History
Psychology:
The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
Careers in Psychology:
48% of psychologists practice in the clinical setting
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History
Applied Research:
Solves specific practical problems
Basic Research:
Work to increase scientific knowledge base
History
Wilhelm Wundt: Established the first psychology lab for studying humans in Germany
Sigmund Freud: Austrian psychologist who established psychoanalysis
Ivan Pavlov: Russian physiologist who established classical conditioning
William James: American psychologist who wrote the first American psych textbook
History
Six Psychological Perspectives: Behavioral: How we learn through rewards, punishments, and
observations
Cognitive: How we process information
Socio-Cultural: How thinking and behavior change depending on the setting and situation
Psychodynamic: How we are affected by unconscious drives and conflicts
Humanistic: How healthy people strive to reach their full potential
Biological: How our biological structures and substances underlie a given behavior, thought, or emotion.
Research
Scientific Method: Application of critical thinking and tools such as observation, experimentation, and statistical analysis
Research Bias: Occurs when researchers look for evidence that supports their hypothesis
Survey: Research technique that collects information about peoples attitudes or behaviors
Naturalistic Observation: Involves watching and recording behaviors without manipulation, or controlling the situation
Cross-Sectional Study: Compares individuals from different age groups at one time
Research
Longitudinal Study: Follows the same group of individuals over a long period of time
Independent Variable: The variable that the researcher manipulates that can cause a change in the dependent variable
Dependent Variable: The change caused by the introduction of the independent variable
Ethics in Research:
Brain
Limbic System:
Hypothalamus: Temp, hunger, thirst, and sexual functions
Hippocampus: Processing memory
Amygdala: Emotional responses (especially anger and fear)
Cerebral Cortex:
Frontal Lobe: Advance Critical Thinking and Judgment
Parietal Lobe: Sensory and General Association Areas
Occipital Lobe: Visual Processing Area
Temporal Lobe: Auditory Processing Area
Neuron Structure:
Dendrites, Cell Body, Axon, Axon Terminals, Synapse
Brain
Central Nervous System:
Consists of the brain and spinal cord
Peripheral Nervous System:
Motor and sensory neurons that communicate with the
CNS
Neurotransmitter:
Chemical messengers that communicate between
neurons across the synapse
Learning
Classical Conditioning:
Type of learning where stimulus gains the power to cause a
response
Reinforcement:
Anything that causes a behavior to be strengthened or repeated
Punishment:
Anything that causes a behavior to be weakened or eliminated
Learning
Operant Conditioning:
Type of learning in which the frequency of a behavior
depends on the consequences that follow
Observational Learning
Learning by observing others
Learning
Stimulus:
Anything in the environment that one can
respond to
Response:
Any behavior or action that occurs after a
stimulus
Extinction:
Diminishing, or loss, of a learned response
Memory
Short-Term Memory:
Briefly holds 5-9 pieces of information
Long-Term Memory
Relatively limitless permanent storehouse
Sensory Memory
Brief initial encoding of information into the
memory system
Memory
Encoding Failure:
Error in processing information into the memory system
Storage Failure:
Error in retaining information over time
Retrieval Failure:
Error in getting information out of memory storage (forgetting)
Misinformation Effect:
Incorporating misleading information into a memory of an event
Personality
Id:
Operates on the pleasure principle demanding immediate gratification
Ego:
Operates on the reality principle and mediates between the id and the
superego
Superego:
Represents the internalized ideals of what we should do (conscience)
Trait:
Characteristic patterns of behavior
Personality
Reliability:
Extent to which a test yields consistent results
Validity:
Extent to which a test measures what it is supposed to.
Disorders
Psychological Disorder:
Behavior that is maladaptive, unjustifiable, disturbing,
and atypical
Medical Model:
Concept that mental diseases can be diagnosed,
treated, and in most cases cured
DSM-IV-TR:
Manual used classifying psychological disorders
Disorders
Mood Disorders:
Disturbances of emotion includes: depressions, bipolar, and
mania
Anxiety Disorders:
Feelings of apprehension and nervousness includes: generalized
anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobia, OCD, and PTSD
Childhood Disorders:
Disorders that develop during early development stages includes
Autism, ADD, ADD/HD
Disorders
Schizophrenia:
Disorders marked by disorganized and delusional thinking,
disturbed perceptions and inappropriate emotions and behaviors
includes: paranoid, catatonic, disorganized, and undifferentiated
Personality Disorders:
Disorders characterized by rigid and lasting behavior patterns
that disrupt social functioning includes: avoidant, dependent,
paranoid, schizoid, borderline, and antisocial
Treatment
Types of Therapy:
Psychoanalysis: Transference & Free Association
Humanistic: Client Centered & Active Listening
Behavior: Systematic Desensitization & Averse Conditioning
Cognitive: Destructive vs. Constructive Explanations
Family/group: Relationship and Communication Building
Biomedical: Drug, ECT , and Psychosurgery
Eclectic: Combination of therapies
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