1. History and Approaches

History and Approaches

  • Central Idea: History and Approaches in AP Psychology

Main Branches:

  1. Structuralism

    • Founder: Wilhelm Wundt

    • Focus on: Conscious experience and introspection

  2. Functionalism

    • Founder: William James

    • Focus on: Adaptive functions of behavior and mental processes

  3. Behaviorism

    • Founders: John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner

    • Focus on: Observable behavior and environmental influences

  4. Psychoanalysis

    • Founder: Sigmund Freud

    • Focus on: Unconscious mind, childhood experiences, and psychosexual development

  5. Humanistic Psychology

    • Founders: Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers

    • Focus on: Self-actualization, personal growth, and subjective experiences

  6. Cognitive Psychology

    • Founders: Jean Piaget, Ulric Neisser

    • Focus on: Mental processes, information processing, and problem-solving

  7. Biological Psychology

    • Focus on: Biological bases of behavior and mental processes

  8. Evolutionary Psychology

    • Focus on: Evolutionary origins of behavior and mental processes

  9. Sociocultural Psychology

    • Focus on: Social and cultural influences on behavior and mental processes

    • Dependent Variable

      • variable that may change in response to an independent variable (dependent on the independent variable), being measured

      • Ex. rate of respiration

    • Extraneous Variables:

      • factors that affect the DV, that are not the IV

      • Ex. some expired yeast

    • Control Group

      • Group not exposed to IV

      • Ex. yeast in room temperature

    • Experimental Group

      • Group exposed to IV

      • Ex. some yeast exposed to lower temperatures, some exposed to higher temperatures

    • Random Assignment

      • Assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by random assignment

    • Attrition

      • reduction in the number of participants due to dropouts

Research Methods:

  • Observing and measuring variables without manipulating them

    • Naturalistic Observation

      • involves the careful observation and recording of behavior in real-life settings

    • Case Study

      • involves an in-depth study of an individual

    • Survey Method

      • the use of interviews and questionnaires in studying human behaviors

    • Correlational Method

      • the examination of the quantitative relationships between two or more variables

    • Longitudinal Research

      • Gathering data is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time

    • Cross-Sectional Research

      • Comparing of multiple segments of population at a time

Statistical Analysis

Watch Out For:

  • Illusory Correlations

    • When people believe a relationship exists between two things when it actually doesn’t

  • Placebo Effect

    • When people’s expectations/beliefs influence or determine their experience in a given situation

Analysis

  • Correlation

  • Scatterplots

  • Measures of central tendency

  • Distribution

  • Standard deviation