Psych 101 Test Chapter 1

Front 1

What is the definition of psychology?

Back 1

Scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Front 2

What is scientific study?

Back 2

Observation via scientific method

Prevent possible biases from leading to faulty observations

Precise and careful measurement

Front 3

What are mental processes?

Back 3

Internal, covert activity of the mind

Front 4

What is behavior?

Back 4

Overt, outward actions and reactions

Front 5

What are the goals of psychology?

Back 5

1. Description: observe behavior to figure out what's happening (i.e. observe more men in computer science than women)

2. Explanation: give theory as to why behavior is happening (women perceive life of computer scientist as gross)

3. Prediction: determine future, will it happen again? (i.e. more women will not go into computer science unless perception of it is changed)

4. Control: how can we change this prediction? (we can change environment to change stigma of computer scientist)

Front 6

What is a theory?

Back 6

explanation of a set of observations or facts

Front 7

Who were some of the first psychologists?

Back 7

Plato: dualsim, the soul is separate than body

Aristole (Plato's student): more of soul and body

Descartes: pineal gland=consciousness

Gustav Fechner: experiments on perception (first psych exp.), 1860

Hermann von Helmholtz: visual/aud. perception in 1863

Front 8

What did Wilhelm Wundt do?

Back 8

In 1879 in Leipzig, Germany, came up with objective introspection: objectively examining one's thoughts and mental activities

Example: describing the physical sensation of holding a rock

Front 9

What was Edward Titchener known for?

Back 9

Structuralism; ideas could be broken down into emotions and sensations (i.e. what is blue? what does it tell us/how does it make us feel?)

Brought structuralism to America

Front 10

What is structuralism?

Back 10

First school of psychology; focused on the structure or basic elements of the mind

Died out in early 1900s

Front 11

Who was Margaret Washbun?

Back 11

Titchener's student
First woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology

Front 12

What is the significance of Harvard and psychology?

Back 12

It was the first school that offered psychology as an area of study

Front 13

What is William James known for?

Back 13

Functionalism: studies how the mind allows people to function, i.e. adapt, live, work and play, NOT about consciousness/ideas

Behavioral traits in terms of Darwinism

Front 14

What modern fields of psychology did functionalism influence?

Back 14

Educational psychology
Evolutionary psychology
Industrial/organizational psychology

Front 15

Who is Mary Whiton Calkins?

Back 15

1st female president of the American Psychology Association (APA)

Front 16

What is Gestalt Psychology?

Back 16

Idea that perception cannot be taken apart; it needs to be seen as a whole because we naturally seek patterns

Max Wertheimer studied sensation and perception, began this thought process

Front 17

What is Gestalt psychology now part of?

Back 17

Cognitive psychology: field focusing not only on perception but learning, memory, thought processes and problem solving

Front 18

What theory is Freud most known for?

Back 18

Psychoanalysis: a trained professional helps a person change their behavior and gives insight into them

Front 19

What are some lesser ideas of Freud?

Back 19

Had patients with nervous disorders that had no apparent physical cause; said there is an unconscious mind we push/repress all of our urges and desires into, and their repressed urges (usually sexual and due to childhood experiences), trying to surface, cause nervous disorders

Front 20

What is behaviorism?

Back 20

Science of behavior that focuses on observable behavior only that must be seen and measured directly

Example: Oakland Growth study, watched behavior of kids growing up and linked maturity to growth

Front 21

What did Ivan Pavlov demonstrate?

Back 21

A reflex can be conditioned (learned); i.e. dogs salivate when they hear a bell, knowing a treat is near

Front 22

What was John B. Watson known for?

Back 22

Behaviorism, based on work of Pavlov

Believed that phobias are learned through conditioning ("Little Albert"), countering Freud's theories of unconsciousness

Front 23

What did Mary Cower Jones do?

Back 23

Duplicated "Little Albert" experiment with "Little Peter" experiment in which she taught Peter to fear the white rat, then counterconditioned it

Front 24

What are the seven modern perspectives of psychology?

Back 24

1. Psychodynamic
2. Behavioral
3. Humanistic
4. Cognitive
5. Sociocultural
6. Biopsychological
7. Evolutionary

Front 25

What is the psychodynamic perspective?

Back 25

An older perspective of psychology, based on psychoanalysis

Less emphasis of sexual motivations and behavior, more based on development of self and relationships as motivators for a person's behavior

Front 26

What is the behavioral perspective?

Back 26

Skinner and Watson began it
B.F. Skinner studied operant conditioning of voluntary behavior (concept of reinforcement--behavioral responses occurred when rewarded with pleasure)

Front 27

What is the humanistic perspective?

