The Science of Psychology

Psychology

the study of behavior and mental processes

Innate

born with it

Aristotle

knowledge is experiences and mind and body are one (monism)

Locke

tabula rasa (we are born with a blank slate)

Wilhelm Wundt

1st psychology lab

Psychodynamic

things that affect us from our unconscious (usually from childhood)

Behavioral

observable responses, how we learn from rewards and punishments

biopsychosocial perspective

uses the interaction between biological, psychological, and social factors

Evolutionary

natural selection of traits

Cognitive

studies thinking, encoding, processing

Humanistic

how we meet needs for self esteem, how we live up to our potential

Social-cultural

how behavior and thinking vary across cultures

Biological

mind and body (chemical imbalances, genes)

Applied research

tackles practical problems

Industrial organizational psychologist

psychology in the workplace

Human factors psychologist

interactions with people and machines (ex- microwaves)

Counseling psychologist

assists people with problems

Clinical psychologist

studies, assesses, and treats people with disorders through therapy

Psychiatrist

medical degree, treats people with disorders

Theory

explanation that organizes observations and predicts behaviors

Hypothesis

a testable prediction, comes from a theory

naturalistic observation

research done in a natural setting

observer effect

tendency to act differently when being observer

participant observation

researcher becomes part of the group

observer bias

already has an opinion of what they expect

case studies

one person studies in depth, gives great detail; downfall: may be atypical (isolated case)

Survey

used to get attitudes and opinions of a large group of people

Population survey

survey: all people getting studied

Random sample survey

survey: every person has an equal chance of getting selected (ex- every 4th person alphabetically)

Representative sample survey

survey must represent the population

Correlation

the measure of a relationship between two variables

(coefficient (r) being between -1 and 1)

Positive correlation

as one variable increases, so does the other

Negative correlation

as one variable increases, the other decreases

Scatterplot

a cluster of dots used to represent correlations

illusory correlation

assuming there is a relation when there isn't (phone call when you are thinking about a friend) (coincidental)

hindsight bias

the "I knew all along theory"

Experiment

manipulate one variable to find the effect on another variable (only way to find cause and effect)

control group

one that receives the placebo (fake treatment)

random assignment

assigning participants to the control or experimental group randomly (not random sample)

operational definition

how you define something in an experiment (ex- intelligence)

Replication

repeating a research study with different subjects

placebo effect

results are caused by expectations (bandaids help injuries, advil)

experimenter effect

experimenters' expectations affect the results

double blind procedure

researchers and participants are blind to treatments > prevents bias

independent variables

the thing that changes, its effect is studied (what a plant is fed)

dependent variable

what is measured (plant growth)

confounding variable

a factor other than the independent variable that may cause an effect (weather)

hawthorne effect

individuals improve an aspect of their behavior in response to their awareness of being observed

Mode

most frequently occurring score

Mean

average score (add all scores up and divide by total amount of scores) > most susceptible to extremes in the data

Median

the middle score (50% above and below)

Range

difference between highest and lowest data

standard deviation

how scores vary around the mean (lower number means more similar scores)

normal curve

bell shaped curve, 68% 95% 99.7% rule

statistical significance

data is not due to chance

positively skewed distribution

concentration on the low end

negatively skewed distribution

concentration on the high end

Rules for Research

1. informed consent

2. cannot force participation

3. debrief after study

4. protect from harm

5. keep records confidential