PSYC 1010 Test 1 | Complete
Questions and Answers
What is Psychology? - -The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
- Pseudopsychologies - -are unreliable
approaches that do not use the scientific method examples: Astrology,
Palmistry, Psychokinesis, Follicology
- Psychology's Four Goals - -Description: tells "what" occurred
Explanation: tells "why" a behavior or mental process occurred
Prediction: identifies conditions "under which a future behavior or mental
process is likely to occur"
Change: applies psychological knowledge to prevent unwanted behavior or
to bring about desired goals
- Wilhelm Wundt: - -father of psychology"
Leipzig, Germany 1879
- Structuralism: - -sought to identify the basic building blocks, or structures,
of the mind through introspection
(Wundt and Titchener key leaders)
- Functionalism - -studied how the mind functions to adapt organisms to
their environment (William James key leader)
- Behavioral perspective: - -objective, observable environmental influences
on overt behavior (Watson, Pavlov, and Skinner were leaders)
- Humanist perspective: - -free will, self-actualization, and a positive, growth-
seeking human nature
(Rogers and Maslow were key figures)
- Cognitive perspective: - -thought, perception, and information processing
- Neuroscience/ Biopsychology perspective - -genetics and other biological
processes in the brain and other parts of the nervous system
- Evolutionary: - -natural selection, adaptation, and evolution
- Sociocultural: - -social interaction and cultural determinants
"Sociobiology"
, - Gestalt psychology - -emphasized perception; the notion that the whole is
more than the sum of the parts (Wertheimer)
- Psychoanalytic view - -emphasizes
the unconscious mind (Freud)
- Behaviorism - -focuses on objective and
measurable behaviors (Watson/Skinner)
- Humanistic psychology - -hasizes the inner-self and the importance of
subjective feelings (Maslow)
- Cognitive psychology - -focuses on
mental function and reasoning
(Ebbinghaus)
- Basic research - -seeks answers for theoretical questions
E.g. How is hunger controlled by the brain?
- Applied research - -seeks answers for specific application problems
E.g. Organizational psychology studies leadership, job satisfaction, job
training, and development
- Rights of Human research participants - -Confidentiality, Informed consent,
Deception, Freedom to withdraw, Debriefing
- Experimental Research - -carefully controlled scientific procedure that
manipulates variables to determine cause and effect
- Ethnocentrism: - -believing one's culture
is typical of all cultures
- Naturalistic observation - -refers to the systematic recording of data in a
subjects natural state or habitat: Jane Goodall observing apes in the wild
- Surveys - -are written instruments designed to sample attitudes or
behaviors
- Case study - -refers to an in-depth study of a single person or subject
- correlation technique - -indicates the mathematical association between
variables
- No correlation: - -no relationship between the 2 variables and correlation
coefficient is close to 0
Questions and Answers
What is Psychology? - -The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
- Pseudopsychologies - -are unreliable
approaches that do not use the scientific method examples: Astrology,
Palmistry, Psychokinesis, Follicology
- Psychology's Four Goals - -Description: tells "what" occurred
Explanation: tells "why" a behavior or mental process occurred
Prediction: identifies conditions "under which a future behavior or mental
process is likely to occur"
Change: applies psychological knowledge to prevent unwanted behavior or
to bring about desired goals
- Wilhelm Wundt: - -father of psychology"
Leipzig, Germany 1879
- Structuralism: - -sought to identify the basic building blocks, or structures,
of the mind through introspection
(Wundt and Titchener key leaders)
- Functionalism - -studied how the mind functions to adapt organisms to
their environment (William James key leader)
- Behavioral perspective: - -objective, observable environmental influences
on overt behavior (Watson, Pavlov, and Skinner were leaders)
- Humanist perspective: - -free will, self-actualization, and a positive, growth-
seeking human nature
(Rogers and Maslow were key figures)
- Cognitive perspective: - -thought, perception, and information processing
- Neuroscience/ Biopsychology perspective - -genetics and other biological
processes in the brain and other parts of the nervous system
- Evolutionary: - -natural selection, adaptation, and evolution
- Sociocultural: - -social interaction and cultural determinants
"Sociobiology"
, - Gestalt psychology - -emphasized perception; the notion that the whole is
more than the sum of the parts (Wertheimer)
- Psychoanalytic view - -emphasizes
the unconscious mind (Freud)
- Behaviorism - -focuses on objective and
measurable behaviors (Watson/Skinner)
- Humanistic psychology - -hasizes the inner-self and the importance of
subjective feelings (Maslow)
- Cognitive psychology - -focuses on
mental function and reasoning
(Ebbinghaus)
- Basic research - -seeks answers for theoretical questions
E.g. How is hunger controlled by the brain?
- Applied research - -seeks answers for specific application problems
E.g. Organizational psychology studies leadership, job satisfaction, job
training, and development
- Rights of Human research participants - -Confidentiality, Informed consent,
Deception, Freedom to withdraw, Debriefing
- Experimental Research - -carefully controlled scientific procedure that
manipulates variables to determine cause and effect
- Ethnocentrism: - -believing one's culture
is typical of all cultures
- Naturalistic observation - -refers to the systematic recording of data in a
subjects natural state or habitat: Jane Goodall observing apes in the wild
- Surveys - -are written instruments designed to sample attitudes or
behaviors
- Case study - -refers to an in-depth study of a single person or subject
- correlation technique - -indicates the mathematical association between
variables
- No correlation: - -no relationship between the 2 variables and correlation
coefficient is close to 0
