History and Models of Psychology
Terms
Empiricism: theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience, John Locke
Behaviorism: theory that human behavior can be explained by conditioning, not thought/feeling
Humanism: focus on the individual and the idea that humans can fulfill their potential
Psychoanalytic theory: the role of the unconscious mind, the id ego and superego, freud
Social psychology: study of how behavior is influenced by presence/behavior of others
Psychometrics: study of the theory and technique of measurement, testing, assessment
The unconscious: The part of our mind that is uncontrollable, things happening without our conscious awareness in the brain
Natural selection: the process by which organisms adapt to their environment to survive
Cognitive psychology: the study of thinking and perception, inner mental processes
Biological psychology: the study of the role of our genetics in shaping who we are
Evolutionary psychology: the study of evolution as shaping human behavior
Biopsychosocial psychology: the study of how we are shaped by nature and nurture
Applied psychology: direct face to face care to patients in mental health settings
Research psychology: studies human behavior through experiments
Clinical psychology: treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders
Counseling psychology: help people cope with everyday problems
Psychiatry: a medical doctor specializing in mental health, can perscribe medicine for mental issues
industrial/organizational psychologists: focuses on employee behavior in the workplace
educational/school psychologists: supports student’s ability to learn, and teacher’s ability to teach in schools
Wilhelm Wundt: “the father of psychology” first to experiment with psych in a lab
Sigmund Freud: founded psychoanalysis, the unconscious mind, id ego superego
Carl Rogers: one founder of the humanistic approach
B.F. Skinner: founder of behaviorism
John B. Watson: popularized behaviorism and made a psychological school for it
Charles Darwin: evolutionary view, theorized natural selection
Case Study: an in-depth examination of a theory, researches complex issues to better understand human behavior
Correlation: a relationship or commonality between two variables
Naturalistic observation: research method involving observing subjects in their natural environment, no intervention
Extraneous variables: the uncontrolled variables that can affect outcome of research
Survey: gathers data by asking a group of people their thoughts, reactions, or opinions
Experiment: procedure to test theories about human behavior
Independent variable: what is changed in the experiment
Dependent variable: what is affected by the independent variable, what is being measured
Control group: the baseline for the experiment, independent variable not used
Experimental group: a group that is affected by the independent variable
Experimenter bias: the tendency of the researcher to introduce bias into an experiment
Double-blind procedure: an experiment where neither the researcher nor the participants know who is being affected by the independent variable until after the results are given, helps to avoid bias
Hypothesis: a proposed explanation based on limited knowledge to be tested
operational definition: the specific measurement of the dependent variable
Self-report distortion: misleading or false information based on individuals providing their own thoughts
Placebo: the sugar pill, seems real but isn’t
Placebo effect: if a person expects to be affected by the pill, their body can create effects similar to what medication could cause
Sample: a group of people participating in an experiment
Random sampling: the chosen from the larger population are randomly selected
Random assignment: the participants are randomly selected for control or experimental group
Scatterplots: shows relationship between 2 variables, dotted graph
Samping bias: when people selected for an experiment in a way that the groups will produce the intended results
Subjects: participants in an experiment
Confederate: research actors that secretly participate alongside subjects in an experiment
Variability: lack of consistency in pattern
Validity: being trustworthy, correct results
Test-retest reliability: reliability based on 2 tests over a longer period of time producing the same results
Inter-rater reliability: measures the agreement between subjective ratings from multiple raters
Variables: changing factors in an experiment
Positive correlation: variable relationship where they increase or decrease together
Negative correlation: variable relationship where when one increases the other decreases
Institutional Review Boards: reviews/ moniters research on human subjects according to FDA regulations
Debriefing: after an experiment explaining and understanding what happened
Informed consent: subjects must have a full understanding of what they are about to do and must agree
Histograms: bar graph recording and representing data
Statistical significance: quantifies whether or not the data is greatly affected by the changed variable
Stanley Milgram: psychologist who conducted controversial obedience experiments