MIDTERM PSYCH

Nature/Nurture Issue

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

Charles Darwin

voyager who saw variations of species, explained this diversity was bc of natural selection

Natural Selection

principle that among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will be passed on to later gens

Biopsychosocial Approach

an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social

Behavioral Perspective

how we learn observable responses

Biological Perspective

how the body and brain enable emotions, memories, sensory experiences

Cognitive Perspective

how we encode, process, store, retrieve info

Evolutionary Perspective

how the natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes

Humanistic Perspective

how we meet our needs for love and acceptance and achieve self

Psychodynamic Perspective

how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts

Social/Cultural

how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures

Theory

explains behaviors or events by offering ideas that organize what we have observed

Hypothesis

testable predictions

Operational Definition

describe concepts with precise procedures or measures.

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

Experimental Methods

manipulate variables to discover their effects

Case Study

a descriptive technique used to examine one individual or group in depth in the hope of revealing things true of all of us

Naturalistic Observation

watching and recording the natural behavior of many individuals

Longitudinal Study

research in which the same ppl are restudied and retested over a long period

Cross Sectional Study

a study in which ppl of diff ages are compared with one another

Survey

looks at many cases in less depth

Wording Effects

subtle changes in the order or wording of questions—the way we frame a question, can have major effects

Sampling Bias

we tend to generalize from samples we observe, especially vivid cases

Population

the whole group you want to study and describe

Random Sample

in which every person in the entire group has an equal chance of participating

Correlation Coefficient

a stats measure that helps us figure how closely two things vary tgt

Scatterplot

graphed cluster of dots, represents the values of two variables

Correlation & Causation

correlation does not mean causation (length of marriage correlates w hair loss, but length of marriage does not CAUSE hair loss)

Third Variable Problem

an observed correlation between two variables may be due to correlation btwn each of the variables and a third variable rather than any underlying relationship

Illusory Correlations

the perception of a relationship when none exists

Experiment

enable researchers to isolate the effects of one or more variables by (1) manipulating the variables of interest and (2) holding constant (“controlling”) other variables

Experimental Group

the people who receive the treatment

Control Group

do not receive the treatment

Random Assignment

effectively equalizes the two groups

Double Blind Procedure

neither the participants nor the research assistants who administer the drug and collect the data will know which group is receiving the treatment

Placebo Effect

researchers can check a treatment’s actual effects apart from the participants’ and the staff’s belief in its healing powers

Independent Variable

we can vary it independently of other factors, such as the students’ memories, intelligence, and age

Confounding Variables

other factors (memories, intelligence, and age) can potentially influence the results of the experiment

Dependent Variable

the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable

Validity

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed to

Descriptive Statistics

numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups

Frequency Distribution

taking random data and organizing it

Frequency Polygon

type of line graph that shows frequency distributions

Histogram

a bar graph depicting a frequency distribution

Measures of Central Tendency

a single score that represents a whole set of scores

Mode

the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution

Mean

the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores.

Median

the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it.

Positive Skew

when most of the values are small, but a few large values are increasing the mean

Negative Skew

when most of the values are big, but a few small values are decreasing the mean

Measures of Variation

how similar or diverse the scores are.

Range

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

Standard Deviation

a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score.

Normal Curve

(normal distribution) a symmetrical, bell

Inferential Statistics

numerical data that allow one to generalize—to infer from sample data the probability of something being true of a population

Statistical Significance

the possibility that the difference between groups would occur by chance alone is no more than 5%

Informed Consent

an ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate

Protection from Harm

protect the participants from physical or emotional harm and discomfort

Confidentiality

keep information about individual participants private

Debriefing

the post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants

Institutional Review Board

(IRB) an ethics committee that screens research proposals and safeguards participants’ wellbeing.

Learning

the process of acquiring new and relatively enduring information or behaviors

Associative Learning

learning that certain events occur tgt

Classical Conditioning

A type of learning where a stimulus gains the power to cause a response

Cognitive Learning

observational learning

Stimulus

any event or situation that evokes a response

Unconditioned Stimulus

stimulus that triggers a response reflexively

Unconditioned Response

Automatic response to the UCS

Conditioned Stimulus

Previously neutral stimulus that, through learning, gains the power to cause a response

Conditioned Response

response to the CS, it is the same as the UCR

Neutral Stimulus

a stimulus that elicits no response before conditioning

Acquisition

process of developing a learned response, Neutral Stimulus becomes Conditioned Stimulus

Extinction

the CS loses its power to trigger a CR

Spontaneous Recovery

Return of an extinguished classically conditioned response after a rest period, recovered response is weaker

Higher Order Conditioning

aka second order conditioning, The CS becomes a UCS for another NS, weaker response

Ivan Pavlov

Russian physiologist → psychologist, was studying digestion

Generalization

An organism produces the same response to two similar stimuli

Discrimination

An organism produces different responses to two stimuli

John Watson

Founder of behaviorism, behavior based on stimulus in environment, not thoughts in mind

Behaviorism

behaviors are learned through interaction with the environment

Little Albert

fear generalized to other white animals

Operant Conditioning

The frequency of a behavior depends on the consequence that follows that behavior

The Law of Effect

Behaviors with favorable consequences will occur more frequently, behaviors followed by less favorable consequences will occur less frequently

Edward Thorndike

came up with Law of Effect

BF Skinner

he developed the theory of operant conditioning

Operant Chamber

a chamber also known as a Skinner box, containing a bar or key that an animal can manipulate to obtain a food or water

Discriminative Stimulus

a type of stimulus that is used consistently to gain a specific response and that increases the possibility that the desired response will occur.

Reinforcement

Any consequence that increases the future likelihood of a behavior

Punishment

Any consequence that decreases the future likelihood of a behavior

Positive Reinforcement

Behavior is followed by a desirable event or state

Negative Reinforcement

Behavior ends an undesirable event or state

Positive Punishment

Behavior is followed by an undesirable event

Negative Punishment

Behavior ends a desirable event or state

Immediate Reinforcement

Immediate is more effective than delayed (drugs, food)

Delayed Reinforcement

being able to be more patience when receiving things.

Primary Reinforcement

Something naturally rewarding (food, warmth, water)

Secondary Reinforcement

Something you have learned is rewarding because it has been paired with primary reinforcement

Shaping

A way to establish new behaviors, reinforce behaviors that are increasingly similar to the one you want to occur