What is the definition of psychology?
scientific study of the mind and behavior
What's the empirical method?
method for acquiring knowledge based on observation, including experimentation, rather than a method only based on logical argument or previous authorities
Why is psychology a social science?
behavior is, at its roots, biological, meaning parts of psychology are a natural science. no biological organism exists in isolation, & our behavior is influenced by our interactions with others, making psychology a social science
What are the 4 goals of psychology, & what's their order?
1) Describe behavior 2) Explain behavior 3) Predict behavior 4) Control behavior
What are nativism & philosophical empiricism, & what modern debate do they address?
-nativism: belief stated by Plato that certain knowledge is innate -philosophical empiricism: belief by Aristotle that all knowledge is acquired through experience -modern debate: nature vs nurture
Monism: mind is a function of brain activity
Dualism: mind is distinct from the brain
How did Descartes say the mind and brain interacted?
-Dualist -Believed the mind & body were completely separate entities
What's phrenology, & what's the biggest problem with it?
-Phrenology: mental processes were localized to different brain areas -"assertiveness" in one area, "kindness" in another, totally wrong with how the brain works based on what we now know of anatomy & the brain stem
What trend did phrenology and Paul Broca’s discovery represent in regard to the mind-brain relation debate?
-led towards the founding of structuralism, as it reveals the importance of studying the mind based on its individual components
What was structuralism, and what research technique did structuralists often use?
-structuralism: ascertained the structure of the mind by revealing its individual components -research technique: introspection, or self observation of conscious experience as the data collected
What was the biggest criticism of structuralism?
-people who were unable to articulate what they were experiencing resulted in unusable data -highly variable method of research
-studied the purpose of mental processes in helping us adapt-- very influenced by Darwin's ideas on natural selection -focused on study of behavior/adaptions
Why did William James say consciousness couldn’t be broken into components?
consciousness was like a stream b/c the mind operates as a whole with less emphasis on certain parts/components
What’s psychoanalytic theory?
theory by Freud that emphasizes the importance of the unconscious & early childhood influences
a repository of feelings & urges of which we have no awareness
What were the criticisms of psychoanalytic theory that were mentioned in class?
-Freud had a dark view of human nature; too much focus on sex -unconscious can't be directly observed -inferring unconscious influence is subjective & can only be done retroactively/after the fact
What is a major emphasis in Gestalt psychology?
-considering the human individual as a whole, not as separate parts -directly
contradicts structuralism
What were J.B. Watson’s criticisms of mental processes?
-said mental processes were subjective & vague
What’s behaviorism, and who was the most famous behaviorist (hint: he discovered operant learning)?
-Behaviorism: studies only observable behavior -Most famous: B.F. Skinner discovered operant learning
-behavior's frequency is contingent on its consequences; free will is an illusion
-"Skinner's Box" with positive & negative consequences for mouse-- treat vs loud noise
-perspective that emphasizes personal control, intentionality, & true predisposition for "good" as important for our self concept & behavior innate to all humans
What is Abraham Maslow best known for doing?
-proposed a hierarchy of human needs in motivating behavior -as long as basic needs for survival are met, a person's behavior will be determined by their higher-level needs
What therapeutic technique did Carl Rogers develop?
What two events spurred the cognitive revolution, and why did they do so?
1) Invention of the digital computer-- provided a model for scientifically studying the mind 2) Noam Chomsky's critique of Verbal Behavior, casting doubt on behaviorism
What’s cognitive psychology?
the study of thoughts & their relation to behavior & experience
What’s developmental psychology?
scientific study of development across a lifespan
What did Jean Piaget demonstrate with very young children?
-young children do not demonstrate object permanence, or the understanding that physical things continue to exist even if they are hidden from us
What’s social psychology?
the study of the causes & consequences of social behavior, real & imagined
What historical period heavily influenced social psychologists, and why?
the Holocaust- people wanted more of an explanation of how the German soldiers could be so violent other than "it was their orders"
What’s cultural psychology?
the study of the relation between culture & psychological processes
With regard to cultural psychology, what’s the distinction between absolutism and relativism?
- absolutism: culture plays no part in psychological responses - relativism: psychological responses are influenced by the culture of the individual
What are clinical and counseling psychology?
