PSY2012 Exam #1

Empiricism

(In the context of "science") Is the pursuit of knowledge by means of systematically controlled experimentation and measurement.

Clinical/Counseling Psychologists

(Ph.D.) Have extensive training in assessing and training individuals, couples, and families with psychological and behavioral problems. Are also trained to conduct research and to teach at institutes of higher education.

Educational Psychology

(Ph.D.) Professors and researchers at universities. Their area of interest focuses on how to improve the educational system for children. Some of their research goals are how to improve the curriculum, how to enhance or implement teaching strategies, and how to optimize a classroom setting in order to maximize students' learning. Some of them develop psychoeducational tests for children and adolescents.

Experimental Psychology

(Ph.D.) Work in a variety of settings in which conducting research is a primary task. They study what can be described as "the fundamental processes of behavior." Some of their areas of focus include the nervous system, sensation and perception, and learning and memory. Their subjects usually are nonhuman animals such as pigeons, rabbits, and monkeys, and their most popular subject is the albino rat.

Social Psychology

(Ph.D.) Work mostly, but not always, in university settings. Generally investigate how individuals behave when among a group of people (This contrasts to sociologists who investigate how groups of people behave). Some typical topics studies by them include attraction to others, prejudice and discrimination, conformity, and persuasion.

Personality and Development Psychology

(Ph.D.) and are professors at Universities. They study various facets of personality, including, how to create tests for measuring personality traits and constructs. They research a wide-range of topics related to the developmental process of humans, starting from embryo all the way to death. Some of their research foci include attachment, cognitive development, and identity formation.

Types of Research

1. Pure or Basic Research: Done simply for the pursuit of knowledge. Nonetheless, those who engage in basic research hold he view that knowledge just for its own sake is beneficial to society. 2. Applied Research: In this case, there is a specific problem somewhere for which an intervention of some sort would be helpful. 3. Program-evaluation Research: many programs exist that hope to achieve one goal or another, such as motivating workers, reducing alcoholism or smoking, and so on. It is important to know if a program is effective because it would be problematic to operate a program over a long period of time and not achieve any desired results. The only way one can know for sure if a program is accomplishing its stated goals is to conduct program-evaluation research.

Psychology's main goals

1. To be able to describe behavior. 2. To arrive at a better, more in-depth understanding of behavioral phenomena. 3. To predict behavior. 4. To control behavior.

APA

1992. Ethical Guidelines to which psychologists in the United States must adhere, psychologists are not permitted to conduct research that potentially traumatizes people. Psychologists cannot conduct research on humans without first obtaining informed consent. Consent, obviously, refers to permission, but the world "informed" is critical. Individuals must be told prior to agreeing to participate what the study is about (in general terms), what will be expected of them, and whether or not there is any possibility of harm occurring as a result of their participation. This ethical guidelines also address ethical considerations when conducting RESEARCH WITH NONHUMAN ANIMALS (rats, monkeys, pigeons, etc.). About 8 PERCENT of all psychological research are performed on nonhuman animals. In accordance to the guidelines, psychologists may still perform a variety of research on animals that they are not permitted to conduct on humans. Nonetheless, psychologists must obtain approval from a committee of peers to conduct such experiments and must explain the potential gains to be from the research in order to justify their sometimes less-humane experiments.

Introspection

A form of self-observation by which an individual more or less critiques his or her own thoughts and feelings. As you may imagine, their endeavors were met with relatively little success.

Kinship Studies

A less direct manner by which some psychologists study the influence of genes (relative to environmental influences) on human behavior is through this studies. The closer individuals are with respect to their genetic ancestry, the more genes they share in common (50% with mother, 50% with father, 100% identical twin, 12.5% first cousin). The idea underlying kinship studies is, if a behavior (or psychological trait) has a genetic origin to it, when the behavior or trait is present in an individual, we expect to observe that trait in a close relative. Athletic ability has a strong genetic component to it (it runs in families). So do alcoholism, shyness, sexual orientation, the tendency to commit crimes, intelligence and even the love for reading.

Human Factors Psychology

A less well-known, but important type of psychology. Deals with maximizing the "fit" between the "external world" and humans. The word "external world" is used loosely to refer to any aspect of our materialistic world. Ex. Maximize humans' ability to utilize efficiently and accurately the equipment for military purposes.

Multicultural Psychology

According to them, humans are more or less products of their particular cultures or subcultures. They argue that understanding people's culture allows us to gain insight into the psychology of individuals in that culture. Essentially, culture shapes how individuals respond to others, make decisions, hold attitudes, beliefs, and values, and approach life in general. Despite the increasing popularity of the multicultural approach to psychology, a fair amount of controversy surrounds this potential fourth force. Multicultural psychologists claim that culture explains a large percent of human behavior, yet seem to overlook the potentially larger impact that SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS has on explaining behavior. In other words, there appears to be a wider range of diversity within any given ethnic or cultural group than there is between ethnic groups, but multiculturalists assert that ethnic or cultural groups are highly distinct groups. The last criticism of the multicultural perspective is that, many proponents of multiculturalism seem to want to ignore the fact that not everything that occurs is non-European based cultures is ethical or "fair."

