Chapter 1: Mind, Behavior, and Psychological Science (Exam 1 Review)

Industrial and Organizational Psychologists

(Often called I/O Psychologists) they specialize in personnel selection, talent management, and in tailoring the work environment to maximize both productivity and morale

Random Assignment

(Randomization) chance alone determines which group subject is assigned or which variable is presented.

Evolutionary Psychology

A relatively new specialty in psychology that sees behavior and mental processes in terms of their genetic adaptations for survival and reproduction.

Debriefing

After the research is over, the participant should be able to discuss the procedure and the findings with the psychologist

Environmental Psychologists

Aim to improve human interaction with our environment.

Cognitive Perspective

Another of the main psychological viewpoints distinguished by an emphasis on mental processes, such as learning, memory, perception, and thinking, as forms of information processing. (Perspective)

Surveys

Is a data collection tool used to gather information about individuals. It is a popular and effective method of determining peoples attitudes, preferences, or other characteristics.

Experimental Group

Is manipulated (Receives the experimental variable)

Control Group

Is not manipulated (Does not receive the experimental variable)

Psychology

Is the science of behavior and mind, embracing all aspects of conscious and unconscious experience as well as thought. The Literal Meaning: The study of the mind.

Geropsychologists

Make up one of the newest fields of psychology. It helps adults over the age of 65 maintain their health and wellness and cope effectively with age related challenges.

Dependent Variable

Measured outcome of the study (Cannot be changed)

Operational Definitions

Objective descriptions of concepts involved in a scientific study. This may restate concepts to be studied in behavioral terms (e.g., fear may be operationally defined as moving away from a stimulus). This also specify the procedures used to produce and measure important variables under investigation (e.g., "attraction" may be measured by the amount of time one person spends looking at another).

Independent Variable

Part of the study that the experimenter manipulates (Is going through change.)

Confidentiality

Participants, and the data gained from them must be kept anonymous unless they give their full consent.

Forensic Psychologists

Provide psychological expertise to the legal and judicial system.

Experimental Psychologist

Psychologists who do research on basic psychological processes—as contrasted with applied psychologists; These psychologists are also called research psychologists.

Applied Psychologist

Psychologists who use the knowledge developed by experimental psychologists to solve human problems.

Margaret Washburn

She was the first women to earn her PhD in psychology (1899.) She was also the leading American psychologist in the early 20th century, was best known for her experimental work in animal behavior and motor theory development.

Natural Selection

The driving force behind evolution by which the environment "selects" the fittest organisms.

Introspection

The process of reporting on one's own conscious mental experiences.

Biological Perspective

The psychological perspective that searches for the causes of behavior in the functioning of genes, the brain and nervous system, and the endocrine (hormone) system.

Expectancy Bias

The researcher allowing his or her expectations to affect the outcome of a study.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to attend to evidence that complements and confirms our beliefs or expectations, while ignoring evidence that does not.

Emotional Bias

The tendency to make judgments based on attitudes and feelings, rather than on the basis of a rational analysis of the evidence.

School Psychologists

They are experts in teaching and learning. They deal with issues impacting learning, family or personal crises influencing school performance, or social conditions such as gangs, teen pregnancy, or substance abuse.

Teacher of Psychology

They can be found at universities, 2 year and 4 year colleges, and high schools.

Sports Psychologists

They help athletes improve their performance by planning effective practice sessions, enhancing motivation, and learning to control emotions under pressure

Edward B Titchener (Structuralist)

Was a British psychologist who studied under Wilhelm Wundt for several years. He is best known for creating his version of psychology that described the structure of the mind: structuralism.

René Descartes

Was a French philosopher, mathematician, and scientist. Dubbed the father of modern western philosophy, much of subsequent Western philosophy is a response to his writings, which are studied closely to this day. He is most known for his concept of dualism. His theory of dualism suggests that there are two realms to existence. The first is the physical realm which is the environment and the things around us.

