STUDY GUIDE: INTRODUCTION AND FOUNDATIONS
● What is the definition of psychology? Don’t forget “how” it is studied
○ Psychology
■ Scientific study of mind of behavior
● Studied by scientific method
○ Observation
○ Question
○ Hypothesis
○ Experiment
○ Conclusion
○ Result
● Psychology emerged from which two fields of study?
○ Philosophy and physiology
● What two broad influences interact and influence behavior and mental
processes?
○ Nature (genes) and Nurture (environment)
● What is another term or concept for each of the above two broad influences?
○ Genes and Nurture
● What degree is a psychiatrist required to have that other mental health
professionals are not required to have?
○ They need to earn a Medical degree
● What are the four overall themes or principles that we are using in this
course?
○ Empirical
■ Based on evidence that can be observed
○ Nature and Nurture
■ Cultural diversity and multicultural perspective
○ Schemas or lenses influence perception
■ Expectations from past and present experiences influence
interpretations of events
○ Address social justice issues
STUDY GUIDE: Research Methods
● What is a variable?
○ A characteristic or quality of a person or thing that has different values
or quantities
, ■ “Collecting data” means measuring the variables
● What is an operational definition? You will be asked to read a description of a
study and give the operational definitions.
○ Operational definition is how the variables are measured
■ Measuring what you want
■ Capturing the concept
● Ex.
● What are the three study designs we covered?
○ Descriptive
■ Measure one variable
● Does not look at relationships between variables
○ Correlation
■ Measure at least 2 variables
● Shows relationships between them
○ Experimental
■ The only way to directly observe one variable is the cause of
another
● Dependent and independent variables
○ Qualitative
■ Participants give their story; what themes emerge?
● Give an example of each type of data collection:
○ Survey
■ Large number of people are given the same questions to
answer
○ reaction time
■ Measures the time it takes for a user request to be
processed and respond
○ observation (naturalistic or lab)
● What is the definition of psychology? Don’t forget “how” it is studied
○ Psychology
■ Scientific study of mind of behavior
● Studied by scientific method
○ Observation
○ Question
○ Hypothesis
○ Experiment
○ Conclusion
○ Result
● Psychology emerged from which two fields of study?
○ Philosophy and physiology
● What two broad influences interact and influence behavior and mental
processes?
○ Nature (genes) and Nurture (environment)
● What is another term or concept for each of the above two broad influences?
○ Genes and Nurture
● What degree is a psychiatrist required to have that other mental health
professionals are not required to have?
○ They need to earn a Medical degree
● What are the four overall themes or principles that we are using in this
course?
○ Empirical
■ Based on evidence that can be observed
○ Nature and Nurture
■ Cultural diversity and multicultural perspective
○ Schemas or lenses influence perception
■ Expectations from past and present experiences influence
interpretations of events
○ Address social justice issues
STUDY GUIDE: Research Methods
● What is a variable?
○ A characteristic or quality of a person or thing that has different values
or quantities
, ■ “Collecting data” means measuring the variables
● What is an operational definition? You will be asked to read a description of a
study and give the operational definitions.
○ Operational definition is how the variables are measured
■ Measuring what you want
■ Capturing the concept
● Ex.
● What are the three study designs we covered?
○ Descriptive
■ Measure one variable
● Does not look at relationships between variables
○ Correlation
■ Measure at least 2 variables
● Shows relationships between them
○ Experimental
■ The only way to directly observe one variable is the cause of
another
● Dependent and independent variables
○ Qualitative
■ Participants give their story; what themes emerge?
● Give an example of each type of data collection:
○ Survey
■ Large number of people are given the same questions to
answer
○ reaction time
■ Measures the time it takes for a user request to be
processed and respond
○ observation (naturalistic or lab)
