PS122 History of Psych Flashcards

Question

E.H Weber

Answer 1

1795-1878 Pioneered methods for measuring the sensitivity of the senses. Especially looked at thresholds Conscious sensations of a stimuli may not reflect reality. One way of constraining the problem of subjectivity is to measure thresholds. Absolute Thresholds are the smallest quantities that give any sensation at all. level of stimulus intensity at which stimulus can no longer be detected Relative thresholds (Just noticeable difference ) are the smallest quantitative change that is noticeable. minimum difference (e.g. brightness) between two items to be able to tell them apart

Answer 2

Relative thresholds are also known as “Just Noticeable Differences” - JND’s. The Weber - Fechner Law states that JND’s are a constant proportion of the absolute intensity. It was hoped that psychophysics would steadily discover all such laws.

Answer 3

1821-1894 One of the greatest 19th Century Physiologists. Adopted a ‘Doctrine of Mechanism’ (opposed to vitalism) Rate of neural conduction: Initially used a frogs leg Stimulating the nerve in the leg would cause the foot to twitch Stimulated different distances from the foot and measured time taken for foot to twitch Calculated the Neural conduction = 25 meters per second

Answer 4

Groundbreaking work on colour perception Noted only 3 colour receptors (cones – RGB) But can see many different hues Hues arise from a mix of cones excited to different degrees

Answer 5

Realised that image on the retina may not accurately reflect the external world E.g. Blind spot – brain ‘fills’ in this area Sometimes the brain’s perceptions contradict the raw sensations Visual illusions Derive the most probable explanation (unconscious inference) Based on prior visual learning experience

Answer 6

Psychophysics revealed a lot about the senses, but not much about how sensations become perception. Gestalt psychology - ‘A whole is more than it’s parts’. Principles emergence reification multistability invariance

Answer 7

Considered the founder of experimental psychology Set up first experimental psychology lab at Leipzig, Germany (1879) Supervised 186 PhDs including Titchener, William James, Cattell Cultural psychology 10 volume work on cultural psychology Religion, language, myths, history, art, laws, customs Not only shaped by senastion/ perception, but by culture. Very interested in language – verbal communication of idea one wants to say.

Answer 8

Wondered whether complex mental experience could be broken down into simple processes: building blocks Influenced by physicists and chemists breaking down molecules into atoms (e.g. water into hydrogen and oxygen) Method: Systematic introspection

Answer 9

There is external observation and internal observation (inside own mind) Wundt described psychology as the ‘science of conscious experience’ Therefore the best method is to observe the conscious experience However, only the person having the experience can observe it… Thus he used introspection Observation: Observer must pay close attention to the stimulus (used observers trained in introspection) Experimental control: Experiment creates external conditions that are stable across time and participants Observer must report the elements of consciousness (e.g. duration of a stimulus, size etc.)

Answer 10

Wundt noted that introspective reports were unverifiable Memory can often play tricks with recollection of psychological states As a result higher mental processes will be too complex to study

Answer 11

Participants may not agree on their introspections Problem of validity: Who was right? As it’s subjective, repeating the study will not help Wundt acknowledges this problem but thought that further training could help

Answer 12

Introspection could also be classified as ‘retrospection’.. .. depending on the time between the stimulus and report Examining an experience in an introspective manner may alter it (e.g. introspecting on anger may cause the anger to subside)

Answer 13

Imageless thoughts In problem solving often cannot report on their introspections. The solution ‘just appears’ Implies that many psychological processes are not available for introspective access

Answer 14

First to teach psychology courses: Harvard 1875 “ the stream of consciousness” Consciousness is not a thing, but a process. Unlike Wundt, James did not believe in breaking down experiences. Pragmatism – “true beliefs” are those the believer finds useful. Functionalism

Answer 15

Pioneer in humane treatment of patients, classification of disorders.

Answer 16

After work with Charcot, Fliess and Breuer, Freud became convinced that mental illness was not just physiological and that psychological treatment could be effective. Breuer’s ‘talking cure’ was the seed for psychoanalysis. Freud’s clinical work suggested that many neurotic symptoms could be traced to early traumas, unconscious in adult life, that affected the development of personality. He abandoned an early theory of ‘childhood seduction’, but he retained the idea that sexuality was a part of early parent-child relations.

