Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 Flashcards
(38 cards)
What is Psychology?
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
What scientific methods does psychology use to observe human behaviors and draw conclusions?
Systematic methods
The person that believes most human behavior is caused by dark, unpleasant, unconscious impulses clamoring for expression.
Sigmund Freud
Known as the father of Psychology
Willehm Wundt
He is famous for his research work with pigeons
B.F Skinner
Wundt’s approach to discovering the basic elements, or structures, of mental processes; is so called because of its focus on identifying the structures of the human mind.
Structuralism
A process of looking inside our mind by focusing on our own conscious thoughts. (literally, “looking inside”)
Characteristics: An introspective person is someone who regularly looks inward to try to understand their mind, thoughts, feelings, and inner workings.
Introspection
James’s approach to mental processes emphasizing the functions and purposes of the mind and behavior in the individual’s adaptation to the environment.
Functionalism
The psychologist and philosopher who gave the field an American stamp
William James
Darwin’s principle of an evolutionary process in which organisms that are better adapted to their environment will survive and produce more offspring.
Natural Selection
An approach to psychology focusing on the body, especially the brain and nervous system.
Biological Approach
An approach to psychology focusing on the scientific study of observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants.
Behavioral Approach
An approach to psychology focusing on unconscious thought, the conflict between biological drives (such as the drive for sexual pleasure) and society’s demands, and early childhood family experiences.
Psychodynamic Approach
Who is the founder of the Psychodynamic Approach?
Sigmund Freud
An approach to psychology focusing on a person’s positive qualities, the capacity for positive growth, and the freedom to choose one’s destiny.
Humanistic Approach
An approach to psychology focusing on the mental processes involved in knowing: how we direct our attention, perceive, remember, think, and solve problems.
Cognitive Approach
An approach to psychology focusing on evolutionary ideas such as adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection as the basis for explaining specific human behaviors.
Evolutionary approach
An approach to psychology focusing on the ways in which social and cultural environments influence behavior.
Sociocultural Approach
What are the three types of Psychological Research?
- Descriptive
- Correlational
- Experimental
What are the differences between experimental and correlational research?
Correlational: Research that examines the relationship between variables in order to find out whether and how two variables change together. Does not allow is to make causal conclusions.
Experimental: A carefully regulated procedure in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables believed to influence some other variable. Permits causal conclusions, but may cause concern in external validity.
The degree of relation between two variables is expressed as a numerical value called _____? Represented by the letter r.
Correlation Coeffecient
What do the number and size of the correlation coefficient tell us?
The strength of the relationship. The closer the number is to 1.00, the stronger it is.
What do the signs (+ and - ) on the correlation coefficient tell us? And zero correlation?
Tells us the direction of the relation between the variables if positive(+) the variables change in the same direction; one increases the other increases too.
If negative (-), the variables change in different directions. One inc. the other decreases.
Zero correlation = no relation between variables
What is the third variable problem?
The circumstance in which a variable that has not been measured accounts for the relationship between two other variables. Third variables are also known as confounds.
