UNIT 1
Study Guide
Key Terms:
Behaviorism- The view of psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. most psychologists today agree with (1) but not (2)
Cognitive Neuroscience- The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition( Including perception, thinking, memory, and language)
Psychology- The Science of behavior and mental processes
Levels Of Analysis- The differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to socio-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon
Applied Research- Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems
Psychiatry- A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy
Testing Effect-Enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading information. Also sometimes referred to as retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning
Behavior genetics- The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior
Empiricism- the theory that all knowledge is derived from sense-experience. Stimulated by the rise of experimental science, it developed in the 17th and 18th centuries, expounded in particular by John Locke, George Berkeley, and David Hume.
Behavior-the way in which one acts or conducts oneself, especially toward others
Culture- The enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next
Nature-Nature Issue- The longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today's science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nuture
Biopsychosocial Approach- An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and socio-cultural levels of analysis
Counseling Psychology- A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving
Community Psychology- A branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups
Structuralism- Early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener: used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind
Psychometrics-the science of measuring mental capacities and processes
Humanistic Psychology- Historically significant perspective that emphasized human growth potential
Introspection- the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes
Natural Selection- The principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations
Clinical Psychology- A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders
Basic Research- Pure Science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base
Functionalism- Early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function- how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish
SQ3R- A study method incorporating five steps: Survey, Question, Read Retrieve, Review
Positive Psychology- The scientific study of human functioning, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and comunites to thrive
Key Contributors:
Wilhelm Wundt- Wundt established the first psychology laboratory at the University of Leipzig, Germany
John B Watson- Working with Rosalie Rayner, Watson championed psychology as the scientific study of behavior. He and Rayner showed that fear could be learned, in experiments on a baby who became famous as "Little Albert"
Mary Whiton Calkins- Mentored by James and became a pioneering memory researcher and the first woman to be president of the American Psychological Association
Ivan Pavlov- Pavlov was a notable contributor to behavioral psychology and was known for his experiments with animals
William James- James was a legendary teacher-write who authored an important psychology test. James also mentored Calkins
B.F. Skinner- this leading behaviorist studied how consequences shape behavior
Charles Darwin- Darwin argued that natural selection shapes behaviors as well as bodies
Sigmund Freud- The controversial ideas of this famed personality theorist and therapist have influenced humanity's self-understanding
Margaret Washburn- The first woman to receive a psychology Ph.D. Washburn synthesized animal behavior research in The Animal Mind
Abraham Maslow- Maslow created the hierarchy of needs and made great contributions to humanistic psychology
Edward Titchener- Titchener used introspection to search for the mind's structural elements
Key Ideas:
9. What is structuralism (Wilhelm Wundt, E.B. Titchener) Early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener: used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind
8. What is the difference between psychology and psychiatry? Psychiatrists are medical doctors that can prescribe medication and can deal with complex mental problems. Psychologists are scientists that cannot prescribe medication and commonly deal with minor mental problems
10. What is introspection? Introspection is the examination or observation of one's own mental and emotional processes
7. What are the sub fields of Applied Psychology? Describe each:
11. What is Functionalism? (William James) Early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function- how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish
6. What are the 3 ways of doing psychology? Describe each:
12. What is behaviorism? (Palov, Skinner, Watson) Behaviorism is a branch of psychology that looks at how we react to and observe responses
5. What is the scientific method? Explain/ describe each step:
13. What is psychoanalysis? (Freud) Psychoanalysis is a type of treatment that involves the patient talking through their experiences and memories.
4. Describe psychology's two big issues:
14. What are the seven main focuses of psychology today? describe each:
3. What are mental processes? Mental Processes are internal, subjective experiences we infer from behavior- sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.
15. Can you describe how each of these Focuses works? What are their differences? Biological psychology focuses on how natural selection of traits leads to the survival of humans throughout history. Developmental Psychology focuses on how our genes and our environment influence our individual differences and looks commonly at humans of the present rather than the past with biological. Cognitive psychology focuses on how our brains operate with a focus on information over personality traits like developmental. Psychodynamic psychology focuses on subliminal drives that cognitive psychology does not focus on. Behavioral psychology focuses on outside responses and how we learn compared to Psychoanalysis which focuses on internal, nonobservable responses. Socio-cultural psychology focuses on the different behaviors between cultures and groups which has a larger focus compared to behavioral psychology. Humanistic psychology focuses on sensory experiences and how the brain enables them which focuses on an individual compared to a society
2. What is behavior? Behavior is the way in which one acts or conducts oneself, especially toward others, that we can observe and record.
16. Which of these focuses are currently in favor? Which Have fallen out of favor? Humanistic and Cognitive psychology have grown in favor from the 1960s while behavioral psychology has fallen out of favor since that decade as well.
1. What is psychology? Psychology is a science field focusing on behavior & mental processes and answering questions about how & why we act and feel certain ways.
Stability versus Change The ideas of stability versus change come from the two different ideas concerning personality traits either that they are formed and remain the same throughout their life (Stability) or they changed due to experiences from outside sources.
Nature versus Nurture The issue within psychology stems from the two ideas that can help develop psychological traits, genetics (Nature) and experiences (Nurture). Over time, psychologists theorize that both nature and nurture can be used to form behaviors and other traits.
Hypothesis a Hypothesis is an educated predict how a situation will react and is tested with experiments. A hypothesis can be formed into an "If/then" statement.
Procedures (Experiments) Experiments are a way to test you hypothesis to see if it is true. Experiments should have only one variable changing at a time to make sure another factor does not mess with the results. You should do the experiment multiple times (if resources and time allows) to make sure your results are consistent.
Data (Results) Data is collected from the results of the experiments and are used to see if the results line up with your hypothesis. If the data does not line up with the hypothesis, you may want to re-write your hypothesis and start the experiments over to see if the new data matches the new hypothesis.
Findings (Conclusions) The findings from the data are to be communicated to other scientists and individuals. Formally, the findings are written into a report and published in a scientific journal.
Experimental Psychologists Experimental Psychologists preform experiments to preform research and learn about topics using the scientific method.
Teachers of Psychology Teachers of psychology help to preform experiments to help aid students to learn more effectively
Applied Psychology Applied psychology is the use of methods to solve practical problems.
Clinical Clinical psychology focuses on treatment and evaluation of disabilities and metal illness.
Counseling Counseling psychology helps people to deal with issues within their life and help to better themselves.
Educational Educational psychology focuses on teaching children and their mental development.
Industrial/Organizational Industrial Psychology focuses on how people behave in workplace and using the information to solve problems.
Cognitive Cognitive psychology focuses on how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information.
Psychodynamic Psychodynamic psychology focuses on how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts.
Developmental (Piaget) Developmental psychology focuses on how our genes and out environment influence our individual differences.
Behavioral (Pavlov, Skinner) Behavioral psychology focuses on how we learn observable responses.
Biological (Evolutionary) (Darwin) Biologigal psychology focuses on how natural selection of traits promotes the survival of genes.
Sociocultural Sociocultural focuses on how behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures.
Humanistic (Maslow) Humanistic psychology focuses on focuses how the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences.
By Erin Frizzell: Period 6