Back 27

Based on earlier roots of psychology

Reaction to behaviorism; people have free will, strive for self-actualization

Maslow and Carl Rogers are early founders

Front 28

What is the cognitive perspective of psychology?

Back 28

Focuses on memory, intelligence, perception, problem solving and learning

Cognitive neuroscience: the study of the physical workings of the brain

Front 29

What is the sociocultural perspective of psychology?

Back 29

Focuses on the relationship between social behavior and culture

Combination of social psychology (groups, social rules) and cultural psychology=how people act/what they are influenced by in different settings using cross-cultural research

Example: bystander effect

Front 30

What is the biopsychological perspective of psychology?

Back 30

The idea that human and animal behavior is the direct result of hormones, brain chemicals, etc. (part of neuroscience)

i.e. schizophrenia is a brain disorder due to a chemical imbalance

Front 31

What is the evolutionary perspective of biology?

Back 31

Overlaps with biopsychological perspective

Idea that there is a biological basis for characteristics and that the brain formed via natural selection

Looks at the way the mind works and why it works as it does

example: we don't eat bitter plants because we don't like taste; this is actually an adaptation against poisons in plants

Front 32

What is a psychiatrist?

Back 32

A medical doctor who has specialized in diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders; MD or DO degree, can prescribe meds

Front 33

What is a psychoanalysts?

Back 33

Either a psychiatrist or a psychologist who has special training in the theories of Sigmund Freud and his method of psychoanalysis

Front 34

What is a psychiatric social worker?

Back 34

A social worker with a master's and some training in therapy methods who focuses on the environmental conditions that can have an impact on mental disorders such as poverty, overcrowding, stress and drug abuse

Front 35

What is a psychologist?

Back 35

A professional with an academic degree and a specialized training in one or more areas of psychology

Can do counseling, teaching and research; may specialize in any one of a large number of areas wihthin psychology such as clinical, counseling, developmental, social, and personality among others

Front 36

What is the scientific method and why do we need to use it in psych?

Back 36

A system of gathering data so that bias and error in measurement are reduced

We need to use it because psychology is a science! We need to answer empirical questions that can be solved with real evidence (i.e. does life exist on Mars)

Front 37

What are the five steps of the scientific method?

Back 37

1. Perceive the question (from observation)
2. Form a hypothesis (educated tentative guess/explanation that explains observations)
3. Test hypothesis (without confirmation bias; we are trying to see if hypothesis is wrong)
4. Draw conclusions
5. Report results

Front 38

What are the three types of psychology research?

Back 38

Descriptive (observation)
Relational (when you want more than just descriptions of behavior)
Causal (experimental)

Front 39

What are four types of descriptive methods (ways to observe?)

Back 39

1. Naturalistic behavior: observing subjects in normal env.

2. Lab observation

3. Case study: one indv studied in great depth

4. Surveys: asking questions for people to answer

Front 40

What are some advantages/disadvantages to naturalistic observation?

Back 40

Adv: reduce observer effect (realistic pic. of behavior)

Dis: observer bias (need to use blind observers so observers don't know question and don't see what they want to see); each setting unique, observations therefore may not hold

Front 41

What are advantages/disadvantages of lab observation?

Back 41

Advantage: you have control of environment and can use specialized equipment

Disadvantage: may result in artifical behavior/observer effect

Front 42

What are the advantages/disadvantages of lab observation?

Back 42

Advantage: tremendous amount of detail, some you can only get this way

Disadvantage: can't apply results to others or generalize; prone to bias

Example of case study: Phineas Gage with steel rod in head

Front 43

What are the advantages/disadvantages of surveys?

Back 43

Advantages: get data from large numbers of people, sometimes private info

Disadvantages: researchers have to be careful who they survey, which is why they need to sue a representative sample

Not always accurate, people might give socially correct answer (courtesy bias) or wording may be different to some than others

Front 44

What is a population? Sample?

Back 44

Population=entire group of people/animals/things that researchers are interested in; Sample is random people taken from a population to answer survey

Front 45

What is a correlation?

Back 45

A measure of the relationship between two variables; produces a correlation coefficient r when put into math equation that represents direction of relationship and strength

(+1 to -1; closer to 1 or -1, the stronger the relationship; - means indirect, + means direct)

Knowing the value of one variable allows researchers to predict the value of the other variable

Front 46

What is one thing to remember about correlations?

Back 46

Does not prove causation! Just tells us if two variables are related and, if we know the value of one, we can find value of other

Front 47

What is an experiment?

