Psych 101 – Chapter 1 – Flashcards

The science of behavior and mental processes Behavior being: anything an organism does- any action we can observe and record, mental process being: the internal, subjective experience we infer from behavior - sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, and feelings)

Dec 1879 at Germany's University of Leipzig -philoposy and medicene running society -consiosn

the view that: -knowledge comes from experience via the senses -science flourishes through observation & experiment

an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind promoted by WUNDT and TITCHNER

looking as a whole-explored how mental and behavioral processes function and how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish. promoted by James and influenced by DARWIN a school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function- how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish

reducing/breaking structures down

looking inside yourself/inward

John B Watson and B.F. Skinner redefined psychology as "the scientific study of observable behavior"

Rise of Behaviorism (behaviorists)

drew attention to ways that current environmental influences can nurture or limit our growth potential and the importance of having our needs for love and acceptance satisfied. HIPPIE Humanism (one one with Free will) emphasis on personal growth and fulfillment process

-knowledge is born with a person -the mind is separate from the body -brain mechanism of mental processes

-theorized about learning and memory, motivation and emotion, perception and personality -the mind and body are together -knowledge is learned with experience -heart mechanism of mental processes

-the mind is born as a blank state -science should rely on observation and experimentation

-founded first psychology lab in Germany 1879 -focused on inner sensations, images, and feelings

1913, argued that a science could only study what can be objectively observed

-a behaviorist -rejected introspection and redefined psychology with Watson as "the scientific study of observable behavior" studied how consequences shaped behavior -you cannot observe a sensation, a feeling, or a thought, but you can observe and record people's behavior as they respond to different situations.

An austrian physician, personality theorist and therapist -one of his primary contributions was to introduce the concept of the unconscious -Freudian psychology: emphasized the ways our unconscious thought processes and our emotional responses to childhood experiences affect our behavior.

-talk therapy -people help to cope with challenges and crisis -help people to improve their personal and social functioning

How people grow/lifespan/from womb to death/change over time

How do other people in groups effect your behavior (clothes, the way you think) -Example: one person in elevator and others come in and face backwards, that one person will do the same.

How people think- encode, process, store and retrieve information ex: working from the cognitive perspective, one might study how our interpretation of a situation affects our anger and how our anger affects our thinking

Brain

-Counseling/intervention for mentally impaired people even up to sychozophrenia -asses and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.

Workforce/ production/ Human factors and social psychology

Organize/arrange things Example: cockpit needed to be designed better towards how people think- crash rate 74% unacceptable so changed color pop for important things in cockpit and to be convenient for dominant hand, crash rate went to 10%

-Testing -Emotional support for kids -Best education they can get

Example: lead can be passed on through genes ex: working from the evolutionary perspective one might analyze how anger facilitated the survival of our ancestors genes. ex: working from the behavior genetics perspective one might analyze how heredity and experience

the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon. -Different levels of analysis form a biopsycholosocial, and social-cultural levels of analysis -Each level provides a vantage point for viewing a behavior or mental process, yet each by itself is incomplete

-Natural selection of adaptive traits -genetic predispositions responding to environment -brain mechanisms -hormonal influences Ex: working from a neuroscience perspective one might study brain circuits that cause us to be "red in the face" and "hot under the collar"

-learned fears and other expectations -emotional responses -cognitive processing and perceptual interpretations

-Plato assumed we inherit character and intelligence- certain ideas are inborn -Artistotle though there is nothing in the mind that does not come in from the external world through the senses -Charles Darwin came up with NATURAL SELECTION: from among change variation, nature selects traits that best enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment- he believed this theory explained not only animal structures (polar bears white coat) but also animal behaviors (the emotion expressions associated with human lust and rage) -How human are alike (because of our common biology and evolutionary history) and how we are different (because of our differing environments) -Are gender differences predisposed or socially constructed? -In children's grammar mostly innate or formed by experiences? -Nature works on what nature endows -Our species is biologically endowed with an enormous capacity to learn and adapt.