Intelligent Design

According to this idea, life is too complicated and complex to have happened by chance (or by evolution). Some "supreme power" or "powers" must have caused life to begin, including the creation of the universe. The most vocal proponents of this alternative theory are individuals who believe in "God" (specially the "Christian God") and argue that this theory is a viable theory that ought to be presented to students as an alternative explanation for life, alongside the theory of evolution. This notion does not meet the standards for qualifying as a scientific theory, and more accurately reflects a belief.

Law of Effect

According to this, responses followed by satisfying consequences become more likely to recur (conversely, responses followed by unsatisfying consequences are less likely to recur).

Claude Steele

African American. Published numerous studies in social psychology, specially on "stereotype threat." His research suggests that when ethnic minorities are evaluated in a context that "taps into" social stereotype about them, they often perform less well than they would if the context did not involve ethnic stereotypes about them.

William James

American "medical doctor-turned-psychologist" questioned the merits of structuralism. He argued that instead of trying to break down a conscious experience into its basic components, it is more meaningful to ask, "What is the purpose or function of a conscious experience?" That is, how does a conscious experience aid us in functioning in our environment? He founded a new school of thought called Functionalism.

Theory

An organized set of assumptions or premises based on logic, observation, and/or a set of facts, that possibly explain a particular phenomenon and how the various assumptions or premises are interrelated. If it meets the standards of science is not to be equated with "an idea" or "a belief". Also, it must be "testable" (it must be possible to put the theory to a scientific test). It is (1) based on some credible evidence and, (2) useful for explaining or predicting phenomena.

Surveys

Another way for psychologists to obtain information, this can come in the form of paper and pencil questionaries or interviews. Regardless of the format, surveys simply ask individuals to respond to a series of questions. Information acquired from surveys sometimes can be useful, but caution is warranted when interpreting the result of surveys. There are (at least) three limitations of the survey method. One is honesty. If you ask people questions about socially undesirable (or unacceptable) behavior, there is a reasonable probability that their answers will not be completely truthful. The second problem with surveys is, even if respondents are being honest, they, like all of us, are susceptible to having distorted memories, unrealistic self-perceptions, and not being fully aware of how they really feel on certain topics. The Last problem with surveys is related to how the survey's developer phrased the questions. Either unintentionally, or sometimes intentionally, the manner in which a question is posed can elicit a response in the desired direction of the survey's creator.

Genes

Are the most basic building of block of heredity, regulating the development of specific traits. Some traits, such as eye color, are determined by a single pair of genes, whereas other, often complex traits, such as "intelligence" are believed to be POLYGENIC- determined by a combination of genes. Genes are "strung together" to form CHROMOSOMES- large complex molecules made of up DNA. A person's DNA consists of 3 billion DNA sequences spread throughout our chromosomes. These sequences account for the enormous diversity observed among humans worldwide.

Psychologists Occupation

As of 2000, about a third of psychologists worked in settings typically described as "independent practice". They provide therapy to clients who present with a wide array of concerns; the practitioners also conduct psychological evaluations. Another third are employed in Universities and other educational settings. The remaining third are employed in diverse settings such as business, government agencies, hospitals, and so on. It is also noted that 60% of all psychologists are either Clinical, Counseling, or School Psychologists.

Stanley Sue

Asian America. Wrote a textbook in multicultural counseling which is considered to the most influential contemporary book on multicultural psychology.

Sociobiology

Attempts to delineate the biological basis of humans' behavior (in other words, to what extent is a given behavior genetically determined?).

Cross-Cultural Studies

By doing these studies, we can know with more certainty if behavioral phenomena observed among e.g. Americans occur with more, less or equal frequency among people outside the United States.

School Psychology

Can either hold a master's degree or a Ph.D. Their area of training focuses fairly exclusively on children in school settings and the families of the children. Can asses, make interventions, consult with teachers and parents, and provide counseling to children and their families. For the most part, they limit their interventions to children's problems that manifest in the school setting.

Ethology

Examines the role of of behavior (rather than a conscious experience) in helping us adapt to our environment.

Francis Summer

First person of African ancestry to obtain a doctorate degree in Psychology in 1920.

Forces in Psychology

Force means that this approaches have had a large impact on the way humans are perceived and to this day strongly continue to influence psychology. First Force- Psychoanalytical approach Second Force- Behavioral approach Third Force- Humanistic psychology Fourth Force- Multicultural Approach

Carthartic Effect

Freud found that when individuals simply talked about their problems and concerns, they often felt better afterwards.

Neurosis

Generic word describing unsolved psychological issues.

Edward Thorndike

He came up with the idea called the: "Law of Effect." According to the Law of Effect, responses followed by satisfying consequences become more likely to recur (conversely, responses followed by unsatisfying consequences are less likely to recur).

