Psychology Theories and Concepts Quiz

Introduction to Social Science

• Anthropology studies humankind. Branches include cultural anthropology (examining cultures), physical anthropology (studying human evolution), archaeology (exploring past societies), linguistic anthropology (analyzing language and culture), and primatology (studying primates).

• Sociology focuses on social behavior, groups, and institutions. Subfields include macro-sociology and micro-sociology.

• Psychology studies mental processes and behaviour. Schools of thought include psychodynamic, behaviorism, humanism, and more.

Social Science Inquiry Method

• Steps in the social science inquiry method generally include asking a question, forming a hypothesis, creating an operational definition, selecting a sampling technique, collecting data, analyzing data, and forming a conclusion.

• A good hypothesis is testable and falsifiable.

• Operational definition of variables clearly defines how variables will be measured.

• Sampling techniques : random sampling and stratified sampling are examples of sampling techniques.

• Data collection methods: include surveys, interviews, observations, and experiments.

• Primary vs Secondary research: Primary research gathers original data, while secondary research uses existing data. Each approach has advantages and disadvantages.

• Types of observation: include participant observation, structured observation, and naturalistic observation. Each method has unique strengths and weaknesses.

• Disciplines differ in their approaches to data collection.

Correlational vs Experimental Studies

• Correlational studies examine relationships between variables without manipulating them. Experimental studies manipulate one variable (independent) to observe the effect on another (dependent).

• Correlation coefficients show the strength and direction of a relationship. Positive correlations indicate a direct relationship; negative correlations suggest an inverse relationship. Strong correlations have a larger value. Weak have a smaller value.

• Directionality problem occurs when it is unclear the if A causes B or if B causes A.

• Third variables are factors that influence both variable A and variable B, which can produce a correlation.

• Key components of experimental studies include manipulating independent variables, controlling for confounding variables, measuring dependent variables, and comparing control groups with experimental groups.

• Control groups serve as a baseline measure. Experimental groups receive a treatment or manipulation. Independent variables are factors controlled and changed by the experimenter. Dependent variables are factors measured to measure the effect of the independent variable.

• Placebos are inactive substances or procedures used as a control in experiments.

• Confounding variables are uncontrolled factors that might affect the study's outcome.

• Reliability refers to the consistency of a measure. Validity refers to accuracy of a measure.

Ethical Guidelines

• Ethical experiments ensure no physical or psychological harm is done.

• The Belmont Report establishes ethical guidelines for research involving human subjects.

Introduction Anthropology

• Anthropology is the study of humankind.

• Components of cultural anthropology: Cultural anthropologists focus on studying cultures and elements.

• Shared Elements in Most Cultures: This has 8 shared elements in most cultures

• Ethnocentrism is evaluating other cultures based on one's own cultural standards; concerning because it can lead to bias in researching other cultures.

• Cultural relativism addresses ethnocentrism by advocating considering a culture within its context.

• Physical Anthropology: This is the study of the human species, including human evolution, biological variation, primate behavior.

Physical Anthropology Subfields

• Paleoanthropology: studies human evolution through fossils and artifacts.

• Primatology: studies non-human primates for insights to human evolution.

• Human Variation: studies biological diversity and how cultures interact with it.

Social or Cultural Anthropology Subfields

• Archaeology: studies past societies from material remains.

• Linguistic Anthropology: studies the role of language in culture. Subareas includes historical, structural, sociolinguistic.

• Ethnology: studies and compares cultures.

Ethnology

• Ethnology uses comparative analysis of cultures. It often relies on ethnography (detailed studies of specific cultures).

• Concerns with participant observation include researcher bias (reflexivity).

• Margaret Mead, Derek Freeman, and Paul Shankman are anthropologists known for their works related to ethnographic research.

Rites of Passage

• Rites of passage are ceremonies that mark important life transitions (birth, puberty, marriage, death).

• Purpose of rites of passage: to mark transitions and help individuals adapt to them.

• Stages of rites of passage: separation, transition, and incorporation.

Dating and Marriage

• Kinship patterns are studied to understand social structures.

• Lineage systems: include patrilineal, matrilineal and bilineal systems.

• Purpose of dating/marriage: varies across cultures. These changes reflect cultural values and shifts in societies.

• Types of marriage: monogamy, polygyny, polyandry.

Gender and Culture

• Gender vs. sex: Gender describes social roles and expectations, while sex describes biological characteristics.

• Alternate gender identity: includes people whose gender identity differs from societal norms.

• Cultural values influence societal gender roles and expectations.

Linguistic Anthropology

• Linguistic anthropology focuses on language, language's role in society, and the relationship between language and culture. It has three sub-areas.

• Language's significance: allows for human communication and cultural transmission.

• Sapir-Whorf hypothesis: suggests that language shapes thoughts and perceptions.

• Universal grammar: proposes a set of universal human characteristics in language.

• Writing systems: are varied in their forms

Archaeology

• Archaeology studies the past from material remains (artifacts)

• Archaeologist's questions: address various aspects of past life.

• Environmental agents preserving fossils and artifacts:include conditions such as freezing, aridity, and water (flooding).

Paleoanthropology

• Paleoanthropology's focus: the study of human evolution.

• Hominins vs. hominids: Hominins are the human-evolutionary branch, while hominids are a larger group.