Answer 17

Anna O - A patient with Hysteria

Answer 18

Freud believed psychology influences caused disorders Wanted to see what these psychological influences were Psychoanalysis Treatment Process: Patients revealed painful, embarrassing thoughts in the unconscious (through talking, free association). Once these memories were retrieved and released... the patients then would feel better

Answer 19

Conscious - what you are currently aware of Preconscious - info not in conscious but is able to be retrieved when needed Unconscious - Massive amount hidden from view

Answer 20

Primitive, unconscious portion of the personality Houses the most basic drives and stores repressed memories “Pleasure Principle”

Answer 21

Mind’s storehouse of values, moral attitudes learned from parents and society, same as common notion of conscience

Answer 22

Conscious, rational part of personality Charged with keeping peace between superego and id

Answer 23

Eros and Thanatos (Love and death) Eros drives us toward life and procreation Thanatos drives us to risk-seeking Death instinct - people have an innate attraction to death and destruction e.g watching true crime

Answer 24

“Slip of the Tongue” not something you meant to say, but was brought out through your unconscious thought

Answer 25

Symbolic meaning of dream images, what your unconscious mind is thinking

Answer 26

Franz Anton Mesmer “mesmerism” Jean-Martin Charcot Neurologist who used hypnosis on patients Joseph Breuer Could reduce severity of symptoms

Answer 27

Developed by Carl Jung - write a word down and then create lines to other words associated with this

Answer 28

These clashes are called intrapsychic or psychodynamic conflicts. Psychic energy cannot be destroyed, only redistributed. This process can cause stress and anxiety. The ego tries to prevent anxiety, guilt and other unpleasant feelings. Sometimes the ego helps us negotiate situations well and sometimes we use… Defense Mechanisms

Answer 29

Freud believed that personality formed during life’s first few years divided into: Psychosexual Stages During these stages stages the id’s (the devil) pleasure seeking energies focus on pleasure sensitive body areas called erogenous zones. THE PLEASURE PRINCIPLE In each stage the child must get enough gratification to be able to move to the next stage Too much gratification can cause problems Too little gratification the child can not move to the next For normal development a child must work through all the stages Fixation - being stuck and struggling through a particular psychosexual stage. You move on in life, but may have ‘issues’ that arise from the struggles during that stage.

Answer 30

1: The Oral stage (birth – 18 mths) focus on the mouth Pleasure is gained through sucking e.g. Breast feeding If child stays fixated in this stage in adulthood can be Smoker Bite fingernails Sexually attracted to large breasts

Answer 31

2: The anal stage 18 mth – 3 years Focus on the anus Pleasure gained from going to the toilet e.g. Potty training If child stays fixated in this stage in adulthood can be: Anally retentive – fussy, overly tidy, OCD (if punished during potty training) Anally expulsive - messy & disorganized

Answer 32

The phallic stage 3 – 6 years Focus on the genitals Exploration and interest in genitals In Greek mythology - a phallic symbol is that of a male genital and deal with incestuous feelings. Go through either: The Oedipus Complex (for boys) The Electra Complex (for girls)

Answer 33

Young boy desires his mother Jealous of father for his mother’s attention and larger penis Fear father will castrate him STATE OF CONFLICT! Resolved by identifying with father and repressing desire for mother This gives rise to development of superego

Answer 34

She starts to sexually desire her father who has a penis. The girl begins to develop penis envy. She blames her mother for removing her penis. The girl sees her mother as a sexual rival for her father. To resolve this, the girl represses her feelings for her father and begins to identify with her mother The superego develops, she replaces penis envy with desire for a baby.

Answer 35

Children cope with the threatening feelings by repressing them and by identifying with the rival parent. Through this process of identification their superego gains strength incorporating parents’ values.

Answer 36

The sexual drive remains dormant Focus on school play mostly with same sex peers Until puberty begins

Answer 37

5: The genital stage (adolescent & Up) Focus on genitals Begin to become attracted to the opposite sex Adult sexuality. Feeling more comfortable with the mature understanding of what sex means and what is about. Comfort and maturity in expressing with the sexual feelings towards others.