-clinical: focuses on the diagnosis & treatment of psychological disorders & other behavioral issues -counseling: focuses on emotional, social, vocational, & health-related outcomes in individuals who are considered psychologically healthy
What’s the American Psychological Association (APA)?
-professional organization representing psychologists in the united states
Most psychologists have what kind of degree?
One-third of psychologists have what kind of degree?
What are the two most common employment sectors for psychologists?
How many psychologists are there in the U.S., Europe, and Brazil, respectively?
US: 300,000 Europe: 290,000 Brazil: 140,000
What percentage of psychology Ph.D.’s did women earn in 2010?
What percentage of psychology Ph.D.’s did minorities earn in 2010?
What are the problems with a lack of diversity in the field of psychology?
-fewer perspectives contributing to the field -minority individuals are deterred from entering the field or seeking therapy
What are inductive and deductive reasoning?
inductive: empirical observations lead to new ideas of broad generalizations
deductive: starts with a generalization that is tested against real-world observations
What’s the scientific method?
-method of testing scientific theory through proposing hypotheses, conducting research, & creating or modifying theories based on the results
What are the four steps in the scientific method?
1. hypothesis 2. research 3. observation 4. theory
What does the scientific way of knowing say about proving something vs. being confident in something?
in order to prove something fully, the hypothesis has to be falsifiable, which allows for great confidence
well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena; repeatedly checked against the world
testable prediction about how the world will behave if our idea is correct, often stated in an "if, then" format
the ability of a hypothesis to be shown incorrect
through various experiments, finding evidence to support a claim that can be observed time & time again, regardless of who is watching
What are the three common types of research mentioned in class?
-correlational -experimental -observational
What’s archival research, and what are its pros and cons?
-looking at past records or data sets to look for interesting patterns or relationships -pros: financially cheaper -cons: no control over what or how the data was collected, no guarantee of consistency
Be able to define demand characteristics.
What’s naturalistic observation, and what are its pros and cons?
-observation of behavior in its natural setting -pro: observes behavior without influence of a "research setting" or peers -con: difficult to set up & control the experiment; expensive in time, money, & luck
What’s survey research, and what are its pros and cons?
-using a list of questions to be answered by research participants as a means to gather data from a large group of people -pro: access to larger sample sizes of participants, ease of conducting surveys -con: less depth to answers per person, possibility of false information from participant
What’s a representative sample?
Know the difference between a sample and a population.
-sample: subset of selected individuals -population: overall group that researchers are interested in
What’s a case study, and what are its pros and cons?
-observational research in which a researcher focuses on only one person or a few individuals -pro:tremendous amount of insight, deep understanding -con: difficult to generalize observations to a larger scale population, as most cases are highly specialized
What’s correlational research, and what’s a correlation?
-research that allows scientists to speak to important relationships that might exist between two or more variables of interest -correlation: any sort of relationship between variables
What’s a positive correlation, and how is one represented mathematically?
the variables move in the same direction; represented as a positive # or slope
What’s a negative correlation, and how is one represented mathematically?
variables move in opposite directions. as one increases, the other decreases or vice versa; represented as a negative # or slope
What’s the primary limitation of correlations?
correlation does not equal causation. no way to indicate if the change in one variable is the CAUSE of the change in the other
What’s a confounding variable?
an external factor causing the correlation between two variables
What’s experimental research?
What’s an operational definition?
description of how we will measure our variables, allows others to understand exactly how & what a researcher measures in a particular environment
What are single-blind and double-blind studies?
-single: one of the groups is unaware of which group they are in (experiment or control) -double: both researchers & participants are blind to group assignments
What’s the placebo effect?
occurs when people's expectations or beliefs influence or determine their experience in a given situation
What are independent variables and dependent variables?
-independent: variable manipulated by experimenters -dependent: what the researcher measures to see what effect the independent variabl ehad
What’s the difference between an experimental group and a control group?
experimental group gets the manipulation, whereas the control group does not
Why do we include a control group in an experiment?
to know that the only difference between the groups is experimental manipulation, & the trends don't arise due to chance
What’s random assignment, and why is it used?
statistical software used to split participants into experimental & control groups randomly without bias; used so the differences can be linked to the manipulation of the experiment, not a bias of one group versus the other
How do experiments allow us to infer causality?
setting an experiment up to include an independent & dependent variable
What’s one important practical reason to understand statistics?
