Psychology Test 1 Reading Notes Appendix C Psychology is the second most popular major People graduating with a bachelor s degree generally work as assistant s in the psychology field or for for profit companies 42 of psych majors go on to graduate school Tips for getting a job o Get to know your instructors o Familiarize yourself with available resources such as campus career services and alumni o Participate in at least one internship experience o Join campus or community organization Employment for psychologists is expected to grow 15 percent from 2006 to 2016 PHD s generally work in universities while master s work in for profits or other educational institutes Master s degree takes two years in specific field Probably need 5 to 7 years to get PHD in a specific subfield o PHD for research Psy D for practice Subfields of psychology o Clinical psychologist promote psychological health in people groups and organizations Need a doctorate from a clinical psychology program Cognitive psychologist study thought processes and the brain Appendix A1 What is the first important point to remember when assessing studies that use statistical reasoning Estimates of big numbers often misread reality and then mislead the public Doubt big round undocumented numbers A2 How can we describe data with measures of central tendency and variation Measures of central tendency o It is a single score that represents a whole set of scores Simplest measure is the mode The most common is the mean Median is middle o Point Note which measure of central tendency is reported and understand that it can be misleading Measures of variation o Averages with low variability are more reliable o Normal curve typical bell shaped curve of averages A3 Correlation Correlation coefficient statistical measure of a relationship o Positive correlation between 0 and 1 o Negative correlation between 0 and 1 Illusory correlation the perception of a relationship where none exists A5 Making inferences Representative samples are better than biased samples Less variable observations are more reliable than those that are more variable More cases are better than fewer Cross sectional study a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another Longitudinal study research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period of time Statistical significance a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance Chapter 1 Origins of psychology o Wilhelm Wundt developed the first psychological experiment in 1879 in Germany o William James wrote an important psychology textbook o Sigmund Freud created psychoanalysis and focused on the unconscious mind o Until the 1920 s psychology was defined as the science of mental life focused on introspection inner sensations images and feelings o 1920 s 1960 s John B Watson and B F Skinner dismissed introspection and redefined psychology as the scientific study of observable people o Behaviorism the view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes o Humanistic psychology historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individual s potential for personal growth Maslow and Rogers emphasized current environmental influences on our growth potential and our need for love and acceptance o Cognitive neuroscience started in the 60 s Its the study of brain activity linked with cognition including perception thinking memory and language o Psychology is now defined as the science of behavior and mental processes Big issue of psychology o Nature nurture issue the controversy of the relative contributions of biology and experience to the development of our traits and behaviors Leading idea is that nurture works on what nature endows Levels of analysis and related perspectives o Levels of analysis the differing complementary views from biological to psychological to social culture for analyzing any given phenomenon o Biopsychosocial approach incorporates biological psychological and social cultural levels of analysis The Scientific Method o Theory organizes observations and predicts behaviors and events o Operational definitions a statement of the procedures used to define research variables Experimentationo Random assignment assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance in attempt to minimize preexisting differences between the people in different groups o Experimental group the group being tested o Control group the group that is not exposed to the experiment o Double blind procedure an experiment where the participants and the experiments are both ignorant to who the control group is and who the experimental group is o Hawthorne effect effect from just being in an experiment Psychologists are interested less with particular behaviors than with the general principles that help explain many behaviors Gender and culture do affect behavior but often the underlying processes are much the same Chapter 2 Neural communication o Neurons a nerve cell the basic building block of the nervous system Dendrite the neuron s branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses towards the cell body Axon the neuron s extension that passes information through its branching fibers that form junctions with other neurons muscles or glands Axons speak Dendrites listen Action potential a neural impulse a brief electrical charge that travels down the axon in response to stimulation from the senses or chemical messages from other neurons Synapse the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron Neurotransmitters chemical messages that cross synaptic gaps between neurons o Neurotransmitters influence on behavior Acetylcholine Enable muscle action learning and memory Dopamine Influences movement learning attention and emotion Serotonin affects mood hunger sleep and arousal Agonists excite similar enough to neurotransmitter to replicate its effects Antagonists inhibit bind to receptors and block a neurotransmitter s function o Nervous system Central nervous system formed by the brain and spinal cord it s the body s decision maker Peripheral nervous system responsible for gathering information and for transmitting CNS decisions to other body parts Nerves bundled axons that form neural cables connecting the CNS with muscles glands and sense organs Three different types