Answer 38

Developed grand ideas with massive overall and overarching reach. No longer influential in psychology, but in literature ! Therapeutic Influence He didn’t invent the talking cure, but popularized it as a treatment for psychology disorders that is still used today Personality stages and theory 1st comprehensive personality theory ever! Role of the Unconscious Freud’s theory pins itself to the unconscious and there are MANY ways that the unconscious mind plays a pivotal role in human behavior.

Answer 39

Adler, Horney, A. Freud, Jung

Answer 40

Like Freud, Alfred Adler believed in childhood tensions, however these tensions were social in nature & not sexual. A child struggles with inferiority complex during growth & strives for superiority & power. Founder of “Individual Psychology” (his term for personality). Studied ‘inferiority complex’ and is recognized for making major breakthrough in that area of Personality.

Answer 41

Thought Freud emphasized unconscious too much. There are conscious drives too! Began early work with people with physical disabilities. Observed that while some people with disabilities motivated to overcome, others felt defeated We gain confidence when we realize we are able to meet external goals (those who do not learn this develop inferiority)

Answer 42

Karen Horney (Horn-nay) felt that sex and aggression were not the primary constituents for determining personality. Horney believed in the social aspects of childhood growth and development. Children were trying to overcome a sense of helplessness. She countered Freud’s assumption that women have weak superegos and suffer from “penis-envy.” Freud believed that boys had the power and were given more opportunities. Freud believed that women envied those opportunities. Considered a founder of “Humanistic Psychoanalysis” & “Feminist Psychology”

Answer 43

“Shoulds”: internalized beliefs from toxic environment. Toxic social environments create unhealthy belief systems in people “bargain with fate”- we think we can control environment if we follow shoulds. “Real Self” (authentic desires) vs. “Ideal self” (should).

Answer 44

The super ego becomes clear only when it confronts the ego with hostility. Super ego speaks with language of guilt and shame We hear the super ego when we berate ourselves.

Answer 45

Methods used by ego to unconsciously protect itself against anxiety caused by conflict between id’s demands and superego’s constraints. - only unhealthy when they cause self-defeating behavior & emotional problems {remember id=devil; super ego=angel}

Answer 46

Carl Jung (Yung) collective unconscious which contained a common reservoir of images derived from our species’ past. A psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of the extraverted and the introverted personality, archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has been influential in psychiatry and in the study of religion, literature, and related fields. Jung's primary disagreement with Freud stemmed from their differing concepts of the unconscious. Jung saw Freud's theory of the unconscious as incomplete and unnecessarily negative. Archetypes - universal symbolic images that appear across cultures in myths, art, stories, & dreams

Answer 47

Myths and symbols are strikingly similar across cultures Result from a shared knowledge and experience The memory of this shared experience is the “collective unconscious” Expressed as archetypes: symbols that organize behavior patterns

Answer 48

Wise old man The Goddess The Shadow The Hero The trickster The Animus (masculine component of female personality) The Anima (feminine part of male personality) The Persona – our public image

Answer 49

- Early experimentalists focus on measurement - How do we measure mind and consciousness? - Methods of introspection have limitations - Psychoanalysis looks at unconscious mind

Answer 50

Introspection is not verifiable, subjective not objective. - Caused a shift to 'behaviourism' - Where psychology is not about experience but about observable objective behaviour - Used animal learning as can carefully control environment

Answer 51

“a type of learning in which a neutral stimulus acquires the capacity to evoke a response that was originally evoked by another stimulus”

Answer 52

Found associations between previously unlinked stimuli Unconditioned Stimulus (food) Unconditioned Response (salivating) Conditioned Stimulus (bell) Conditioned Response (salivating)

Answer 53

Focused on the acquisition of behaviour Looked at how cats learned to escape from a puzzle box Animal made a response and was rewarded if it was correct (escaping and food) S-R PROBABILITIES: (Stimulus-Response) Learning occurs when there is an increase in positive S-R probabilities Forgetting occurs when there is a decrease in positive S-R probabilities

