Psychology Chapter 1&2

phobia

an irrational fear, is really a symptom of an underlying, repressed conflict and cannot be cured without years of psychoanalysis to uncover and understand the repressed material.

observer effect

animals or people who know they are being watched will not behave normally

variables

another important step is to decide on the variable the researchers want to manipulate and the variable they want to measure to see if there are any changes.

variable

anythingthat can change or vary- scroes on a test, temperature in a room, gener, and s o one.

Wilhelm Wundt

attempted to apply scientific principles to the study of the human mind. He used to process of objective introspection. He is known as the father of psychology

John B. Watson

challenged the functionalist viewpoint, as well as psychoanalysis with his own "science of behavior" behaviorism. Watson wanted to bring psychology back to a focus on scientific inquiry, and he felt that the only way to do that was to ignore the whole consciousness issue and focus only on observable behavior.

neuroscience

is a branch of the life sciences that deals witht the structure and functioning of the brain and neurons, nerves, and nervous tissue that form the nervous system

the axon

is a fiber attached to the soma, and its job is to carry messages out to other cells

Gestalt Psychology

is a german word meaning "an organized whole" or "configuration" which fit well with the focus on studying whole patterns rather that small pieces.

neuron

is the specialized cell in the nervous system that receives and sends messages within that system

operational definition

it specifically names the operations that the experimenter must use to control or measure the variables in the experiment.

axon terminals

responsible for communicating with other nerve cells

glial cells

serve a variety of work and that hold the neurons in place

courtesy bias

some people deliberately give the answer they think is more socially correct rather that their true opinion, so that no one gets offended

observable behavior

something that can be seen and measured

If for any reason a study results in undesirable consequences for the participant the researcher is responsible for detecting and removing, or correcting, these consequences.

sometimes people react in unexpected ways to the manipulations in an experiment, despite the researcher's best efforts to prevent any negative impact upon participants.

experimenter effect

the behavior of the experimenter cause the participant to change his or her response pattern

biological psychology or behavioral science

the branch of neuroscience that focuses on the biological bases of psychological processes, behavior, and learning.

cross cultural research

the contrasts and comparisons of a behavior or issue are studied in at least two or more cultures.

population

the entire group in which the researcher is interested.

placebo effect

the expectations and biases of the participants in a study can influence their behavior

Psychodynamic perspective

the focus may still include the unconscious mind and it's influence over conscious behavior and on early childhood experiences, but with less of an emphasis on sex and sexual motivations and more emphasis on the development of a sense of self, social and interpersonal relationships, an the discovery of other motivations behind a person's behavior.

structuralism

the focus of study was the structure of the mind.

experimental group

the group that is exposed to the independent variable (violent cartoon)

laboratory observation

the main advantage of this method is the degree of control that it gives to the observer.

independent variable

the name for the variable that is manipulated in any experiment is the independent variable because it is independent of anything the participants do. ex. violence in cartoons

control group

the other group that gets either no treatment or some kind of treatment that should have no effect (nonviolent cartoon)

participants may withdraw may from the study at any time.

the participants must be allowed to drop out for any reason. for example, sometimes people get bored with the study, decide they don't have the time, or don't like what they have to do.

dendrites

the parts of the neuron that receive messages

observer bias

the person doing the observing has a particular opinion about what he or she expects to see. if that is the case, sometimes that person recognizes only those actions that support the preconceived expectation and ignores actions that coincide with it.

objective introspection

the process of objectively examining and measuring one's own thoughts and mental activities. ex. Place an object, such as a rock, into a student's hand and have the student tell him everything that he was feeling as a result of having the rock in his hand

dependent variable

the response of the participants to the manipulation of the independent variable is a dependent relationship, so the response of the participants that is measured is known as the dependent variable.

Psychology

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

neuroscience

the study o physical structure, function, and development of the nervous system

cultural psychology

the study of cultural norms, values, and expectation.

social psychology

the study of groups, social roles, and rules of social actions and relationships

biospychology

the study of the biological bases of behavior and mental processes

diffusion of responsibility

the tendency to feel that someone else is responsible for taking action when others are present.

