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Psychology is defined as:

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a discipline concerned with behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism's physical state, mental state, and external environment.

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Wilhelm Wundt

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established the first psychological laboratory in 1879 in Leipzig, Germany (The birth of modern psychology)

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Psychoanalysis

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one of the three early schools of psychology, was founded by Sigmund Freud. This approach, both a theory of personality and a method of psychotherapy, emphasizes unconscious motives and conflicts.

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Two other early schools of psychology included:

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structuralism (emphasized the analysis of immediate experience into basic elements) and functionalism (focused on the function or purpose of behavior and consciousness).

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The biological perspective

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focuses on how bodily events affect behavior, feelings, and thoughts.

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The learning perspective

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is concerned with how the environment and experience affect a person's (or nonhuman animal's) actions.

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The cognitive perspective

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emphasizes what goes on in people's head - how people reason, remember, understand language, solve problems, explan experiences, acquire moral standards, and form beliefs.

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The sociocultural perspective

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focuses on social and cultural forces outside the individual, forces that shape every aspect of behavior, from how we kiss to what and where we eat.

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The psychodynamic perspective

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deals with unconscious dynamics within the individual, such as inner forces, conflicts, or instinctual energy.

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A clinical psychologist

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is trained to diagnose, treat, and study mental or emotional problems.

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Psychologists work in three general areas:

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1) teaching and doing research at colleges and universities; 2) providing health and mental health services (psychological practice), and 3) conducting research or applying its findings in nonacademic settings. Research psychology is the aspects least recognized and understood by the public.

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A theory is

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an organized system of assumptions and principles that purports to explain a specified set of phenomena and their interrelationships.

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A hypothesis is

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a statement that attempts to predict or to account for a set of phenomena.

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Informed consent of participants is required by

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APA Ethical Standards.

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An experiment is

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a controlled test of a hypothesis in which the researcher manipulates one variable to discover its effect on another.

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The variable that is manipulated in an experiment is the

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independent variable

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The dependent variable

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is the variable that the researcher predicts will be affected by manipulating the independent variable.

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A double-blind study is

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one in which the subjects nor the individuals running the study know which subjects are in the control group and which are in the experimental group. This eliminates experimenter effects.

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Descriptive methods

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are methods that yield descriptions of behavior but not necessarily causal explanations.

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Descriptive statistics

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are used to organize and summarize research data.

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A case study

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is a detailed description of a particular individual being studied or treated

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Observational studies

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can take place in a lab or in the natural environment of the study. The researcher carefully and systematically observes and records behavior without interfering with the behavior.

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Naturalistic observation is often

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useful in the first stages of a research program.

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Psychological tests are

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procedures used to measure and evaluate personality traits, emotional states, aptitudes, interests, abilities, and values. A disadvantage of using this method is that the participants are not always honest

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Surveys are

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questionnaires and interviews that ask people directly about their experiences, attitudes, or opinions. A limitation of this method is that sampling problems are often an issue.

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A correlation is

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a measure of how strongly two or more variables are related to one another. A correlation does NOT establish causation.

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Meta-analysis

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is used to combine results from several studies

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EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGISTS

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start by asking what challenges humans would have faced in prehistoric times and do research to see if those behavioral tendencies might have been selected to stay with us because they were adaptive and intelligent given the prehistoric challenges faced.

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CHARLES DARWIN is famous for

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the principle of NATURAL SELECTION. This states that the fate of genetic variations depends on the environment.

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What are innate human characteristics?

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Characteristics present at birth or rapidly developed as a child. (Baby relfexes, interest in novelty, the desire to explore and manipulate objects, ect..)

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Noam Chomsky (1957-1980)

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argued that language was far to complex to be learned bit by bit

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Language Acquisition Device (LAD)

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is a postulated "organ" of the brain. This mechanism endows children with the capacity to derive the syntactic structure and rules of their native language rapidly and accurately from the impoverished input provided by adult language users.

