[Psych101] Chapter 1 and 2

• Psychology


  The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
• Behavior


  Outward or overt actions and reactions
• Mental processes

  Internal, covert activity of our minds
• Psychology as a science

  • Prevent possible biases from leading to faulty observations
  • Precise and careful measurement
• Psychology's Four Goals

  • Description - What is happening?
  • Explanation - Why is it happening?
  • Prediction - Will it happen again?
  • Control - How can it be changed?
• Structuralism

  Focused on structure or basic elements of the mind
• Wilhelm Wundt's Psychology Laboratory

  • Developed in Germany in 1879
  • Developed the technique of objective introspection - process of objectively examining and measuring one's thoughts and mental activities
• Edward Titchener

  Wundt's student; brought structuralism to America
• Margaret Washburn

  Titchener's student; first woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology
• Structuralism died out in the early 1900s
• Functionalism

  How the mind allows people to adapt, live, work and play
• Fields influenced by Functionalism

  • Educational psychology
  • Evolutionary psychology
  • Industrial/organizational psychology
• Gestalt Psychology

  Gestalt - "good figure" psychology. Started with Wertheimer, who studied sensation and perception. Gestalt ideas are now part of the study of cognitive psychology, a field focusing not only on perception but also on learning, memory, thought processes, and problem solving.
• Psychoanalysis

  The theory and therapy based on the work of Sigmund Freud. Freud's patients suffered from nervous disorders with no found physical cause. Freud proposed that there is an unconscious (unaware) mind into which we push, or repress, all of our threatening urges and desires. He believed that these repressed urges, in trying to surface, created nervous disorders. Freud stressed the importance of early childhood experiences.
• Behaviorism

  The science of behavior that focuses on observable behavior only. Must be directly seen and measured. Proposed by John B. Watson, based much from the work of Ivan Pavlov who demonstrated that a reflex could be conditioned (learned). Watson believed that phobias were learned, as demonstrated in the case of "Little Albert".
• Psychodynamic Perspective

  Modern version of psychoanalysis, more focused on the development of a sense of self and the discovery of other motivations behind a person's behavior than sexual motivations.
• Behavioral Perspective

  B. F. Skinner studied operant conditioning of voluntary behavior. Behaviorism became a major force in the twentieth century. Skinner introduced the concept of reinforcement to behaviorism.
• Humanistic Perspective

  Owes far more to the early roots of psychology in the field of philosophy. Humanists held the view that people have free will, the freedom to choose their own destiny. Early founders: Abraham Maslow; Carl Rogers. Emphasizes the human potential, the ability of each person to become the best person he or she could be. Self-actualization - achieving one's full potential or actual self.
• Cognitive Perspective

  Focuses on memory, intelligence, perception, problem solving, and learning.
• Sociocultural Perspective

  Focuses on the relationship between social behavior and culture.
• Biopsychological Perspective

  Attributes human and animal behavior to biological events occurring in the body, such as genetic influences, hormones, and the activity of the nervous system.
• Evolutionary Perspective

  Focuses on the biological bases of universal mental characteristics that all humans share. Looks at the way the mind works and why it works as it does. Behavior is seen as having an adaptive or survival value.
• Types of Psychological Professionals

  • Psychiatrist
  • Psychoanalyst
  • Psychiatric Social Worker
  • Psychologist
• Psychologist

  Professional with an academic degree and specialized training in one or more areas of psychology. Can do counseling, teaching, and research and may specialize in any one of a large number of areas within psychology.
• Areas of specialization in psychology

  • Clinical
  • Counseling
  • Developmental
  • Social
  • Personality
• The Scientific Method

  • Perceive the question
  • Form a hypothesis
  • Test the hypothesis
  • Draw conclusions
  • Report your results so that others can try to replicate
• Naturalistic Observation

  Watching animals or humans behave in their normal environment. Major advantage: realistic picture of behavior. Disadvantages: observer effect - tendency of people or animals to behave differently from normal when they know they are being observed, and observer bias - tendency of observers to see what they expect to see.
• Participant Observation

  A naturalistic observation in which the observer becomes a participant in the group being observed (to reduce observer effect).
• Blind observers

  People who do not know what the research question is (to reduce observer bias).
• Laboratory Observation

  Watching animals or humans behave in a laboratory setting. Advantages: control over the environment, allows use of specialized equipment. Disadvantages: artificial situations that may result in artificial behavior.
• Case Study

  Study of one individual in great detail. Advantage: tremendous amount of detail. Disadvantage: cannot apply to others. Famous case study: Phineas Gage.
• Surveys

  Researchers will ask a series of questions about the topic under study. Given to a representative sample - randomly selected sample of subjects from a larger population of subjects.
• Population

  The entire group of people or animals in which the researcher is interested. Advantages: data from large numbers of people, study covert behaviors. Disadvantages: have to ensure a representative sample (or results not meaningful), people are not always accurate (courtesy bias).
• Correlation

  A measure of the relationship between two variables. Measures of two variables go into a mathematical formula and produce a correlation coefficient (r), which represents two things: direction of the relationship and strength of the relationship. Knowing the value of one variable allows researchers to predict the value of the other variable. Correlation coefficient ranges from -1.00 to +1.00. Closer to 1.00 or -1.00, the stronger the relationship between the variables.
• Positive correlation

  Variables are related in the same direction. As one increases, the other increases; as one decreases, the other decreases.
• Negative correlation

  Variables are related in opposite directions. As one increases, the other decreases.
• Correlation does not prove causation
• Experiment

  A deliberate manipulation of a variable to see if corresponding changes in behavior result, allowing the determination of cause-and-effect relationships.
• Operational Definition

  Definition of a variable of interest that allows it to be directly measured.
• Independent variable (IV)

  Variable in an experiment that is manipulated by the experimenter.