Paul Broca

He worked with a patient who had suffered an injury to the eft side of his head and consequently lost almost all ability to speak. After the patient died, Broca dissected his brain and found a specific area on the left side of the frontal lobe that had noticeable damage. Subsequent research has consistently shown that this specific region is involved in speech production and as a result, that region of the brain become known as Broca's area.

Multiple-determinants

Humans rarely do anything for one reason alone.

Functionalism

Influenced by Darwin's theory. Although its influence in psychology has disappeared somewhat, two contemporary subfields of biology have developed which are based in part of the notions of functionalism. One area is called ETHOLOGY and the other is called SOCIOBIOLOGY. Ethology examines the role of of behavior (rather than a conscious experience) in helping us adapt to our environment, whereas sociobiology attempts to delineate the biological basis of humans' behavior (in other words, to what extent is a given behavior genetically determined?).

John B. Watson

Introduced the approach called BEHAVIORISM to psychology. He was influenced by an idea articulated by Edward Thorndike, called the "law of effect." In brief, Watson wanted psychology to be a "science" just as some of the natural sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, etc.). With that goal in mind, he vocally expressed opposition to Freud's approach which was studying "entities" that could not be observed, such as dreams, unconscious conflicts, emotions, and so on. He, unlike Wundt who also wanted psychology to be a science, argued that psychology should limit its focus to only those behaviors that can be observed, manipulated, and measured. E.g., Instead of asking people how anxious they are from a scale of one to ten, measure their heart rate and use that as an index for anxiety. It is noted here that he was, like Freud, a determinist in that he believed who we are as adults is pretty much determined for us. But unlike Freud, he did not think our childhood traumas and unconscious conflicts determined who we are, but instead our history of "stimulus-response patterns" (also known as S-R patterns) determined who we are. More specifically, we are a product of our cumulative S-R histories: if we acted silly as children (stimulus), people might laugh at us (response). Their laughter provided us attention and therefore reinforced our proclivity to act silly. Over the years, we might grow up developing "playful joking" types of personalities.

Case Studies

Involves studying rather intensely one (or a handful) of individuals on a case by case basis. With this method, one can obtain a relatively large amount of information about an individual or about a fairly small number of individuals. Using this approach, however, a rich body of information can be gathered, albeit on a small number of individuals. Freud, for example, used this method to obtain a vast number of information in his relatively small number of patients. Of course, because Freud developed his theory of personality largely on a small number of patients, this raises the question of whether his theory of personality applies to people in general or just to the individuals he analyzed in therapy.

Scientific Method

It includes 4 broad steps. Step 1. Is having a question for which an answer is sought. The "question" per se, could be simply a question based on curiosity, or a question based on speculation or observation. A researcher may also be interested in testing a theory as a means of determining wether supports exists in favor of the theory. A theory is an organized set of assumptions or premises based on logic, observation, and/or a set of facts, that possibly explain a particular phenomenon and how the various assumptions or premises are interrelated. A theory that meets the standards of science is not to be equated with "an idea" or "a belief." Also, a theory must be "testable" (it must be possible to put the theory to a scientific test). Step 2. To articulate a specific hypothesis based on our idea theory that would be "testable." An hypothesis is more or less a prediction that is rather specific and as indicated, that which can be put to a test. In order to test an hypothesis, we will need to operationally define our variables of interest. A variable is anything that varies. Running speed, reading ability, susceptibility to illness, and so on are all variables because they vary among humans. When variables are operationally defined, they are specified in such a way as to make them measurable. Step 3. To conduct the study. Step 4. To make a conclusion about wether the results from our study supported our hypothesis (and thus, our idea or theory) or not. In summary, these four steps constitute the scientific method and this method applies to the pursuit of knowledge in other domains such as biology, engineering, and so on, besides psychology.

Neurotransmitters and Hormones

It is difficult to study scientifically how chemicals are involved in behavior for at least two reasons. One, in order to obtain samples of the body's chemicals, a person's blood has to be drawn or a spinal tap has to be performed to withdraw fluid from a person's spinal cord. The second reason, given that researchers generally cannot randomly assign volunteers to have blood drawn or a spinal tap done, researchers in this area must rely on individuals who, for other medical purposes, are already having blood drawn or fluids removed from their spinal cords. This state of affairs renders knowledge obtained about chemicals and behaviors to be correlational data. In general, NEUROTRANSMITTERS are chemicals that help relay information from one fired neuron to another neuron (sometimes, neurotransmitters inhibit information being relayed from one neuron to another). Some examples of neurotransmitters are dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. The drug PROZAC is commonly prescribed for those suffering from anxiety. The way prozac reduces anxiety is by inhibiting the chemicals that would ordinarily break down serotonin, thereby preventing serotonin levels from becoming too low. HORMONES are biological chemicals that can travel not just through the central nervous system (as do neurotransmitters) but also within the bloodstream. Three (3) sources of hormones that appear to affect behavior are: (1). Hypothalamus (part of the limbic system and the brain); (2) Gonads (testes and ovaries); (3) Adrenal cortex (located above the kidneys) TESTOSTERONE is often considered a "male hormone" because, despite the fact that both men and woman produce testosterone naturally, men, on average, have 10 times the level of testosterone in their bodies compared to women.

