Psychology Study Guide Exam 1 Chapter 1 What is Psychology Psychology the scientific study of behavior and mental processes Behavior observable overt actions and reactions Mental Processes internal covert activities o Example thinking feeling and remembering Goals of Psychology 1 Describe Behavior What is happening 2 Explain Behavior Why is it happening 3 Predict Behavior Under what circumstances 4 Control Behavior How can it be changes Origins of Psychology Wilhelm Wundt 1832 1920 Father of Psychology First Psychology lab Leipzig Germany Investigated reactions to stimuli Introspection looking inside Edward Titchener Brought Wundt s ideas to the U S Sought to identify elements of thought through introspection Structuralism approach to discovering the basic elements or structures of the mental processes Problem introspection is NOT scientific William James How organisms adapt their behavior to an ever changing environment Influenced by Darwin and his theory of evolution and emphasis on Natural o Natural Selection an evolutionary process in which organisms that are best adapted to their environment will survive and importantly produce Functionalism approach to mental processes emphasizing the functions and purposes of the mind and behavior in the individual s adaptation to the Selection offspring environment Max Wertheimer German movement against structuralism Believed psychological events could only be understood in their entirety as whole units called Gestalts o Example phi phenomenon light bulbs moving Movement is influential in studying Sensation Perception in modern day Cognitive Psychology and in Psychological Therapy Sigmund Freud Psychoanalysis involves an analyst s unlocking a person s unconscious conflicts by talking with the individual about his or her childhood memories dreams thoughts and feelings Austrian Physician Believed that peoples problems are caused my conflicts between acceptable behavior and unacceptable unconscious desires John Watson Behaviorism is a theory of learning that focuses solely on observable behaviors discounting the importance of such mental activity as thinking wishing and hoping Strongly objected to structuralism Emphasized objective observable environmental influences on overt behavior Adopted Ivan Pavlov s concept of conditioning Little Albert experiment Modern Perspectives Psychodynamic Perspective Critiques of Freud s Theory o Possible sexist bias Neo Freudian theorists o Too much emphasis on sex and aggression o More emphasis on social motives and relationships Behavioral Perspective Started by John Watson but continued by B F Skinner Theory of Operant Conditioning responses followed by pleasurable consequences are more likely to happen in the future Can modify behavior using various reinforcement procedures Humanistic Perspective Emphasizes free will self actualization and human nature as growth seeking experiences and motivations for behavior Self actualization a state of self fulfillment in which we realize our full potential Cognitive Perspective Study of how we think remember store and use information from our environment using a vast array of mental processes Language mental imaging concept formation problem solving reasoning and Sociocultural Perspective intelligence processes Information processing approach gather info and process it in a variety of stages Emphasizes social interactions and cultural determinants of behavior and mental Sociocultural Psychologists look at ethnicity religion occupation and socioeconomic status as predictors of behavior Evolutionary Perspective Focus on Natural Selection adaptation and the evolution of behavior Causes of behavior are attributed to those that lead to greater reproductive success Used to explain mental processes as well Scientific Method Steps of the Scientific Method 1 Making and observation question 2 Forming a hypothesis a Hypothesis An educated guess that derives logically from a theory a prediction that can be tested 3 Testing the hypothesis 4 Drawing Conclusions 5 Report results Research Methods Descriptive Research o Naturalistic Observation Purely descriptive unobtrusive observation Use of one way mirrors No conjecture about motives or goals High external validity o Case Studies In depth study of a single patient or example Usually employed when instance is rare Problems with case studies Only one view Lack of generalizability Anecdotal info o Surveys Form of polling to measure a wide variety of psychological behaviors and attitudes Sampling Can get a lot of data in a relatively short time Problems of self report Cannot explain cause of behaviors Major advantage Predictive value Correlational Research o Scientific study in which the researcher observes or measures does not manipulate two or more variables to find the relationships between them You discover a relationship between alcohol consumption and o Example aggressive behavior o Two kinds of correlations Positive the two variables go up and down together Negative the two variables go in opposite directions Experimental Research o Experimenter manipulates the variable of interest while holding all other factors constant o Can determine cause effect relationships o Manipulation of variables Operational definitions A definition that provides an objective description of how a variable is going to be measured and observed in a particular study Independent variables ones you can change Dependent variables ones you cannot change o Experimental vs control groups o Internal Validity vs External Validity Experimental Hazards o Sample Bias Random assignment Group matching o Placebo Effects o Experimenter Bias Automation of experiments Blind Studies o Participant Bias Anonymous responding Deception o Ethnocentrism Psychology Study Guide Exam 1 Chapter 2 Organization of the NS Central Nervous System CNS o Brain The tendency to favor one s own ethnic group over others Forebrain Midbrain Hindbrain o Spinal Chord Peripheral Nervous System PNS o Autonomic NS Sympathetic Parasympathetic o Somatic NS Cells of the Nervous System Neurons or Nerve Cells o Functions Detect info Transmit info Affect muscles and glands Supporting Cells o Functions Provide nutrients Buffer protect neurons and their signals Balance chemicals Immune responses Parts of Neurons Dendrites o Used to communicate with other neurons o Dendritic Spines little buds of the dendrite o May be varying degrees of dendritic branching depending on the type of neuron The Soma Cell
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