intro psych midterm Flashcards
What is Psychology?
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
Psychology focuses on
_______ and ________
empirical evidence and critical thinking.
are pseudopsychologies scientific?
Pseudopsychologies (e.g., psychics, mediums) are nonscientific.
Psychology’s Four Goals
- Description: tells “what” occurred
- Explanation: tells “why” a behavior or mental process occurred
- Prediction: identifies conditions under which a future behavior or mental process is likely to occur
- Change: applies psychological knowledge to prevent unwanted behavior or to bring about desired goals
Wilhelm Wundt
father of psychology.” (European) ; Structuralism through systematic introspection.
Structuralism:
sought to ID the basic building blocks (elements), or structures of mental life through systematic introspection
Systematic introspection:
– rigorous self-report of internal experiences – describe visual stimuli, sounds, and tastes
William James
(North American) ; functionalism; inspired by Darwin; Need to understand the goal of a mental activity in order to understand its parts; Included research on emotions and observable behavior
Functionalism.
studied how the mind functions to adapt organisms to their environment; Strongly influenced by Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
Sigmund Freud
(European) ; Psychoanalytic/ Psychodynamic Perspective; Basis of personality: Id, Ego and Superego; believed Psychological problems are solved by insight – understand how memories and mental processes lead to problematic behaviors
Functionalism:
studied how the mind functions to adapt organisms to their environment; Strongly influenced by Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution
Id, Ego and Superego
Freud’s notion of the basis of personality;
Id:
Ego:
Superego:
Watson & Skinner
Behavioral perspective; Watson developed principles of behavior modification – behaviors are changed through reinforcement & non-reinforcement ; B.F. Skinner-North American
Behavioral Perspective:
objective, observable environmental influences on overt behavior - measurable
Behavioral Perspective:
objective, observable environmental influences on overt behavior - measurable
Humanistic Perspective:
free will & personal growth—people are in control of their destinies not controlled by unconscious impulses (reaction to Freud) ; led to the modern field of positive psychology (Rogers & Maslow early influences)
carl rogers
(North American); humanistic perspective; established Rogerian therapy which was based on unconditional positive regard
Abraham Maslow
(North American); humanistic perspective; studied mentally healthy people and eventually created Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Cognitive Perspective:
studies thoughts, perception, & information processing; Infers mental processes from observable and measurable behavior; Schemas
Neuroscientific/ Biopsychological Perspective
Focuses on genetics & biological processes in the brain/nervous system to understand normal and abnormal brain activity leading to observable behaviors
Sociocultural Perspective:
social interaction & cultural determinants of behavior & mental processes; Factors such as ethnicity, religion, occupation and socioeconomic class have enormous psychological impact on behavior and mental processes; Cannot fully understand behavior without considering individuals in their appropriate social and cultural context
Evolutionary Perspective:
natural selection, adaptation, & evolution of behavior & mental processes- Charles Darwin
Evolutionary Perspective:
behavior and mental processes are a result of natural selection and adaptation – evolution; Belief in inborn mental processes, tendencies; Controversial – Nature versus Nurture- influenced by Charles Darwin
The biopsychosocial model of psychology:
combines biological, psychological, & social processes; interacts with the seven major perspectives
Mary Calkins
one of the first women in psychology; first female president of APA; developed the paired-associate learning technique which is still used for studying memory today
Margaret Floy Washburn:
the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology (structuralist); -pre-comparative psychologist – understanding the mental processes of animals
Francis Cecil Sumner
First African American to receive his Ph.D. in psychology; Researched racism and bias in psychological theories as well as bias in the administration of justice; Also focused on psychology of religion
Kenneth B. Clark
first African American APA president; he & his wife (Mamie Clark) documented the harmful effects of racial segregation in schools; Best known for their study Racial Identification and Preference in Negro Children and Brown vs the Board of Education – “separate but equal” schools are unconstitutional
Martha Bernal
the first Latina to receive her Ph.D. in Psychology in the U.S.; Advanced multicultural psychology and the training of clinicians in diversity; Increased use of empirically validated interventions in the treatment of children
Elizabeth Loftus
Cognitive psychologist and expert on memory; Developed seminal work on the “misinformation effect”; Questioned recovered memories; Her work has had a profound effect in the criminal justice system
The Tuskegee Syphilis Study:
Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and studied the effects of untreated syphilis in 400 African American men. ; They were not informed that they were participating in an experiment.; They were not given treatment with penicillin when it became available.
World War II – Cold War:
US Government-funded research on the effects of radiation exposure. It was conducted on uninformed individuals – pregnant women, cancer patients, mentally challenged students, etc.
World War II – Germany:
Heinous “research” conducted on concentration camp prisoners and Chinese prisoners of war by Nazi scientists and Japanese scientists.
