Psychology - Unit 1

• Psychology


  The scientific study of the mind and behavior
• Individuals who contributed to the field of psychology

  • William Wundt
  • William James
  • Stanley Hall
  • Mary Whiton Calkins
  • Margaret Floy Washburn
  • Charles Darwin
  • Dorothea Dix
  • Sigmund Freud
  • Ivan Pavlov
  • Jean Piaget
  • Carl Rogers
  • B.F. Skinner
  • John B. Watson
• William Wundt


  • Created the first laboratory dedicated exclusively to psychology research
  • Studied the senses, reaction time, attention spans, emotions
• William James


  • Taught the first psychology course at Harvard
  • Wrote the first psychology textbook
  • Created the theoretical approach of functionalism
  • Helped get more women into psychology
• Stanley Hall


  • First American to earn a PhD in psychology
  • Opened the first psychology lab in the US
  • Became the first president of the American Psychological Association
• Mary Whiton Calkins


  • Joined William James' graduate seminar despite pushback
  • Made significant contributions in memory research
  • Became the first female president of the APA
• Margaret Floy Washburn


  • Made significant contributions to animal research
  • First woman to earn a psychology degree
  • Second female president of the APA
• Charles Darwin


  • Proposed the idea of natural selection
  • Argued that behaviors and bodies were shaped through natural selection
• Dorothea Dix


  • Helped reshape the medical field by highlighting unfair and inhumane treatment of mentally ill people
  • Helped reform insane asylums
• Sigmund Freud


  • Created the psychoanalytic theory, later changed to the psychodynamic approach
  • Focused on studying the unconscious mind
  • Believed personalities are shaped by unconscious motives
• Ivan Pavlov


  • Focused on reflex conditioning, later known as classical conditioning
  • Most known for his experiment with dogs and their digestion
• Jean Piaget


  • First psychologist to conduct a systematic study of cognitive development
  • Created a theory of cognitive development focusing on children
• Carl Rogers


  • One of the founders of humanistic psychology
  • Made significant contributions to research and understanding of personality
• B.F. Skinner


  • Expanded on the theoretical approach of behavioralism
  • Known for operant conditioning which focuses on behaviors and consequences
• John B. Watson


  • One of the founders of behaviorism
  • Believed psychology should be a scientific study focused on observable things
• Historical schools of thought in psychology


  • Structuralism
  • Functionalism
  • Gestalt psychology
  • Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic
• Modern perspectives in psychology


  • Early behavioralism
  • Humanistic
  • Sociocultural
  • Evolutionary
  • Biological
  • Cognitive
• Domains of psychology


  • Biological
  • Developmental
  • Cognitive
  • Educational
  • Personality
  • Social
  • Positive
  • Psychometric
  • Industrial/Organizational
  • Counseling
  • Clinical
• Operational definition


  A description for an experiment in terms of procedure, actions or processes by which it could be observed and measured
• Population


  All the individuals in a group being studied
• Sample


  A selected group of people from the population
• Random sampling


  Each individual in a population has an equal chance of participating
• Stratified sampling


  The population is divided into different subcategories and a random sample is taken from each
• Sampling bias


  When the group in the sample does not represent the population
• Representative sample


  The sample group represents all the different people in the population
• Research methods


  • Experiments
  • Correlational studies
  • Surveys
  • Naturalistic observations
  • Case studies
  • Longitudinal studies
  • Cross-sectional studies
• Hypothesis


  A testable prediction or assumption made before research is completed
• Theory


  A statement supported by data from completed research that explains a question, thought or phenomena
• Causal relationship


  When one variable (independent variable) causes another variable (dependent variable)
• Confounding variable


  Other variables besides the independent variable that could impact the dependent variable
• Third variable problem


  When other variables besides the independent and dependent variable impact the results of a study
• Random assignment


  Each participant has an equal chance of being put into the control or experimental group
• Participants would be told wrong answers and conflicting information by other teenagers the researchers would then observe the participant to see if they had conformed to the group decision
• Independent variable


  The number of teenagers in the group surrounding the participant
• Dependent variable


  Whether the participant conforms their answer to the group of teenagers
• Confounding variables are other variables besides the independent variable that could impact the dependent variable
• If there are other variables impacting an experiment or study it may skew the result, this is known as the third variable problem
• Random assignment


  Each participant of a study has an equal chance of being put into the control group or experimental group
• Random sample is when each person in the population has an equal chance of being chosen for the study
• Single blind study


  Participants in an experiment are unaware of which group in the experiment they're part of