Midterm Review Flashcards
(96 cards)
What are the two roots of psychology?
Philosophy and natural sciences
What early ideas have influenced modern psychology?
Greek philosopher (observation has natural explanations), British empiricism (knowledge comes from experience), Physicans (brain –> mind), Scientists (Each nerve –> one type of information), Hermann von Helmholtz (study of reaction time), Gustav Fechner (identify softest sound –> mental process)
Who is the “father of modern psychology” and what is his idea?
Wilhelm Wundt, Structuralism (further spread by Edward Tichener) –> break mind into smallest elements of mental experience
What is the first psychological eperiment?
Reaction time study by Wundt.
Stimulus –> Press a key
Different stimuli –> Press different buttons (Choice reaction time) [Stroop Task]
What is an opposition to structuralism?
Gestalt psychology –> Breaking “whole” perception would lose important psychological information
(Max Wertheimer)
What is functionalism and who is it proposed by?
The idea that behaviors are purposeful and lead to survival (asking “why”)
William James
What is behaviorism and who are some of its followers?
Study observable, measurable behaviors.
Ivan Pavlov (Classical conditioning, salivating dogs)
John B. Watson (Advertisement, “Little Albert”)
Edward Thorndike (Effect of consequence on behavior)
B. F. Skinner (Skinner Box)
What is the current view of behaviorism?
Should not solely study observable behaviors.
Cognitive revolution –> mental processes can be studied scientifically (Mathematics & Computer Science)
What are the five perspectives of psychology?
Biological/Evolutionary, Cognitive (mental processes, e.g.: thinking, problem solving, information processing), social/personality (effect of presence of others & individual differences), developmental (across lifespan), clinical (disorder and wellbeing)
What are the research methods commonly used in psychology?
Observation, survey, correlation, experiment
What are the pros and cons of observation?
Pros: natural, no interruption, cheap, useful for forming hypothesis
Cons: bias, no strong claim, no casual relationship
What are the pros and cons of survey?
Pros: rich data, cheap, useful as initial evidence
Cons: Bias, no casual relationship
What are some biases involved in survey?
Remebered vs. Experienced Self (Electric Shock –> Mild electric shock in the end)
Accessibility (Media Bias –> Train or airplane is safer)
Context (Wording –> Sexual harrassment survey/working atmosphere survey)
What are the pros and cons of correlation?
Similar to survey
Cannot suggest causal relationship
Bi-directionality & Possibility of Third Factor
What are components of experimental procedure?
Randomization --> Randomly assigned to experimental/control group Independent variable (manipulated, "cause") Dependent variable (measured, "effect")
What is reliability?
Whether the experiment can be repeated and yield consistent results
What is validity?
Internal: only the manipulated variable could have produced the results
External: whether the results can be generalized beyond the study
What are some threats to validity?
WEIRD population (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) –> Fail to consider cultural diversity
What is an experiment conducted in real world?
Field Experiment
What is cross-sectional study?
Gather groups of people of varying ages to study
Cohort Effect: Born in different time period
What is longitudinal study?
A group of people observed for a long period of time.
No cohort effect, too costly
What is mixed longitudinal study?
A group from a range of ages observed for a limited period of time.
(Reduced cohort effect, less costly)
What is behavioral genetics?
The study of the strength of genetic influenced on behavior
Heritability: likelihood that variations across individuals are due to genetics
What are candidate genes?
Genes that affect a condition more than others.
Molecular genetics