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AP PSYCHOLOGY UNIT #1
Unit One: Part 1
Introduction to Psychology:
What is Psychology?
The study/science of behavior and mental processes
History
Greek Philosophers | Curious about the mind and how it works, as well as concepts that cannot be measured (love, freedom, etc.) |
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Rene DeCartes | Dualism-mind and body separate |
John Locke | Believed all humans were born as a “blank slate” |
Birth of Modern Psychology:
Schools of Thought
Structuralism | classifying and understanding elements of the mind’s structure | Edward Titchener and Wilhelm Wundt |
|---|---|---|
Functionalism | how mental and behavioral processes function and how they are useful to an organism in adapting to the environment | William James |
Psychoanalysis | the ways our unconscious and childhood experiences affect our behavior | Sigmund Freud |
Behaviorism | studies behavior without reference to mental processes | John B. Watson and B.F. Skinner |
Humanism | humans are driven by their need for love and acceptance | Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow |
Psychology's Theoretical Perspectives:
Behavioral | How we learn observable responses | How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? What is the most effective way to alter our behavior, for example, to lose weight? |
|---|---|---|
Biological | How the body and brain enable emotions, memories, and sensory experiences; how our genes and our environment influence our individual differences | How do pain messages travel from the hand to the brain? How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives? To what extent are psychological traits such as intelligence, personality, sexual orientation, and vulnerability to depression products of our genes? Of our environment? |
Cognitive | How we encode, process, store, and retrieve information | How do we use information in remembering? Reasoning? Solving problems? |
Evolutionary | How the natural selection of traits has promoted the survival of genes | How does evolution influence behavior tendencies? |
Humanistic | How we achieve personal growth and self-fulfillment | How can we work toward fulfilling our potential? How can we overcome barriers to our personal development? |
Psychodynamic | How behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts | How can unfulfilled wishes and childhood traumas explain someone’s personality traits and disorders? |
Social-Cultural | How behavior and thinking vary across situations and cultures | How are we affected by the people around us and our surrounding cultures? |
Psychology Subfields:
Developmental | Studying our changing abilities from womb to tomb |
|---|---|
Educational | Studying influences on teaching and learning |
Personality | Investigating our persistent traits |
Social | Exploring how we view and affect one another |
Industrial-Organizational | Application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces |
Human Factors | How people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe |
Counseling | Assists people with problems in living and achieving greater well-being |
Clinical | Studies assess and treat people with psychological disorders |
Psychiatry | Medicine dealing with psychological disorders |
Community | Studies on how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups |
Terms:
Empiricism | The idea that knowledge comes from experience, and that observation and experimentation enable scientific knowledge |
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Structuralism | Classifying and understanding elements of the mind's structure |
Introspection | A self-reflection of one's mind and its psychological processes |
Nature-Nurture Issue | Controversy about whether human traits are inherited or developed through our experiences |
Natural Selection | The principle in which nature selects traits that would best enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a distinct environment |
Behavior Genetics | The study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior |
Positive Psychology | The scientific study of human flourishing with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths that help individuals and communities thrive |
Testing Effect | An enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information |
SQ3R | A study method using these five steps, Survey Question, Read, Retrieve, Reread |
Unit One: Part 2
Terms:
Hindsight Bias | The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. |
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Replication | Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced. |
Sampling Bias | A flawed sampling process produces an unrepresentative sample. |
Random Sample vs. Random Assignment | A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion vs. Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between different groups. |
Confounding Variables | Other factors that can potentially influence a study’s results. |
Skewed Distribution | A representation of scores that lack symmetry around their average value. |