Gynecologic Surgery Ethics violation
– Dr. J. Marion Sims – achieved medical advances through experimental surgical techniques on Black slaves
Informed Consent -
Participants must be informed of the nature of the research (benefits, risks, etc.). Consent must be documented.
Voluntary Participation –
Participants can withdraw from the study at any time
Restricted use of Deception –
Participants may not respond naturally if they know the true purpose of the study. Deception to be used only when absolutely necessary.
Debriefing –
Participants should be debriefed at the conclusion of the study.
Confidentiality –
Info from participants is confidential and cannot be published in such a way that the person’s privacy is compromised.
Alternative Activities –
If participation is part of a course requirement, the student must be given an alternative if they choose not to participate
Prior approval of research -
Institutional Review Board must approve of the study.
7 APA ethical guidelines for Human Research Participants:
Informed consent, voluntary participation, restricted use of deception, debriefing, confidentiality, alternative activities, prior approval of research
Rights of Nonhuman Participants:
Psychologists take great care in handling research animals, & animal care committees ensure proper treatment. But the use of nonhuman animals for research remains controversial.
Rights of Psychotherapy Clients:
Therapists must maintain highest of ethical standards & uphold clients’ trust & confidentiality. HIPAA
4 major steps of the scientific method:
- Observe
- Detect regularities
- Generate a hypothesis
- Observe (testing the hypothesis)
Basic Research:
Research conducted to advance scientific knowledge rather than for practical application; Meets the goals of describe, explain and predict
Applied Research:
Research designed to solve practical problems; Meets the goal of change
Four key research methods in psychology:
- Experimental
- Descriptive – Naturalistic Observation, Surveys, Case Study
- Correlational
- Biological
Types of Population Samples:
Convenience sample, Representative sample, Random sample
Experimental Research:
carefully controlled scientific procedure that manipulates variables to determine cause & effect–this direct manipulation of variables distinguishes it from correlational research
Key features of an experiment:
- Independent variable (IV) (a factor that is manipulated) versus dependent variable (DV) (a factor that is measured)
- Experimental group (receives treatment) vs. control group (receives no treatment)
Confounding Variable:
An uncontrolled variable that changes along with the IV. Changes in the DV could be attributed to the confounding variables rather than the IV.
internal validity
Effective control of confounding variables gives an experiment internal validity. High internal validity gives confidence that your explanation is more valid than other explanations
Potential researcher problems:
- Experimenter bias: researcher influences research results in his or her expected direction
- Ethnocentrism: believing one’s culture is typical of all cultures
Potential participant problems:
- Sample bias: research participants are unrepresentative of the larger population
- Participant bias: research participants are influenced by the researcher or experimental conditions
single or double-blind experimental design
a way to offset experimenter & participant bias
- single-blind: only the experimenter knows who is in the experimental group vs the control group
- double-blind: neither the experimenter nor the participants know who is in which group
experimenter bias solution
blind observers, single-blind and double-blind studies, placebos
ethnocentrism solution
cross-cultural sampling
sample bias solution
random/representative sampling, random assignment
participant bias solution
anonymity, confidentiality, deception, single-blind and double-blind studies, placebos
Descriptive Research:
observes & records behavior without producing causal explanations
descriptive research methods:
naturalistic study, survey, case study
naturalistic observation
a descriptive research method; Observing and recording behavior and mental processes in the participant’s natural state or habitat; Can be affected by the researcher’s presence
survey
a descriptive research technique that questions a large sample of people to assess their behaviors and attitudes.; Self-report may not be reliable; the sample may not be representative
case study
In-depth study of a single research participant; Cannot generate cause/effect relationship
Psychological Tests
inferential statistics to measure differences among people; Can include achievement tests, aptitude tests, intelligence, and personality tests; Shows mean, median and mode, standard deviation (descriptive statistics); Very challenging to create tests and validate them!
Inferential statistics
allow the researcher to determine the probability that the results could occur by chance. If the probability is low = your results are statistically significant
Correlational Research:
observes or measures (without directly manipulating) two or more variables to find relationships between them
positive vs negative vs zero correlation:
- Positive Correlation: two variables move (or vary) in the same direction—either up or down
- Negative Correlation: two variables move (or vary) in the opposite direction—either up or down
- Zero Correlation: no relationship between two variables (when one variable increases, the other can increase, decrease, or stay the same)
Biological Research:
the scientific study of the brain & other parts of the nervous system
behavioral genetics: hereditary code
The study of the relative effects of genetic and environmental influences on behavior and mental processes
Evolutionary Psychology:
A subfield of psychology studying how natural selection and adaptation help explain behavior and mental processes; It suggests that common behaviors among human populations, from eating to fighting with our enemies, emerged and remain in human populations because they helped our ancestors survive.