Sources of Information

Knowledge about the human brain comes primarily from two (2) sources and from one (1) secondary source. One source of information about the brain results from individuals who have suffered head injuries. When enough individuals experience head injuries to specific locations of the brain and manifests is similar behavioral consequences, it can be tentatively concluded that a specific region of the brain is somehow involved with a particular behavior. Another Source of information about the brain comes from deliberate surgeries performed on the brain. Brain surgeries have been done for numerous reasons and often in experimental ways. Last, an indirect source of information on the brain is from Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans. PET scans portray the metabolic activity of the brain for visual inspection.

Confirmation Bias

Many people engage in this phenomena, which refers to our tendency to to actively seek information that confirms our beliefs and ideas while simultaneously ignoring or discounting information that challenges or refutes our beliefs and ideas.

Industrial/Organizational Psychology

Masters or Ph.D. and among other topics, investigate ways to improve work settings in order to maximize worker productivity, create tests that companies can use with which to hire and promote employees, and develop strategies to maximize companies profile. A related type of psychologist is the Consumer Psychologist.

Statistics

Mathematical procedures applied to data that aid us in organizing and making sense out of large amounts of information.

Descriptive Statistics

Mathematical procedures used to describe a set of data in a way making the data relatively easy to process and understand. Another way to conceptualize this type os statistics is that they provide a description or summary of the overall characteristics of data rather than a description of each single datum. It can come in the form of frequency distribution, frequency polygons, bar graphs, measures of central tendency, and measures of variability.

Measures of Variability

Measures of Central Tendency do NOT provide information about how much variation there is among the data set. Fortunately there are two (2) measures that provide information about variation. They are RANGE and the STANDARD DEVIATION. (1). THE RANGE: Is fairly easy to understand and to calculate. Simply take the lowest score or value in the data set and subtract it from the highest score in the data set; the resulting difference between the two scores is the range for that data set. Knowing the range is not particularly helpful. (2). STANDARD DEVIATION: This tell us, how much the scores in the data set, on average, differ (or deviate) from the mean of the data set. In general, the smaller the value of the standard deviation, the less variation there is among the data set; likewise, the larger the standard deviation value, the more variation there is among the data set.

Theory of Evolution.

Most traditional scientists embrace the theory of evolution as the most viable theory available for explaining life in its vicissitudes. The idea that "advanced" organisms (such as humans, elephants, and dogs) evolved from "less" advanced organisms (such as reptiles, insects, and fish) has some basis in support of this possibility. Another premise is that as an organism's environment changes, the organism either adapts (and survives) or does not adapt to the changes (and faces extinction). This, though is only a "theory"- has decades of empirical research to support it and might explain why so many living organisms share so many characteristics and how those characteristics change over time in response to environment pressures.

Correlational Coefficient

Number that is used to express the strength of the relationship or correlation between between two variables. It is symbolized by a little "r" and its values can range from zero to 1.00. The closer the value of "r" is to 1.00, the stronger the relation is between two variables. One final note about this, they can be positive (+) or negative (-). These valence signs (+ and -) do not indicate values as one might ordinary think of the number line. They simply indicate the manner in which the two variables convey. Statistics argue that this method overestimate the extent to which two variables are related. They recommend SQUARING THE r value (r2) (square) to arrive at a more conservative, and likely more accurate, estimate of the extent to which two variables are related.

Clinical vs Counseling Psychology

One focuses on serious psychological problems among the general population, whereas, the other focuses more on on less severe adjustment problems, particularly among college students and adults.

Nature-Nurture Debate

One of the biggest issues currently psychology concerns the relative contribution of biology versus our experiences to our behavior. This nature-nurture debate actually was debated among greek philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle. Ex, the origin of Intelligence. Is our ability to learn and utilize new information a result of our genetic heritage? our educational experience? etc.

Determinism

One who thinks that much of who we are today has already been determined for us. In Freud's case, he thought the way our personalities are, as adults, is determined basically by the "cumulative effects of our childhood experiences."

Research

Or investigation, new knowledge is acquired about numerous topics and behaviors.

Amateur vs. Professional Psychology

Professional psychologists have a firm understanding that most behaviors have multiple-determinants. That is, humans rarely do anything for one reason alone. Amateur psychologists frequently are content to understand a given behavior based on a single explanation.

