Chapter 1 The Science of Psychology

early founders of the humanistic perspective

-Abraham Maslow -Carl Rogers

Wilhelm Wundt's psych laboratory

-Germany 1879 -developed objective introspection

Edward Titchener

-Wundt's student -brought structuralism to America

Reasons for research

-allows psychologists to collect facts and data to support theories -may lead to new theories -results can be applied to everyday problems

disadvantages of a case study

-cannot apply to others -vulnerable to bias

list the 9 major subfields of psych

-clinical -counseling -developmental -experimental -social -personality -physiological -comparative -industrial/organizational (I/O)

advantages of surveys

-data from large numbers of people -study covert behaviors

4 goals of psychology

-description -explanation -prediction -control

evolutionary perspective

-focuses on the biological bases for universal mental characteristics that all humans share -seeks to explain general mental strategies and traits -looks at the way the mind works and why it does

steps in the scientific method

-formulate the question -develop a hypothesis -test the hypothesis -draw conclusions -report your results so that others can try to replicate

disadvantages of surveys

-have to ensure representative sample (or results not meaningful) -people are not always accurate (courtesy bias)

psychodynamic perspective

-modern version of psychoanalysis -more focused on development of a sense of self and the discovery of other motivations behind a person's behavior than repressed desires

humanistic perspective

-more roots in the field of philosophy than medicine and physiology -emphasizes human potential

list the types of descriptive methods

-naturalistic observation -laboratory observation -case study -surveys -correlation method -experiment

double-blind study

-neither the experimenter nor the subjects knows if the subjects are in the experimental or control group (reduces placebo effect and experimenter effect) -everything gets coded or tracked by a confederate (assistant to experimenter)

disadvantages of naturalistic observation

-observer effect -observer bias -each naturalistic seeing is unique and observations may not hold

Mary Whiton Calkins

-one of James' students -denied a Ph.D. because she's female -first female president of APA

G. Stanley Hall

-one of Wundt's students -founded the first psychology lab in the U.S. -received the first Ph.D. in psychology -founded the American Psychological Association (APA) -became the APA's 1st president

random assignment

-process of assigning subjects to the experimental or control groups randomly, so that each subject has an equal chance of being in either group -controls for confounding (extraneous, interfering) variables

Sigmund Freud

-proposed that there's an unconscious mind into which we push (repress) all of our threatening urges and desires -believed that the repressed urges, in trying to surface, created nervous disorders -stressed the importance of early childhood experiences

difference between psychiatrists and psychologists

-psychiatrists: medical doctors that can prescribe medication -most psychologists do not have the medical training or authority to prescribe medication

Name the major modern psychological perspectives

-psychodynamic -behavioral -humanistic -cognitive -sociocultural -biopsychological

How does psych benefit society?

-research, counseling, treatment, and teaching are used to understand the mind and improve lives -researchers conduct experiments, which can improve both human and animal lives

Why is psych considered a science?

-researchers must observe objectively in order to prevent possible biases from leading to faulty observations -precise and careful measurements are necessary

Francis Cecil Sumner

-the first African American to earn a Ph.D. in psych -assumed by many to be the father of African American psychology

placebo effect

-the phenomenon in which the expectations of the participants in a study can influence their behavior -ex) Single-blind study: students do not know if they are in the experimental or the control group (reduces placebo effect)

behaviorism

-the science of behavior that focuses on observable behavior, which must be directly seen and measured -introduced the concept of reinforcement to behaviorism -major force in the 20th century

social psychology

-the scientific study of how a person's thoughts, feelings, ad behavior are influenced by the real, imaged, or implied presence of others -area of psychology in which the psychologists focus on how human behavior is affected by the presence of other people

What does psychology and animal research do?

answer questions we could never do with human research

variable

anything that can change/vary

industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology

area of psychology concerned with the relationships between people and their work environment

clinical psychology

area of psychology in which psychologists diagnose and treat people with mild to severe psychological disorders

developmental psychology

area of psychology in which psychologists study the changes in people--- the way people think, how people relate to others, and the way they feel as they age

counseling psychology

area of psychology in which psychologists treat people with less severe problems, such as adjustment to stress, marriage, & other areas of daily life (school, jobs, etc.)

