Post on 11-Jan-2016
Unit 1: Approaches to
PsychologyCh 1: Introducing PsychologyCh 2: Psychological Research
Methods and Statistics
Ch 1 – Introducing Psychology• Psychology • Scientific study of _________ + _______
processes.• Covers everything people ____, ___, +
__.• Learning about psych can help you gain
a better understanding of your own ______, the behavior of other humans + ______, + give practical applications for enriching your life.
• People who study psych believe the study of behavior must be _________. In other words, you can’t just look at a small part of something, but must examine _________.
– Elephant Story
• The goals of psych
• People who study psych have 4 goals:1. ________ – need to describe or gain
info about the behavior being studied + present _______________
2. _________ – want to know why• A hypothesis is an educated
________• A theory is a complex
explanation based on findings from a large # of __________
3. _______ – the behavior, thoughts, + feelings of humans or just the behavior of _________
4. Influence – try to ____________ in beneficial ways
• Psych as a science
• Basic science is research – studying something simply to __________________.
• Applied science involves using research to solve problems or _______________.
• Physiological – having to do w/ an organism’s __________ processes
• Ex: Eating or sleeping• Cognitive – having to do w/ an organism’s
___________ + understanding• To conduct an accurate psych experiment,
the scientific method is used. It’s an approach to science requiring ___________________ for gathering + testing ideas
1. Start w/ problem or ? from an ____________2. Form a ___________ (assumption)3. Test hypothesis in an ____________4. Analyze data to reach a ___________
Is it basic science or applied Is it basic science or applied science?science?
_________ 1. Studying why some people snore
_________ 2. Comparing test results of girls and boys
_________ 3. Going through a 12 step program
_________ 4. Researching why cats purr
_________ 5. Counseling a victim of sexual abuse
_________ 6. Training a dog to come when a whistle blows
_________ 7. Studying the effects of violent movies on kids
_________ 8. Examining the mating habits of pandasEnd Section 1
• Origins of psych
• During the 1600s, philosophers promoted the idea of dualism (belief that _____ + _____ are separate + distinct).
• Rene Descartes disagreed + said that a ______ existed b/w them. He reasoned that the mind ________ the body’s movements, sensations, + perceptions.
• Believed that to understand human _______, you had to study how the mind + body influence each other to create a person’s _____________.
• Phrenology (the practice of ____________ on a person’s skull to determine that person’s intellect + _________________) became an important practice in the US in the mid 1800s.
• Although it has since been __________, it’s important b/c it encouraged study of the role of the ____ in influencing human behavior instead of the _______.
• Historical approaches to psych
• Structuralism – A structuralist is someone who studies the basic elements that make up conscious ________________. It involves introspection which is a method of _______ ____________ in which participants report their thoughts + feelings.
• Wilhelm Wundt is acknowledged as establishing modern psych as a separate, ___________ of study. He was very interested in the human mind + used a ________________ to study human behavior. He was a structuralist.
• Functionalism – A functionalist studies how animals + people ____ to their environments.
• William James (the “father of psychology”) speculated that thinking, feeling, learning, + remembering, serve one major function – to help us ______ as a species.
• Inheritable Traits – heredity refers to the ___________________ of characteristics from parents to their offspring. Sir Francis Galton noticed that ________ tended to run in families. He concluded genius is therefore a hereditary trait.
• He failed to take into account __________ such as the ____________ (for ex, wealthy people can often provide better educational opportunities for their children).
• His writings raised the ? of whether behavior is determined by _____________.
• Gestalt Psych – this belief states that perception is more than the sum of its parts; it involves the ________________________________.
• They study how sensations are assembled into _____________________.
• Modern approaches to psych
• Psychoanalytic – Focuses on the __________ _______. Developed by Sigmund Freud, a psychoanalyst (a psychologist who studies how unconscious _______ + ________ determine human behavior). He believed that beneath our conscious surface are _______________ ______ that conflict w/ the requirements of society + these urges are responsible for most human behavior.
• He developed a technique for studying the unconscious known as free association, in which the patient said everything that came to mind w/o any __________.