Sigmund Freud & Psychoanalysis

Psychiatrist, 1900. He came on the scene and made an impact not just on psychology, but on society as well, beginning with the publication of his now famous book, The Interpretation of Dreams. He developed the technique of psychoanalysis not from a laboratory, but in a setting that best resembles what "private practice" is today. He psychoanalyzed adults who manifested a wide range of psychological problems, but spent a disproportionate amount of time analyzing relatively wealthy NEUROTIC women. (NEUROSIS is a generic word describing unsolved psychological issues). Through psychoanalysis, he focused on a part of the mind that was not the focus of attention among his predecessors: THE UNCONSCIOUS MIND. He was intrigued by his patients' seemingly lack of awareness into the actual motives for much of their behavior. He concluded that for humans in general, much of our behavior is driven by unconscious needs. Individuals are acting on a combination of biological drive (e.g., aggression) and psychological needs. A keystone to psychoanalysis is to help disturbed patients discover the hidden or underlying causes of some of their (problematic) current behaviors and feelings. According to Freud, many of our unconscious conflicts originate during childhood when we are too immature psychologically and emotionally to respond rationally to the traumas- both large and small- that life tends to heap upon us. As adults, after conflicts are brought into our consciousness, we then can process and deal with the conflicts in a more rational and mature manner and obtain a sense of resolution. The ultimate goal is to minimize the impact the conflict has on current adult functioning. Being influenced in his training in biology, Freud postulated that the two primary instincts that motivated much of human's behavior were SEXUAL and AGGRESSIVE instincts. For Freud, virtually all actions were symbolic and meaningful and reflected one's deep-seated thoughts and feelings. Freud found that when individuals simply talked about their problems and concerns, they often felt better afterwards (known as the CARTHARTIC EFFECT). He practiced analyzing his patients' dreams because he thought dreams were "the royal road into the unconscious." In other words, Freud believed that what we dream about reflects our unconscious feelings and thoughts. Freud was a DETERMINIST. A determinist is one who thinks that much of who we are today has already been determined for us. In Freud's case, he thought the way our personalities are, as adults, is determined basically by the "cumulative effects of our childhood experiences."

Open-ended Questions

Questions that are posed to responders (either verbally or on paper) and subsequently, participants are "free" to respond any way they wish. The benefit of open-ended questions is that participants are not "forced" into an answer of any sort; they have the freedom to respond however they would like. The drawback to open-ended questions is how to "score" people's responses. If the answers participants provide are "al over the map" (so to speak), it can be difficult to summarize their responses in a way that facilitates a meaningful understanding or conclusion from the study.

Likert

Rating scale, a statement is posed to respondents and they must rate, using a scale of 1 to 7 (the range could vary...) the degree to which they "agree" or "disagree" with the statement. The benefit is that it is easy to quantify responses to questions. The disadvantage is that this rating scales "force" people to respond to statements using only the range of answers provided (e.g. strongly disagree... to... strongly agree). In other words, with this rating scale, rich idiosyncratic data are not provided to researchers.

The Bell Curve

Refers to a distribution of scores (scores on what? in doesn't matter. Anything that can be measured will yield a group of scores). It turns out there is an "empirical rule" that has been stablished, and that is, if you measure any given characteristic among humans and animals, if your sample size os large enough, you'll find that the distribution of scores tend to form the shape of a classic bell curve. This is an important concept is statistics because psychologists (and people in may different fields) base a lot of their measurement conclusions on the assumption that all characteristics are assumed to be distributed in the population: similar to the shape of the bell-shaped curve!

Empirical Rule

Refers to any general rule that is supported based on numerous studies. It has been found that no matter what is measured, if the sample size is large enough, the outcome will be one in which most scores fall in the middle of the distribution (i.e. The Mean) and the remaining scores will taper off fairly evenly on each side of the mean.

Heredity

Refers to the biological transmission of traits that have evolved over successive generations. Our heredity makes specific behaviors possible as well as places limits on what we can perform. Its involved in almost all aspects of behavior. For humans this would include characteristics such as sociability, social dominance, aggressiveness, thrill-seeking, effectiveness as a leader, artistic abilities, and even subjective sense of happiness.

Correlations

Refers to when two or more variables are related. This idea can be presented in various ways,: when one variable covaries with another variable, then the two variables are correlated. Or, when the values for one variable increase while the values of the other variable either increases or decreases, then the two variables are correlated. Knowing there is a correlation between two variables does not provide us information regarding which variable (if either) is causing the other variable.

Psychology

Scientific study of behavior and mental processes and how they are affected by an organism's physical state, mental state, and external environment.

Construct

Something we think exists, have difficult proving it exists, and the only evidence we have for its existence is based on the information provided to us by some instrument that measures its existence.