Wilhelm Wundt (Structuralist)

Was a German physician, physiologist, philosopher, and professor, known today as one of the founding figures of modern psychology. Was the father of experimental psychology. He was the first to separate science apart from biology and philosophy. He was also the first to call himself a psychologist, and study conscious experience - awareness of immediate experience.

Socrates

Was a Greek philosopher and is considered the father of western philosophy. Plato was his most famous student and would teach Aristotle who would then tutor Alexander the Great. He is credited with laying the fundamentals of modern Western philosophy. He and his followers, wrote about such topics as pleasure, pain, knowledge, motivation, and rationality. They theorized about whether human traits are innate or the product of experience, which continues to be a topic of debate in psychology today.

Aristotle

Was a Greek philosopher and scientist, better known as the teacher of Alexander the Great. He was a student of Plato and is considered an important figure in Western Philosophy. He was a towering figure in ancient Greek philosophy, making contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance and theatre. He was a student of Plato who in turn studied under Socrates.

Ivan Pavlov (Behaviorist)

Was a Russian physiologist and famous behaviorist whose research on the physiology of digestion led to the development of the first experimental model of learning, Classical Conditioning. Most of his research was gathered studying salivating dogs. With the help of his assistants, he was able to condition the dogs to salivate at the click of a metronome. As his work progressed, he established the basis for conditioned reflexes and the field of classical conditioning.

Lev Vygotsky (Sociocultural Psychologist)

Was a Soviet psychologist, the founder of an unfinished theory of human cultural and bio-social development commonly referred to as cultural-historical psychology, the prominent advocate for the new theory of consciousness, the "psychology of superman." His theories stress the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition as he believed strongly that community plays a central role in the process of "making meaning."

Jean Piaget (Clinical Psychologist)

Was a Swiss clinical psychologist known for his pioneering work in child development. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are together called "genetic epistemology". He is most famously known for his theory of cognitive development that looked at how children develop intellectually throughout the course of childhood

Carl Jung (Psychoanalytical Psychologist)

Was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who founded analytical psychology. His work has been influential not only in psychiatry but also in anthropology, archaeology, literature, philosophy, and religious studies. He is best known for his theories of the Collective Unconscious, including the concept of archetypes, and the use of synchronicity in psychotherapy.

Plato

Was a student of Socrates and a teacher of Aristotle. His writings explored justice, beauty and equality, and also contained discussions in aesthetics, political philosophy, theology, cosmology, epistemology and the philosophy of language. He is one of the world's best known and most widely read and studied philosophers. He was the student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle, and he wrote in the middle of the fourth century B.C.E. in ancient Greece.

Behavioral Perspective

This perspective called attention to the way our actions are modified by their consequences as when a child is praised for saying "Thank you" or an adult is rewarded for good job performance with a pay raise.

Developmental Perspective

This perspective is a scientific approach which aims to explain how children and adults change over time. A significant proportion of theories within this discipline focus upon development during childhood, as this is the period during an individual's lifespan when the most change occurs. "People change in predictable ways as the influences of heredity and environment unfold over time."

Psychoanalytic Psychology

This was Freud's theory of personality and mental disorder. These psychologists see psychological problems as rooted in the unconscious mind. This focuses on the parts of the unconscious to explain human behavior including personality, motives, and mental disorders.

Humanistic Psychology

A clinical approach emphasizing human ability, growth, potential, and free will.

Psychodynamic Psychology

A clinical approach emphasizing the understanding of mental disorders in terms of unconscious needs, desires, memories, and conflicts.

Correlational Studies

A form of research in which the relationship between variables is studied, but without the experimental manipulation of an independent variable. These studies cannot determine cause-and-effect relationships.

Whole-Person Perspective

A group of psychological perspectives that take a global view of the person: Included are psychodynamic psychology, humanistic psychology, and trait and temperament psychology.

Psychodynamic Theory

A group of theories that originated with Freud. All emphasize motivation—often unconscious motivation—and the influence of the past on the development of mental disorders.

