Review for General Psychology Exam 1 This is not a comprehensive review There will be some things on the exam that are not specifically addressed here this should serve as a guide Obviously know the questions given in class This exam will cover Chapters 1 2 3 6 7 The information can be found on your slides but refer to your book for term definitions or further explanations Be able to define Psychology Know the difference between applied and basic research and the different types of psychology psychologists Understand the difference between real and anecdotal evidence Know the process for testing a hypothesis and what makes a theory valid or not Know the different types of research observational experimental examples and aspects of research such as control groups blind vs double blind and placebo Also know what a sample is and the types of samples Know terms that are new to you Know biological terms like ontogeny Understand what happens in an action potential Know inhibition excitation depolarization and hyperpolarization and how they relate to one another Know the 7 major neurotransmitters Be able to explain behaviorism methodological vs radical and measurement Know Operant Conditioning and Classical Conditioning and be able to identify schedules of reinforcement Know what discrimination generalization means Know shaping and the difference between a reinforcer and a punishment Know terms that are new to you Know the brain region s associated with memory and how its development shapes memory Know terms associated with memory such as chunking and mnemonics Ebbinghaus will be on the exam Know what a repressed memory is and the origin of the term Know memory pathologies and their symptoms Know the different types of memory Notes for psychology 1 Psychology The term psychology is derived from Greek root psyche meaning soul or mind and logos meaning word It is the study of the mind or soul and people definition of past It Is the systematic study of behavior and experience 2 Difference between applied and basic research Applied procedures that seek answers to practical problems Basic procedures that seek knowledge for its own sake regardless of whether a practical application is obvious 3 Different types of psychologists a Experimental psychology researcher b Clinical psychologists c Human factors specialist d Industrial organizational psychologist e Counseling Psychologists f Forensic Psychologists g Psychiatry psychoanalysts 4 Real and anecdotal evidence Real introduced in a trial intended to prove a fact in issue based on its demonstrable physical characteristics Anecdotal Anecdotal Evidence is information you obtain from a subjective report an observation or some kind of example that may or may not be reliable In addition anecdotal evidence is not scientifically valid or representative of a larger group or of conditions in another location 5 Process of testing a hypothesis hypothesis is a clear predictive statement based on your observations a are people who watch a lot of violent TV violent Measurable but not causal predisposed b Violent behavior increased after widely televised event Could be related to something else c Better separate two groups of kids at summer camp offer one group violent programming another not then measure behavior CONTROL group d Cause and effect conclusion Many methods have strength and weaknesses this is the reason why researchers vary methods If all the different methods point towards the same conclusion then the confidence in the conclusion increases 6 What makes a theory valid or not Theory it is an explanation or model that fits many observations and makes valid predictions Falsifiable well formed theory it is stated in such clear and precise terms that we can see what evidence would count against it if of course such an evidence existed Ex theory of gravity makes precise predictions about falling objects Because people have tested these predictions many times none of the observations have disconfirmed the predictions we have high confidence in that theory When you are falsifying the theory you have the burden of proof the obligation to present evidence to support one s claim Validity can be tested by a Does the theory explain the things that have already been observed b Does the theory make predictions and even if these predictions are tested are they found to be true 7 The different types of research a Observational Observational research is type of correlational i e nonexperimental research in which a researcher observes ongoing behavior There are a variety of types of observational research each of which has both strengths and weaknesses These types are organized below by the extent to which an experimenter intrudes upon or controls the environment The diff types are naturalistic observation cannot intervene in the environment or control it participant observation can control the environment case study archival research b Experimental experimental research concerns relationships between variables Unlike correlational research however experimental research provides strong evidence for causal interpretations It includes manipulation of independent variable this variable which is called the independent variable is the one that the researcher believes is the cause The other variable which the researcher believes is the effect is called the dependent variable Extraneous variables are controlled basically all the variables that do not serve the purpose of the research c examples Examples of research oriented investigation include surveys questionnaires interviews and focus groups 8 Aspects of research control group it is a set of individuals treated in the same way as an experimental group except for the procedure that the experiment is designed to test blind observer an observer who records data without knowing the researcher s predictions single blind study either the observer or participants are unaware of which participants received which treatment Double blind study both the observer and participants are unaware of the purpose of the experiment Placebo solution is to give a drug to one group and a placebo is a pill with no known pharmacological effects 9 Sample is a set of observations drawn from an population by a defined procedure Different types of sample a Population sample is a set of observations drawn from an population by a defined procedure Impractical to conduct research using every member of the population rather use a Use a
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