Mary Whiton Calkins

completed every course and requirement for earning a Ph.D but was denied that degree by harvard because she was a woman. First female president of the american psychological association.

cognitive neuroscience

includes the study of the physical workings of the brain and nervous system when engaged in memory, thinking, and other cognitive processes.

reflex

involuntary reaction

schizophrenia

a mental disorder involving delusions, hallucinations, and extremely distorted thinkign

Sigmund Freud's theory of psychanalysis

Freud was a neurologist, a medical doctor who specializes in disorders of the nervous system. He proposed that there is an unconscious mind into which we push all of our threatening urges and desires. stressed the importance of early childhood experiences, personality was formed in the first 6 years of life.

Margaret F. Washburn

One of Titchener's students at Cornell University. Became famous for the first woman to receive a Ph.D. in psychology.

Edward Titchener

One of Wilhelm Wundt's students. he called his new viewpoint structuralism. He believed that every experience could be broken down into it's individual emotions and sensations. He also believed that objective introspection could be used on physical sensations

deception must be justified

The participants have to be told after the study exactly why the deception was important this is called debriefing.

unconscious mind

a mind into which we push, or repress, all of our threatening urges and desires

nervous system

a network of cells that carries information to and from all parts of the body

scientific method

a system for reducing bias and error in the measurement of date 1. perceiving the question 2. forming a hypothesis 3. testing the hypothesis 4. drawing conclusions

behavior

all of our outward or overt actions and reactions, such as talking, facial expressions, and movement.

Mental Processes

all the internal, covert (hidden) activity of our minds, such as thinking, feeling , and remembering.

William James

Was the first person to teach psychology at a university (Harvard). James was more interested in the importance of consciousness to everyday life rather that just its analysis. He focused on how the mind allows people to function in the real world-- how people work play and adapt. a view point he called functionalism.

Little Albert

Watson believed that phobias are learned through the process of conditioning and set out to prove it. He took a baby known as little albert and taught him to fear a white rat by making a loud, scary noise every time the infant saw the rat, until finally, just seeing the rat caused the infant to cry and become fearful.

cognitive psychology

a field focusing not only on perception but also on learning, memory, thought processes, and problem solving

theory

a general explanation of a set of observations or facts.

correlation

a measure of the relationship between two or more variables. researchers look for two facts from each record

Mary Cover Jones

decided to repeat watson and rayner's study but added training that would cancel out the phobic reaction of the baby to the white rat. she duplicate little albert and called it little peter successfully conditioning peter to be afraid of a white rabbit. she then began a process of counterconditioning in which peter was exposed to the white rabbit from a distance while eating a food that he really liked. the pleasure of the food outweighed the fear of the faraway rabbit.

Psychology's 4 goals

description-what is happening? explanation-why is it happening? prediction- when will it happen again? control- how can it be changed?

prediction

determining what will happen in the future

random assignment

each participant has an equal chance of being assigned to each condition.

cognitive perspective

focuses on how people thing, remember, store, and use information, became a major force in the field in the 1960's. It's focus on memory, intelligence, perception, thought processes, problem solving, language, and learning.

evolutionary perspective

focuses on the biological bases for universal mental characteristics that all humans share. It seeks to explain general mental strategies and traits, such as why we lie, how attractiveness influences mate selections, why fear of snakes is so common, or why people universally like music and dancing.

data must remain confidential

freud recognized the importance of confidentiality referring to his patients in his books and articles with false names. Likewise, psychologists and other researchers today tend to report only group results rather that results for a single individual, so that no one could possibly be recognized.

institutional review boards

groups of psychologists or other professionals who look over each proposed study and judge it according to its safety and consideration for the research participants

psychiatrist

has a medical degree and is a physician who specializes in the diagnosis and treatment ofpsychological disorders

functionalism

how people work, play, and adapt to their surroundings

Biophyschological perspective

human and animal behavior is seen as a direct result of events in the body. hormones, heredity, brain chemicals, tumors, fand diseases are some of the biological causes of behavior and mental events.

Participants must be protected form risks or told explicity of risks

if researchers are using any kind of electrical equipment, care must be taken to ensure that no participant will experience a physical shock from faulty electrical equipment.

