Psych A Semester Review – Flashcards
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What is the purpose of psychology?
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To learn and understand how to predict and control a person's behavior.
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What is phrenology?
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Phrenology is the idea that certain sizes and shapes of skulls can predict how someone will develop.
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When was the British Phrenological Society disbanded?
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1967
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What is longitudinal research?
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A form of research where the researcher interviews, tests, and observes people over a long period of time.
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Describe free association.
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Free association is the idea that when a picture or word is spoken, the first thing that comes to a person's mind is from his or her subconscious.
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Describe introspection.
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Introspection is an analysis of one's own thoughts or feelings and trying to figure out why he or she acts or feels a certain way.
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How did Sigmund Freud describe the mind?
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According to Freud, the unconscious mind was composed of the ego, super ego, and the id. The id strives to satisfy a person's wants and needs, and the super ego controlled the ethical part of emotion. If one was too controlled by the id, they tended to be selfish. If one was too controlled by the super ego, they tended to be emotional and rigid. The ego serves as a "referee" between the two, and a person controlled by it tended to be balanced.
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What is operant conditioning?
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The learning of behavior through rewards and punishment.
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Who is known for the study of operant conditioning?
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B.F. Skinner
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What is Humanism?
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An approach of psychology that focuses on studying someone entirely. Humanists look at a person from the eyes of an observer as well as through the eyes of the person being studied to provide an entire conclusion.
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What is Behaviorism?
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An approach of psychology that focuses on studying only observable behavior. Behaviorists see psychology as a science. Therefore, the scientific method is strictly followed in order to provide a conclusion.
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What is cognition?
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Deals with matters of the mind such as thinking, remembering, and learning. Also, a process of acquiring information and understanding it.
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Describe psychobiology.
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The scientific look of psychology that deals with the biological basis of behavior and mental phenomena. Psychobiology presents scientific reasons for why someone feels as he or she does, such as chemical imbalances causing depression.
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What is descriptive study?
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A statistical study used to identify specific trends and patterns in a population in order to make hypotheses.
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What are correlational studies?
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The study of two things to see if they are correlated.
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What are positive and negative correlations?
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If correlations are negative, the variables move in opposite directions. If correlations are positive, they move in the same direction and are correlated.
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How would you test for cause and effect?
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You would take your "cause" and put it into action. If the result produced is the "effect" you thought it was, there is a cause-effect relationship. If not, there is not.
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What are surveys?
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A way for data to be obtained. The survey obtains answers to questions asked by researchers, but they come from the perspective of the person being asked. So, the answers are self-reported.
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What is naturalistic observation?
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The means of collecting data without manipulating or interfering with the environment. The goal is to study the organism in its natural habitat.
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What are case studies?
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Investigations of a single person or group to provide in depth information. Provides data from a smaller number of research subjects. Is flawed because the results are based on one incidence and not suitable as foundations for generalizations.
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What is a neuron?
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A nerve cell
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What is the Central Nervous System?
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The CNS contains the brain and spinal cord, which allows messages and information to be carried throughout the entire body to function.
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What does the Thyroid do?
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Regulates growth and development through the release of hormones. Regulated metabolism
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What does the Adrenal gland do?
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They secrete chemicals that alter energy levels and affect a person's emotional reactions to stress.
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What does the parathyroid do?
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It controls the levels of phosphate and calcium in blood.
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What does the pancreas do?
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Regulates the body's sugar levels.
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What does the pineal gland do?
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Regulates activity levels over the course of the day. Sleep-wake cycle
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What do gonads do?
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Produce sex hormones and steroids hormones.
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What is the biggest advancement in sleep study and why?
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The electroencephalograph because it made it possible to study the living brain noninvasively.
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Who helped develop the Cognitive Problem Solving View of dream analysis?
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Rosalind Cartwright
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How did scientists begin to understand how drugs work on the brain? What discovery?
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opiate receptors
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What is absolute threshold?
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the minimum amount of physical energy required to produce a sensation
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What is monochromat?
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The seeing of only light and dark.
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What is involved in transforming sensory information into meaningful perceptions?
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...
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What is binocular disparity?
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Binocular cues, such as retinal disparity, are depth cues that rely on information from both eyes. Binocular disparity is the difference in the position of the same image on the 2 retinas.
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What is the Muller-Lyer illusion and the Ponzo illusion?
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size constancy explanations of illusions using retinal size and percieved distance--you fool R or D and that creates a percieved size thats incorrect---outward point arrows expand the line and inward pointing arrows shrink the line
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What is developmental psychology?
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The study of changes in physiology, cognition, emotion, and social behavior over the lifespan.
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What is tabula rasa?
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A "clean slate" mind. A mind that is unformed. The idea was presented by John Locke
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When did the focused study of child development begin?
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the 20th century
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What did Sigmund Freud believe about the influence of the environment on behavior?
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Freud believed that our childhood had a significant part in our behavior. Our behavior is determined by the subconscious mind and childhood experiences.
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John Watson?
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Believed that behavior is a reaction of classical conditioning, which is conditioning someone to associate a certain thing and respond a certain way with something.
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What did BF Skinner believe about the origin and development of personality?
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Personality is shaped through operant conditioning.
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What were the major theories of Erik Erikson?
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Conflicts were created by the person's biological and physical strengths and limitations, his or her unique life circumstances, and the particular social, cultural, and historical forces at work during the individual's lifetime.
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According to Erikson, what were the stages in life?
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Infancy, Toddler, Early Childhood, Elementary and Middle School Years, Adolescence, Young Adulthood, Middle Adulthood, Late Adulthood
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What did Jean Piaget understand the thinking of young children vs. older children?
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He believed that just because the answers of younger children were wrong or different than that of older children did not mean their intelligence was lower, it just meant that they answered the question with what they knew. Also, younger children seem to answer questions in the way they believe the adult would want them to. Younger children think differently than older children according to the way they perceive the world at their age.
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What is assimilation? Accommodation?
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The absorbing of new information into existing cognitive structures. Accommodation is the modification of the cognitive structures in response to new experiences.
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What did Henry Harlow study?
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The emotion of love; especially the attachment of infants to their mothers.
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What is the attachment theory?
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The attachment theory tries to identify why humans attach and remain in long lasting relationships with people on a deeper bond than normal.
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What was Harlow's monkey experiment?
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Harlow separated infant rhesus monkeys from their mothers. He put them with two "mothers," one a wire mother, and the other a cloth and comfy one. The wire one was uncomfortable, yet it had the food. The Rhesus monkeys went to the wire mother for food, but then went straight back to the cloth mother and snuggled after. By separating rhesus monkey infants from their mothers, he was able to conclude that infants require comfort through touch. The monkeys stayed near the cloth mother instead of the wire mother, regardless of which fed them.
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Who introduced the concept of maternal deprivation?
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John Bowlby, refers to the separation or loss of the mother as well as failure to develop an attachment.
