PSYC 1100 Fall 2024 Exam One Study Guide PDF

PSYC 1100 University of Connecticut Fall 2024 Exam One Study Guide Chapter 1: Introduction to Psychology (about 33 questions) Critical thinking: Critical thinking is the active application of a set of skills to information for the understanding and evaluation of that information. Definition psy...

PSYC 1100 University of Connecticut Fall 2024 Exam One Study Guide Chapter 1: Introduction to Psychology (about 33 questions) Critical thinking: Critical thinking is the active application of a set of skills to information for the understanding and evaluation of that information. Definition psychology: Psychology refers to the scientific study of the mind and behavior. Dr. of psychology (PsyD). Dissertation. Psychoanalysis-what does it study? How to reach the unconscious: The method of psychoanalysis, which involves the patient talking about their experiences and selves, while not invented by Freud, was certainly popularized by him and is still used today. In Freud’s view, the unconscious mind was a repository of feelings and urges of which we have no awareness. Gaining access to the unconscious, then, was crucial to the successful resolution of the patient’s problems. According to Freud, the unconscious mind could be accessed through dream analysis, by examinations of the first words that came to people’s minds, and through seemingly innocent slips of the tongue. William James. John Watson. Sigmund Freud and personality: William James was the first American psychologist. John B. Watson (1878–1958) was an influential American psychologist whose most famous work occurred during the early 20th century at Johns Hopkins University. Watson thought that the study of consciousness was flawed. Because he believed that objective analysis of the mind was impossible, Watson preferred to focus directly on observable behavior and try to bring that behavior under control. In Freud’s view, the unconscious mind was a repository of feelings and urges of which we have no awareness. Gaining access to the unconscious, then, was crucial to the successful resolution of the patient’s problems. According to Freud, the unconscious mind could be accessed through dream analysis, by examinations of the first words that came to people’s minds, and through seemingly innocent slips of the tongue. When considering personality through the lenses of William James, John Watson, and Sigmund Freud, James focused on the function of consciousness and the "stream of thought," Watson emphasized environmental conditioning as the primary driver of behavior, while Freud placed the most importance on the unconscious mind and early childhood experiences as key determinants of personality; essentially, James saw personality as a dynamic process influenced by conscious experience, Watson viewed it as a product of learned behaviors, and Freud believed it was largely shaped by hidden, unconscious desires and conflicts Humanism/humanistic psychology: Humanism is a perspective within psychology that emphasizes the potential for good that is innate to all humans. Two of the most well-known proponents of humanistic psychology are Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers (O’Hara, n.d.). Humanistic psychologists rejected, on principle, the research approach based on reductionist experimentation in the tradition of the physical and biological sciences, because it missed the “whole” human being. Beginning Naomi Weisstein. Francis Cecil Sumner: Naomi Weisstein, first published in 1968 (Weisstein, 1993), stimulated a feminist revolution in psychology by presenting a critique of psychology as a science. She also specifically criticized male psychologists for constructing the psychology of women entirely out of their own cultural biases and without careful experimental tests to verify any of their characterizations of women. In 1920, Francis Cecil Sumner was the first African American to receive a PhD in psychology in the United States. Sumner established a psychology degree program at Howard University, leading to the education of a new generation of African American psychologists (Black, Spence, and Omari, 2004). Much of the work of early psychologists from diverse backgrounds was dedicated to challenging intelligence testing and promoting innovative educational methods for children. Scientific Theory: A broad explanation or group of explanations for some aspect of the natural world that is consistently supported by evidence over time. Scientific explanations need to be testable, perceivable and measurable: To apply the scientific method, a researcher with a question about how or why something happens will propose a tentative explanation, called a hypothesis, Empirical method, Hypothesis: An empirical method for acquiring knowledge is one based on observation, including experimentation, rather than a method based only on forms of logical argument or previous authorities. A hypothesis is a tentative explanation Operant conditioning: Skinner developed a chamber that allowed the careful study of the principles of modifying behavior through reinforcement and punishment. This device, known as an operant conditioning chamber (or more familiarly, a Skinner box), has remained a crucial resource for researchers studying behavior. The Skinner box is a chamber that isolates the subject from the external environment and has a behavior indicator such as a lever or a button. When the animal pushes the button or lever, the box is able to deliver a positive reinforcement of the behavior (such as food) or a punishment (such as a noise). Skinner’s focus on positive and negative reinforcement of learned behaviors had a lasting influence in psychology that has waned somewhat since the growth of research in cognitive psychology. Unconditional positive regard (client-centered therapy): Unconditional positive regard refers to the fact that the therapist accepts their client for who they are, no matter what they might say. Provided these factors, Rogers believed that people were more than capable of dealing with and working through their own issues. Developmental psychology, Clinical psychology, Biopsychology. Developmental psychology is the scientific study of development across a lifespan. Clinical psychology is the area of psychology that focuses on the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders and other problematic patterns of behavior Biopsychology is the study of how biology influences behavior. Chapter 2: Research Methods (about 33 questions) Illusory correlation. Definition of theory: Illusory correlations, or false correlations, occur when people believe that relationships exist between two things when no such relationship exists. A theory is a well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena. Case study. Double-blind study. Hypothesis. Case Study is an observational research study focusing on one or a few people. In a double-blind study, both the researchers and the participants are blind to group assignments. Why would a researcher want to run a study where no one knows who is in which group? Because by doing so, we can control for both experimenter and participant expectations. A hypothesis is a testable prediction about how the world will behave if our idea is correct, and it is often worded as an if-then statement (e.g., if I study all night, I will get a passing grade on the test). The hypothesis is extremely important because it bridges the gap between the realm of ideas and the real world. As The empirical approach. Attrition: The empirical approach is a research method that uses direct and indirect observation, or