Psychology Test 1 Reading NotesAppendix 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 experienceo 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 subfieldo 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 brainAppendix: 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 middleo 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 reliableo Normal curve- typical bell-shaped curve of averagesA3: Correlation- Correlation coefficient- statistical measure of a relationshipo Positive correlation: between 0 and 1o Negative correlation: between 0 and -1- Illusory correlation: the perception of a relationship where none existsA5: 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 comparedwith 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 chanceChapter 1-- Origins of psychologyo Wilhelm Wundt developed the first psychological experiment in 1879 in Germanyo William James wrote an important psychology textbooko Sigmund Freud: created psychoanalysis and focused on the unconscious mindo 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 sciencethat 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, memoryand language)o Psychology is now defined as the science of behavior and mental processes- Big issue of psychologyo 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 perspectiveso Levels of analysis: the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-culture, for analyzing any given phenomenono Biopsychosocial approach- incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis- The Scientific Methodo Theory: organizes observations and predicts behaviors and eventso Operational definitions: a statement of the procedures used to define research variables- Experimentation-o Random assignment: assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance in attempt to minimize preexisting differences between the people in different groupso Experimental group: the group being testedo Control group: the group that is not exposed to the experimento 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 iso 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 sameChapter 2- Neural communicationo 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 gapsbetween neuronso 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 functiono 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