Back 47

Only way to determine the cause and effect of behavior; deliberate manipulation of some variables while holding constant other variables

Front 48

What is an independent variable, dependent variable and the operational definition?

Back 48

Operational definition: definition of a variable of interest, specifically, and how it'll be measured (i.e. "aggressive behavior")

Independent variable: variable we manipulate
Dependent variable: variable we measure, changes in response to above

Front 49

What are the experimental group and control group?

Back 49

Experimental group: receives the manipulation
Control group: not subjected to the independent variable; controls for other factors (confounds) that may affect the outcome

People often given random assignment to one of the two groups to remove bias

Front 50

What is the placebo effect:

Back 50

When participants modify behavior consciously, thinking given treatment, when receive placebo instead

(if this is happening, in control group the dependent variable changes when the independent doesn't)

Front 51

What is the experimenter effect?

Back 51

Expectations of experimenter influence participants not delibertly and therefore changes results

Front 52

What is a single blind study?

Back 52

Participants in both groups don't know if given treatment or not

Front 53

What is a double blind study?

Back 53

Neither participants OR observers know who was in what group

Front 54

What is a quasi-experimental design?

Back 54

Not true experiments because no randomization, used when alternate designs are needed to test things (i.e. age)

Front 55

What is the institutional review board?

Back 55

Professional group that reviews the safety and consideration of participants

Front 56

What are some common ethical guidelines?

Back 56

1. Rights and well-being of participants must be weighed against the study's value to science
2. Participants must be allowed to make an informed decision about participation
3. Deception must be justified
4. Participants may withdraw anytime from study
5. Participants must be protected/told of risks
6. Participants must be debriefed and told nature of study/expectations
7. Data must remain confidential
8.(not in PP) If participants undergo consequences, researcher must remove and correct them

Front 57

Why do we do animal research?

Back 57

Attempt to answer questions not obtainable with human research

Ethics: avoid exposure to unneccessary pain or suffering; animals used in only 7% of studies

Front 58

What are advantages of animal research?

Back 58

1. live shorter lives (can do long term studies)
2. easier to control
3. simpler behavior
4. can do things to animals you can't do to humans while avoid unneccessary pain/suffering

Front 59

What are some tenants of critical thinking?

Back 59

Critical thinking: making reasoned judgements about claims
1. There are very few truths that do not need to be tested
2. All evidence is not equal in quality
3. Just because a person is an expert doesn't make everything they say true automatically
4. Need to have open mind

Front 60

QUIZ QUESTION: What is the most accurate definition of the discipline of psychology?

Back 60

The science of HUMAN behavior and mental processes

Front 61

QUIZ QUESTION: The goals of psychology are to...

Back 61

Describe, explain, predict and control behavior

Front 62

QUIZ QUESTION: In 1879, the first psychological laboratory was overseen by...

Back 62

Wilhelm Wundt

Front 63

QUIZ QUESTION: Participants in research early in psychology's history might have been asked to view a chair and describe its color, shape, and texture and other aspects of their conscious experience. These indviduals would have been using a method called...

Back 63

Objective introspection

Front 64

QUIZ QUESTION: Professor Beverly approaches questions about human behavior from a perspective that emphasizes bodily events and chemicals, such as hormones, associated with behavior. It is most likely that she accepts which of the following psychological approaches?

Back 64

Biopsychological

Front 65

QUIZ QUESTION: Dr. Mosher is a psychologist who tries to understand how people select their mates. She must be a(n)...

Back 65

Evolutionary psychologist

Front 66

QUIZ QUESTION: Which of the following statements is correct?

Back 66

A psychologist has no medical training

Front 67

QUIZ QUESTION: _________ is a system used for reducing bias and error in the measurement of data.

Back 67

The scientific method

Front 68

QUIZ QUESTION: "Children who watch violent cartoons will become more aggressive." According to the scientific method, this statement is most likely a______

Back 68

Hypothesis

Front 69

Sam conducted a naturalistic observation as a project for a psychology class. He observed the interactions of parents and children at a restaurant. Many of the people he observed seemed to notice him. When Sam described his work to his teacher, she suggested he find out more about the......

Back 69

Observer effect

Front 70

QUIZ QUESTION: A researcher stops people at the mall and asks them questions about their attitudes towards gun control. Which research technique is being used?

Back 70

Survey

Front 71

QUIZ QUESTION: Julie finds that the number of hours she sleeps each night is related to the scores she receives on quizzes the next day. As her sleep approaches 8 hours, her quiz scores improve; as her sleep drops to five hours, her quiz scores decline. She realizes that.........

Back 71

There is a positive correlation between the number of hours she sleeps and her quiz grades