Psychology Notes PDF

Ch 1 - thinking critically Structuralism- surface level, introspection, focuses on mind structure, not the most scientific Functionalism- brain function, frontal lobe, still around, blended into other theories based on Charles Darwin's studies Behaviorism- cant study thought processes, behavior, obs...

Ch 1 - thinking critically Structuralism- surface level, introspection, focuses on mind structure, not the most scientific Functionalism- brain function, frontal lobe, still around, blended into other theories based on Charles Darwin's studies Behaviorism- cant study thought processes, behavior, observable studies Freud- psychoanalytical psychology, unconscious thought processes and childhood experiences Humanistic psychology emphasizes the potential for humans to grow. Inherently good, the environment nurtures or limits growth Psych- the science of behavior and mental processes, has expanded into a ton of sub-fields, applicable to all humans Biopsychosocial model- not just looking at things from one perspective- bio factors, environmental factors, genetic factors, psych factors, temperament, etc. Empirical approach- curiosity, skepticism, humility Adopting a scientific attitude (curiosity+skepticism+humility) engages you in critical thinking Thinking that doesn’t assume, evaluates new info, and questions it RESEARCH STRATEGIES Common sense isn’t always correct- fallacy of repetition Common sense flaws- hindsight bias (I knew that was going to happen), overconfidence (inherently think we know more than we do), perceiving order in random events (connect dots to make sense of unpredictability) People rely on feelings more than facts and figures- post-truth thinking (false news, repetition, availability of powerful examples, group identity & echo chamber Scientific method- self-correcting process for evaluating ideas with observation and analysis -​ observation>question>hypothesis>experiment>analysis>conclusion Constructing theories- theory is an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events Useful theories- organize observations, imply predictions, stimulate further research that leads to revised theories Exploratory research- gathering data and searching for patterns within the data Confirmatory research- testing theories established from exploratory research Meta-analysis- statistical procedure for analyzing the results of multiple studies to reach an overall conclusion (looking at other studies that have been done and making a general conclusion) Descriptive research- intending on going in and observing/describing, not manipulating variables, case studies are in-depth analyses of an individual or a group (not applicable to the whole group, varies in the group), naturalistic observation involves immersing oneself in the natural environment of the study’s subject(s) and noting natural behaviors and processes (jane goodall, observations, not interacting, writing down what they're doing, larger populations), surveys and interviews involve gathering data through asking people questions (data from large populations, collecting data, looking for patterns, wording matters, obtaining random samples is important to ensure it represents the population) Correlational methods look to see if 2 factors/variables are associated with each other if traits of behavior tend to coincide with one another, they correlate The correlation coefficient indicates how well the presence of one variable predicts the presence of another The correlation coefficient ranges from -1.00 to +1.00, closer to 0= closer to no correlation (negative slope, positive slope, 0 is no relation) +1.00- as one variable increases, the other increases OR as one variable decreases, the other decreases(same) -1.00- as one variable increases, the other decreases OR as one variable decreases the other increases (opp) Illusory correlations: perceiving relationships where none exist OR perceive a stronger-than-actual relationship (lucky sock, superstitions) Regression towards the mean: a phenomenon in which after extreme events occur, there is a tendency for scores to return to the mean (average), an extraordinary event does not mean anything has changed, and goes back to the average Correlation does not equal causation Experimental methods involve researchers manipulating one or more variables to determine the effect of this manipulation on another variable, the independent variable is being manipulated, the dependent variable may change in response to the manipulation of the independent variable, and confounding variables are variables other than the independent variables that might influence the study’s results Independent variables are being manipulated, dependent variables are being studied to see a change due to the independent variable Experimental methods involve researchers manipulating one or more variables to determine the effect of this manipulation on another variable, experimental groups receive supplements, and the control group does not receive the treatment(placebo)- randomly assigned Double-blind procedure, neither the participant nor the person distributing the treatment and collecting data knows which participants receive which treatments When setting up studies, researchers consider things: What is testable and ethical, formulate and finesse their research questions, choose appropriate designs for their questions, figure out what resources they have, funding and time, consider confounding variables, run their studies, interpret results, consider what could be improved in future studies Reulsting principles not specific findings that help explain everyday behaviors in the real world Studying animals ethically- prevalent in many fields, animals have similar bio and psych processes to humans, time effective and cost-effective to torture animals rather than humans “Ethical codes”- guidelines as to how to treat animals, shelter, food and water, clean enclosures, given enrichment, socialization, humane euthanization Human ethics- APA ethics code for psych, institutional review boards, the board has to look over study and approve or leave feedback, disclose what’s happening in studies to people so they know what’s going on in the study, risks, rewards, etc. Statistical literacy Descriptive statistics involves using statistical methods to provide a simple summary of data, using the right type of display for data (exaggerated or minimized) Measures of central tendency are single scores that represent a whole distribution of scores -​ Mean- the average score; all scores added together and divided by the # of scores -​ Median- middle score of a distribution; scores in order from smallest to largest, middle number is used -​ Mode- most frequently occurring score in a distribution Extreme scores can skew data with mean Measures of variation look at how much variation is in the data, how similar or diverse the scores are -​ Range- the difference between the highest and lowest scores; provides a crude estimate of the distribution’s variation -​ Standard deviation: measure how much scores vary with the mean score (IQ score) Bell-curve, avg score is the highest point, mean 100, standard deviation 15 Inferential statistics results gathered from a sample to inform researchers about a larger population Statistical significance indicates whether a result is due to chance or due to manipulation of the independent variable If a sample difference is statistically significant, we are saying that it is reflective of the true population difference, is something is not found statistically signifcicant it supports null hypothesis