Behavioral Perspective

like modern psychodynamic perspectives, behaviorism is still also very influential. when its primary supporter, john B Watson moved on to greener pastures in the world of advertising B.F. Skinner became the new leader of the field. In this theory, behavioral responses that are followed by pleasurable consequences are strengthened, or reinforced.

critical thinking

making reasoned judgements

double blind study

neither the participants nor the person or persons measuring the dependent variable know who got what.

psychologist

no medical training but has a doctorate degree. psychologists undergo intense academic training, learning about many different areas of psychology before choosing a specialization. because the focus of their careers can vary so widely, psychologists work in many different settings.

Max Wertheimer

objected to the structuralist point of view, wertherimer believed that psychological events such as perceiving and sensing could not be broken down into any smaller elements and still be properly understood. perception can only be understood as a whole, entire event. Wertheimer devoted their efforts to studying sensation and perception in the perspective gestlt psychology

description

observing a behavior and noting everything about it.

Humanistic Perspective

often called the "third force" in psychology, humanism was really a reaction to both psychoanalytic theory and behaviorism. Humanists held the view that people have free will, the freedom to choose their own destiny and strive for self actualization, the achievement of one's ful potential. Today, humanism exists as a form of psychotherapy aimed at self understanding and self improvement.

case study

one individual is studied in great detail. in a case study, researchers try to learn everything they can about the individual. the advantage of the case study is the tremendous amount of detail it provides. it may also be the only way to get certain kinds of information. ex. phineas gage, who, in an accident, had a large metal rod driven through his head and suffered a major personality change as a result.

eclectic perspective

one that uses the bits and pieces of several perspectives that seem to best fit a particular situation

single blind study

participants are blind to the treatment they receive

rights and well being of participants must be weighed against the study's value to science.

people come first research second

confirmation bias

people have a tendency to notice only things that agree with their view of the world

blind observers

people who do not know what the research question is and, therefore, have no preconceived notions about what they "should" see.

applied research

research aimed at answereing real-world, practiacal problems.

basic research

research for the sake of gaining scientific knowledge

experiment

researchers deliberately manipulate the variable they think is causing some behavior while holding all the other variables that might interfere with the experiment's results constant and unchanging.

participants must be allowed to make an informed decision about participation.

researchers have to explain the study to the people they want to include before they do anything to them or with them-even children- and it has to be in terms that the participants can understand.

participant observation

researchers may use one way mirrors or they might actually become participants in a group

selection

researchers might start by selecting the children they want to use in the experiment. The best method to do that is through random selection of a sample of children from a population determined by the researchers

surveys

researchers will ask a series of questions about the topiic they are studying. surveys can be conducted in person in the form of interviews or on the telephone, the internet, or with a questionaire. the advantage of surveys is researchers can get a tremendous amount of data on a very large group of people.

negative

the two variables have an inverse relationship-- as one increases the other decreases.

positive

the two variables increase in the same direction-- as one goes up, othr goes up, as one decreases the other decreases.

investigators must debrief participant, telling the true nature of the study and expectations of results

this is important in all types of studies but particularly in those involving a deception.

empirical quesions

those that can be tested throught direct observation or experience

control

to change a behavior from an undesirable one to a desirable one.

psychiatric social worker

trainer in the area of social work and usually possesses a master's degree in that discipline. these professionals focus more on the environmental conditions that can have an impact on mental disorders, such as poverty, overcrowding, stress, and drug abuse.

explanation

trying to understand

correlation coefficient

two sets of numbrs for each person in the study taht go into a mathematical formula. the correlation coefficient represents two things: the direction of the relationship and its strength.

confounding variables

variables that interfere with each other and their possible effects on some other variable

Ivan Pavlov

was a russian physiologist who showed that a reflex could be caused to occur in response to a formerly unrelated stimulus. Pavlov observed that the salivation reflex could be caused to occur in response to to occur in response to a totally new stimulus.

naturalistic observation

watching things in their normal environment. itallows researcers to get a realistic picture of how behavior occurs because they are actually watching that behavior in it's natural setting.

Sociocultural Perspective

which actually combines two areas of study: social psychology,wich is the study of groups, social roles, and rules of social actions and relationships; and cultural psychology the study of cultural norms, values, and expectations, These two areas are related in that they are both about the effect that people have on one another, either individually or in a larget group such as a culture. this perspective is important because it reminds people that the way they and others behave is inflluenced not only by whether they are alone, with friends, in a crowd, or part of a group but also by the social norms, fads, class differences and ethnic identity concerns of the particular culture in which they live. cross cultural research also fits within this perspective.