Psychology 100

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psychology

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the scientific study of behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism's physical/mental state and external environment

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two key ideas of philosophy

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empiricism, rationalism

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empiricism

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view that knowledge can be gathered through careful observation, experimentation or measurement

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rationalism

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view that knowledge can be gained through logic and careful reasoning

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Rene Descartes

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"i think, therefore i am"; felt mind and body were separate; mind can exist without body

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phrenology

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study of the mind; joseph gall mapped people's heads

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structuralism

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wilhelm wundt; trained introspection; trained to analyse things

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functionalism

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emphasized function/purpose; william james

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psychoanalytical perspective

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sigmund freud; things on a subconscious level affect us; id, ego, superego

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behaviorism

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watson and skinner; little albert study; watson argued no consciousness, just stimulous and response; skinner added reinforcement

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gesalt psychology

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means whole/form

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existential psychology

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concerned with meaninglessness and alienation from modern life; rollo may "lost souls"

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humanistic psychology

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emphasizes nonverbal experience and altered states of consciousness; carl rogers looked at potential

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cognitive psychology

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study of mental process in broadest; how perceive, interpret, store and retrieve information

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evolutionary psychology

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origins of behaviors and mental processes, their adaptive value, the purposes they continue to serve

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biological/neuroscience perspective

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examines how heredity and biological strucutres affect mental processes and behavior

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positive psychology

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realising thoughts influence health; how happier people live longer

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three principles of psychology

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objectivity (keep open mind without preconceived ideas), accuracy (base thinking of detailed and thorough study of information that is precise as possible), and healthy scepticism (cautious view of data and ensure they are verified and established over time)

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scientific method

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used to discover knowledge about human behavior and mental processes; state problem; develop hypothesis; design a study; colelct/analyse data; repeating results; drawing conclutions and reporting results

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critical thinking

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thinking about and evualating thoughts, feelings, and behavior so we can clarify and improve them

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3 components of critical thinking

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affective (emotions), cognitive (critical thinking), behavior

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experiment

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a procedure in which the researcher systematically manipulates and observes elements of a situation in order to answer a question and usually to test hypotheses and make inferences about cause and effect

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variable

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a condition or characteristic of a situation or a person that is subject to change within or across situations/individuals

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independent variable

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variable that is directly and purposely manipulated to see how other variables will be affected

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dependant variable

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expected to change; is measured

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hypothesis

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a tenative explanation or idea expressing a relationship between two events/variables that are to be evaluated in a research study

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participants/subjects

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human individuals who take part in an experiment and whose behavior is observed for research data collection

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experimental group

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a group of participants to whom a treatment is given

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control group

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the comparison group; no treatment given

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confounding variables

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variables that may effect the outcome of the experiment

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operational definition

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definition of a variable in terms of the set of methods/procedures used to measure/study that variable

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sample size

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group of participants who are assumed to be representative of the population about which the inference is being made

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significant differences

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a difference that is unlikely to have occurred because of chance alone and is most likely due to the systematic manipulation of the independent variable

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self fulfilling prophecy

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experiment that leads to promised results

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placebo

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a treatement that has no effect, but presented as possibly producing certain effects

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double blind

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neither researcher or participants know who is control group or experimental group

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single blind

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individual does not know if getting real drug or placebo

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demand characteristics

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experimentor may tip off participants that will change their behaviors

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hawthorne effect

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people behave differently when being watched

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correlational coefficients

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only show a relationship between two variables; degree of relatedness

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psychologist

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a professional who studies behavior and uses behavioral principles in scientific research or applied settings

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clinical psychologist

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mental health practioner who uses a particular perspective to work with individuals who are experiencing mental health difficulties

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neoruscience

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studying how biological processes relate to behavioral and mental processes

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neuron

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cell of nervous system responsible fo receiving and transmitting electrochemical information

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types of neurons

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sensory; motor (muscles); inter-neurons (messages go through)

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glial cells

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neurons held in place and supported by glial cells that surround neurons, perform cleanup tasks, insulate one neuron from one another so that messages are not scrambled

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deindrites

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little tree; receive electrical info and transmits to cell body

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cell body

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soma; accepts incoming emssages; if enough stimulation will pass message on to axon

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axon

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carries info away from cell body

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nodes of ranvier

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gaps formed between myelin sheath cells along axons

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myelin sheath

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coating around axons of some neurons; helps insulate and speed neural impulses; speeds rate

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action potential

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all or no message; after neuron fires, beief refactory period where cannot fire again

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terminal branches

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where axon branches out at the end

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neurotransmitters

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chemicals are released by neurons that affect other neurons; regulate actions of glands, muscles; promote sleep; affect learning; motivations, etc

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endorphins

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produce effects similar to opiod drugs; mood, main , memory, learning

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serotonin

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mood, sleep, appetite, sensory, temperature, pain, impulsivity; low levels = depression

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acetylcholine

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muscle action, cognitive functioning, memory, REM sleep, emotion; suspected in alzheimers