VII. Statistics—if timeII. Assumptions of the behaviorist perspectiveVII. Memory Distortions, and the Debate over Repression of Childhood AbusePSYCH 101 1st EditionExam # 1 Study Guide Lectures: 1 - 4Lecture 1 (January 14)I. Definition of psychology: The systematic study of the behaviors and mental processes of individuals.II. Who are psychologists and what do they do?A. Basic and applied distinction B. Many different psychologies III. Some basic themes of psychology A. Psychology is empirical—a science that focuses on systematic investigationB. Behavior has a multitude of causes—we tackle problems from different anglesC. Individual and group variability—it depends on who and what you are studyingD. Lots of evidence that we frequently are unaware of the causes of our own behavior! IV. Current Perspectives A. Behaviorism1. focus on objective measurement, behavior, not inside the mind (a “black box”)2. learning principles apply to all organisms, so animal research is important3. emphasizes environment and learning history rather than genetic background4. key figures: Pavlov, Watson, SkinnerB. Cognitive perspective1. the workings of the mind (perception, thinking, memory) matter2. expectations, emotions, and interpretations are important; can be empirically studied3. influence of the Gestaltists: the whole is greater than the sum of the partsC. Biological/neuroscience approach1. explores regions of the brain, working of neurons, role of neurotransmitters2. genetic approach: what comes from genes & what comes from our experience?D. Evolutionary perspective—some behaviors provided a reproductive advantageE. Psychodynamic (or Psychoanalytic) perspective1. Freud’s conscious and unconscious 2. motivations of sex and aggression3. influence on personality and developmental psychologyF. Humanistic (or Phenomenological) perspective1. more optimistic than Freud, not deterministic like Freud and Skinner2. emphasizes human freedom and potential and responsibility; less scientific3. Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers are key figuresG. Sociocultural approach: influence of society and culture RESEARCH METHODSI. Three goals of PsychologyA. Measurement and Description—what is happening? B. Understanding and Prediction—why is it happening?C. Application and ControlII. Conducting Research: start with a theory A. Definition: “An integrated set of principles that explain and predict observations.” B. A good theory…1. fits the known facts—the data we have so far2. makes predictions—not just accounts for past results, but predicts the future3. is both falsifiable and testable C. Operational definitions: translating theory/hypothesis into something testableIII. Types of ResearchA. Gathering information1. case study or in-depth interview—lots of information about one person 2. naturalistic observation—simply observe in natural setting3. surveys—gather information on a large population* issues: random sampling, deceptive answers, wording of the questionsB. Correlational studies—association between two variables 1. Interpreting correlation coefficients (“r”) that range from 1.0 to -1.02. Correlation does NOT imply causation3. Three potential causal relationships behind a correlationC. Experiments—testing a hypothesis1. dependent variable—what you measure2. independent variable—what you manipulate (could be more than one)3. control groups and experimental groups 4. within participant vs. between participants5. random assignment6. more than one IV, and interactions among variablesIV. Problems in ResearchA. Confounding variables and internal validity; external validityB. Experimenter bias/experimenter effects (e.g., “bloomer” study)V. Ethics—see textbookA. Clearance from Institutional Review BoardB. Informed Consent & AnonymityC. DebriefingVI. Tests—if timeA. StandardizationB. Reliability—does your test yield consistent scores?-example: test-retest reliability (high correlation or r when you take SAT again)C. Validity—does the test measure what it’s supposed to measure?VII. Statistics—if timeA. Descriptive Statistics1. Central Tendency (mean and median) of a sample2. Variability (standard deviation) of a sampleB. Inferential Statistics & Statistical Significance (e.g., p < .05) Use probability theory to determine if a difference between two or more groups is “significant”Lecture 2 (January 21) LEARNINGI. “A relatively permanent change in performance potential brought about by experience”II. Assumptions of the behaviorist perspectiveIII. Classical ConditioningA. Ivan Pavlov’s dogsB. Essential concepts:1. unconditioned stimulus (UCS)2. unconditioned response (UCR) happens naturally3. conditioned stimulus (CS) 4. conditioned response (CR) is learnedC. Stimulus generalization and stimulus discriminationD. Extinction and spontaneous recoveryE. Single trial learning (e.g., taste aversions)F. The Garcia studiesIV. Operant ConditioningA. B. F. SkinnerB. Positive reinforcement1. reinforcer must be “appetitive” or desirable2. Premack’s principle—(try it out in your life)3. contiguity (short time) increases learning—but, life success and delayed gratificationC. Negative reinforcement—still strengthens response D. Punishment (two types)1. conditions for punishment to be effective2. drawbacks to using punishmentE. ShapingF. Extinction and partial (intermittent) reinforcementG. Partial reinforcement schedules1. Fixed ratio2. Variable ratio 3. Fixed interval 4. Variable interval H. Primary and Secondary reinforcers I. Biological constraints here too (e.g., cats won’t shake hands)V. More recent, cognitive approachesA. Observational Learning (or modeling)1. vicarious rewards and punishments2. intrinsic rewards and punishmentsB. Latent learning—rats and cognitive maps Lecture 3 (January 28)MEMORYI. Important themes A. Memory is not a solitary systemB. Memory is active and constructed, rather than passive C. Memory accuracy can be dramatically affected (encoding and retrieval)II. Memory systemsA. Sensory memory: read in bookB. Declarative memory: episodic and semantic memoryC. Procedural—performing tasks and procedures (e.g., walking, typing)D. Implicit memory—memory without trying to rememberE. Amnesics show that these memory systems are distinctIII. Working (or Short-Term) Memory A. Storage—acoustic encoding as well as