Anatomy

The Human brain appears to be three brains in one. More specifically, the inner/lower portion of our brains appears to be similar to the brains found in reptiles and lizards (hence, sometimes referred as "the reptilian brain"). This part of the brain is the basic structure around which the rest of the organ has developed. This part of the brain contains the thalamus, hypothalamus, amygdala, pons, and the cerebellum. Reptiles are capable of physical mobility, pursuing and eating food, migrating, courting and engaging in sexual activity, defending territory, and so on. They appear to NOT be capable of, as Funder (1997) put it, considering their options in life. That is, reptiles appear incapable of planning and thinking about the future. They seem to have a fixed repertoire of behaviors and they just do it. It appears as if there is a second brain wrapped around the reptilian brain in humans (and in nonhuman mammals, such as dogs, cats, rats, etc.). McLean refers to this second layer of brain as "the paleomammalian brain." In humans, these two portions of the brain (the reptilian and paleomammalian brains) make up most of the structure called the LIMBIC SYSTEM. The limbic system os thought to be responsible for our capacities to experience complex emotions, motivation, curiosity and learning, and appetite- some of which distinguish humans, dogs and cats from reptiles and lizards. Finally, the third part of the brain, referred to as "the neomammalian brain," is wrapped around the other two parts. This neomammalian brain is called the CEREBRAL CORTEX and is involved in planning, self-awareness, and language- characteristics that are uniquely human. The cerebral cortex is divided by deep fissures (or folds) that roughly separate each of the cerebral hemispheres into four lobes: (1) The FRONTAL LOBE- is responsible for associating or connecting different kinds of information, as well as for motor behavior; (2) The OCCIPITAL LOBE- which is involved in vision; (3) the TEMPORAL LOBE- which is involved in hearing and in verbalization; (4) The PARIETAL LOBE- which is involved in servicing other sensory systems. These four (4) cortical lobes work in conjunction with each other to receive and interpret sensory information, integrate information with existing memory, and to develop and execute plans of action trough the motor system of the body.

Aristotle

The field of psychology has its roots in European philosophy, going back to Aristotle. Aristotle was wrote a book called Peri Psyches, which more or less translates to "About The Psyche". In his book, Aristotle attempted to apply rudimentary scientific principles to the study of human thoughts, behavior, motives, and so on. However, scientific principles were not well developed at that time; as a result, few of these "early scholars" relied much on empiricism.

Brain Surgery

The first purposeful brain surgery was done as an attempt to control mental patients' uncontrollable, violent behavior. A Portuguese physician named MONIZ performed PREFRONTAL LOBOTOMIES on mental patients who were violent and constantly agitated in the 1930s. A prefrontal lobotomy entails severing the nerves that connect the front part of the cerebral cortex to the thalamus. When the FRONTAL LOBES as they are called are severed and/or removed, a common result is a reduced ability to respond emotionally to stimuli or events. This has led to the tentative conclusion that the front portion of the cerebral cortex is involved in extreme expressions of emotion. Given that many patients who have undergone prefrontal lobotomies have become somewhat vegetative (calm and not lucid), one might surmise that this portion of the brain may not be so involved in reducing extreme levels of emotion, but instead, in "registering" and processing stimuli and immediate events.

Comparative Psychology

The focus on non-human animals. Although they sometimes study these animals in the animals' natural settings, they often study them in laboratories. Comparative psychologists may focus on social behavior, brain processes, reaction to toxins, and other evolutionary processes. Their overall goal is to compare non-human animals with human on whatever behavioral aspect they are investigating.

Sampling Techniques

The individuals who participate in research studies (known as participants) must be selected by one means or another. This selection process is called SAMPLING. Participants are sampled from POPULATIONS OF INTEREST. There are two basic types of sampling procedures: Probability sampling and nonprobability sampling.

Reporting Scores

The most common ways scores in educational settings are reported: PERCENTAGES and PERCENTILES. (a). PERCENTAGES: The number of items obtained correctly on a test relative to the total number of items on the test represents percentage. More specifically, a percentage equals the number of correct items obtained by a test-taker divided by the total number of items on the test. Its weakness, those who advocate using percentages to report scores argue that percentages are the most "objective" way to assign to people taking the test. However, the assumptions inherent in using percentage system to assign grades are that the instructor is a "good" instructor who successfully covers the material AND that the items on the test are neither too easy nor too difficult and are well written. (b). PERCENTILES: This is a score reflecting a person's standing (i.e. how they performed on the test) relative to others who took the same test. They tell you what percentage of those who took the same test as you obtained scores that were lower than yours. Its weakness, percentiles provide us with no information about how well one performs on a test. Percentiles simply inform us how well one did on a test relative to others who took the test.

Hindsight

The scientific method is a systematic way (i.e."step-by-step" approach) to pursuing answers to our questions (questions, ideas, theories, etc.). Most people do not rely on the scientific method to pursue answers to their questions. In fact, most people rely on hindsight to explain behavioral phenomena in an after-the-fact-manner. In short, it is easy to arrive at reasonable, after-the-fact explanations for almost any behaviors. In everyday life, hindsight (after-the-fact explanation) is probably people's most common method of trying to understand behavior. The problem is past events or behaviors usually can be explained in may ways, and there is no sure way of knowing which-if any- of the explanations is correct.

