psych

chapter 1

chapter 1

who is the father of psychology?

wilhelm wundt

major researchers that shaped the field

william james, sigmund freud, ivan pavlov, john b watson, and bf skinner

maslows hierarchy of needs

bottom to top

freuds actual contributions

taught psychologists how important it is to employ the use of the scientific method and to use more testable hypotheses

area of psychology 1

cognitive psych - give
attention to problem solving, language, and memory

area of psychology 2

developmental psych - studies development across a lifespan; physical aging, cognitive skills, moral reasoning, social behavior

area of psychology 3

personality psych - focuses on patterns of thoughts and behaviors that make people unique; personality traits are quantitatively measured. EX. myers-briggs type indicator; big five-factor model (aka OCEAN)

area of psychology 4

social psych - focuses on how we interact with and relate to others; EX. milgram experiments

area of psychology 5

school psych - concerned with the science and practice of psychology with children, youth, families; learners of all ages; and the schooling process

area of psychology 6

industrial & organizational psych - applies psychological theories, principles, and research findings in business settings

area of psychology 7

health psych - focuses on how health is affected by biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors

area of psychology 8

sports and exercise psych - psychological aspects of sports performance, including motivation and performance anxiety, and the effects of sport on mental and emotional wellbeing

area of psychology 9

clinical and counseling psych - clinical; focuses on diagnosing and treating psychological disorders and other problematic patterns of behavior; counseling; focuses on emotional, social, vocational, and health related outcomes in
individuals who are considered psychologically healthy

constructs

construct is a variable that is not directly observable; EX. weather, job satisfaction

chapter 2

chapter 2

quantitative

means you can quantify or put a “value” on the information; gather data in the form of numbers; EX. surveys

qualitative

is descriptive—you’re describing a situation with words, not numbers gather data in the form of information; EX. interviews

theory

well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed
phenomena

hypothesis

testable prediction about how the world will behave if our idea is correct,
and it is often worded as an if-then statement.

naturalistic observation

observing behavior in its natural setting while blending in to the setting

archival research

relies on looking at past records or data sets to look for interesting patterns or relationships

longitudinal research

data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time

correlation

a statistical relationship between two or more variables

positive correlation

variables move in the same direction; for example, time spent studying and grades; when time spent studying increases, grades also increase

negative correlation

variables move in opposite directions; for example, time spent watching stranger things and grades in an art class; when time spent watching stranger things increases, art class grades decrease

correlation does not equal causation

correlation does not equal causation

conditions to determine causation

1. temporal precedence- one variable happens before another (cause precedes effect)
2. establish a relationship- the two (or more) variables are related (usually correlation) (cause is related to effect)
3. rule out alternatives- you can conclude that there aren’t any other reasons it may seem like the variables are related
4. why- you can logically explain why one variable causes another

experimental group

the group that receives the treatment

control group

the group that doesn’t receive the treatment (but doesn’t
know)

single blind study

participants don’t know if they’re in the control group or the experimental groups but the researchers know

double blind study

neither the participants nor the researchers know who is in the control group or the experimental group

reliablity

refers to the ability to do the same study more than once and arrive at the same (or incredibly similar) findings

validity

the accuracy of a given result in measuring what it is designed to measure

ethics

most important things: don’t make up data; don’t fake results; don’t lie, just don’t; every study that’s published in a peer-reviewed journal has to be
approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) pretty much every college has its own IRB; some IRBs have a reputation for being quite strict but that’s a good thing

chapter 3

chapter 3

peripheral nervous system

made up of thick bundles of axons, called nerves, carrying messages back and forth between the CNS and the muscles, organs, and senses in the periphery of the body (i.e., everything outside the CNS) the PNS has two major subdivisions: the somatic nervous system and the autonomic nervous system

central nervous system

the portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord

lobes of the brain

endocrine system

consists of a series of glands that produce chemical substances known as hormones

chapter 4

chapter 4

internal stimuli

pain, hunger, thirst, sleepiness, and being aware of our thoughts and emotions

external stimuli

includes seeing the light from the sun, feeling the warmth of a room, and hearing the voice of a friend

melatonin

the hormone that makes us (as humans) feel sleepy

sleep debt

people with less sleep than they’re supposed to get will accrue sleep
debt; result of insufficient sleep on a chronic basis

REM

rapid eye movement - darting movements of the eyes under closed eyelids

stages of sleep

1. phase between wakefulness and sleep: when we drift off to sleep
2. the body goes into deep relaxation
3. deep sleep
4. deep sleep
5. REM sleep

lucid dreams

dreams in which certain aspects of wakefulness are maintained during a dream state

sleep disorders

insomnia - a consistent difficulty in falling or staying asleep
narcolepsy - sleep disorder in which the sufferer cannot resist falling
to sleep at inappropriate times

substance use disorders

often uses more of the substance than they originally intended to and they continue to use that substance despite experiencing significant adverse
consequences, evident by aspects of physical and psychological dependence

chapter 5

chapter 5

senses we experience

hearing, seeing, smelling, tasting, and touch/feeling, balance, pain, temperature

subliminal messages

are messages we receive but aren’t consciously aware that they’re being delivered

just noticeable difference threshold (JND)

difference in stimuli required to detect a difference between
the stimuli

pain perception

inflammatory pain - signal that some type of tissue damage has occurred
neuropathic pain - pain from damage to neurons of either the peripheral or central nervous system
congenital insensitivity to pain - a rare genetic disorder where a person is born without the ability to feel pain

gestalt principles

field of psychology based on the idea that the whole is different from the sum of its parts

similarity

proximity

continuity

closure