What’s a frequency distribution?
-distributing observed frequencies of a value of a variable
What’s a normal distribution?
-probability distribution that plots all the data in a symmetric fashion around the mean (bell curve)
What are descriptive statistics and what are inferential statistics?
-descriptive: term given to the analysis of data that helps describe, show or summarize data in a meaningful way such that, for example, patterns might emerge from the data. -inferential: statistics used to make judgments of the probability that an observed difference between groups is a dependable one or one that might have happened by chance in this study.
What are measures of central tendency, and why are they important?
mean, median, & mode; helps describe set of data with one value in the middle- each of the 3 showing a different statistic
What’s the problem with the mean, and what’s often done to deal with this problem?
-susceptible to influence from outliers, values unusual to the set of
data that throw off the mean
-control for outliers or use median
What are measures of variability?
defined in terms of how close the scores in the distribution are to the middle of the distribution.
What’s standard deviation, and what does a larger standard deviation indicate?
a quantity calculated to indicate the extent of deviation for a group as a whole; larger deviation indicates the data isn't all that consistent
After a researcher’s study confirms a hypothesis, what do other researchers often do?
publish in peer-reviewed journals
What are reliability and validity?
reliability: ability to consistently produce a given result
validity: the extent to which a given instrument or tool accurately measures what it’s supposed to measure
What’s external validity?
validity of generalized (causal) inferences in scientific research, based on experiments
permission granted in the knowledge of the possible consequences, typically that which is given by a patient to a doctor for treatment with full knowledge of the possible risks and benefits.
Why is deception sometimes used in psychological research, and what’s done to compensate for the use of deception?
-purposely misleading experiment
participants in order to maintain the integrity of the experiment, but not to the point where the deception could be considered harmful.
-compensation: full debriefing after experiment concludes
What’s the purpose of an Institutional Animal Case and Use Committee (IACUC)?
ensuring that all experimental proposals require the humane treatment of animal research subjects. It also conducts semi-annual inspections of all animal facilities to ensure that the research protocols are being followed. No animal research project can proceed without the committee’s approval.
Know the seven major neurotransmitters discussed in class and the psychological processes and behaviors with which they’re involved.
1)Acetylcholine- increased arousal, cognition 2) Beta-endorphin- decreased anxiety & tension (pain, pleasure) 3) Dopamine- increased pleasure, suppressed appetite 4) GABA- decreased anxiety & tension (brain function & sleep) 5) Glutamate - increased learning & memory 6) Norepinephrine- increased arousal, suppressed appetite (heart, intestines, alertness) 7) Seratonin- modulate
What are the divisions of the PNS, & what do they control?
-autonomic: involuntary, controls internal organs & glands-- sympathetic is "fight or flight" while parasympathetic is "rest & digest" -somatic: voluntary, relays info to & from the CNS
What’s an electroencephalogram (EEG)?
provides a measure of a person's electrical brain activity, without needing an exact location of the activity in the brain
What’s computerized tomography (CT)?
involves taking a number of x-rays of a particular section of a
person’s body or brain; often used to determine if someone has a tumor
What’s positron emission tomography (PET)?
scans pictures of the living, active brain using slightly radioactive "tracers" injected into someone's bloodstream to track which areas of the brain are "active" versus "inactive"
What’s functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI)?
person is placed in a magnetic field, causing the hydrogen atoms in their body's cells to move. when the field is turned off, the atoms emit electromagnetic signals as they return to their original positions, allowing scientists to track to blood flow & oxygen levels in someone's brain tissue. useful to compare healthy brains with brains of individuals with psychological disorders
What’s transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)?
uses magnetic fields to stimulate nerve cells in the brain to improve depression symptoms; it is used when other treatments have not worked
What’s the cerebral cortex?
What brain structures are included in the hindbrain?
medulla, pons, and cerebellum
What do the cerebellum, medulla, and pons control?
-cerebellum: controls balance, coordination, movement, & motor skills; also helpful in task memory -medulla: autonomic nervous system (breathing, blood pressure, heart rate) -pons: connects brain & spinal cord, regulates brain activity during sleep
What brain structures are included in the forebrain?
two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex as well as the
thalamus, hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and the limbic system
What do the hypothalamus, hippocampus, and amygdala control?