Scales of Measurement

There are four (4) different ways that data can be classified or "scaled." The way in which data are scaled is important to know because knowing what scale of measurement was used with a given data set determines the type of statistical analyses that can be used to analyze the data. The four scales of measurement are NOMINAL, ORDINAL, INTERVAL, and RATIO. (1). NOMINAL: When you think of nominal scales of measurement, it might be helpful to think of names or categories. Examples of this are gender, political parties, ethnic categories, etc. Notice here how no one scale is "better" or higher in value than the others; they simply are different categories to which each score belongs. (2). ORDINAL: When an ordinal scale of measurement is used, the data are being ranked from highest to lowest with respect to numeric values. With an ordinal scale, there are unequal distances between the values in the data set. In other words, there would not be an equal distance (or difference) between the different values; all we will have done is rank players (or values) from best (or highest) to worst (or lowest). (3). INTERVAL: With an interval scale there is an equal distance between the values; however, there is NO real or absolute zero. What is a real zero? It is what you have when whatever you are measuring is nonexistent. A real zero is the absence of whatever is being measured (Ex, zero weight). Do not forget that an interval scale of measurement does NOT have a real zero! (Ex, temperature) (4). RATIO: In all actually, the ratio scale of measurement is the BEST SCALE of measurement because there are equal distances between the values and it HAS a real zero. Unfortunately, ratio scales of measurement often do not lend themselves very well for psychological research. An example of a ratio scale of measurement, a ruler.

Portraying Data Visually

There are three (3) common ways to show data visually. (1). FREQUENCY DISTRIBUTION: Which is simply a list showing the data starting with the score having the highest value and ending with the score having the lowest value and showing the number of times (i.e. frequency) each score appears in the data set. (2). FREQUENCY POLYGON: A frequency polygon is a graph used to demonstrate visually the same information that can be found in a frequency distribution (Figure 2, page 29) (3). Bar Graph or Histogram: A histogram is merely another of visually depicting data. Figure 3, page 29)

Cerebral Hemispheres

There are two hemispheres of each brain joined together by the CORPUS CALLOSUM which is a rather large bundle of nerves attached to each hemisphere. There i a general consensus that the LEFT hemisphere is largely, but not exclusively, responsible for the comprehension and production of language and for reasoning and analytical thinking. The RIGHT hemisphere appears to be largely, but not exclusively, responsible for visual perception and spatial understanding. Beyond these broad hemispheric tasks, it becomes increasingly less tenable to attribute specific abilities to one hemisphere or the other.

Probability Sampling

There is different types. (1) SIMPLE RANDOM SAMPLING: With simple random sampling, each person within a specified population of interest has an equal chance of being selected to participate in the study. If, lets say, the population of interest were to have 1,000 members in it, each person would have a one out of a 1,000 chance of being selected. The way that each person is selected is not important, so long as the selection process is truly random and each person in the population has an equal chance of being selected. (2) STRATIFIED RANDOM SAMPLING: Population: 92% whites, 3% hispanics and 5% African Americans. To ensure that appropriate representation of Hispanics and African Americans was present in the sample, the researcher, using stratified random sampling, would randomly select Whites until 92 Whites have been selected. The researcher then only selects Hispanics until 3 Hispanics have been selected, and then only select African Americans (again, randomly) until 5 African Americans are selected. On a final note, ideally, randomly selecting individuals to participate in studies is the preferred way to obtain participants because using this sampling procedure increases EXTERNAL VALIDITY. Which refers to when the findings from a particular study generalize or apply to other people in the population of interest.

Behavioral Genetics

This bridges the science of psychology and biology. This field examines both species-specific behavior patterns, relatively universal behavior patterns that seem to cut across species (e.g. maternal care is evident across many species), and individual differences within given species.

Humanistic Psychology

This idea appeared and was spoused by people such as Carl Rogers, Rollo May, and Abraham Maslow. Humanists were disenfranchised by the psychoanalytic and behavioral approaches to psychology as Rogers, May, and Maslow believed that those two approaches portrayed humans in a negative light. E.g. Freud viewed humans as driven by aggressive and sexual instincts and by their unconscious conflicts. Watson viewed humans as "S-R machines", only responding to stimuli in their environment. In contrast, Humanists wanted to focus on the positive qualities manifested by humans. According to humanists, humans have a Free Will- The freedom to choose who they want to be, rather than simply being at the mercy of drives or stimuli in the environment. For humanists, humans are not products of their childhood, but actively can write their own destiny- almost. Further humanists believe that humans are basically good and only engage in bad behavior when their basic needs are not met.

Structuralism

This idea was that the conscious experience could be broken down into three basic structures or elements which were sensations, feelings and images. They believed this feat could be achieved though a process of INTROSPECTION- a form of self-observation by which an individual more or less critiques his or her own thoughts and feelings. As you may imagine, their endeavors were met with relatively little success.

Measures of Central Tendency

This is a way to describe overall or general characteristics of a large data set with a single number. It allow us to infer from a single number what the general characteristic is of an entire date set. There are three measures of this kind, and they are the mean, the median, and the mode. (a). THE MEAN: Is simply the arithmetic average of the entire data set. To compute a mean, you would sum all of the scores or values in the data set, then divide that sum by the total number of cases or scores in the data set. (Figure 4, page 30) (b) THE MEDIAN: Whenever a data set contains a relatively small number of scores that are extreme compared to the other values in that data set, it probably is best to compute the measure of central tendency called a median instead of a mean. To know that to compute a median manually, you should rank the scores in the data set from highest to lowest in terms of their values. The median of the data set is the score or value that is at the mid-point of the column of data. (Figure 5, page 30) (c). THE MODE: Simply the most frequently occurring score in a data set. There is only one small problem with the mode in general. It tends to be minimally informative and therefore of little use; because of that, it is rare for researchers to report the mode of their data set in published studies. In general, the MEAN is considered the BEST measurement of central tendency, unless the data contains a relatively small number of extreme scores, in which case, the MEDIAN would be the preferred measure to use for the purpose of providing some information about what the "typical" score is in a particular data set.

