Psyc Exam 1

A science that studies behavior and the psychological and menntal process associated with behavior.

How the brain and nervouse system- but other biological processes as well- determine behavior

• studies the process of sensing, perceiving, learning, and thinking about the world
• (experimental "techniques")

focuses on higher mental process, including thinking, memory, reasoning, problem solving, judging, decision making, and language

studies how people grow and change from the moment of conception through death

• study of how peoples thoughts, feeling, and actions are changed by others
• (human aggression, liiking and loving, persuasion, and conformity)

explores the relationship between psychological factors and physical aliments or disease

deals with the study, diagnosis and treatment of phychological disorders

focuses primarily on educational, social, and career adjustment problems

pyschology is traced back the Ancient Greece (Plato)

Wilhem Wundt developed the firt psyc lab

focuses on uncovering the fundamental mental compnents of perception, consciousness, thinking, emotions, and other kinds of mental states and activities

first to call himself a psychologist.

procedure used to present people with a stimulus (a bright green object) and ask them to describe it in their own words and in as much detail as they could

• consider how how people and non humans function biologically (bran/ genes-heredity) studies evolution and behavior of neuroscience
• * blood/sweat/fears

• Sigmund Freud: understanding the inner person
• *behavior is motivated by inner forces and conflicts about which we have little awareness or control.

• John B Watson and B.F. Skinner: observing the other person
• *focused on observable behavior that be measured objectively

Carl Rodgers and Maslow: contends that people can control their behavior and that they naturally try to reach their full potential

• both social and cultural context of behavior
• -behavior evolves in s ociohistorical context (shaped/ cultural heritage: influenced by enviornment

• gense vs. enviornment
• genetically determind vs. enviornmentally determind

awareness of behavior/sourse vs. unaware of behavior/sourse

behavior that can be seen/ documented/ meassured vs. processess that must be meassured indirectly (someone solving math)

behavior is determind by genes/enviornmet vs. behavior is chosen by individual

Behavior is widely variable from person to person (or animal) vs. the same general principles apply to everyone

an approch use by psychologist to systematically acqure knowledge and understanding, behavior and other phenomena of interest

• 1. Identify questions of answers
• 2. Formulate hypothesis with explination
• 3. Carry out research designed to support the hypothesis and explination
• 4. communicate the finding

a broad explination & prediction

• a prediction based upon the theory
• *relationship between 2+ variable; what should happen under certain circumstances

• translation of hypothesis into specific testable procesdures that can be measured and observed
• *how many inches tall a person is

historical: existing data (economic data/ marriage license)

an in-depth, intensive investigation of an individual or samll group of people (rare occurnace)

collecting data that occures in its natural setting

asked a multitude of questions about their behavior, thoughts, or attitude (norms are gathered)

what are being measured/collected (behaviors, events, or other characteristics that can change or vary in some way)

-1 to 1

No but some relation is present

purposely chnaging a variable to observe an outcome

manipulation implemented by the experimenter

• experimetal: receives treatment
• control: receives no treatment

the variable that is manipulated by an experimenter

• what is measured
• *expected to change as a result of the IV

each member of a population has a equal chance in being in the study

participants are assigned to different experimental groups or "conditions" on the basis of chance

using statistical analysis research can determine whether a numeric difference is a real differences or is due mearly to chance (does not imply importance)

repeating experiment