Behaviorism

A historical school (as well as a modern perspective) that has sought to make psychology an objective science focusing only on behavior—to the exclusion of mental processes. It's the theory that human and animal behavior can be explained in terms of conditioning, without appeal to thoughts or feelings.

Structuralism

A historical school of psychology devoted to uncovering the basic structures that make up mind and thought. These people sought the "elements" of conscious experience.

Functionalism

A historical school of psychology that believed mental processes could best be understood in terms of their adaptive purpose and function.

Experiment

A kind of research in which the researcher controls all the conditions and directly manipulates the conditions, including the independent variable.

Sociocultural Perspective

A main psychological viewpoint emphasizing the importance of social interaction, social learning, and a culture in explaining behavior (Perspective)

Hypothesis

A statement predicting the outcome of a scientific study; a statement predicting the relationship among variables in a study. Must be potentially falsifiable- that is stated in such a way that it can be either correct or incorrect

Case Studies

A unique type of research method that focuses in depth on only one or a few individuals usually with rare problems or unusual talents.

Informed consent

Ensures that participants are willingly engaging in the research

Clinical and counseling Psychologists

Help people work through difficult choices in relationships, careers, or education to improve social and emotional adjustment.

Zero Correlation

If the variables have no relationship at all

Positive Correlation

If two variables show a pattern in which they vary in the same direction (As one variable increases, so does the other)

Deception

This is where participants are mislead or wrongly informed about the aims of the research

Williams James (Functionalist)

Was an American philosopher and psychologist who was also trained as a physician. He was the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. Was one of the leading thinkers of the late nineteenth century and is believed by many to be one of the most influential philosophers the United States has ever produced, while others have labeled him the "Father of American psychology." He Wrote "principals of Psychology" and examined the functions of consciousness.

Carl Rogers (Humanistic Psychologist)

Was an American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology. Throughout his career he dedicated himself to humanistic psychology and is well known for his theory of personality development. He began developing his humanistic concept while working with abused children.

John Watson (Behaviorist)

Was an American psychologist who established the psychological school of behaviorism. He promoted a change in psychology through his address "Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it"

Abraham Maslow (Humanistic psychologist)

Was an American psychologist who was best known for creating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, a theory of psychological health predicated on fulfilling innate human needs in priority, culminating in self-actualization. He is considered to be the father of humanistic psychology

B.F. Skinner (Behaviorist)

Was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and social philosopher. He developed the theory of operant conditioning which was the idea that behavior is determined by its consequences, be they reinforcements or punishments, which make it more or less likely that the behavior will occur again.

Sigmund Freud (Psychoanalytic Psychologist)

Was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis (a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst.) He developed the psychoanalytic theory of personality development, which argued that personality is formed through conflicts among three fundamental structures of the human mind: the id, ego, and superego.

1.) What is the Source? 2.) Is the claim reasonable or extreme? 3.) What is the evidence? 4.) Could bias contaminate the conclusion? 5.) Does the reasoning avoid common fallacies 6.)Does the issue require multiple perspectives?

What 6 Questions should be considered when confronting new ideas - Being a critical thinker?

- Taking into consideration that there could be a possibility people can get hurt or unduly distressed - Informed consent - Deception - Debriefing - Confidentiality

What Ethical issues must be addressed in research?

1.) Positive Correlation 2.) Negative Correlation 3.) Zero Correlation

What are 3 types of correlation?

1.)Experiment 2.)Correlational Studies 3.)Surveys 4.)Naturalistic Observation 5.)Case Studies.

What are 5 types of Psychological research?

1.) Developing a hypothesis 2.) Gathering Objective Data 3.) Analyzing the results 4.) Publishing, criticizing, and replicating the results.

What are the 4 steps to the scientific method?

1.) Emotional Bias 2.)Expectancy Bias 3.)Confirmation Bias

What types of biases are in research?

Negative Correlation

When one variable increases while the other decreases

Naturalistic Observation

When psychological researchers want to know how people act in their natural surroundings (as contrasted with the artificial conditions of a laboratory.)