2-4% history2-4% states of consciousness5-7% testing and individual differences5-7% treatment of psychological disorders6-8% personality6-8% methods and approaches7-9% learning7-9% sensation and perception7-9% motivation and emotion7-9% developmental psychology7-9% abnormal psychology7-9% social psychology8-10% biological bases of behavior8-10% cognition

Greek Philosophers• Plato and Democritus- theorized about

thought and behavior, but did not study it scientifically

Wilhelm Wundt- first psychological laboratory (1879)- Leipzig, Germany• Used introspection- subjects recording

their cognitive reactions to simple stimuli• Structuralism- the mind

operates by combining subjective emotions and objective sensations

William James- published the first psychology textbook, The Principles of Psychology in 1890

• Explained how the structures identified by Wundt function in our lives- Functionalism

• Neither Wundt or James significantly influence current thinking

Argues against dividing thought and behavior into discrete structures

Instead, examine a person’s total experiences

Later incorporated by therapists- a client’s difficulties must be viewed in context

Relatively little influence on current psychology

Sigmund Freud- psychoanalytic theory• Believed that he discovered the

unconscious mind- which we do not have conscious control over but determines how we think and behave

Repression- caused by pushing down thoughts and ideas that cause anxiety and tension into the unconscious• In order to

understand human behavior, we must examine the unconscious through dreams, free association, etc.

Many therapists still use some of Freud’s basic ideas, but he is often criticized for creating unverifiable theories

Used case studies to describe behaviors

John Watson- in order for psychology to be considered a science, it must be limited to observable behavior• Based on the ideas of Ivan Pavlov

• Should only focus on stimuli that cause behavior and the resulting responses

B.F. Skinner- expanded the ideas of behaviorism to include the ideas of reinforcement• Stimuli that either encourage or discourage

certain responses• Dominant school of thought

in psychology from 1920s- 1960s

Humanistic Perspective- stresses individual choice and free will• Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers• We choose most of out behaviors

based on physiological, emotional, or spiritual needs

• Humans are basically good

• Direct opposite of Freud

Psychoanalytic Perspective• Still is a controversial part of modern

psychology• Look for impulses and memories that might

have been repressed

Biopsychology (Neuroscience)• Explain behavior strictly in terms of

biological processes• Genes, hormones, neurotransmitters• Rapidly growing

Evolutionary Perspective• Explains human thoughts and actions

in terms of natural selection Behavioral Perspective

• Focus on observable behavior Cognitive Perspective

• Examines human thoughts and behavior in terms of how we interpret, process, and remember events

Sociocultural Perspective• Looks at how thought and

behaviors vary across cultures• Emphasize the role culture

plays on how we think and act Most psychologists adhere to an

eclectic point of view, claiming that no one perspective has all the answers

Hindsight bias- the tendency upon hearing about research findings to thin that they knew it all along

Applied research- has a clear, practical application• Ex) How effective is a specific program to stop

smoking? Basic Research- no immediate real-

world application• How do people in different cultures define

intelligence?

Hypothesis- expresses a relationship between two variables• Often, proving a hypothesis is impossible

Variables- things that can vary among the participants in the research

The dependent variable depends on the independent variable• A change in the independent

variable will produce a change in the dependent variable

• If….., then….

Hypotheses grow out of theories• Theory- aims to explain a phenomenon and

allows researchers to generate testable hypotheses

Operational Definitions- explaining how you will define a variable• What is classroom participation?• What is marked improvement?• What is “significant” weight loss?

Reliable- research can be replicated, it is consistent

Valid- research measures what the researcher set out to measure

Participants- the individuals on which the research will be conducted

Sampling- the process by which the participants are selected

Goal of sampling- representative of the larger population

Random sampling- making sure that every member of the group as an equal chance of being selected

Stratified sampling- increasing the likelihood a sample will represent the greater population

Preferred method because only way one can show a causal relationship

Can control for confounding variables• Any difference between the experimental and

control conditions except for the independent variable that might effect the dependent variable

Random assignment- each person has an equal chance of being placed in any group• Limits participant-relevant confounding variables• Done after you have identified the sample

Situation-relevant confounding variables can also affect an experiment, so equivalent environments are needed• Time of day, temperature, etc.

Experimenter bias- the unconscious tendency for researchers to treat members of each group differently• Can be eliminated by using a double-blind procedure

Neither to subjects nor the researcher know who is in each group

Single-blind procedure- only the subjects do not know to which group they have been assigned• Minimizes demand characteristics, in which

participants look for cues about the purpose of the study and try to respond appropriately (response bias) Social desirability- the tendency to give

politically correct answers Double blinds can eliminate both

experimenter and subject bias

Experimental group receives the treatment, control group serves as a basis for comparison

Hawthorne effect- merely selecting a group of people on whom to experiment has been determined to affect the performance of that group, regardless of what is done to those individuals- control groups are necessary!• A group of factory workers was put into a special

room so that researchers could investigate the effects of increased lighting on productivity. Workers’ performance increased under more and less light

Placebos- inert substances given to the control group• Allows researchers to separate

the physiological effects of the drug from the psychological effect of people thinking they took a drug (the placebo effect)

Correlations express a relationship between two variables without ascribing the cause

CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION

Can be either positive or negative

Can’t be used to test hypotheses, but can be used to investigate a relationship between variables• No IV or DV because there is not a variable

being manipulated• Advantage: easy, cost-efficient• Disadvantages: confounding

variables, difficult to get a random sample

Goal is to observe participants in their natural habitats without interfering

Differ from field experiments

Used to get a full, detailed picture of one participant or a small group

Can’t be generalized to the larger population

Describe a set of data• Frequency distributions

/Frequency polygons

Measures of Central Tendency• Mean, Median, Mode

More than one mode- bimodal Mean is the most used, but can be distorted by

extreme scores (aka outliers)