Answer 54

Behaviour depends on consequence (reward/punishment)

Answer 55

Founder of behaviourism Did not like introspection, Or participating in introspection Wanted a break between philosophy and psychology Knowledge should be based on observable phenomena Learned about Pavlov’s work with animals Looked at conditioning with humans

Answer 56

Must be completely objective – rules out any subjective interpretations Not to describe a conscious state but to predict and control overt behaviour Believed that work on animals could tell us about human behaviour

Answer 57

Albert B – 11 month old boy Conditioned Albert to fear a white rat Generalized to other stimuli

Answer 58

Watson believed conditioned learning could account for all kinds of behaviour E.g. human emotions are conditioned (All except fear, rage and love  innate responses) Conditioned reflex was a model for behaviour Thinking did not involve the brain (it was a muscular act)

Answer 59

Watson believed it was environment that was important

Answer 60

Radical Behaviourism Learning in life requires more than passive acquisition Operant conditioning – modification of behaviour Respondent conditioning – new S-R connections Built on Thorndike’s Law of Effect – relationship between response and reward Skinner Box

Answer 61

Learning in which voluntary responses come to be controlled by their consequences: Favorable consequences, called “reinforcers”, tend to cause organisms to repeat the behaviors that precede them, and Unfavorable consequences, called “punishers”, tend to discourage behaviors.

Answer 62

Rats press a lever by accident  dropped food pellet Rewarded for behaviour Reinforcement – behaviour occurs with greater frequency Punishment– causes behaviour to occur less frequency

Answer 63

During World War II, the US Navy required a weapon effective against German battleships. Lenses projected an image of distant objects onto a screen in front of each bird. Thus, when the missile was launched from an aircraft within sight of an enemy ship, an image of the ship would appear on the screen. The screen was hinged, such that pecks at the image of the ship would guide the missile toward the ship. project was abandoned

Answer 64

When Skinner and wife had a baby, Skinner designed this crib Intention to make baby comfortable, confident, mobile, and healthy

Answer 65

Complex behaviour are just chains of simple associations Behaviorism can account for ALL behaviour and human psychology Reinforcement determines behaviour Including language Free will is an illusion?

Answer 66

Behaviorism - “is a theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should study observable behavior”. Behavioral theorists view personality as a collection of response tendencies that are tied to various stimulus situations. response tendencies are shaped by classical conditioning, operant conditioning

Answer 67

Ivan Pavlov First observed classical conditioning in dogs. Edward Thorndike Law of Effect: Behaviour depends on consequence (reward/punishment) John Watson Father of behaviorism Conditioning in humans. BF Skinner Operant conditioning – shaping behaviour.

Answer 68

Behaviourists wanted to remove mind, consciousness, purpose and cognition from psychology Problem 1: behaviour often does show purpose. Problem 2: Evolutionary constraints on what is learnt Problem 3. Much of human experience is unobservable. Problem 4. It cannot explain a natural language.

Answer 69

Children have an innate capacity to learn language “ Language acquisition device”

Answer 70

This new approach, developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, was directly tied to the development of the computer. Researchers seized on the computer as a model for the way in which human mental activity takes place; the computer was a tool that allowed researchers to specify the internal mechanisms that produce behaviour.

Answer 71

Way in which information is processed and manipulated in remembering, thinking, and knowing

Answer 72

Approaches seeking to explain observable behavior by investigating mental processes and structures that cannot be directly observed

Answer 73

George Miller and Jerome Bruner (1950-60s) Developed Center for Cognitive Studies (Harvard) Looked at language, memory, perception George Miller “ The Magic Number 7, plus or minus 2” How accurately can we distinguish stimuli: flash dots Present with series of digits: can recall if 7 or less.