-hypothalamus: regulates a number of homeostatic processes, including the regulation of body
temperature, appetite, and blood pressure.
-hippocampus: essential structure for learning and memory
-amygdala: involved in our experience of emotion and in tying emotional meaning to our memories
What’s a brain hemisphere, and what is meant by lateralized behavior?
hemisphere: half of the brain, either left or right, separated by longitudinal fissure & corpus callosum
lateralized behavior: each hemisphere
is specialized in function, mainly in differences in language ability
Generally speaking, what are the frontal, parietal, temporal, and occipital lobes involved with?
-frontal: reasoning, motor control, emotion, and language -parietal: processing information from the body’s senses -temporal: hearing, memory, emotion, and some aspects of language -occipital: interpreting incoming visual information
What’s the endocrine system?
system consisting of a series of glands that produce chemicals called hormones which control many of the body's functions through hypothalamus in brain & pituitary gland
awareness of external and internal stimuli
What is meant by altered states of consciousness, and what are the altered states discussed in class?
-state of consciousness inbetween awake & asleep -hypnosis, meditation, daydreaming, intoxication by drugs or alcohol, sleep deprivation
What’s the problem of other minds, and why does it exist?
-the problem of how to justify the almost universal belief that others have minds very like our own -philosophers cannot agree on what defines the most basic of human beliefs
What are the four properties of consciousness?
intentionality, unity, selectivity, & transcience
What are the three levels of normal consciousness?
Minimal, full and selfconsciousness
What do we know about whether animals can be self-conscious?
What’s the dynamic unconscious?
An active system encompassing a lifetime of hidden memories, the person's deepest instincts and desires and the persons inner struggle to control these forces.
How do we keep unacceptable thoughts in the unconscious, and what’s one way they can often slip out?
we repress unacceptable thoughts; Freudian "slip"
What’s the cognitive unconscious?
All the mental process that give rise to a persons thoughts, choices and behavior even though they are not experienced by the person
How did research show that the cognitive unconscious can be ‘smart’?
Factors outside our conscious awareness can influence our behavior
What’s a biological rhythm?
internal cycle of biological activity
What’s a circadian rhythm?
biological rhythm that occurs over approximately 24 hours
Generally speaking, what are the effects of sleep deprivation?
-decreased cognitive function -excessive yawning -memory lapses -irritability -increased heart rate variability -impaired immune system -tremors & muscle aches
What are REM sleep and NREM sleep?
-REM: darting movements of the eyes under closed eyelids. Brain waves during REM sleep appear very similar to brain waves during wakefulness
-NREM: subdivided into four stages distinguished from
each other and from wakefulness by characteristic patterns
of brain waves. The first four stages of sleep are NREM sleep, while the fifth and final stage of sleep is REM sleep.
Know the stages of NREM sleep and the brain waves that characterize each one.
1) transitional phase that occurs
between wakefulness and sleep; alpha & theta waves
2) state of deep relaxation; theta waves, sleep spindles & K-complexes
3 & 4) deep sleep, delta waves
Know the four sleep disorders covered in class.
Insomnia, Sleep Apnea, Somnambulism, Narcolepsy
What’s unconscious wish fulfillment theory?
Dream content represents unconscious desires
What are the manifest content and latent content of a dream?
Manifest: actual content, or storyline, of the dream
Latent: hidden meaning of the dream
What’s the activation-synthesis model?
Random electrical energy in the brain activates memories we experience as dreams
What’s dreams-for-survival theory?
Says we reconsider and repress important information during sleep
What are psychoactive drugs?
drugs that change our consciousness by changing the brain's chemical message
Know the four important drug use terms.
Addiction, tolerance, dependency, withdraw
What are physical dependence and psychological dependence?
physical: involves changes in normal bodily functions—the user will experience withdrawal
from the drug upon cessation of use
psychological: emotional, rather than physical, need for the drug and may use the drug to relieve psychological distress.
What do depressants do, and how do they produce their effects?
suppress central nervous system activity by being agonists for GABA
What are some common depressants?
alcohol, barbituates, morphine, opium
Know the two theories discussed in class that attempt to explain the effects of alcohol.