Positive and Negative Skew:

Measures of Variability• Range• Standard Deviation- square root of the

variance; average difference any score is from the mean

Z Scores- measure the difference of a score from the mean in units of standard deviation• A test grade of 72, a

mean of 80, and a standard deviation of 8, z score = -1, A test grade of 84 on the same test, z score = -.5

Normal curve- Z scores predetermined

Measure the relationship between two variables• Can be positive or negative• Can be strong or weak

Correlation coefficients (r values) can range from -1 to 1. • 0= no correlation

Lines of best fit:

Purpose is to determine whether or not findings can be applied to the larger population

Sampling error- the extent to which the sample differs from a population

The smaller the p value, the more significant the results• A p value of .05 means the data is

statistically significant and there is a 5% chance the results occurred by chance

For Animals• Must have a clear, scientific purpose• Must care for and house animals humanely• Must acquire animal subjects legally• Least amount of suffering feasible

For Humans• Coercion- participation must be voluntary• Informed Consent- deception cannot be

so extreme it invalidates this• Anonymity/Confidentiality• No significant mental or physical risk• Debriefing procedures- particularly important

with deception

1) The primary method of research employed by scientists adopting a behaviorist perspective is• Clinical observation• Case study• Naturalistic observation• Cross-cultural comparison• Experimentation

2) Which of the following is the best example of an attribute that is culturally based rather than primarily physiologically based?• Caring for one’s children• Arriving on time for work• Having the desire to reproduce• Seeking food and water• Smiling

4) The scientific investigation of mental processes and behavior is called•Biology•Psychology•Cognition•Scientific method•Research

5) An educational psychologist is administering a basic skills exam to second-graders of two different schools in order to compare the students’ performance. The researcher administers the exam to students of the Antrim School on a Wednesday morning, and then administered the same exam in exactly the same fashion on that same Wednesday afternoon to the second-graders of Barton School. Which of the following best identifies a confounding variable in the psychologist’s research?• The psychologist is comparing two different schools.• The psychologist is comparing the same grade in each school.• The psychologist is testing the students in the two schools at two

different times.• The psychologist is testing the students in the two schools on the

same day.• The psychologist is administering a basic skills exam.

 

6) A psychologist, wishing to study the behavior of prisoners, arranges to dress as a prison guard so that he can stand in the recreation area and study unobtrusively that actions and interactions of the inmates. The psychologist is employing which of the following research tools?

• Quasi-experimental• Naturalistic observation• Correlational research• Random sampling• Case study

7) Psychologists generally prefer the experimental method to other research because

• Experiments are more likely to support psychologists’ hypotheses• Experiments can show cause-effect relationships• It is easier to obtain a random sample for the experiment• Double-blind designs are unnecessary in an experiment• Experiments are more likely to result in statistically significant findings

8) Theoretically, random assignment should eliminate• Sampling error• The need to use statistics• Concerns over validity• Many confounding variables• The need for a representative sample

9) Karthik and Sue are lab partners designed to research who is friendlier, girls or boys. After conversing with their first 10 participants, they find that their friendliness ratings often differ. With which of the following should they be the most concerned?• Reliability• Confounding variables• Ethics• Validity• Assignment

10) Which of the following hypotheses would be most difficult to test experimentally?

• People exposed to the color red will be more aggressive than people exposed to the color blue

• Exercise improves mood• Exposure to violent television increases aggression• Studying leady to better grades• Divorce makes children more independent

11) Professor Ma wants to design a project studying emotional response to date rape. He advertises for participants in the school newspaper, informs them about the nature of the study, gets their consent, conducts an interview, and debriefs them about the results when the experiment is over. If you were on the IRB, which ethical consideration would you most likely have the most concern about in this study?

• Coercion• Deception• Confounding variables• Anonymity• Clear scientific purpose

12) In what way might a behaviorist disagree with a cognitive psychologist about the cause of aggression?• A behaviorist might state that aggression is caused by

memories or ways we think about aggressive behavior, while a cognitive psychologist might say aggression is caused by a past repressed experience

• A behaviorist might state that aggression is a behavior encouraged by our genetic code, while a cognitive psychologist might state that aggression is caused by memories or ways we think about aggressive behavior

• A behaviorist might state that aggression is caused by past rewards for aggressive behavior, while a cognitive psychologist might believe aggression is caused by an expressed desire to fulfill certain life needs

• A behaviorist might state that aggression is caused by past rewards for aggressive behavior, while a cognitive psychologist might believe aggression is caused by memories or ways we think about aggressive behavior

• A behaviorist would not disagree with a cognitive psychologist about aggression because they both believe that aggressive behavior is caused by the way we cognitively process certain behaviors

13) Dr. Marco explains to a client that his feelings of hostility toward a coworker are most likely caused by the way the client interprets that coworker’s actions and the way he thinks that people should behave at work. Dr. Marco is most likely working from what perspective?• Behavioral• Cognitive• Psychoanalytic• Humanist• Social-cultural

14) The research methodology Wilhelm Wundt used is called• Introspection• Structuralism• Naturalistic observation• Inferential • Scientific

15) Which of the following psychologists was part of the Gestalt group of psychologists?• Carl Rogers• Wilhelm Wundt• B.F. Skinner• John Watson• Max Wertheimer

16) Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory has been criticized for being• Appropriate for female patients, but not male patients• Only applicable to research settings, not therapy settings• Based on large groups, not individual cases• Unscientific and unverifiable• Too closely tied to behavioristic thought