• He also believed _____ are expressions of primitive urges + used dream analysis.
• His view of the importance of the unconscious mind _________________.
• Behavioral – behaviorists stress investigating observable behavior. They believe that psychology should only concern itself w/ the ________________________________________________________.
• Ivan Pavlov pioneered behavioral psych in his famous ________________ ____________.
• B.F. Skinner introduced the concept of reinforcement (a response to a behavior that the likelihood that the behavior ___________________).
• Humanistic – humanists believe that each person has __________ in directing his/her future + achieving ______________.
• Believe that humans aren’t controlled by the environment or the unconscious.
• Also believe that ________________.
• Cognitive – cognitivists focus on how we process, store, + use info + how the info ____________________, language, problem solving, + creativity.
• Believe behavior is more than a simple response to a stimulus – it’s influenced by a variety of __________________.
• Biological – psychobiologists study how the brain, nervous system, hormones, + genetics influence _______________.
• Emphasize _________ (duh!)• Sociocultural – involves studying the
influence of cultural + _____ similarities + differences on behavior.
• Study the attitudes, values, beliefs, + social norms of different __________.
• Believes that _______ + ___________ status impact our behavior + mental processes.
End Section 2
• Psych as a profession
• Psychologists are people who are trained to observe, analyze, + ___________________.
• A psychiatrist is a person who has completed ____________ + continues into psychiatric medicine – they can treat people w/ behavior disorders + ___________________ + operate on patients. Psychiatry is a branch of Psychiatry is a branch of __________ + NOT of psych!__________ + NOT of psych!
• Clinical psychologists diagnose + treat people w/ __________ disturbances.
• Counseling psychologists advise + assist people w/ the problems of everyday life + help people adjust to ___________.
• Developmental psychologists study physical, emotional, cognitive, + social changes that occur as an individual __________.
• Educational psychologists are concerned w/ helping _______________ by focusing on intelligence, memory, problem solving + motivation.
• Community psychologists work w/ mental health or _________________ agencies.
• Industrial/organizational psychologists study ways to boost production, improve ______________, place applicants in jobs, train people, + reduce accidents.
• Experimental psychologists study sensation, perception, learning, motivation, + emotion in carefully controlled ____________ conditions.
• The American Psychological Association (APA) is a scientific + professional society of psychologists. It works to advance the science + profession of psych + to promote __________________.End Section
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Ch 2 – Psychological Research Methods and Statistics
• Pre-research decisions
• Researchers must begin by asking a specific ? about a limited topic or _____________.
• Next they must ________________. B/c they can’t study an entire population, they must select a sample (a relatively small group out of the ___________________ under study).
• A sample must _______________ of the population under study. There are 2 ways to ensure the sample is representative of the population:
1. Take a purely _______ sample (like drawing names from a hat).2. ____________ pick individuals who represent all of the various subgroups in the population being studied.
• Methods of research
• Naturalistic observation: research method in which the psychologist observes the subject in a ___________________ w/o interfering.
• Researcher must _______________ the people or animals under study b/c they may change their habits if they are _________ of the researcher.
• Case studies: research method that involves an ________________________ of one or more participants.
• B/c only a few people are studied, a single case study doesn’t ___________. However, they can generate new hypotheses that researchers can test.
• Surveys: research method in which information is obtained by asking many individuals a ______ _______ of ?’s.
• May consist of interviews +/or questionnaires.
• Longitudinal studies: research method in which data is collected about a group of participants over a # of years to assess how __________________ change or not during development.
• Time-consuming + participants _______ the study.
• __________ to examine consistencies + inconsistencies of behavior over time.
• Cross-sectional studies: research method in which data is collected from groups of participants of ___________ + compared so conclusions can be drawn about differences due to age.
• ___________ then longitudinal studies + the amount of time needed for the study.
• Correlations • Sometimes, instead of looking for cause + effect, researchers look for correlations (measures of a _____________ b/w 2 variables or sets of data). ONE DOES __________ THE ONE DOES __________ THE OTHER TO CHANGE.OTHER TO CHANGE.