experience, to gain knowledge. Attrition is a reduction in the number of research participants as some drop out of the study over time. Naturalistic observation. Jane Goodall. Longitudinal study. Cohort or generational effect: : Naturalistic observation is observing behavior in its natural setting. To better understand peer exclusion. The anthropologist Jane Goodall, for example, spent nearly five decades observing the behavior of chimpanzees in Africa. As an illustration of the types of concerns that a researcher might encounter in naturalistic observation, some scientists criticized Goodall for giving the chimps names instead of referring to them by numbers—using names was thought to undermine the emotional detachment required for the objectivity of the study. Longitudinal research is a research design in which data-gathering is administered repeatedly over an extended period of time. Often longitudinal studies are employed when researching various diseases in an effort to understand particular risk factors. A cohort is a group of people who share a common experience or characteristic, such as: Being born during a specific time period, Growing up in the same region, Starting college in the same year, and Experiencing the same natural disaster. Interrater reliability. Experimental design. Interrater reliability refers to the possibility that a researcher’s expectations might skew the results of the study. Experimental design is researcher expectations skew the results of the study. Correlation. Scatterplots. Interpretation of correlations. Correlation Is the relationship between two or more variables; when two variables are correlated, one variable changes as the other does. Scatterplots are a graphical view of the strength and direction of correlations. The stronger the correlation, the closer the data points are to a straight line. Correlational research can find a relationship between two variables, but the only way a researcher can claim that the relationship between the variables is cause and effect is to perform an experiment. Independent and dependent variables. Confounding variable. An independent variable is the variable that is influenced or controlled by the experimenter; in a sound experimental study, the independent variable is the only important difference between the experimental and control group. A dependent variable is the variable that the researcher measures to see how much effect the independent variable had. A confounding variable is the unanticipated outside factor that affects both variables of interest, often giving the false impression that changes in one variable causes changes in the other variable, when, in actuality, the outside factor causes changes in both variables. Chapter 3: Biological Psychology (about 34 questions) Why study genetics? Evolution by natural selection. The theory states that organisms that are better suited for their environment will survive and reproduce, while those that are poorly suited for their environment will die off. Chromosomes and DNA. Polygenetic. Range of Reaction: Chromosomes are long strings of genetic material known as deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). The egg and the sperm each contain 23 chromosomes. DNA is a helix-shaped molecule made up of nucleotide base pairs. In each chromosome, sequences of DNA make up genes that control or partially control a number of visible characteristics, known as traits, such as eye color, hair color, and so on. Polygenetic is when multiple genes affect a given trait. Range of reaction asserts that our genes set the boundaries within which we can operate, and our environment interacts with the genes to determine where in that range we will fall. For example, if an individual’s genetic makeup predisposes them to high levels of intellectual potential and they are reared in a rich, stimulating environment, then they will be more likely to achieve full potential than if they were raised under conditions of significant deprivation. Genotype (and how we note them) and phenotype. Dominant and recessive genes: Genotype refers to the genetic makeup of an individual based on the genetic material (DNA) inherited from one’s genetic contributors. Gene expression is often influenced by environmental context in ways that are not entirely obvious. Phenotype describes an individual’s observable characteristics, such as hair color, skin color, height, and build. A dominant gene is a gene variant that expresses its trait even when paired with a different variant (recessive gene), effectively "overriding" the recessive trait, while a recessive gene only expresses its trait when paired with another copy of the same recessive gene, meaning both parents must carry the recessive allele for it to be visible in the offspring; essentially, a dominant gene "dominates" over a recessive gene. Parts of the neuron: terminal buttons, synaptic vesicles, myelin sheath, synapse, Axon, Dendrites. terminal button is the axon terminal containing synaptic vesicles. A synaptic vesicle is the storage site for neurotransmitters. In some axons, glial cells form a fatty substance known as the myelin sheath, which coats the axon and acts as an insulator, increasing the speed at which the signal travels. The myelin sheath is not continuous and there are small gaps that occur down the length of the axon. A synapse is a junction between two neurons that allows them to communicate with each other by passing electrical or chemical signals. The axon is the major extension of the soma. Dendrite is a branch-like extension of the soma that receives incoming signals from other neurons. Action Potential: electrical signal that moves down the neuron’s axon. Membrane potential, Ion concentrations, hyperpolarization Membrane potential is the difference in charge across the neuronal membrane. Hyperpolarization is a change in a cell's membrane potential that makes it more negative. Removal of neurotransmitter at the synapse. How drugs work: The substantia nigra (Latin for “black substance”) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are also located in the midbrain. Both regions contain cell bodies that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine, and both are critical for movement. Drugs interfere with the way neurons send, receive, and process signals via neurotransmitters. Important neurotransmitters. Gyri, Sulci. Hemispheres and lobes of the brain. Lateralization. Function of the cerebral cortex. The brain has two hemispheres, the left and right, and each hemisphere is divided into four lobes: Frontal, Partial, occipital, temporal. Gyri are ridges on the surface of the brain that create the folded appearance of the brain: Lateralization allows the brain to process different types of information efficiently. For example, the left hemisphere is typically dominant for language-related processes, while the right hemisphere is typically dominant for face processing. The cerebral cortex is the outermost layer of the brain and is responsible for many essential functions, including: Senses, movement, mental Divisions of the nervous system. Divisions of the autonomic nervous system: The nervous system is divided into two main parts: the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The autonomic nervous system is divided into two main parts: the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system; essentially, the "fight or flight" response and the "rest and digest" response, respectively. Homeostasis: Homeostasis is a state of equilibrium, or balance, in which biological conditions (such as body temperature) are maintained at optimal levels. HM