PSY 201 1st EditionMidterm # 1 Study Guide Lectures: 1 - 5Highlight=key terms or ideas to know for examLectures 1 and 2, Chapter 1 (January 6th and 8th) NOTE: lecture 1 covered topics in the syllabus, which will not be on the Midterm 1 Exam. Introduction and History-The study of psychology originated from philosophyPhilosophical Developments: what is monism/dualism (and the mind and body problem)? What is nature vs. nurture?The mind and body problem is the question of whether the mind (soul) and the body (brain) areseparate and distinct, or if the mind is simply the brain’s ‘subjective experience’.Monism: The idea that the concept of the spirit or soul is meaningless; conscious thought is merely a product of the brain’s machinery and doesn’t cause things to happen. (Coined by Thomas Hobbes)Dualism: There are two separate substances, the mind and the body. The soul gets information from the body and them directs the body’s actions. Conscious thought is the product of the soul. (Coined by Descartes)The nature vs. nurture debate has heavily influenced the fields of psychology, sociology, and biology. It is the debate over which effects human development more; one’s genetics or one’s environment. In this case, we are concerned about where knowledge comes from.Nature: Knowledge, thoughts, and ideas are innate. We acquire these through biology, genetics and evolutionNurture: Knowledge comes from experience. We acquire it through learning, memory, and our environment. Localization of Function: what is localization of function? What is Broca’s area, and how does it demonstrate localization of function?Localization of function asserts that different parts of the brain control different functions.Broca’s area is a small area in the brain associated with the processing and learning of language.It demonstrates the localization of function because damage to this area will cause an individualto have difficulty speaking or understanding language.Evolution: who was Charles Darwin? Explain the idea of natural selection.Charles Darwin was a scientist who discovered the concept of evolution and wrote a book on the idea of natural selectionNatural selection: How living things inherit their structure. The characteristics necessary for survival across species are passed down through reproduction.Origin of Experimental Psychology: who were German experimentalists, and what were they trying to study? Explain, psychophysics, structuralism, functionalism, Gestalt psychology, and behaviorism. What is cognitive psychology/neuroscience?German experimentalists studied the simplest mental processes (such as sensations, memories, etc.).Psychophysics: refers to the relationship between sensory experience and physical stimuli (Weber and Fechner)Structuralism: the study of the structure of the mind and braking down its complex processes and putting them together into smaller ones.Functionalism: emphasis on the purpose and functions of the mind.Gestalt psychology: the idea that the basis of brain processes has an organized shape and a whole form. It’s the origin of the quote ‘the whole is greater than the sum of its parts’.Behaviorism: The idea that behavior is observable, and therefore worthy of study. On the flip side, this school of thought also believes that thoughts or ideas are not worthy of study becausethey are not observable. Cognitive psychology: the study of an individual’s ability to organize, process, obtain and use knowledge to guide behavior.Cognitive neuroscience: the study of the structure and function of the brain, using imaging and scans in an effort to understand its functions and determine genetic influences (today’s dominant method).Lecture 3, Chapter 2 (January 13th) Research MethodsScientific Method: what is meant by cause and effect? What are the goals of science, and the steps to conducting an experiment (define independent/dependent variables)?-Cause and effect is the relationship between variables scientists look for when designing an experimentGoals of science:- Describe, catalog and classify events- Causal explanation- Prediction- ApplicationSteps in an experiment:1. Question or theory2. Hypothesis3. Study (define variables; independent variable=hypothesized to be the cause of the event/phenomenon, dependent variable=affected by the independent variable, and is the variable that is measured)4. Observations and collection of data5. Analyze and interpret6. Communication of result (publish findings)Types of studies: what are the 3 types of research designs we studied (experiment, correlation, description)? Name the data collection methods and settings. Research designs:-Experiment: Consists of 2+ variables, with the manipulation of one variable to show causation-Correlation: Consists of 2+ variables, with the measurement of both variables with no manipulation. NOTE: correlation does not imply causation!-Description: A study that relies on descriptions the subjects provide (ex. opinion poll)Data collection methods (aka measurement methods):-Self report: a self report is a study given to individuals for them to respond to, such as a questionnaire-Behavioral: the outside observation of a group’s or an individual’s behavior, such as watching children interact or the responses to a memory questionnaire.-Physiological: the monitoring/recording of bodily functions, such as brain activity and heart rateSettings: there are two types of settings, a lab (controlled environment for experimental research) or a field (a natural setting for observational research)Statistical methods: what are descriptive and inferential statistics? Describe the descriptive statistics for experimental studies and correlational studies. Descriptive statistics: statistics that attempt to describe the shape and patterns of collected dataInferential statistics: statistics that attempt to assign a correlation value and causal relationship between two variablesExperimental studies:-Plot data as a histogram-Measure the central tendency (mean, median and mode)-Measure the variability (range and standard deviation)Correlational studies:-Correlation coefficient (r) measures the strength and direction of a correlation, and takes any value between -1 and +1Problems of interpreting results: what are the different types of confounding variables? Describe the placebo effect and the double-blind method.-Confounding variables are variables other than the independent variables that could be