• A ______ correlation would occur if both variables or .
• Ex: Grades + IQ • A _______ correlation would be if
one variable + the other .• Ex: Grades + absences.
• Experiments: this research method allows the researcher to _________ _________ the situation + eliminate (or at least limit) unwanted variables from ______________________.
• Every experiment has a ________ which specifies the important variables in the study.
• Variables are conditions + behaviors that are ______________. There are 2 types:
1. Independent variables are variables a _________________ so they can observe its effects.
2. Dependent variables are variables that change b/c of a change in the _____________________.
• Participants exposed to the ___________ variable are in the experimental group. Participants not exposed to the independent variable, but otherwise __________________ are in the control group.
• Results must be able to be replicated repeatedly in order to be ___________________.
• Ethical issues• Ethics are the methods for conduct or standards for proper + ________________.
• The APA published a set of ethical principles including the following:
Psychologists must:• plan research to minimize the
possibility of __________________.• be responsible for the welfare +
dignity of the ____________.• obey all laws + __________________.• only use __________ if no better
alternative is available. NO deception about __________ aspects EVER.
• One common ethical debate is over the use of _________ in research. Some oppose it as cruelty to animals while others support it for the knowledge gained that reduces _______ __________.
End Section 1
• Self-fulfilling prophecy
• Having ____________ about a behavior + then acting in some way, usually ___________, to carry out that behavior.
• It can lead a researcher to influence the experiment in such a way as to alter the participants’ behavior + thus __________________ of the experiment.
• Might only be a nod or a frown.• B/c good research must be _________,
researchers have developed ways of trying to ____ creating a self-fulfilling prophecy in experiments.
• Avoiding a self-fulfilling prophecy
• A placebo is a substitute for a drug that has no ____________________.
• In a single-blind experiment, a psychologist would give the control group a placebo + the experimental group a drug + ___________ would know who got the drug + who didn’t.
• The ____________ are “blind”.• In a double-blind experiment, the
control group would be given a placebo + the experimental group a drug + ___________ NOR the _________ would know which got the drug.
• The __________ + the __________ are “blind”.
• The researcher can remain _______.• Read p.46 “The Case of Clever
Hans”
• The Milgram experiment
• P.43-45• During 1960s, Stanley Milgram wanted to
determine whether participants would administer ___________ to others just b/c an authority figure told them to.
• It was a study on people’s ______________________________.
• Almost 1,000 male participants were told the study was on how ______________________.
• Participants, the “teachers”, were told to administer an electric shock to the “learners” when they ______________________.
• ______________ – but learners acted as if in severe pain.
• ____% of the “teachers” administered the full shock possible b/c they were told to.
• The experiment has been repeated w/ ______ _________.
• The placebo effect
• A change in a patient’s illness or physical state that results solely from the patient’s knowledge + __________________________.
• So medically speaking, there is _________ for the patient to get better. But b/c the patient believes they are given medicine, they sometimes report feeling better after receiving a ___________.
• They __________________ themselves better.
End Section 2
• Statistics • A branch of __________ that enables researchers to organize + evaluate data they collect.
• Can be used to _______________ (ex. p.47) or to validly support a hypothesis.
• Descriptive statistics is the listing + summarizing of data in a practical, ______________.
• ______ + _____ are examples of descriptive statistics created by experimenters after collecting the data.
• Frequency distribution is a way of arranging data so we know ________ a particular observation occurs.
• A normal curve is a graph of frequency distribution shaped like a symmetrical, ________________; a graph of normal distribution.
• These curves are ____________ if a large population is used..
• Ex. Height, weight, IQ, etc…
• Measures of central tendency
• Central tendency is a # that describes something about the “_______” ____ of a distribution.
• There are 3 types:• Mean: mathematical _________• Median: ________ score• Mode: most _________ score
• Given the follow set of #’s, determine the mean, median + mode: 36,45,63,70,72,77,77,82,85,85,85,90,95
• Mean: ______
• Median: ______
• Mode: ______ End Section
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