Answer 74

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: Super Cali Fragi Listic Expi Ali Docious

Answer 75

Jerome Bruner: Knowing is a process, not a product

Answer 76

Mind is connected to physical word via concepts of information, computation and feedback Mind is not a blank slate An infinite range of behaviour can be generated by finite combinatorial programs in the mind Universal mental mechanisms can underlie superficial variation across culture The mind is a complex system composed of many interacting parts

Answer 77

Information Processing Inputs and outputs, computation Put a bunch of these together and you get a brain Mind = Brain Mind is real, but it is mechanistic

Answer 78

Computer metaphor Storage capacity = memory Programming codes = language Computer programs function same as human mind? Both: - Receive and process large amounts of information Store information Retrieve information

Answer 79

Considered by some as the father of computer science Played a major role in the development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Created the Turing machine – stores information in memory and has the process (program) to operate on that information Are all other machines (including the brain) mathematically equivalent to this?

Answer 80

Test a machine’s capability to demonstrate intelligence Computer may be able to follow instructions/simulate intelligence Turing test - if you can have a conversation with a computer and believe it to be real then it must have some kind of intelligence

Answer 81

Dominant schools of thought about how to study the mind scientifically have changed. Often periods of upheaval, revolution

Answer 82

Diederik Stapel, a prolific Dutch social psychologist was investigated for fraud Suspicious behaviour: He often supplied the data to his grad students His grad students working in the lab remarked that stats for different studies showed similar means and SDs After investigation, admitted his fraud and found 25 published papers were based on fabricated data! Eventually 58 papers are retracted

Answer 83

Formed in 2011 and grew to 27- scientists from over 50 countries

Answer 84

97% of original studies reported significant effects 36% of replications had significant effects in same direction

Answer 85

so-called replicators are “shameless little bullies” and “second stringers” who engage in tactics “out of Senator Joe McCarthy’s playbook.”

Answer 86

HARKing Low power P-Hacking Publication Bias

Answer 87

Journals prefer positive findings 199-2011 104 conference abstracts 54 supported the bilingual advantage 63% got published 50 challenged the bilingual advantage 36% got published

Answer 88

Hypothesisng after results are known 1. Generate a hypothesis. “people with messy bedrooms are smarter” 2. Collect some data 3. You found that people with cleaner bedrooms are smarter. 4. Change your hypothesis and publish your paper. Yay!

Answer 89

Statistical hacks to get a p value <.05 1. Stop collecting data once p<.05 2. Analyze many measures, but report only those with p<.05 3. COllect and analyze many conditions but only report those with p<.05 4. Use covariates to get p<.05 5. Exclude participants to get p<.05 6. Transform the data to get p<.05

Answer 90

Replicate, replicate, replicate Beware of P-Hacking Boost your power Open data, open materials, open analysis Conduct pre-registered confirmatory studies Incorporate open science practices in teaching Insist on open science practices as reviewers Reward open science practices

Answer 91

We have a professional responsibility to ensure the findings we are reporting are robust and replicable Direct / conceptual replications (where possible) should be part of the research pipeline

Answer 92

p-hacking: Exploring researcher degrees of freedom to find a significant effect Implicit bias or explicit “data manipulation”

Answer 93

Why are they underpowered? Misunderstanding / lack of appreciation of power Large studies are expensive Large studies are time consuming We need to publish MORE papers, and MORE frequently

Answer 94

Make your experimental materials, data, & analysis scripts freely available online Others can easily replicate your work Others can check your data Others can check reproducibility of your analysis

Answer 95

Ex-Harvard Professor Made her data publicly available A graduate student found that the data were too good to be true Found to have falsified data in her research Suspended from Harvard

Answer 96

Hypothesis/Prediction Analysis plan Exclusion criteria

Answer 97

A good hypothesis/prediction should be Specific and measurable. Based on existing literature and/or preliminary data. Directional if possible

Answer 98

Specifiy the independent dependent variables and the statistical test (s) you will use. Different tests can lead to different interpretations. The more tests you run, the higher the chance of finding something 'significant'.

Answer 99

1. Design Study (Stage 1 peer review) 2. Collect and analyze data 3. Write report (Stage 2 peer review) 4. Publish report

Answer 100

Ensure the next-generation of researchers move on from the replication crisis Teach the importance of conducting well-powered studies Encourage critical evaluation of published studies in terms of open science practices

PS122 History of Psych Flashcards

(126 cards)