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General Psychology
General Psychology Exam 1 Ch. 1&2
Question | Answer |
---|---|
How is “psychology” defined? | Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. |
What are the goals of psychologists? | Psychologists try to describe, predict, and explain human behavior and mental processes, as well as help to change and improve he lives of people and the world they live in. |
The textbook tells us that the psychologists achieve these goals using | scientific methods. |
Behavior genetics | Behavior genetics: studies the inheritance of traits related to behavior |
Behavior neuroscience | Behavior neuroscience: examines the biological basics of behavior |
Clinical psychology | Clinical psychology: deals with the study, diagnosis, and treatment of psychological disorders |
Clinical neuropsychology | Clinical neuropsychology: unites the areas of bio psychology and clinical psychology, focusing on the relationship between biological factors and psychological disorders |
Cognitive psychology | Cognitive psychology: focuses on the study of higher mental processes |
Cognitive psychology | Cognitive psychology: focuses on the study of higher mental processes |
Cross-cultural psychology | Cross-cultural psychology: investigates the similarities and differences in psychological functioning in and across various cultures and ethnic groups |
Development psychology | Development psychology: examines how people grow and change from the moment of conception through death |
Educational psychology | Educational psychology: is concerned with teaching and learning processes, such as the relationship between motivation and school performance |
Environmental psychology | Environmental psychology: considers the relationship between people and physical environment |
Experimental psychology | Experimental psychology: studies the processes of sensing, perceiving, learning, and thinking about the world |
Evolutionary psychology | Evolutionary psychology: considers the relationship between people and their physical environment |
Forensic psychology | Forensic psychology: focuses on legal issues, such as determining the accuracy of witness memories |
Health psychology | Health psychology: explores the relationship between psychological factors and physical ailments or diseases |
Industrial/organizational psychology | Industrial/organizational psychology: is concerned with the psychology of the workplace |
Personality psychology | Personality psychology: focuses on the consistency in people’s behavior over time and the traits that differentiate one person from another |
Program evaluation | Program evaluation: focuses on assessing large-scale programs, such as the Head Start preschool programs, to determine whether they are effective in meeting their goals |
Psychology of women | Psychology of women: focuses on issues such as discrimination against women and the causes of violence against women |
School psychology | School psychology: is devoted to counseling children in elementary and secondary schools who have academic or emotional problems |
Social psychology | Social psychology: the study of how people’s thoughts, feelings and actions are affected by others |
Which three are described as being “newer members of the psychology’s family tree”? | 1.Evolionary psychology, 2.Behavior genetics: 3.Clinical neuropsychology |
where psychologists work: | Laboratories, hospitals, courtrooms, schools/universities, community health centers, prisons, and corporate offices. |
how women vs. men are represented in this field | women face bias & actively discouraged from becoming psychologist, Now women out number men in the field, they still lag when it comes to money & high-status positions. Ex: women working in colleges & medical schools earn on average 82.7% of what men make |
the field’s lack of diversity | majority of US are white, about16% of RMG diminished by a lack of diverse perspectives & talents, MG psych. serve as role models, underrepresentation might deter other MG members from entering field, can discourage some seeking treatment |
as well as the education of psychologists vs. psychiatrists | Most psychologist have a doctorate, either a PhD or PsyD, Psychiatrists have medical degrees and specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of psychological disorders, often using treatments the involve the prescription of drugs |
When, where and by whom did psychology formally begin? | late nineteenth century in Leipzig, Germany Wilhelm Wundt |
With what historical approach is Wilhelm Wundt associated? | Wilhelm Wundt is associated with Structuralism |
What is the emphasis of Structuralism? | Structuralism: Wundt’s approach, which focuses on uncovering the fundamental mental components of consciousness, thinking, and other kinds of mental states and activities. |
What was the name of the specific, but not so scientific method used by Wilhelm Wundt and others of this approach? | Introspection |
Name and describe each of the other two historical approaches mentioned in chapter one. With whom are each of these approaches associated? | • Structuralism- Wundt • Functionalism- William James • Gestalt- Max Wertheimer |
Who were the “founding mothers” of psychology? | Margaret Floy Washburn, Leta Stetter Hollingworth, Mary Calkins. June Etta, and Mamie Phipps Clark |
Margaret Floy Washburn | Margaret Floy Washburn: 1st women to receive a doctorate in psychology & important work on animal behavior. |
Leta Stetter Hollingworth | one of the 1st psychologists to focus on child development and on women’s issues, she collected data to refute the view |
Mary Calkins | who studied memory in the early part of the twentieth century, became the 1st female president of the American Psychological Association |
June Etta | spearheaded the study of personality traits and became the 1st woman to head a psychology department at a state university |
Mamie Phipps Clark | carried out pioneering work on how children of color grew to recognize racial differences |
Neuroscience perspective | The approach that views behavior from the perspective of the brain, the nervous system, and other biological functions |
Psychodynamic perspective | The approach based on the view that behavior is motivated by unconscious inner forces over which the individual has little control-- Sigmund Freud |
