Psychology Exam 1 Notes Psychology The scientific study of behavior and mental processes Psychology focuses on empirical evidence and critical thinking Psychology s Four Goals 1 WHAT occurred description 2 Tells us WHY a behavior occurred explanation 3 Identifies a future behavior or mental process is likely to occur prediction 4 Applies psychological knowledge to prevent unwanted behavior change ORGINS OF PSYCHOLOGY Wilhelm Wundt Father of psychology Established first psychology lab in 1879 Primarily interested in how we form sensations images and feelings Based more on physiology Edward Titchener Wundt s student Sought to identify the basic building blocks or structures of mental life through introspection Structuralism doesn t get studied anymore William James Wundt s student Studied how the mind functions adapt organisms to their environment Functionalism doesn t get studied anymore Psychoanalytic Psychodynamic Perspective Unconscious process and unresolved past conflicts Violent thoughts and unresolved conflicts drive the way we act Sigmund Freud influenced by Josef Bruer and his cathartic method Hysteria letting women TALK Anna Oh Behavioral Perspective Objective observable environmental influences on overt behaviors B F Skinner and John B Watson I have to SEE it to believe it Humanistic Perspective Free will and self actualization Led to modern field of positive psychology What makes them a happy person Carl Rogers Abraham Maslor SELF ACTUALIZATION FRIENDSHIP LOVE FOOD WATER SHELTER have to satisfy lower needs first of the neuron system Evolutionary Perspective Sociocultural Perspective processes processes Cognitive Perspective Thoughts perception and information processing Neuroscientific Bio psychological Perspective Genetics and other biological processes in the brain and other parts Natural selection adaption and evolution of behavior and mental Social interaction and cultural determination of behavior and mental Example wearing a tutu to English class Bio psychosocial Model Combines biological psychological and social processes All play a role a little bit of everything Interacts with the seven major perspectives THE SCIENCE OF PSYCHOLOGY CH 1 Basic Research conducted to advance scientific knowledge Applied Research designed to solve problems Operational Definitions A statement that describes how a particular variable is to be measure or how an object or condition is to be recognized Needs to be CLEAR and PRECISE so readers know what is being observed or measured Example Want to measure how happy the students in this class are o TOO MANY VARIABLES CANT MEASURE PERFECTLY Ethics in Psychology Research With Humans Informed Consent have to warn research patient of what is going to happen Voluntary Participation CAN leave say yes or no Restricted Use of Deception CAN lie Debriefing have to find out what study really was about Confidentiality Alternative Activity Prior Approval of Research Rights of Nonhuman Participation Psychologists take great care of handling research animals Still controversial Rights of Psychotherapy Clients Therapists must maintain highest ethical standards Four Key Research Methods p 15 1 Experimental Research carefully controlled procedure that manipulates variables to determine cause and effect i Independent Variable factor that is being manipulated what do I change ii Dependent Variable factor that is measured what do I observe iii Example depressed participant Group 1 No Meds Group 2 5 mg of pills Group 3 10 mg of pils IV amount of drugs DV how depressed are you Control group with no drugs 2 Descriptive Research i Observes and records behaviors without producing causal explanations ii 3 types of Descriptive Research 1 Naturalistic Observation measuring and recording participants behaviors without 2 Survey tests questionnaire polls interviews 3 Case Study in depth study of a single interfering participant i Observes or measures two or more variables to find relationships between them ii Correlation does NOT means causation iii Positive Correlation 2 variables more in the same direction 3 Correlational Research iv Negative Correlation 2 variables or more in the opposite direction v Zero Correlation no relationship with the two variables 4 Biological Research i Scientific studies of the brain and other parts of the nervous system ii Tools for the Biological Research 1 Ablations lesions 2 Electrical Recordings 3 Observations Case Study 4 Stimulation of the Brain 5 Brain Imaging pictures MRI CT PET fMRI GENETIC INHERITANCE CH 2 Behavioral Genetics Study of the relative effects of heredity and environment on behavior and mental processes Studies how natural selection and adaption help explain behavior Scientific study of the biology of behavior and mental processes Evolutionary Psychology and mental processes Neuroscience Four Methods to Study Genetics 1 Twin Studies 2 Family Studies 3 Adoption Studies 4 Genetic Malfunction Studies Neural Bases of Psychology Neurons cells of the nervous system responsible for receiving and conducting electrical impulses from the brain o Four Major Parts i Cell Bodies ii Dendrites iii Axon iv Terminal Buttons Nerve Impulses axon to terminal Synapse Gap between neurons Dendrites or cell bodies stimulated Travels down Neural Communications Within a neuron communication results from an action potential a neural impulse that carries information to the axon Between neurons communication occurs through transmission of neural information across the synapse by neurotransmitters The sending neuron normally absorbs that excess neurotransmitters called reuptake or they are broken down by enzymes Key Neurotransmitters Serotonin mood Acetylcholine ACh Dopamine DA feel good reward center Norepinephrine NE Epinephrine adrenaline GABA gamma aminobutyic acid Endorphins happy lower pain runners high Collection of glands that manufacture and secrete hormones into Chemicals manufactured by endocrine glands and circulated in the bloodstream to produce bodily changes or to maintain normal bodily Endocrine System the bloodstream Hormones functions Nervous System Organization Central Nervous System CNS Brain and spinal cord Peripheral Nervous System PNS all nerves and neurons connecting CNS to the rest of the body o PNS is subdivided into the somatic and autonomic nervous systems o Automatic nervous system subdivided into CNS Important Terms Neuroplasticity the brains lifelong ability to reorganize and change it structure and function
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