Psychology Notes Essay

1) Four big ideas in psychologya. Critical thinking is smart thinkingb. Behavior is a bio psychosocial eventc. We engage with a two-track mind (Dual processing)d. Psychology explores human strengths as well as challenges2) Why do psychology?e. The limits of intuition and common sensei. Enough to make forth answers regarding human nature. ii. May aid queries, but argon not free of error. iii. Hindsight Bias the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon. 1. After learning the outcome of an event, many large number re segment they could have predicted that very outcome. iv. Overconfidence thinking you know more than what you actually know. f. The scientific attitudev. Composed of curiosity, skepticism, and humility.vi. Curiosity passion for exploration.vii. Skepticism doubting and questioning.viii. humbleness ability to accept responsibility when wrong. g. The education of psychology helps make these examined conclusions, which leads to our understanding of how people feel, think, and act a s they do. 3) How do psychologists ask and answer questions?h. The scientific regularityix. Construct theories that organize, summarize and simplify observations. x. Theory an explanation that integrates principles and organizes and predicts sort or events. ( spokesperson low self-esteem contributes to depression). xi. Hypothesis a testable prediction, often promoted by a theory, to alter us to accept, reject or revise the theory. (Example people with low self-esteem are apt to feel more depressed). xii. Research to administer tests of self-esteem and depression. (Example people who score low on a self-esteem test and high on a depression test would confirm the hypothesis). i. Descriptionxiii. Basic map to observe and record behavior. xiv. How conducted do case studies, surveys, or naturalistic observations. xv. Weaknesses No control of variables single cases may be misleading. xvi. Case Study a technique in which one person is studied in depth to reveal underlying behavioral p rinciples. xvii. Survey a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions or behaviors of people commonly done by questioning a representative, random sample of people. xviii. Wording can change the results of a surveyxix. Random Sampling when each member of a population has an equal chance of inclusions into a sample (unbiased). 2. If the survey sample is biased, its results are not valid. xx. Naturalistic Observation observing and recording the behavior of animals in the wild and recording self-seating patterns in a multiracial school lunchroom constitute naturalistic observation. j. correlational statisticsxxi. Basic purpose to detect naturally occurring human relationships to value how well one variable predicts another. xxii. How conducted compute statistical association, sometimes among survey responses. xxiii. Weaknesses does not specify dumbfound and effect. xxiv. When one trait or behavior accompanies another. xxv. Correlation Coefficient a statistical measure of the relationship between two variables. 3. Example R = + 0.37a. R is the correlation coefficientb. + is the direction of relationship (either + or ) c. 0.37 indicates the strength of relationship xxvi.Correlation DOES NOT mean causation.4. Examplesd. Low self-esteem could cause depressione. Depression could cause low self-esteemf. Distressing events or biological sensitiveness could cause low self-esteem and depression. xxvii. Illusory Correlation the perception of a relationship where no relationship actually exists. (Example parents conceive children after adoption). xxviii. Order in Random Events5. Given random data, we look for order and meaningful patterns. 6. Given large numbers of random outcomes, a few are likely to limited order. k. Experimentationxxix. Basic purpose to explore cause and effect.xxx. How conducted manipulate one or more factors use random assignment. xxxi. What is manipulated the independent variable(s). xxxii. Weaknesses sometimes not workable results may not generalize to other contexts not ethical to manipulate certain variables. xxxiii. The backbone of mental research7. Effects generated by manipulated factors isolate cause and effect relationships. xxxiv. Double-blind Procedure in evaluating drug therapies, patients and experimenters assistants should remain unaware of which patients had the real treatment and which patients had the placebo treatment. xxxv. Random Assignment assigning participants to experimental and control conditions, by random assignment, minimizes pre-existing differences between the two groups. xxxvi. Independent Variable a factor manipulated by the experimenter.8. The effect of the independent variable is the focus of the study 9. Example when examining the effects of breast-feeding upon intelligence, breast-feeding is the independent variable. xxxvii. Dependent Variable a factor that may change in response to an independent variable. 10. Usually a behavior or a mental process.11. Example in t he study of the effect of breast-feeding upon intelligence, intelligence is the dependent variable.4) Aristotlel. 384-322 B.C.m. Naturalist and philosophern. Theorized about psychologys conceptso. Suggested that the soul and trunk are not separate and that knowledge grows from experience. p. The soul is not separable from the body, and the same holds good of particular parts of the soul. -Aristotle 5) Wundtq. 1832-1920r. Studied the atoms of the minds. Experiments at Leipzig, Germany, in 1879, which is considered the behave of psychology.6) William Jamest. 1842-1910u. American philosopherv. Wrote psychology textbook in 1890w. Jamess student, Mary Calkins, became the APAs first female president xxxviii. She was not able to produce her PhD from Harvard.7) Sigmund Freudx. 1856-1939y. Austrian physicianz. Emphasized the importance of the unconscious mind and its effects on human behavior.8) Psychology. Originated in many disciplines and countries. Defined as the science of mental lif e until the 1920s. . 1920-1960 psychology was heavily oriented towards behaviorism. . Psychology the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. 9) Pavlov, Watson and Skinner. Watson 1878-1958. Skinner 1904-1990. Emphasized the study of unfastened behavior as the subject matter of scientific psychology instead of mind or mental thoughts.. Anything seems commonplace, once explained. -Watson 10) Maslow and Rogers. Maslow 1908-1970. Rogers 1902-1987. Emphasized current environmental influences on our growth potential and our need for love and acceptance.11) The American Psychological Association (APA). The largest organization of psychology. 160,000 members world-wide. Followed by the British Psychological Society with 34,000 members.12) Current perspectives. Neuroscience how the body and brain enables emotions xxxix. How are messages transmitted in the body? How is blood chemistry linked with moods and motives? . Evolutionary how the natural selection of traits promotes the pe rpetuation on ones genes. xl. How does evolution influence behavior tendencies? . Behavior genetics how much our genes and our environments influence our individual differences xli. To what extent are psychological traits such as intelligence, personality, sexual orientation, and vulnerability to depression attributable to our genes? To our environment? . Psychodynamic how behavior springs from unconscious drives and conflicts. xlii. How can someones personality traits and disorders be explained in terms of sexual and aggressive drives or as disguised effects of unfulfilled wishes and childhood traumas? . Behavioral how we learn observable responses.xliii. How do we learn to fear particular objects or situations? What is the most powerful way to alter our behavior, say to lose weight or quit smoking? . Cognitive how we encode, process, store and retrieve information xliv. How do we use information in remembering? Reasoning? Problem solving? . Social-cultural how behavior and think ing vary across situations and cultures. xlv. How are we- as Africans, Asians, Australians or north Americans- alike as members of human family? As products of different environmental contexts, how do we differ? 13) Psychologys subfields. Biological explore the links between brain and mind. . Developmental study-changing abilities from uterus to tomb. . Cognitive study how we perceive, think, and solve problems. . Personality investigate our persistent traits.. Social explore how we view and affect one another . Clinical studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders. . Counseling helps people cope with academic, vocational, and marital challenges. . Educational studies and helps individuals in school and educational settings. . Industrial/Organizational studies and advises on behavior in the workplace. 14) Clinical vs. psychopathology. Clinical Psychologist (Ph.D.) studies, assesses, and treats troubled people with psychotherapy. . Psychiatrists (M.D.) medical p rofessionals who use treatments like drugs and psychotherapy to treat psychologically diseased patients. 15) Three main levels of analysis