Psychology Now
Terms
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- Defining Psychology
- The scientific study of behavior and mental processes
- What does behavior refer to in the definition of psychology?
- Overt behaviors- directly observable actions and responses - Covert behaviors- private, internal activities such as thinking,dreaming, remembering.
- Empiricism
- Empirical Evidence is information gained from direct observation.
- Scientific Observation
- a systematic empirical investigation that is structured to answer questions about the world.
- Research Method
- a systematic process for answering scientific questions.
- Developmental Psychologists
- study the course of human growth and development, from conception to death.
- Learning Theorists
- study how and why learning occurs in humans and animals.
- Personality Theorists
- study personality traits, motivation, and individual differences.
- Sensation and Sensation and Perception Psychologists erception Psychologists
- study how we discern the world through our senses.
- Comparative Psychologists
- study and compare the behavior of different species, especially animals.
- Biopsychologists
- study how behavior relates to biological processes.
- Cognitive Psychologists
- study thinking-reasoning, problem solving, memory
- Gender Psychologists
- study differences b/n females and males
- Social Psychologists
- study human social behavior such as attitudes, conformity, leadership, racism, and friendship.
- Evolutionary Psychologists
- study how our behavior is guided by patterns that evolved during the long history of mankind.
- Cultural Psychologists
- study the ways in which culture affects human behavior- spoken language, foods eaten, parents discipline, laws obeyed.
- Animal Models
- used to discover principles that apply to humans, such as stress, learning, obesity, aging, sleep
- Psychology's 1st Goal in scientific research is?
- to name and classify and make a record of observed behavior.
- Edward Titchener
- called Wundt’s ideas structuralism and tried to see the structure of mental life into basic “building blocksâ€
- William James
- studied animal behavior, religious experience and abnormal behavior and wrote Principles of Psychology.
- Define Functionalism
- School of psychology concerned with how behavior and mental abilities help people adapt to their environments
- Darwin’s principle of natural selection
- a principle that states evolution favors those plants and animals best suited to their living conditions. Functionalists admired this principle.
- Define self-actualization
- the process of fully developing one’s personal potentials.
- Mary Calkins
- researched memory -1st president of the American Psychological Association in 1905
- Christine Ladd-Franklin
- studied color vision
- Margaret Washburn
- Published The Animal Mind - 1st woman to be awarded a Ph. D in Psychology
- Three Complementary Perspectives on Behavior
- The Biological Perspective The Psychological Perspective The Socio-cultural Perspective
- The Biological Perspective
- seek to explain all behavior through physical mechanisms, such as brain activity -form the broad field of neuroscience
- The Psychological Perspective
- Like the Behaviorist, this perspective uses objective observation -Created cognitive science
- Define Positive Psychology
- type of psychology that focuses on positive behavior, such as strengths and virtues.
- Define Cultural Relativity
- the idea that behavior must be judged relative to the values of the culture in which it occurs (The Indian believing spirits are haunting her)
- Define Social Norms
- Unspoken rules that define acceptable and expected behavior for members of a group (blacks vs. whites
- Hypothesis Testing
- The predicted outcome of an experiment or an educated guess about the relationship b/n variables.
- Clever Hans
- German horse that could do math. By changing the conditions under which you observe the horse, you have controlled the situation to gain more info.
- Define Naturalistic Observation
- Observing behavior as it unfolds in natural setting
- Define Theories
- A system of ideas designed to interrelate concepts and facts in a way that summarizes existing data and predicts future observations.
- Correlation Method
- Correlation MethodMaking Measurements to discover relationships between events
- Experimental Method
- Investigating behavior through controlled experimentation
- Courtesy Bias
- a tendency to give polite or socially desirable answers
- Critical Thinking
- An ability to evaluate, compare, analyze, critique, and synthesize info.
- Pseudo psychology
- Any false and unscientific system of beliefs and practices that is offered as an explanation of behavior
- the most popular pseudo psychology
- astrology, believing that the position of the stars and planets at the time of one’s birth determine personality traits and affect behavior.
- Uncritical Acceptance
- the tendency to believe generally positive or flattering descriptions of oneself…that’s why you may believe your horoscope.
- Horoscopes’ apparent accuracy is an illusion based on
- fallacy of positive instances.
- Fallacy of Positive Instances
- The tendency to remember or notice info that fits one’s expectations, while forgetting discrepancies.
- The Barnum Effect
- The tendency to consider a personal description accurate if it is stated in very general terms⬦If you name a few general feelings, everyone will relate to at least one of them