Psych Chapter 1

Conformity

changing beliefs and behaviors to be similar to the people we care about

Evolutionary Psychology

developed from functionalism; A branch of psychology that applies to the Darwinian theory of natural selection to human and animal behavior. Accepts the functionalists' basic assumption. Use evolutionary theory to understand many different behaviors.

Ivan Pavlov

discovered that dogs salivate at the sound of a tone that had previously been associated with the presentation of food.

What happened in the 1960's?

growing numbers of psychologists began to think about the brain and about human behavior in terms of the computer, which was being developed and becoming available.

Edward Bradford Titchener

identified more than 40,000 sensations (vision, hearing, taste)

Occurrence of Psychological Disorders

is higher in women than for men and higher in Western cultures (US CA and EUROPE) than Eastern such as Asia.

Psychologist practitioners

like clinical, counseling and school psychologists use existing research to enhance the everyday life of others.

Facts

objective statements determined to be accurate through study

Values

personal statements, what one believes

Psychoanalysis

process that exploration of sexual experiences and current sexual desires are revealed through talk therapy and dream analysis. Founders were primarily practitioners who worked with people to help them understand and confront their psychological symptoms. Further tests have not always been supported.

Fitness

refers to the extent to which having a given genetic characteristic helps an individual organism survive and reproduce at a higher rate than do other members of the species who do not have the characteristic. Fitter organisms pass on their genes more successfully to later generations. But it has limitations; many predictions are hard to test.

Culture

represents a common set of social norms, including religious and family values, and other moral beliefs shared by the people who live in a geographical region. They influence every aspect of our lives, it does not define lives just the evolutionary experience. Personal Space.

Factors of Human Behavior

s caused by factors that are outside our conscious awareness

Levels of Explination

the perspectives that are used to understand behavior: lower levels of explanation are more closely tied to biological influences such as genes, neurons...where as middle levels of explanation refer to the abilities and characteristics of individual people and the highest levels relate to social groups, organizations and cultures

Empirical Methods

the process of collecting and organizing data and drawing conclusions about those data.

Heritability

the proportion of the observed differences on characteristics among people that is due to genetics.

Scientific Method

the set of assumptions, rules, and procedures that scientists use to conduct empirical research

Neuroimaging

the use of various techniques to provide pictures of structure and function of the living brain. They are used to diagnose brain disease and injury, allow researches to view info processing as it occurs in the brain.

Social Norms

the ways of thinking, feeling, or behaving that are shared by group members and are perceived by them as appropriate. (customs, standards, rules and traditions) Determined by the culture.

Research Psychologists

use scientific methods to create new knowledge about causes of behavior

Burrhus Frederick (BF) Skinner

used stimulants and responses, and application of rewards, to train pigeons and other animals. Developed a method for studying thoughts and feelings using the behaviorist approach.

Individualism

valuing the self and one's independence from others, usually seen in western cultures, promote their own individual success, usually comparing themselves to others.

What were the first psychologists

Philosphers

Where is activation that can be used to predict 10 seconds before?

Prefrontal cortex

Responses

Specific Behaviors.

Cognitive Psychology with Behaviorism

Studies the mental processes of the mind (perception, thinking, memory and judgement), / counters behavioralism with the proposal that stimuli that might elicit a behavior are evaluated by the mind, and may result in a different outcome than would be predicted by behavioralism alone.

Social-Culture

Study of how social situations and the cultures in which people find themselves influence thinking and behavior.. a field of psychology that focuses on how the social situations and the cultures in which people find themselves influence talking and behavior. How people perceive themselves and others, how people influence each other's behaviors.

Accuracy vs Inaccuracy

The extent to which humans are good information processors, humans are not perfect

Freewill vs Determinism

The extent to which people have over their own actions.

Cognitive

The study of mental processes, including perception, thinking, memory, and judgements

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to think that we could have predicted something that has already occurred that we probably would not have been able to predict

Individual Differences

The variations among people on physical or psychological dimensions

Conscious vs unconscious processing

To what extent we are conscious of our own actions and the causes of them, and how our behaviors caused by influences that we are not aware of.

Structuralism

Uses the method of introspection to identify the basic elements or structures of psychological experience. a school of psychology whose goal was to identify the basic elements of psychological experience. The goal was to create a "table of sensations". These were the first people the importance of unconscious processes. (WUNDT) It uses the method of introspection (research subjects are asked to record their mental experiences as they complete mental tasks) Limited because of the unconscious processes involved in many activities.

Cognitive Psychology

(analogy between the brain and the computer provided part of the impetus for CP) field of psychology that studies mental processes, including perception, thinking, memory and judgment. The idea that our memory is influenced by what we already know. Ignoring the mind itself will never be sufficient because people interpret the stimuli they experience.

Collectivism

(interdependence), focusing on harmonious social relationships. Togetherness and Connectedness and duty and responsibility to ones group and/or family. Seen in Eastern cultures. Particularly concerned about the interests of others, their close and friends and colleagues.

Psychodynamic Psychology

(most familiar with the general public) approach to understanding human behavior that focuses on the roe of unconscious thoughts, feelings, and memories. - possibly effects from childhood experiences that the person can't remember anymore

Higher Level of Explanation

Cultural and Social (related to social groups, organizations and cultures - in some cultures running is necessary for survival and culturally valued): Women > Men, The prevalence of depression varies across cultures and historical time periods.

Stimuli

Environment

Psychodynamic

Focuses on our unconscious thoughts, feelings & memories and our early childhood experiences in determining behavior

Introspection

A method of learning about psychological processes in which research participants are asked to describe exactly what they experience as they work on mental tasks. (viewing colors, reading a page, or performing math problem) Reporting to what they hear takes longer than responding to what they hear.

Functionalism

Attempts to understand why animals and humans have developed the particular psychological aspects they currently have.**(no longer exists as a school of psychology)** (Evolved into evolutionary Psychology- how natural selection affects human and animal behavior)

Behaviorism

Based on the premise that it isn't possible to study the mind; psychologists should limit their attention to the study of behavior itself That there is no point in trying to determine what happens in the mind because we can successfully predict behavior without knowing what happens inside the mind. They believe that it is possible to develop laws of learning that can explain all behaviors. Behaviorists were incorrect in their beliefs that it was not possible to measure thoughts and feelings,their ideas provided new ideas that helped further our understanding regarding nature-nutrure and free will.

Behavioralists/Behavioralism

Believe we are all psychologically molded by our enviornment, and not by our genes. Many believe there is no free will. / it is not possible to objectively study the mind and psychological studies should be limited to studies of behavior alone

Lower Level of Explanation

Biological (things that typify a species and constrain the capacities of individual members....humans are not the fastest animals although some research suggest that we may have the capacity to run for a very long time): Depression is in part genetically influenced. Depression is influenced by the action of neurotransmitters in the brain

Nature vs Nurture

Genes and environment play crucial roles in human behaviors.

Diferences vs Similarities

How we are similar/different. Different sexes, different ethnicities. Generally the same anywhere in the world?

Middle Level of Explanation

Interpersonal (characteristics and abilities of individuals) Individual variation within a species. so while some of us have the capactiy to run marathons, many do not : People who are depressed may interpret the events that occur to them too negatively. Psychotherapy can be used to help people talk about and combat depression.