experimental psychology

area of psychology in which the psychologists primarily do research and experiments in the areas of learning, memory, thinking, perception, motivation, and language

comparative psychology

area of psychology in which the psychologists study animals and their behavior for the purpose of comparing and contrasting it to human behavior

physiological psychology

area of psychology in which the psychologists study the biological bases of behavior

personality psychology

area of psychology in which the psychologists study the differences in personality among people

disadvantage of laboratory observation

artificial situation that may result in artificial behavior

advantage of laboratory observation

control over environment

measures of 2 variables go into a mathematical formula and produce a ___________ (r), which represents 2 things--

correlation coefficient, the direction & strength of the relationship

2 methods that allow researchers to know more than just a description of what has happened

correlations and experiments

operational definition

definition of a variable of interest that allows it to be directly measured

prediction

determining what will happen in the future

functionalism influenced modern fields of-

educational, evolutionary, & I/O psychology

evolutionary psychology

examines potential links between human behavior and Charles Darwin's theory of evolution

T/F: Correlation proves causation

false

cognitive perspective

focuses on memory, intelligence, perception, problem solving, and learning

theory

general explanation of a set of observations or facts

In evolutionary psych, behavior is seen as-

having an adaptive/survival value

functionalism

how the mind allows people to adapt, live, work, and play

biopsychological perspective

human and animal behavior is seen as a direct results of events in the body

behavior

includes anything we do that can be measured, including all of our outward actions & reactions ex) talking, facial expressions, & movement

Parents or guardians of minors must give _____ _____ (permission to participate in experiment after the risks and purpose of the experiment have been explained)

informed consent

Watson believed that all behavior-

is earned

patients that underwent psychoanalysis suffered from-

nervous disorders with no found physical cause

Description involves-

observing a behavior and noting everything about it

What did John B. Watson believe?

phobias were learned, as seen in the case of "Little Albert"

objective introspection

process of objectively examining and measuring one's thoughts and mental activities

William James

proposed functionalism

advantage of a case study

realistic picture of behavior

advantage of naturalistic observation

realistic picture of behavior

positive psychology

recommends shifting the focus of psychology away from negative aspects to more positive focus on strengths, well-being, & the pursuit of happiness

mental processes

refers to all the internal, covert activity of our minds ex) thinking, feeling, & remembering

sociocultural perspective

reminds people that how they and others behave is influenced 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

survey method

researchers will ask a series of questions about the topic under study

case study

study of one individual or individual group in great detail

cognitive neuroscience

study of physical changes in the brain and nervous system

control group

subjects in an experiment who are not subjected to the independent variable and who may receive a placebo treatment (controls for confounding variables)

experimental group

subjects in an experiment who are subjected to the independent variable

scientific method

system of gathering data so that bias and error in measurement is reduced

observer bias

tendency of observers to see what they expect to see

observer effect

tendency of people or animals to behave differently from normal when they know they are being observed

experimenter effect

tendency of the experimenter's expectations for a study to unintentionally influence the results of the study

population re: surveys

the entire group in which the researcher is interested

control

the modification of some behavior to change from an undesirable one to a desirable one

psychology

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

structuralism focuses on-

the structure or basic elements of the mind

cultural psychology

the study of cultural behaviors, values, and expectations

psychoanalysis

the theory and therapy based on Sigmund Freud

T/F: Knowing the value of one valuable allows researchers to predict the value of the other variable

true

Freud believed all behavior stems from-

unconscious motivation

independent variable (IV)

variable in an experiment that is manipulated by the experimenter

dependent variable (DV)

variable in an experiment that represents the measurable response or behavior of the subjects in the experiment

laboratory observation

watching animals or humans behave in a laboratory setting

naturalistic observation

watching animals or humans behave in their normal environment without interacting with them in any way

Whose ideas heavily influenced James?

Darwin's natural selection theory

Whose work was behaviorism based off of?

Ivan Pavlov's; demonstrated a reflex could be learned

Who proposed behaviorism?

John B. Watson

Who is one of the widely recognized founders of positive psych?

Martin Seligman

famous case study

Phineas Gage

self-actualization

achieving one's full potential or ideal self

What does description begin with?

an observation

behavioral perspective

B.F. Skinner studied operant conditioning of voluntary, in which behavioral responses that are followed by pleasurable consequences are strengthened

Who believed that every experience could be broken down into its individual emotions and sensations?

Titchener

Who is the "father of psychology?" Why?

Wilhelm Wundt; brought attention to objectivity, established the first true experimental lab in psychology

experiment

a deliberate manipulation of a variable to see if corresponding changes in behavior result, allowing the determination of cause-and-effect relationships

correlation

a measure of the relationship between 2 variables

surveys are given to-

a representative sample--randomly selected subjects from a larger population of subjects

hypothesis

a tentative explanation of a phenomenon based on observations