Psychology Notes Essay Example for Free

Psychology Notes Essay1) Four big ideas in psychologya. Critical sentiment is smart thinkingb. Behavior is a bio psychosocial eventc. We operate with a two-track mind (Dual processing)d. Psychology explores kind strengths as well as challenges2) Why do psychology?e. The limits of intuition and common sensei. Enough to bring forth answers regarding human nature. ii. May aid queries, but argon not free of error. iii. Hindsight preconceived opinion the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon. 1. After learning the outcome of an event, many people believe they could have predicted that very outcome. iv. Overconfidence thinking you know more than what you lay outually know. f. The scientific emplacementv. Composed of curiosity, skepticism, and humility.vi. Curiosity passion for exploration.vii. Skepticism doubting and questioning.viii. Humility ability to accept responsibility when wrong. g. The science of psychology helps make these examined conclusions, which leads to our understandi ng of how people feel, think, and act as they do. 3) How do psychologists ask and answer questions?h. The scientific methodix. Construct theories that organize, summarize and simplify observations. x. Theory an explanation that integrates principles and organizes and predicts mien or events. (Example low self-conceit contributes to depression). xi. Hypothesis a testable prediction, often promoted by a theory, to enable us to accept, reject or revise the theory. (Example people with low self-esteem are given(predicate) 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 purpose to observe and record behavior. xiv. How conducted do case studies, surveys, or realistic observations. xv. Weaknesses No control of variables genius cases may be misleading. xvi. Case Study a technique in which one person is studie d in depth to reveal underlying behavioural principles. xvii. Survey a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes, opinions or behaviors of people usually done by questioning a representative, random sample of people. xviii. Wording can smorgasbord 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. natural scientistic 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. Correlationxxi. Basic purpose to detect naturally occurring relationships to assess how well one variable predicts another. xxii. How conducted compute statistical association, sometimes among survey responses. xxiii. Weaknesses does not coiffure vitrine and effect. xxiv. When one trait or behavior accompanies another. xxv. Co rrelation 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 predisposition 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 poetry of random outcomes, a few are likely to express 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 feasible results may not generalize to other contexts not ethical to manipulate certain variables. xxxiii. The acantha of psychological 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 manipulation 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 the 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 body are not separate and that knowledge grows from experience. p. The soul is not separable from the body, and the same holds good of event 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 birth 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 attain 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. D efined as the science of mental life 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 overt 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 select ion of traits promotes the perpetuation 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 close are psychological traits such as intelligence, character, 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 effective 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-cultu ral how behavior and thinking vary crosswise 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 womb to tomb. . Cognitive study how we perceive, think, and solve problems. . Personality investigate our persistent traits.. Social explore how we visit 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. Psychiatry. Clinical Psychologist (Ph.D.) studies, assesses, and treats troubled people with psychotherapy. . Psychia trists (M.D.) medical professionals who use treatments like drugs and psychotherapy to treat psychologically diseased patients. 15) Three main levels of analysis