Psychology - Chapter 1

Front 1

Psycholgoy

Back 1

the science of behavior and mental processes

Hint 1

Behavior: is any action an organism performs, including those you can and cannot see
Mental processes: are activites involved in thinking

Front 2

Cognitive psychologists

Back 2

study sensation, perception, learning, memory, judgement, decision making, and phenomena related to these basic mental and behavioral processes

Hint 2

is the memory of how to tie shoes developed, stored, and retrieved in the same ways as the memory of a friend's telephone number

Front 3

Biological psychologists

Back 3

study the biological factors that underlie behavior and mental processes

Hint 3

eating certain foods changes the chemical interactions within and between nerve cells in your brain, thereby possibly inducing drowsiness

Front 4

Personality psychologists

Back 4

study what makes one person different from others and look at the relationships among personality characteristis, behavior, and mental processes

Hint 4

why are some people consistently optimistic and others pessimistic?

Front 5

Developmental psychologists

Back 5

study the causes and effects of changes in behavior and mental processes over the life span

Hint 5

how do people develop morals, social skills, and intellecutal abillities?

Front 6

Quantitiative psychologists

Back 6

develop statistics to evaluate data and improve the validity of tests

Hint 6

researches may consult a quantitative psychologist about how to analyze the results of a study

Front 7

Data

Back 7

the numerical representations of research skills

Hint 7

a quiz score of 9 correct out of 10 possible is a piece of data that represents your knowledge of the information tested on that quiz

Front 8

Clinical and counseling psychologists

Back 8

study abnormal behavior and mental processes, what causes them and how to treat them. Clinical psychologists also evaluate how well and why a treatment works

Hint 8

is schizophrenia hereditary? what therapy produces the best results with schizophrenic patients?

Front 9

Community psychologists

Back 9

attempt to prevent psychological disorders and the treat people in their own communities

Hint 9

some community psychologists examine the problems students have in making the transitino from high school to college and design programs to lessen these problems

Front 10

Educational psychologists

Back 10

study learning and teaching methods

Hint 10

educational psychologists found that when students take notes in their own words, the recall the information better

Front 11

School psychologits

Back 11

study how to diagnose learning disabilities, specialize in IQ testing, and set up programs based on the findings of their tests and evaluations

Hint 11

school psychologists identify students' academic strenths and problems and tailor programs to meet students' needs

Front 12

Social psychologists

Back 12

study how people influence one another and the interactions between people in groups

Hint 12

how is behavior influenced by the type of group or situation a person is in? In a crowd, an anonymous person may be boisterous; however, when recognized as an individual (like in class), the same person mayb be quiet and obedient

Front 13

Industrial-organizational psychologists

Back 13

study factors that affect the efficiency, productivity , and satisfaction of workers and the organizations that employ them

Hint 13

an industrial-organization psychologist might help a company identify why workers are dissatisfied with their jobs

Front 14

Health psychologists

Back 14

study the effects of behavior on health and the impact of illness on behavior

Hint 14

a health psychologist might study the impact of one's ability to cope with stress on overall health.

Front 15

Sports psychologists

Back 15

study ways to enhance athletic performance

Hint 15

a sport psychologist might study how visualization prior to a race helps improve an athlete's performance in the race

Front 16

Forensic psychologists

Back 16

create criminal profiles, assist in jury selection, and are involved in legal aspects of insanity and psychology

Hint 16

a forensic psychologist could assist in identifying commonalitities across cromes, and using those commanalities to develop a profile of the perpetrator

Front 17

Engineering psychologists

Back 17

study the relationships of humans to computers and other machines

Hint 17

an engineering psychologist could study how the control panel on an airplane could be designed to minimize pilot error

Front 18

Environmental psychologists

Back 18

study the effects of the environment on people's behavior and mental processes

Hint 18

an environmental psychologist might exaine how the lighting in a room affects a person's mood

