Exam 1 Flashcards
(97 cards)
Psychology
scientific study of the mind and behavior
4 main goals of psychology
- Describe behavior (naturalistic observation, case studies, and surveys)
- Explain behavior (rigorous tests, scientific experiments, and observations)
- Predict behavior (patterns of past instances)
- Change behavior.
developmental psychology
scientific study of development across a lifespan
physical development
involves growth and changes in the body and brain, the senses, and health and wellness
cognitive development
involves learning, attention, memory, language, thinking, reasoning and creativity
psychosocial development
involves emotions, personality, and social relationships
continuous development
view of development as a cumulative process, gradually improving on existing skills
discontinuous development
view that development takes places in unique stages – it occurs at specific times/ages
Nature
biology and genetics
Nurture
Environment and culture
the biopsychosocial model (and its main elements)
emphasizes the interconnection between biological, psychological, and socio-environmental factors
life-span perspective (and its key principles)
exploration of biological, cognitive, and psychosocial changes and constants that occur throughout the entire course of life
life-span perspective (and its key principles
exploration of biological, cognitive, and psychosocial changes and constants that occur throughout the entire course of life.
1. Develop occurs lifelong.
2. Develop is multidimensional.
3. Results in gains and loses throughout life.
4. Characteristics are changeable.
5. Develop is influences by contextual and sociocultural influences.
6. Develop is multidisciplinary. (complex interplay of factors influence develop across life span like biological, cognitive, and socioemotional changes)
7. Involves changing resource allocations.
scientific method
deriving hypotheses from theories and then testing those hypotheses. If the results are consistent with the theory, then the theory is supported. If the results are not consistent, then the theory should be modified, and new hypotheses will be generated
Question research hypothesis experiment/ study facts and observations analysis conclusions
Hypothesis
suggested explanation for an event, which can be tested (based on existing theories and knowledge)
Observations
systematic observation has two types:
1). Naturalistic observation – “real life” observations ex. Public park
- monitor in normal/usual settings
2). Structured observations – researchers create a situation likely to result in the type of behavior in which they are interested (people may act different) ex. In a lab
case studies
when researcher gather a lot of information about one or very few cases/people (not able to generalize the findings)
surveys
ask others about their thoughts, feelings, or positions on various topics (may not get accurate results, people may not be telling the truth)
reliability
consistency in response to tests and other measures
validity
accuracy
positive correlations
two variables go up/down together.
negative correlations
two variables move in opposite direction.
Experiments
only research method that can measure cause and effect.
- 3 conditions:
1). The independent and dependent variables must be related (when one is related, the other changes in response)
2). The cause must come before the effect.
3). The cause must be isolated.
- Designed to test hypotheses (or specific statements about the relationship between variables) in a controlled setting in efforts to explain how certain factors or events produce outcomes.
independent variables
something altered or introduced by the researcher.