History and methods

Question 1

what is Psychology?

Answer 1

The study of the mind, brain and behavour

Question 2

what are the 6 levels of analysis?

Answer 2

1 social
2 behavioural
3 mental
4 neurological/physiological
5 neurochemical
6 molecular (gense, neurotransmitters)

Question 3

what are 4 challenges in psychology?

Answer 3

1 human behaviour is difficult to predict because almost all actions are multi determined

2 people as individuals are very difrrent (eg. personality and thinking)

3 people influence eachother

4 behaviour is often shaped by culture

Question 4

Define
multi determined

Answer 4

caused by multiple factors

Question 5

please give the example of multi determinism in regards to the analysis of anorexia nervosa

Answer 5

if looking into the causes of anorexia such as
-anxiety
-perfectionism
- exposure to toxic TV programs
you cannot look into just perfectionism, because anxiety can cause perfectionism and perfectionism can cause anxiety. and toxic TV programs can cause both anxiety and perfectionism

Question 6

what are the misconceptions about what a theory is?

Answer 6

1 a theory explains one specific event

2 a theory is an educated guess

Question 7

define
pseudo-science

Answer 7

a set of claims that seem scientific but are not

Question 8

what are the risks of pseudo-science?

Answer 8

-opportunity costs
-direct harm
-an inability to think critically as citizens

Question 9

what are the 5 principles of scientific thinking?

Answer 9

1 extraordinary claims/ is the evidence as strong as the claim?
2 testing predictions
3 generalisability/do the results reflect on all cultures?
4 ruling out rival hypothesis
5 correlation vs causation

Question 10

what are the 6 theoretical perspectives that shape psychology?

Answer 10

1 structuralism/ basic elements of experience

2 functionalism/ purposes of our thoughts, feelings and behaviour

3 behaviourism/ principles of learning

4 cognitivisim/ mental process in behaviour

5 psychoanalysis/ early life effects on behaviour and unconscious psychological processes

6 humanistic/ individuals subject experiences, personal growth and self-actualisation

Question 11

what are the steps of the scientific method?

Answer 11

-observation
-questioning
-hypothesis
experimentation
-analysis
-conclusion
-communication

Question 12

what are the 5 historical events of psychological theory?

Answer 12

1 late 19th century
-structuralism
-Edward brandford Titchener
-goal= to map the structures of consciousness

2 late 19th century- early 20th
-functionalism
-William James
-goal= to observe the purpose of thoughts, feelings and behaviour

3 Early - mid 20th century
-behaviouralisim
-John B. Watson
-goal= observe the principles of learning in humans and animals

4 Early - late 20th century
-psychoanalysis
-Sigmund Freud
-goal= realationship between conscious and unconscious processes

5 mid 20th century onwards
-cognitivisim
-goal= study mental processes