Psych Notes PDF

Unit 1 ====== Chapter 1 --------- ### Sec 1 I. Psychology - The scientific study of behavior and mental processes a. Cognitive - area that deals with the mind and its processes b. Physiological - area that deals with the biological processes II. Four Goals of Psychology a. Description...

Unit 1 ====== Chapter 1 --------- ### Sec 1 I. Psychology - The scientific study of behavior and mental processes a. Cognitive - area that deals with the mind and its processes b. Physiological - area that deals with the biological processes II. Four Goals of Psychology a. Description -- gather info about behavior and present what is known b. Explanation -- seek to explain why people behave the way they do i. Hypotheses -- educated guess (based on what is already known ii. Theory -- complex explanation based on numerous experimental findings c. Prediction -- using the info gathered and then predicting what behaviors will occur in similar situations d. Influence -- being able to influence or control certain behaviors in helpful ways III. Applied vs. Basic Science e. Applied Science -- using what you already know to explain behaviors f. Basic Science -- conducting research to find out new causes for behaviors iii. Scientific Method -- gathering info and answering questions so that errors and biases are minimized ### Sec 2 -- A Brief History of Psychology I. History of Psychology -- Antient Greeks a. Decided that their lives weren't controlled by the gods but instead by their own minds i. People were rational b. Began to study human behavior c. Began to rely on observation as a mean for knowing their world which set the stage for the development of the sciences and psychology II. Historical Approaches d. Structuralism -- interested in the basic elements of human experience (conscious mental experiences) ii. Wilhelm Wundt -- German physiologist, 1879 established the first psych lab 1. Introspection -- Wundt's method of self-observation in which individual's report their thoughts and feelings 2. Method attracted others thus carrying on the tradition of systematic research 3. Wundt is generally acknowledged for establishing psychology as a separate formal field of study e. Functionalism -- study of how humans adapt to their environments to ensure survival iii. William James -- "Father of Psychology" I the U.S., taught first psych class at Harvard iv. Rather than focusing on the structure of the mind (Wundt), James focused on the functions of the conscious mind and the purpose of behavior ### Contemporary Psych Chart Contemporary Approach What influences our behavior? Famous Psychologists Example ---------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Psychoanalytic Psychology Unconscious motives and conflicts Sigmund Freud A grown women fears men because she was abused by her father as a child Behavior Psychology -- observable behavior Events in our environment -- reinforcement and learning Ivan Pavlov, John B, Watson (defined the behaviorist position), B.F. Skinner Through good practice and good coaching, anyone can be successful in sports Humanistic Psychology -- environment serves as a background Individual Choices Abraham Maslow, Car Rogers An impoverished individual attending Harvard and becoming a successful lawyer Cognitive Psychology -- mental processes Our ability to store, process, retrieve, and use info Jean Piaget Quit asking parents for help on homework because they are always busy Biological Psychology -- emphasize the impact of biology on behavior Physical and chemical changes in our body Psychobiologists -- study how brain, nervous system, hormones, and genetic affect behavior Excess levels of dopamine cause schizophrenia Sociocultural Psychology -- newest approach Culture, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, immigration None Men are more aggressive than women f. Sigmund Freud -- Austrian physician, believed unconscious motives and conflicts are responsible for behavior (psychoanalysis) v. Free Association -- patient says everything that comes to mind no matter how absurd or irrelevant it seems 4. FAs are interpreted to reveal operation of unconscious processes vi. Dream Analysis -- applied same techniques as FAs to dreams vii. Dept records and developed case studies to form personality theories (Id, Ego, Superego) viii. Controversial Ideas ### Sec 3: Psychology as a Profession I. Fields of Psychology a. Psychologist -- person who has been trained to observe and analyze behavior patterns i. Clinical Psychologist -- doctorate ii. Counseling Psychologist -- doctorate iii. School Psychologists iv. Personality Psychologist v. Social Psychologist vi. Developmental Psychology vii. Educational Psychology viii. Community Psychologist ix. Industrial/Organizational Psychology x. Environmental Psychology xi. Experimental Psychology xii. Forensic Psychology xiii. Health Psychology b. Psychiatry -- medical specialty that involves the study, diagnosis, and the treatment of mental disorders Chapter 2 Psychological Research Methods and Statistics ------------------------------------------------------- ### Sec 1 I. Pre-research Decisions a. Specific Question b. Find Evidence c. Sample -- relatively small group out of the total population i. Must represent population ii. Random Sample -- each individual has an equal chance of being represented (drawing names out of a hat) iii. Stratified Sample -- subgroups in the population are represented proportionately in the sample II. Methods of Research d. Naturalistic Observation -- psychologist observes the subject in a natural setting w/o interfering III. Case Studies -- an intensive study of a person or group e. Most combine long-term observations w/diaries, tests, and interviews f. Do not prove anything IV. Surveys -- information is obtained by asking many individuals a fixed set of questions g. Questionnaires h. Interviews V. Longitudinal Studies -- psychologists study the same group of people at regular intervals over a period of years to determine whether their behavior and/or feelings have changed and if so, how i. Very time consuming VI. Cross-sectional Study -- data is collected from groups of participants of different ages and compared so that conclusion can be drawn about difference due to age j. Less expensive than LS k. Less time than LS VII. Correlation -- measure of a relationship between two variables or sets of data l. Positive or negative Correlations m. Describes relationships not causes VIII. Experiments -- enable investigators to control the situation and to decrease the possibility that unnoticed, outside variables will influence the results n. Hypothesis -- educated guess about the relationship between two variables o. Variables -- conditions and behaviors that are subject to change iv. Independent -- changed or altered to observe effects v. Dependent -- changes in relation to the independent variable (measured) p. Experimental Group -- participants who are exposed to the independent variable q. Control Group -- treated the same way as the experimental group except that the experimental treatment (IV) is not applied (necessary in all experiments) r. Replication IX. Ethical Issues s. Ethics -- methods of conduct, or standards, for proper and responsible behavior vi. Minimized misleading results, well-fare and confidentiality must be protected vii. Obtain signed, informed consent viii. Deception is used only when there is no other alternative ix. Animal use x. Human Subjects Committee -- before start of any experiment today, experimenter is required to have plan reviewed by HSC for any possible ethical concerns t. Self-fulfilling Prophecy -- a researcher's expectations influence that person's own behavior, and thereby influence the participant's behavior u. Avoiding a Self-fulfilling Prophecy xi. Single Blind Experiment -- participants are unaware of which participants received the treatment (placebo) xii. Double Blind Experiment -- neither the experimenter nor the participants know which participants received which treatment X. Placebo Effect -- a change in a participants illness or behavior that results from a belief that the treatment will have an effect rather than the actual treatment v. Resembles medical therapy but has no medical effects XI. Statistics -- a branch of mathematics that enables researchers to organize and evaluate the data they collect XII. Descriptive Statistics -- listing and summarizing of data in a practical, efficient way, such as through graphs and averages XIII. Distributions of Data w. Frequency Distribution -- way of arranging data so that we know how often a particular score or observation occurs xiii. Often converted to percentages, Part/Whole x 100 xiv. Graphs xv. Normal Curve -- bell shaped curve symmetrical, graph of normal distribution (IQ) x. Measures of Central Tendency -- numbers that describe something about the average score of distribution xvi. Mode -- most frequent score, can have more than 1 mode (bimodal) xvii. Median -- middle score, divides the frequency distribution into two halves xviii. Mean -- average, sum of all scores/number of scores y. Measures of Variance -- measure difference or spread, how spread out scores are xix. Range -- subtract lowest score from the highest score xx. Standard Deviation -- describes an average distance of every score from the mean, depends on how spread out the distribution is z. Correlation Coefficient -- describes the direction and strength of the relationship between two sets of variables xxi. Positive Correlation (+) -- one variable increases, second increases xxii. Negative Correlation (-) -- one variable increases, second decreases xxiii. Can be any value between +1 and -1, including zero xxiv. -1 or +1 -- strong and very rare, 0 is weak xxv. Pearson's Correlation Coefficient (r) a. Inferential statistics -- determines whether research data supports a hypothesis or whether results were due to chance xxvi. Statistical Significance -- if a researcher's results are significant, they can state at a high level of confidence that their results are not due to chance xxvii. Probability -- p\