Behavioral perspective | The view that looks at the behavior itself as the problem--John B. Watson |
Cognitive Perspective | The view that suggests that people's thoughts and beliefs are a central component of abnormal behavior-- |
Humanistic Perspective | The approach that suggests that all individuals naturally strive to grow, develop, and be in control of their lives and behavior---Carl Rogers & Abraham Maslow |
What are the key issues and controversies in modern day psychology? | • Nature (heredity) vs Nurture (environment) • Conscious vs unconscious causes of behavior • Observable behavior vs. internal mental processes • Free will vs. determinism • Individual differences vs. universal principles |
How is “determinism” defined and related to one of these issues? | The idea that people’s behavior is produced primarily by factors outside of their willful control |
What is defined as, “the systematic inquiry aimed at the discovery of new knowledge”? Hint: It is in the name of module 3. | The scientific Method |
How do psychologists attempt to acquire knowledge and understand behavior and other phenomena of interest? | The scientific method, it consist of four main steps: 1. Identifying questions of interest, 2. Formulating an explanation, 3. Carrying our research designed to support or refute the explanation, and 4. Communication the finding. |
What is the difference between a theory and a hypothesis? | • Theories: broad explanations and predictions concerning observations of interest • Hypothesis: a prediction stated in a way that allows it to be tested |
How did the textbook define an operational definition? | The translation of a hypothesis into specific, testable procedures that can be measured and observed in an experiment. |
What might be an example of this? ( Operational Definition) | 1 researcher might develop a hypothesis in which she uses as an operational definition of “fear” an increase in HR. In contrast, another might use as an OD of “fear” a written response to the question “How much fear are you experiencing at this moment?” |
What are the four main steps of the scientific method? | 1. Identifying questions of interest 2. Formulating an explanation 3. Carrying our research designed to support or refute the explanation 4. Communication the finding. |
Name and describe each of the five methods of descriptive research | 1. Archival research: existing data 2. Naturalistic Observation: naturally occurring behavior, no intervention 3. Survey research: sample is asked questions 4. Case study intensive investigation of an individual or small group |
What is the difference between a “positive” vs. a “negative” correlation? | Positive correlation: indicates that as the value of 1 variable increases we can predict that the value of another variable will also increase negative correlation: tells us that as the value of 1 variable increases the value of another decreases |
Define the “experiment” | Experiment the investigation of the relationship between 2 or more variables by deliberately producing a change in one in a situation &observing the effects of that change on other. |
Which variable is manipulated by the experimenter and which is measured to indicate the change brought about by the manipulated variable? | Experimental manipulation: the change that an experimenter deliberately produces in a situation. |
What is order of events in a typical psychological experiment? | Review current knowledge on the subject, design an experiment, perform the experiment, analyze results using statistical methods |
What is “replication” and why is it important in psychological research? | replication in which research is repeated sometimes using other procedures in other settings and with other groups of participants. Replication Creases competence in the validity of the results of any single experiment |
What are some of the ethical guidelines aimed at protecting participants of psychological research? | Protect. of partic. from physical & mental harm, The right of partic. to privacy regarding their behavior, The assurance that partic.in research is completely voluntary, The necessity of informing participants about the nature of procedures before |
You need to know about informed consent | Informed consent is a document signed by participants affirming that they have been told the basic outline of the study and are aware of what their participation will involve. |
You need to know about debriefing | Debriefing is broadly defined as a set of procedures including counseling and the giving of information aimed at preventing psychological morbidity and aiding recovery after a traumatic event |
True or False: Researchers must make every effort to minimize discomfort, illness, and pain in all research participants, including nonhuman animals. | true |
placebo | a false treatment, such as a pill, drug or other substance, that has no significant chemical properties or active ingredients. |
What are the basic elements of the nervous system and behavior called? | The basic elements of the nervous system are neurons or nerve cells |
How are these cells different than most other cells in the body? | Their quantity is staggering, perhaps as many as 1 trillion neurons throughout the body are involved in the control of behavior. |
Dendrites | part of the neuron that receives messages from other neurons, they look like twisted branches of a tree. |
Axon | long, slim, tubelike extension, carries messages received by the dendrites to other neurons |
Terminal Buttons | Small bulges at the axon ends, send messages to other neurons |
Myelin Sheath | insulates axon, a protective coating of fat and protein that wraps around the axon like links of sausage |
What is the name of the gap between neurons? This happens to be the point of communication. | The Synapse is the space between two neurons where the axon of a sending neuron communicates with the dendrites of a receiving neuron by using chemical messages |
Explain the communication process between neurons from the point at which the message enters to the point at which this message is carried to the next neuron. | NT produced & stored in axon If action potential arrives, axon releases NT NT travel across synapse to receptor sites on another neuron’s dendrite When NT fits into receptor site, it delivers excitatory/inhibitory mess. If enough excitatory mess deli |
We are told that neurons are either on or off. This is referred to as the | all-or-none law. |