Psychology midterm

critical thinking

critical thinking

examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions

Aristotle

knowledge comes from observation, it is not innate

Descartes

mind distinct from the body, dualism

Francis Bacon

experiment, experience, empiricism

John Locke

mind at birth is a tabula rasa (blank slate) on which experience writes

Empiricism

the idea that knowledge comes from experience, and that observation and experimentation enable scientific knowledge

Wilhelm Wundt

established the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany

structuralism

Wundt and Titchener’s thought that used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind

introspection

process of looking inward in an attempt to directly observe one’s own psychological processes

Titchener

introduced structuralism to study elements of the mind, used introspection

Darwin

natural selection of mental and physical traits, adaptive evolution, influenced William James

William James

wrote Principles of Psychology, believed thinking was adaptive and helped in survival

consciousness

helps to consider past, adjust to present, and plan future

functionalism

explored how mental and behavioral processes function, how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish

behaviorism

study of observable behavior

behaviorism view

view that psychology should be objective and study behavior without references to mental processes

B.F. Skinner

leading behaviorist, rejected introspection and studied how consequences shaped behavior

Freudian psychology

emphasized the ways our unconscious mind and childhood experiences affect our behavior and mental processes

Sigmund Freud

personality theorist and therapist who focused on unconscious sexual conflicts and the mind’s defenses (psychoanalysis)

humanistic

emphasized human growth potential, believed that people were essentially good and unique, often considered a third force in psychology and rejected both behaviorism and psychoanalytic psychology

Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow

led the humanistic psychology study

cognitive psychology

study of mental processes, such as when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and solve problems

psychology

science of behavior and mental processes of humans and other animals

cognitive neuroscience

interdisciplinary study of brain activity linked with cognition (perception, thinking, memory, language)

nature vs. nurture

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

nature

innate or inborn

nurture

experience or environment

natural selection

the principle that inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations

evolutionary psychology

the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection

behavior genetics

the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior, twin studies provide evidence for the relative influence of nature and nurture

culture

enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

gender

socially constructed roles and characteristics by which a culture defines male and female

positive psychology

the scientific study of human flourishing with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive

biopsychosocial approach

an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological and social cultural viewpoints

cognitive approach

interpretations of situations and mental processes and how they impact behavior

evolutionary perspective

natural selection of traits

humanistic

personal growth and self-actualization

behavioral psychology

the scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning

biological psychology

the scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes

psychodynamic

branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders

social-cultural psychology

the study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking

psychometrics

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

basic research

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

applied research

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems, real world application

developmental psychology

studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the lifespan

educational psychology

study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning

personality psychology

study of individuals characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting

social psychology

scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

industrial-organizational psychology

the application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces

human factors psychology

a field of psychology allied with I/O psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use

counseling psychologists

assists people with problems in living and in achieving greater well-being

clinical psychology

branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders (phd or psyd)

psychiatry

medicine dealing with psychological disorders practiced by physicians who are licensed to provide medical as well as psychological therapy (md)

community psychologists

studies how people react to their environment and how social institutions affect individuals and groups

cognitive psychologists

study human thinking and may work in academia or corporate

developmental psychologists

study our behavior changes as we age

educational psychologists

research issues related to teaching or learning

experimental psychologists

experiments to understand behaviors and mental processes

psychometric/quantitative psychologists

use math/stats to create, administer, score and interpret tests….intelligence and/or personality

social psychologists

study interactions with others and how groups impact us individually

forensic psychologists

apply psychological principles to legal issues

rehabilitation psychologists

help individuals who have lost function after an accident/illness

school psychologists

assessment and intervention for children in educational settings

sport psychologists

help to improve performance

counseling psychologists

guide people toward healthier relationships, overcome anxiety and depression, cope with difficulties

clinical psychologists

assess and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, administer and interpret psychological testing, therapy and counseling, may conduct research

community psychologists

work together with larger groups and communities and focusing on crisis management

hindsight bias

tendency to believe that we would have foreseen an outcome after learning what it was

overconfidence

the tendency to think more than we do

perceive order in random events

In trying to make sense of an unpredictable world, we are prone to perceive patterns; in other words, we ______________________

hindsight bias, overconfidence, eagerness

___________, ___________, and our _________ to perceive patterns in random events, lead us to overestimate the weight of common sense thinking

scientific inquiry

_________ can help us overcome such biases and shortcomings

scientific method

a self-correcting process using observation and analysis to evaluate

theory

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organize observations and predicts behaviors or events using observations to explain behavior

hypothesis

a testable prediction often implied by a theory, predictions about a behavior that can be tested

support our theory or lead us to revise or reject

Research will either ___________________

operational definition

a carefully worded statement of exact procedures used in research study

replication

repeat the experiment precisely, confirmation

case study

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

examination of rare, large qualitative data, directions for further study

strength of case study

can be misleading, isn’t generalizable, cause and effect can’t be determined

limitation of case study

naturalistic observation

a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without control or manipulation

subjects behave normally outside of a lab setting, data collection is unobtrusive

strengths of naturalistic observation

independent variable can’t be isolated, cause and effect can’t be determined, observations are subjective

limitations of naturalistic observation

surveys

descriptive technique for obtaining self reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of group

able to take a quick pulse of people’s beliefs/behaviors/opinions, able to include many cases

strength of survey

response bias, wording effects skew outcomes, acquiring a random sample is hard, cause and effect can’t be determined

limitation of survey

representative sample

has the same distribution of population demographic qualities in it as the population as a whole

random sample

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

CED

applying basic descriptive statistical concepts, including interpreting and constructing graphs and calculating simple descriptive statistics

illusory correlation

perceiving a relationship where none exists or perceiving a stronger than actual relationship

regression to the mean

the tendency for extreme scores or events to fall back toward the mean

random assignment

assigning the participants to the experimental or control group by chance, equalizes experiment groups

confounding variable

a factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study’s results

descriptive

observe and record behavior, uses case studies, naturalistic observation, or surveys

correlational

to detect naturally occurring relationship; to assess how well one variable predicts another, collects data on two or more variables; no manipulation- cannot specify cause and effect

experimental

to explore cause and effect- manipulates one or more factors, uses random assignment, manipulates the independent variable, sometimes not feasible, results may not generalize to other contexts, not ethical to manipulate certain variables

neuron

nerve cell that is the basic building block of the nervous system

cell body

cell’s life support center (soma), contains the nucleus

dendrites

receives messages from other cells, bushy, branching extensions that receive and integrate messages, conducting impulses toward the cell body