Study Guide Chapter 1 Define psychology Describe and differentiate the 5 major theoretical frameworks guiding Identify basic elements of the conscious experience through introspection experience The scientific study of the mind brain and behavior psychology s history structuralism functionalism behaviorism cognitivism psychoanalysis 1 Structuralism However important aspects of human psychology occur outside of conscious 2 Functionalism Understand the adaptive purposes of psychological characteristics Natural selection Survival and reproduction 3 Behaviorism Uncover the laws of learning by looking at observable behavior Conditioning Rewards and punishments 4 Cognitivism Thinking affects behavior 5 Psychoanalysis Role of childhood experiences Clinical Counseling School Developmental Experimental Social Cognitive Biopsychologists Forensic problems e g marital or occupational difficulties Assess and develop intervention programs infants and children memory language thinking and social behavior of humans Examine physiological bases of behavior inmates Others conduct research on eyewitnesses or juries Interpretation of rewards and punishments determines behavior Internal psychological processes of which we re unaware Study why and how people change over time Most work with Use sophisticated research methods to study Describe and be able to identify the different types of psychologists Perform assessment diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders Work with people experiencing temporary or self contained Assess diagnose and assist with rehabilitation and treatment of prison Contrast basic vs applied research Increase understanding of fundamental principles Basic Acquisition of knowledge for knowledge sake Applied Answers specific questions aimed at solving practical problems Serves as a heuristic or mental shortcut Know how common sense can be useful in psychology o For example if you are in a dangerous situation and feel uncomfortable your common sense intuition says something is wrong it would be wise to listen to that Generating hypotheses that you can test Learning to think like a scientist means learning when and when not to trust your common sense Identify the main levels of analysis in psychological science consider how the focus of attention changes across levels Psychology spans multiple levels of analysis Levels of analysis rungs on a ladder lower levels higher levels We can t just examine one level we have to use them all Each level tells us something different Ex Depression tied most closely to biological influences tied most closely to social influences that influence mood brain structures related to mood 1 Molecular level variations in peoples genes that predispose to depression 2 Neurochemical level differences in levels of the brains chemical messengers 3 Physiological level differences amoung people in the size and functioning of 4 Mental level depressed thoughts im a loser sad feelings suicide ideas 5 Behavioral Level decrease in pleasurable activities moving and talking 6 Social Level loss of important personal relationships lack of social support Describe the 5 fundamental challenges facing psychology o Human behavior is difficult to predict o Actions are multiply determined produced by many factors o We should be skeptical of attempts to explain complex behaviors with a 1 Lack of independence among factors slowly withdrawing from others single causal factor Ex Anorexia Nervosa Anxiety Compulsive exercise Perfectionism Excessive concern with body image TV exposure to programs that feature thin models Problem All of these factors are interrelated variations among people in their thinking emotion 2 Individual differences personality or behavior 3 Reciprocal determinism 4 Behavior is shaped by culture a Help explain why people respond differently to the same situation a Makes it hard to draw conclusions about causation a Cultural differences can limit conclusions scientists can draw about we mutually influence each other s behavior human nature Define pseudoscience a set of claims that seems cientific but aren t Lacks the safeguards against confirmation bias belief perseverance that characterize science Know some warning signs of pseudoscience Overreliance on anecdotes Exaggerated claims Absence of connection to other research Lack of peer review Failure to self correct when contrary evidence is presented Uses fancy scientific language that doesn t make sense Talks about proof instead of evidence Know why we should care about pseudoscience Three major reasons to be concerned 1 Opportunity cost People may choose to get a treatment that does not work instead of one that could have helped them Ex Rebirthing therapy Scientific thinking skills apply to all areas of our lives need to think critically to move society forward 2 Direct Harm 3 Inability to think scientifically Differentiate theory and hypothesis Know three types of biases that science safeguards against derived from these explanations tendency to seek out evidence that supports our hypothesis seeing is believing and neglect or distort contradicting evidence Theories are general explanations whereas hypotheses are specific predictions Scientific theory Explanation for a large of findings in the natural world Ex Women experience greater pressures to be thin to attract male partners Hypothesis specific testable prediction derived from a scientific theory Ex Single femailes should have higher rates of eating pathology 1 Na ve Realism belief that we see the world precisely as it is 2 Confirmation bias The mother of all biases Scientists need to design studies that may disprove their theories 3 Belief perseverance contradicts them The don t confuse me with the facts bias Ex anti vaxxers Being scientifically skeptical does not mean being close minded Evaluate claims with an open mind but insist on persuasive evidence before Skeptics are willing to change their minds but must have good evidence before tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence Know what it means by to a scientific skeptic accepting them doing so Define critical thinking A set of skills for evaluating all claims in a open minded and careful fashion This allows us to overcome our own biases especially the confirmation Identify and explain the six principles of critical thinking 1 Ruling out rival hypotheses Have important alternate explanations for the finding been considered Most psychological findings have multiple explanations 2
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