Front 19

Empiricism

Back 19

is the position that facts should come from observation rather than conjecure

Hint 19

instead of speculating about why a group may follow the advice of a poor leader, psychologists interview group members or design an experiment to answer the question

Front 20

Consciousness

Back 20

is the mental experience that arises from sensory and perceptual systems

Hint 20

when you ean an apple, you experien ce it through your senses: you se its redness, tasts its sweetness, and so on. You integrate sensations into a perception that you are eathing an apple; that is, you are conscious of the apple and its taste

Front 21

Biological approach

Back 21

assumes that biologiccal factors - such as genetics, brain activity, or hormonal activity - are the most important factors determining behavior and mental processes

Hint 21

people who are chronically depressed may have ebnormal levels of certain chemicals important to mood

Front 22

Evolutionary approach

Back 22

assumes that human and animal behavior is the result of evolution through natural selection

Hint 22

psychologists study the adaptive value of behavior (running away from threats), the anatomical and biological systems that make the behavior possible (muscular construction of limbs), and the environmental conditions that encourage or discourage it (a culture may not approve of people running away)

Front 23

Psychodynamic approach

Back 23

assumes that our behavior results from our sturggle to fulfill instinctive desires and whishes sdespite society"s rules

Hint 23

freud might have said that surgeons aexpress aggressive instincts in a manner that is approved of by society (performing surgery in an operating room rather than stabbing a stranger in a dark alley)

Front 24

Behavioral approach

Back 24

assumes that the rewards and punishments that eachp erson experiences determine most behaviors and thoughts

Hint 24

doctors become surgeons because they are rewarded by their salaries, by the respect their positions recieve, or by the satisfaction they recieve from healting

Front 25

Cognititve approach

Back 25

assumes that mental processes guide behavior. the brain takes in information; processes it throug hperception, memory, thought, judgement, and decision making; and generates integrated behavior patterns

Hint 25

a psychologist taking this appraoch might try to understand a devastating plane crash by studying the decisions and judgement calls the pilots had to make just before and as the plane was going down

Front 26

Humanistic approach

Back 26

assumes that people control their behavior. this approach is thus unlike other models, which assume that biology, instincts, or the presence of rewards and punishments in the environment control behavior. the humanistic approach also assumes that people have an inborn tendency to grow toward their unique potental

Hint 26

the innate tendency to grow toward one's unique potential is analogous to the development of a flower that will bloom if it receives adequate light, water, and nourishment. people, too, will achieve their potential if their environments provide the correct psychological and phsyical nourishment

Front 27

Sociocultural variables

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are factors that differ across cultures to shape people's experiences and how they interpret them

Hint 27

in some cultes, social class is considered changeable by pursuing educatio nand a career; in other cultures, social class is viewed as a binding, inherited characteristic

Front 28

Culture

Back 28

is the accumulation of values, ruels of behavior, forms of expression, religious beliefs, occupation choice, and so on, for a gropu of people who share a common language and environment

Hint 28

in some cultures, religious preactices require a lot of loud singing and open expression of emotion and experience. in other cultures, religous practice is more formal and staid

Front 29

Critical thinking

Back 29

is the process of evaluation propositions of hypotheses and making judgements about them on the basis of well-supported evidence

Hint 29

5 steps of critical thinking
a) what am i being asked to believe of accept? what is the hypothesis
b)what avidence is available to support the claim? is it reliable and valid?
c) are thier alternative ways of interpretign the evidence?
d)what additional evidence would help to evaluate the alternatives
e) what conclusions are jmost reasonable based on the evidence and the number of alternative explanations?