-Presence of others -cultural, societal, and family expectations -peer and other group influences -compelling models (such as media) ex: working from the social-cultural perspective one might explore how expressions of anger vary across cultural contexts

: pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base -biological psychologist exploring links between brain and mind -developmental psychologists experimenting with how we perceive, think, and solve problems. -personality psychologists investigating our persistent traits -social psychologists exploring how we view and affect one another

: aims to solve practical problems -industrial-organizational psychologists using psychology's concepts and methods in the workplace to help organizations and companies select and train employees, boost morale and productivity, design products, and implement systems.

the scientific study of human functioning with goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive - more research on human strengths and human flourishing, explores positive emotions, positive character traits, and enabling institutions

the tendency to believe after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it (I knew it all along phenomenon) (often lead us to overestimate our intuition)

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions, rather, it examines assumptions, discerns, hidden values, evaluates evidence, and asses conclusions.

-What question is being asked? Based in theory -Is it biased? (how does.. how much do you like..) -What do they want to make conclusions about?

all thoise in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn- the people want to talk about-, all the study applies to (ex: working women over age 40)

everyone in an experiment

Theory: an explanation using integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behavior or events -A good theory produces testable predictions...a hypothesis: a testable prediction often implied by theory. -Operational definitions: a statement of procedures (operations) used to define research variables. For example, human intelligence may be operationally defined as "what an intelligence test 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 -In the end our theory will be useful if 1) it organizes a range of self-reports and observations 2) implies predictions that anyone can use to check the theory or to derive practical applications -We can test our hypotheses and refine our theories using descriptive methods (which describe behaviors, often through case studies, naturalistic observations, or surveys), correlational methods which associate different factors, and experimental methods which manipulate factors to discover their effects

has to reflect population

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal change of inclusion GOAL: to generalize population Important aspects of measurement: -Operational definitions of variable (what is aggression? and who has more? If we define aggression as kicking/hitting then boys, if we define it as cattiness/social aggression then girls.) -Validity (how well does the procedure actually measure the variable under study?) -Reliability/Consistency (are the same results obtained with repeated measurement? How do they gather their data?)

: observing in the study's natural context Strength: can see it in real life Weakness: -people may not act the same if someone is watching- participant reactivity -lacks control (too much you dont know) -observable bias( you look more into things/reading into it)

: one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles (ex: guy with head screws studies represents all guys with head screws) Strength: Rich data/ In depth Weakness: Representativeness (is the study really representative of the general population??)

: asks people to report behavior of opinions, looks at MANY cases so less depth. Strength: Efficient - quick and cheap Weakness: -Question bias (subtle changes in the wording) -Lies (people lie)

a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus how well either factor predicts the other Positive correlation (between 0 and 1.00) indicates a direct relationship (two things increase/decrease together Negative correlation (between 0 and -1.00) indicates an inverse relationship (as one thing increases, the other decreases) A correlation coefficient (statistical index of the relationship between two things, from -1 to 1) helps us see the world more clearly by revealing the extent to which two things relate

giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to decide whether they wish to participate

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

Two groups: - Experimental group (receiving treatment) -Control group (do not receive/placebo) To minimize preexisting differences between the two groups, researchers RANDOMLY ASSIGN people to them - need groups to be so similar that only difference is the drug ect. DOUBLE BLIND PROCEDURE: neither the participants nor those who administer the drug or placebo and collect the data will know which group is receiving the treatment. Placebo Effect: experimental results caused by expectations alone - just thinking you are getting a treatment can boost your spirits, relax your body, and relieve your symptoms Independent Variable: what they're doing to you (dosage of drug) Dependent Variable: what they're measuring (the results) Confounding Variable: a factor other than the independent (extraneous) variable that might produce effect in experiment - not what you're giving/controlling (age, weight, personality)