-Expectancy Theory- Says our expectations about alcohol influence its effects
-Alcohol myopia- alcohol makes us focus on prominate or conspicuous information
What do opioids do, and how do they produce their effects?
relieve pain & include a feeling of well being by mimicking endogenous painkilling mechanism to produce momentary euphoria
What are some common opioids?
heroin, morphine, methadone, and codeine
What do hallucinogens do, and how do they produce their effects?
profound alterations in sensory and perceptual
experiences by being agonists for seratonin or antagonists for the NMDA glutamate receptor
What are some common hallucinogens?
LSD, Ketamine, PCP (Angel Dust), Mescaline
What does cannabis do, and how does it produce its effects?
Plant whose leaves and buds produce a psychoactive drug THC. THC activates a neurotransmitter called ananadaminde which regulates mood, appetite and pain perception
What do stimulants do, and how do they produce their effects?
increase overall levels of neural activity by being agonists for dopamine NT system
What are some common stimulants?
cocaine, amphetamines (including methamphetamine), cathinones (i.e., bath salts),
MDMA (ecstasy), nicotine, and caffeine.
state of extreme self-focus and attention in which minimal attention is given to external
stimuli.
the act of focusing on a single target (such as the breath or a repeated sound) to increase
awareness of the moment.
Which of the following research designs will allow cause-and-effect conclusions? A) experimental B) correlational C) survey D) quasi-experimental
People who had to choose which of three hypothetical candidates would make the best roommate made the best decision when_____. A) they were given time to unconsciously deliberate on the potential roommates while actively engaged in an unrelated problem-solving task B) descriptions of the roommates were presented subliminally instead of consciously C) they were allowed to deliberate over the pros & cons of each person
A key difference between the dynamic unconscious & the cognitive unconscious is that ____. A) the cognitive unconscious does not emphasize animal urges & repressed thoughts B) the dynamic unconscious is more susceptible to subliminal perception C) slips of speech are important for understanding the cognitive unconscious D) repression is the major function of the cognitive unconscious
The hidden meaning of a dream is called the _____ content. A) latent B) manifest C) Freudian D) alpha
How many of the five stages of sleep are considered NREM sleep? A) two B) one C) four D) three
The empirical method of study is based on _____. A) guesswork B) observation C) statistics D) practice
The _____ reviews research conducted using animal subjects. A) NIH B) NIMH C) IACUC D) IRB
As hours studying increase, academic performance also increases. This exemplifies a ___. A) bilateral correlation B) positive correlation C) zero correlation D) negative correlation
Parsons et al. are doing a study comparing differences in brain activity levels between patients with schizophrenia & controls with no psycho disorders. Their hypothesis requires a high level of detail & good detection of differences over time. Which brain imaging technique should they use? A) fMRI B) MRI C) PET D) CT scan
A) functional magnetic resonance imaging fMRI
Which of the following is NOT a forebrain structure? A) hippocampus B) thalamus C) amygdala D) pons
Which of the following statements about sleep deprivation is false? A) sleep deprivation often results in depression-like symptoms B) sleep deprivation often results in ADHD C) sleep deprivation is associated with obesity D) sleep deprivation can result in decreased alertness & cognitive function
A) sleep deprivation often results in depression-like symptoms
A form of experience that departs significantly from the normal subjective experience of the world & mind is called ______. A) an altered state of consciousness B) a hypnogogic state of consciousness C) the collective unconscious D) subliminal consciousness
A) an altered state of consciousness
Researchers are conducting a study where they have concerns that the participant's beliefs & the experimenter's beliefs may skew the results. Therefore, they chose to conduct a _____. a) double-blind b) singl-blind c) control d) double-control
A smaller standard deviation indicates that the scores in a distribution ____. a) differ reliably b) differ less from each other c) differ haphazardly d) differ more from each other
b) differ less from each other
Why is psychology considered a social science? a) because psychologists study groups & how groups interact b) behavior is biological, but our behavior is influenced by our interactions with others c) because psychology is not considered hard d) behavior is unpredictable, so scientists study it
b) behavior is biological
The older position of nativism is reflected in psychological views that emphasize the effect of _____ on behavior. a) nurture b) intuition c) schemas d) nature