• Contributions from Charles Darwin and Gregor Mendel.

• Key paleoanthropologists and their contributions.

• Lucy and her significance.

• Traits for bipedalism in fossils.

Becoming Human

• Hunting vs. scavenging: early humans employed both practices.

• Advantages of fire: cooking, warmth, defense.

• Koko and Washoe: primates who demonstrated communication skills.

• Advantages of bipedalism: improved vision, freeing hands.

• Key stages: evolutionary development.

• First tool use, speech, and hunters: timelines in human development

Primatology

• Primatology studies primate behavior for insights into human evolution.

• Jane Goodall, Dian Fossey, Birute Galdikas, Penny Patterson: primatologists' contributions.

• Similarities/differences between humans and primates: Understanding human evolution and behavior.

Human Variation

• Genetic and environmental variations influence human traits.

• Natural selection influences evolutionary change (4 components and 3 principles).

• "Survival of the fittest": principle of natural selection.

• Race vs. ethnicity: Race is a social construct; ethnicity refers to shared cultural background.

Vocabulary (See List provided for definitions)

Intro to Sociology

• Socialization is the process of learning culture.
• Primary agents: family. Secondary agents: media, education, peers.
• Social institutions: family, education, government, economy, religion; fulfill basic social needs.
• Macro vs micro sociology: Macro focuses on larger systems and societies; Micro examines smaller interactions and groups.
• Concepts: symbol, values, norms, division of labor, power, inequality.

Theories in Sociology

• Structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism are key theoretical perspectives in Sociology.

Primary Agents of Socialization

• Family's role: transmits cultural norms and values.

• Types of families: nuclear, extended, single-parent, and other modern iterations.

• Changes in families: societal trends have changed traditional family groups.

• Roles in different family structures: modern family roles have evolved and changed

Abnormal Socialization

• Importance of families: early socialization is crucial, as demonstrated by examples such as Genie Wiley and Oxana.

Secondary Agents of Socialization

• Secondary agents: education, peer groups, media, and religion.

• Anticipatory socialization: involves learning behaviors.

Media & Socialization

• Cultural diffusion: spread of cultural elements.

• Global village: interconnectedness of cultures.

• Media's impact on socialization: can shape behaviors and perceptions.

• Social learning theory: learning by observing and imitating others.

• Media violence: effect on behavior, including gender considerations.

Social Identity and Theories

• Social identity: personal and social group membership.
• Social influence: how groups shape behaviors.
• Groups and group behavior: includes crowd behavior

Social Psychology

• Social psychology: examines how people are influenced by each other and social contexts; it examines how psychological processes affect how individuals make decisions and communicate; contrasts with other social sciences in its emphasis on how psychological processes individually shape how people act when others are around or in relation with others.

• Bystander effect: individual's likelihood to help decreases in the presence of others. It happens mainly because of 'diffusion of responsibility', 'pluralistic ignorance', 'ambiguity' and conformity.

• Obedience: the tendency to comply with authority figures, demonstrated by Milgram's experiment.

• Conformity: yielding to group pressure, examined through Asch's experiment.

• In-groups and out-groups: groups we identify with and those we do not.

• Stanford Prison Experiment: showcased the power of conformity, groupthink and the dangers of power and how roles can affect us.

Intro to Psychology + Psychodynamic Theory

• Psychology: the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Schools of thought include behaviorism, psychodynamic, cognitive and more.

• Psychodynamic theory/psychoanalysis: emphasizes unconscious processes and early experiences in shaping behavior.

Personality Theories

• Nature vs. nurture: both affect personality development.

• Freud's psychosexual theory: development through stages (oral, anal, phallic, latency, genital).

• Defense mechanisms: coping strategies for dealing with anxiety.

• Psychosexual stages: specific issues that can arise at each stage which can influence personality development and behavior, including Oedipus and Electra Complexes.

• Criticism of Freud's theory: limited scientific evidence, sexist assumptions.

• Horney's feminist psychology: challenged Freud's views, arguing that women are not inferior to men (social factors).

• Jung's analytical psychology: emphasizes unconscious processes, including the collective unconscious and archetypes.

• Adler's individual psychology: focuses on feelings of inferiority, uniqueness and significance.

• Twin studies (Bouchard): research on twins to study heritability of traits and behaviors.

• Maslow and Humanism: hierarchy of needs; self-actualization.

• Frankl: meaning of life.

• Rogers and Humanism: client-centered therapy; importance of congruence and empathy.

Behaviorism

• Classical conditioning: learning through association.

• Pavlov's dogs: demonstration of classical conditioning.

• Watson's "Little Albert": experiment demonstrated conditioned fear.

• Behavior therapy: approaches to treat phobias and other problems.

• Operant conditioning: learning through consequences.

• Skinner's box: demonstration of operant conditioning.

• Operant conditioning consequences: positive/negative reinforcement and punishment; how these outcomes influence behavior.

• Observational learning (Bandura): learning by observing others.

• Social learning theory: emphasizes learning by observing and imitating others; Bobo Doll experiment demonstrated this.

Review Questions (See individual question sections for answers)

Test your knowledge on key psychological theories and concepts from renowned psychologists like Erik Erikson, Alfred Adler, and Abraham Maslow. This quiz covers important terms, experiments, and methodologies used in psychology, helping you deepen your understanding of the subject matter.