Illusory Correlation | Perceiving a relationship where none exists, or perceiving a stronger-than-actual relationship. |
Validity vs. Reliability | The extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to vs. The extent to which a test yields consistent results, as assessed by the consistency of scores on two halves of the test, on alternative forms of the test, or on retesting. |
Research in Psychology:
Basic Research | Finding new information |
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Applied Research | Applying new information along with what is already known to practical problems |
Description Method:
Three common ways to gather data:
The goal is to gather data that describes behavior and thoughts
Case Study | Study one individual in great depth |
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Survey | Asking people to report on their behavior and/or opinions |
Naturalistic Observation | Describing observed behavior |
Drawbacks
Case Study | Could be a minority example |
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Survey | Wording can be misleading, hard to get a random sample, and hard to get a large sample size |
Naturalistic Observation | Hard to get a large sample size, and there is room for bias |
Scientific Method:
Make Observations
Form a Theory
Predictions
Theories lead to a Hypothesis
Testable Predictions
Conduct Experiments and Observations
Gather Data
Draw Conclusions
Perhaps refine the hypothesis and start the process over
Comparing Research Methods:
Research Method | Basic Purpose | How It’s Conducted | What Is Manipulated | Weakness |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Descriptive | To observe and record behavior | Do case studies, surveys, or naturalistic observations | Nothing | No control of variables; single cases may be misleading |
Correlational | To detect naturally occurring relationships; to asses how well one variable predicts another | Compute statistical association, sometimes among survey responses | Nothing | Does not specify cause and effect |
Experimental | To explore cause and effect | Manipulate one or more factors; use random assignment | Independent variable(s) | Sometimes not feasible; results may not generalize to other contexts; not ethical to manipulate certain variables |
The Experimental Method:
When conducting experimental research, you are manipulating a situation and then looking at the results
Key parts of an experiment:
Independent Variable (IV) | The part of the experiment that is manipulated |
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Dependent Variable (DV) | The part of the experiment that is measured |
You must also “Operationalize” the variables (i.e. explain HOW you will measure them)
Experimental Research:
Grouping
Control Group | Subjects are given a Placebo - a “fake” substance or condition or nothing at all |
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Experimental Group | Subjects who are given a real substance or condition |
Double-Blind Procedure
Neither the subject nor the experimenter should know who was assigned to each group
Random Assignment
Subjects should be randomly assigned by chance to the different groups
Correlation Method:
Using numbers to describe the strength of a relationship between two traits or behaviors
Example: The more you study, the higher your test scores
Method: place data on a graph called a scatter plot
Correlation does NOT equal causation
Scatter Plots:
After the data is plotted, the slope will indicate that the relationship between the two variables is one of three things: (The closer to +1/-1, the stronger the relationship)
Positive Correlation (closer to +1.0): When one variable goes up, so does the other
Example: More education, higher salary
Negative Correlation (closer to -1.0): When one variable goes up, the other goes down
Example: More sun-tan lotion, less skin cancer
No Correlation: No clear relationship indicated
Statistics And Psychology:
Once researchers gather statistical data, they need to organize it in order to draw conclusions
Other Factors to Consider:
Because of the fact that a few scores can throw off your findings (particularly the Mean), it is important to look at the:
Range: The gap between the highest and lowest score
Standard Deviation: A measure of how far a score differs from the mean (The larger the standard deviation, the more the scores are dispersed)
Measures of Central Tendency:
Interpreting statistics is one of the ways experimenters draw conclusions in the world of Psychology
One way to summarize and organize statistical data:
Mode: The most frequently occurring score
Mean: The average score
Median: The middle score (the 50th percentile)
Again, be careful because a few “abnormal” scores could distort these findings
Normal Bell Curve And Skewed Bell Curve:
Mock Survey of Height of Classroom:
Heights In Inches:
59 in.
63 in.
63 in.
63 in.
64 in.
66 in.
66 in.
67 in.
68 in.
69 in.
69 in.
69 in.
70 in.
70 in.
71 in.
71 in.
75 in.
What is The Range: 59 in. - 75 in.
What is The Mode: 63 in. and 69 in.
What is The Median: 68 in.
What is The Mean: 67.2 in.