Front 30

Hypothesis

Back 30

is an assertion or prediction stated as a testable proposition, usually in the form of an if-then statement

Hint 30

if rats have access to toys, then they can proctice behaviors similar to those used in running a maze and perform better than rates raised without access to toys

Front 31

Operational definition

Back 31

is a statement of the specific methods used to measure a variable

Front 32

Variables

Back 32

are specific factos or characteristics that can vary. researches examina and describe relationships between variables

Front 33

Reliability

Back 33

is the degress to which results are repeatable of consistent

Front 34

Validity

Back 34

is the degree to which results accurately describe a phenomenon

Front 35

Theory

Back 35

is a cohesive cluster of explanations of behavior and mental processes. theories are not definitive; they are constantly amended as researches collect and analyze new data

Front 36

Naturalistic observation

Back 36

a method of gathering descriptive information, involves watching behaviors of interest, without interfering, as they occur in their natural environments

Front 37

Case studies

Back 37

are used to collect descriptive data through the intensive examination of a phenomenon in a particular individual, gropu or situation. case studies are particularly useful for studying rare or complex phenomena

Front 38

Surveys

Back 38

questionnairs or special interviews administered to a large gropu. surveys are designed to obtain descriptions of people's attidudes, beliefs, opinions, or behavioral intentions

Front 39

Correlation

Back 39

is an indication of the relationship between two variables (x and y). The correlation coefficient (r), a number between –1.00 and +1.00, is a mathematical representation of the strength and direction of a correlation. The higher the absolute value of r is, the stronger the relationship is. A perfect correlation, whether positive or negative (where r equals ±1.00), describes a perfect relationship; knowing the value of x allows the certain prediction of y. A positive correlation (where r varies from 0 to +1.00) describes two variables that change in the same direction: as x increases, so does y (and vice versa). A negative correlation (where r varies from –1.00 to 0) describes an inverse relationship: as x increases, y decreases (and vice versa)

Front 40

Experiment

Back 40

allows a researcher to control the data-collection process. A random sample of subjects is selected and divided into a control group and an experimental group. Both groups are identical in every way except the administration of the independent variable to the experimental group. The dependent variable is then measured in both groups. Any difference in the dependent variable between the two groups is caused by the independent variable. Experiments show causation

Front 41

Independent variables

Back 41

are manipulated or controlled by the researcher in an experiment. They are administered to the experimental group

Front 42

Dependent variables

Back 42

are the behaviors or mental processes affected by the independent variable. They are observed and measured before and after the administration of the independent variable

Front 43

Experimental group

Back 43

receives the independent variable in an experiment

Front 44

Control group

Back 44

provides a baseline for comparison to the experimental group and does not receive the independent variable. This group is identical to the experimental group in every way except that these subjects do not receive the independent variable

Front 45

Confounding variables

Back 45

are factors affecting the dependent variable in an experiment instead of or along with the independent variable. Examples of confounding variables include random variables, experimenter bias, and the placebo effect

Front 46

Random variables

Back 46

are uncontrollable factors that could affect the dependent variable in an experiment instead of or along with the independent variable

Front 47

Random assignment

Back 47

is a process of assigning participants to experimental conditions such that each participant is equally likely to be assigned to the control or experimental group. Random assignment is useful because it tends to spread the effects of uncontrolled variables randomly across the control and experimental groups

Front 48

Placebo

Back 48

is a process of assigning participants to experimental conditions such that each participant is equally likely to be assigned to the control or experimental group. Random assignment is useful because it tends to spread the effects of uncontrolled variables randomly across the control and experimental groups

Front 49

Experimenter bias

Back 49

occurs when a researcher inadvertently encourages subjects to respond in a way that supports her hypothesis

Front 50

Double-blind design

Back 50

neither the experimenter nor the subjects know who has recieved the independent variable

Front 51

Sampling

Back 51

is a procedurer used to choose subjects for research. Ideally, the subjects chosen should be representative of the population being studied

Front 52

Random samples

Back 52

are groups of subjects selected from the population of interest. A sample is random if every person in the population has an equal chance of being selected. If a sample is not random, it is said to be biased

Front 53

Biased

Back 53

if everyone in the population of interest does not have an equal chance of being selected to participate in a study

Front 54

Statistacally significant

Back 54

it is an indication that the group differences or correlation is larger than would occur by chance