William Wundt

This is the point in history when psychology began as a science. This scholar went his way to publicly proclaim that the discipline of psychology was a science, and because he set up the first psychology research laboratory in 1879, many people designate 1879 with the official year psychology began as a "science." He argued (Just as Aristotle had...) that the mind could be studied scientifically similar to the way scientists study other natural events. He and his students (specially one named E.B. Titchener) established a school of thought called structuralism.

Wernicke's area.

This man discovered that in a different lobe on the left side of the brain is an area that appears to be involved in speech comprehension.

Naturalistic-Observation Method

This method is used to study humans and non-human animals. The humans (or animals) are merely "observed" in their own natural environment. That is, the study does not take place in a laboratory or some other contrived place. The goal with this type of method is to simply describe and possibly understand behavior- not to determine causality or correlations between variables. One note of caution warrants mentioning about this method. When people or animals are cognizant that they are being observed, there is the possibility that reactivity occurs; in other words, they react to the researcher's presence in ways that potentially deviate from their natural behavior. To minimize reactivity, one solution is not to let the "subjects" know they are being observed. If this is not possible, then one might allow the subjects time to acclimate to the fact that they are being observed before recording their behavior (or taking notes, etc.).

Correlational Method

Type of Method of Investigation. A correlation is when two (or more) variables covary together, or are related, or are associated with each other, or... are correlated. In other words, as the values of one variable increase, do the values of the other variable increase (or decrease) as well? Sometimes, there might be a third variable that explains the correlation between the two variables. When we learn there is a correlation between two or more variables, we should resist making casual conclusions between the variables because which variable (if either...) is causing the other cannot be determined based on correlational information. Note: It is possible that one variable does cause the other, but we cannot know that based on the fact that a correlation between the two variables has been observed.

Experimental Method

When the goal of a research method is to determine if one variable causes another variable. The variable for which we want to know if it CAUSES something is the Independent Variable (IV); the variable for which we want to know if its CAUSED BY another variable is the Dependent Variable (DV). We want to know if an independent variable causes a dependent variable. In this experiments we will need two groups of participants. (a). EXPERIMENTAL group: The group that receives the treatment. They watch a movie and are given peanuts to see how thirsty they are after the movie. (b). CONTROL group: They don't receive the treatment or receive placebo. Don't receive peanuts and then they test how thirsty they are after the movie. How did participants end up in either experimental or control group? They were RANDOMLY SELECTED to one or the other group (there are various ways people can be randomly assigned to groups or conditions, such as drawing straws, flipping a coin, picking numbers, etc.). The important point about randomly assigned participants to groups is that the participants are not permitted to select the group in which they would like to be. In other words, by letting participants decide for themselves which group to be in, we introduce CONFOUND VARIABLES into the study. Confound variables are variables (such as "big consumers of food and drink") that might cause us to misinterpret the meaning of our results because the confound variables themselves might be explaining our findings, not the variable we originally were interested in, such as consumption of salty food. The study should be a DOUBLE-BLIND study. The first blind aspect of the double-blind study refers to the participants not knowing the group to which they have been assigned (in other words, they do not know if they constitute part of the experimental or the control group). The second blind aspect of the double-blind study refers to the researcher(s) measuring the outcome (or dependent variable) of the study not knowing the group that each participant was in. The goal here is to ensure that neither participants' nor researchers' biases confound the outcome of the study. When we talk about INTERNAL VALIDITY, we are referring to the degree to which a study's outcome was due to the independent variable. When we want to know if the outcome or findings of a study are robust, that is, the findings are probably consistent findings, we can REPLICATE the study with a different sample of participants. That is, we can conduct the study all ver again, but using a different group of participants. If the results of the second study are consistent with the results from the first study, this increases our confidence with respect to the internal validity of the original findings.

Nonprobability Sampling

With this type of sampling, the probability of any particular member of a population of interest being selected in unknown. No effort is made to ensure that the final sample adequately represents the population of interest. There are two types of nonprobability sampling (1) HAPHAZARD SAMPLING: "take-em-wherever-you-find-em" sampling procedure. Although a population of interest might be well delineated, the individuals who are selected to participate in a study are not randomly selected. They might be college students who are taking a General Psychology class and are volunteering to participate in a study for extra credit points in their course. Obviously with Haphazard sampling, the confidence of knowing that a study's findings generalize to the population of interest is greatly reduced. Nonetheless, the reason so many researchers rely on this type of sampling is because of convenience with respect to labor and expense. (2) QUOTA SAMPLING: Quota sampling is similar to to stratified random sampling, except that unlike stratified random sampling, participants obtained via quota sampling are not randomly selected.