two sets of scores relate inversely - one set goes up as the other goes down

positive (direct) correlation

two sets of scores tend to rise or fall together

zero correlation

two factors are not related at all

statistical illumination

the need for statistics in order to see what is right in front of us

illusory correlation

the perception of a relationship where none exists

spurious correlation

when there is a correlation, but the correlation does not appear to be causally related
two variables falsely appear to be related, sometimes due to an unseen, third factor

experiment

a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process