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Heritablility

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A statisical estimate of the proportion of variation among individuals that we can attribute to genes. The heritability of a trait may vary, depending on the range of populations and environments studied

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identical twins

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twins who develop from a single fertilized egg that splits in two, creating two genetically identical organisms

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fraternal twins

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twins who develop from separate fertilized eggs. They are genetically no closer than brothers and sisters, but they share a fetal environment.

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What are environmental influences to IQ?

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Poor parental care, malnutrition, exposure to toxins, stressfull family circumstances.

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The function of the nervous system

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is to gather and process information, produce responses to stimuli, and coordinate the workings of different cells.

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Two main systems:

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Central nervous system (CNS), peripheral nervous system (PNS)

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Central Nervous System (CNS)

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the portion of the vertebrate nervous system consisting of the brain and spinal cord. Receives, processes, interprets and stores information and send messages destined for muscles, glands and organs.

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Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

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transmits information to and from the CNS by way of sensory and motor nerves.

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PNS has 2 parts:

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somatic nervous system (permits sensation and voluntary actions) and the autonomic nervous system (regulates blood vessels, glands, and internal organs) ANS has 2 parts:

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ANS which is part of the PNS has two parts:

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sympathetic nervous system (mobilizes the body for action) and the ( parasympathetic nervous system- conserves energy.)

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Neurons

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basic building blocks of the nervous system-held in place by glial cells. Each neuron consists of dendrites, a cell body, and an axon

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The cerebellum

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contributes to balance and motor coordination, and may also play role in some higher mental operations

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The thalamus

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directs sensory messages to appropriate higher centers. Often considered the "switchboard or traffic director" for sensory messages.

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The hypothalamus

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regulates the ANS-emotions and drives things like fear, hunger, thirst and reproduction

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The suprachiasmatic nucleus is

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located in the hypothalamus and contains a biological clock that governs the body's rhythms.

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The limbic system

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involved in emotions that we share with other animals, and it contains pathways involved in pleasure.

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Limbic system parts:

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Amygdala (responsible for evaluating sensory information and quickly determining its emotional importance, and for the initial decision to approach or withdraw from a person or situation.) The hippocampus has been called the "gateway to memory" because it plays a critical role in the formation of long-term memories for facts and events.

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Brains left hemisphere

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is specialized for logical, symbolic, language and sequential tasks

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Brains right hemisphere

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is associated with spatial-visual tasks, facial recognition, and the creation and appreciation of art and music

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corpus callosum

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connects the 2 hemispheres allowing thm to communicate.

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Lobes of the brain

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occipital, parietal, temporal, and frontal lobes

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A biological rhythm

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is periodic, regular fluctuation in a biological system; it may or may not have psychological implications.

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The process of entrainment involves

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the synchronization of biological rhythms with external cues such as a fluctuation of daylight, time or temperature.

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Endogenous refers to

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the rhythms that that occur in the absence of external cues, rather they are generated within.

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A circadian rhythm is

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a biological rhythm with a period (from peak to peak or trough to trough) of about 24 hours; derives from the latin circa, 'about' and dies, 'a day'

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Circadian rhythms are controlled by a biological clock located in the hypothalamus called the

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suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)

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The SCN regulates

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neurotransmitters, hormones, etc as well as receives feedback for SCN functioning.

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Melatonin

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is which is secreted by the pineal gland for the regulation of circadian rhythms.

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Internal Desynchronization.

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Is when biological rhythms are not synchronized

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Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is

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a mood disorder in which a person experiences depression during the winter when periods of daylight are short and mood improves in the spring.

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Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep

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Sleep periods characterized by periods of eye movement, loss of muscle tone, and vivid dreams

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Sleep Apnea

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A disorder in which breathing stops briefly during sleep

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Narcolepsy

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is a sleep disorder involving sudden and unpredictable daytime attacks of sleepiness or lapses into REM sleep.

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Lucid dreams refer to

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occasions in which people report being aware of a dream or being conscious during a dream.

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