PSY 101 Study Guide - Fall 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Electroencephalography, William James, Muscle
PSY 101
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Psych notes
Prologue-The Story of Psychology
• What is Psychology?
o Study of different parts of the brain and how they connect to behavior
o What humans do and why
o A mental science based on experiments
o You might think of psychology as the study of mental disorders, such as major
depression. And psychologists do indeed study psychological disorders (a huge health
issue. But this is’t all pshologists stud.
o Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes.
o Behavior- any action of an organism that we can observe and record, and many actions
qualify(online or classroom instructions leading to results on exam, asking college
students about drinking, leading to responses on surveys, neuro responses, EEG records
electrical activity). Human vs non-human (chimp): We are measuring speed and
accuracy in many experiments. Marshmallow test: either eat one or wait and have two
o Mental processes- internal, subjective experiences, including sensations, perceptions,
deas, thoughts, ad feeligs. The’e piate, iteal, a’t look at a peso ad see
their mental processes).
o We can infer unobservable mental states such as feelings from observable behaviors. In
this sese, ehaio is a ido o the id.
o Science- an approach to gaining understanding of the natural world through systematic
observation.(anything in the systematic world falls under the purview of science-such as
hurricanes, flight of bumblebee, human behavior, mars, etc.). Systematic is a method to
hat ou’e doig.
o Psholog’s Roots: Psychology has a long past, but a short history. –Hermann
Ebbinghaus
o People have pondered questions of a psychological nature since the beginning of
recorded history.
o It is impossible to pinpoint the exact date when psychology emerged as a scientific
discipline. However, 1879 was an important year. This is the year when Wilhelm Wundt
founded the first laboratory devoted to psychological research.
o We take issue… ith ee teatet of psholog that is ased o siple self-
observation or on philosophical presuppositions. –Wilhelm Wundt, Principles of
Physiological Psychology
o We need to take the same discipline approach to answering questions
o Thikig aout id’s stutue: Edward Titchner introduced structuralism and aimed
to identify the basic elements of the mind in the same way that chemists had identified
the basic elements of nature. William James thought about the minds functions. For
example, he argues that the function of consciousness is that it enables us to consider
our past and to adjust our present circumstances.
o Psychology is the Science of Mental Life, both of its phenomena and of their conditions.
The phenomena are such things as we call feelings, desires, cognitions, reasonings,
deisios, ad the like… -William James
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o Thinking about Individual Differences: Francis Galton thought about individual
differences in psychological traits, and invented tools and statistical techniques to study
them. He invented things like weather map, fingerprint analysis, psychological tests,
devised first test to measue people’s apailities, ad oe. Chales Dai’s ousi
o Contemporary Psholog: Psholog’s Thee Mai Leels of Aalsis:
o Biological influences: natural selection of adaptive traits, genetic predispositions
responding to environments, brain mechanisms, hormonal influences,
o Psychological influences: learned fears and other expectations, emotional responses,
cognitive processing, and perpetual interpretations.
o Social-cultural influences- presence of others, cultural, societal, and family expectations,
peer and other group influences compelling models (such as in media).
o A Fe of Psholog’s “ufields: Biological psychologists study the link between the
brain and behavior. For example, what brain region regulates sexual behavior?
o Developmental psychologists study how our behavior and thinking changes from womb
to tomb. For example, why do certain types of memory decline with age?
o Cognitive psychologists study how people perceive the world, and how they form new
memories, think, and solve problems.
o Social Psychologists study how we interact- how we view and affect one another in
social interactions.
o Types of Research in Psychology: Some psychologists conduct basic research in which
the aim is to simply increase knowledge of some phenomenon-to build theories.
o Other psychologists conduct applied research that tackles practical problems-like how to
select individuals who are likely to succeed in a particular job.
o A Fe of Psholog’s Aeas of Patie: Counseling psychologists help people cope with
challenges of all sorts, including academic, vocational, marital, etc.
o Clinical psychologists assess and treat mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.
o Human factors psychologists use principles of perception and cognition to design
devices and interfaces that people interact with.(to maximize performance and safety)
o Industrial psychologists study the relationship between people and their working
environments to increase productivity, improve personnel selection, and promote job
satisfaction.
o Chapter review: What is psychology, and what types of research do psychologists
odut? Whe ad ho did pshologial siee egi? What ae psholog’s leels
of aalsis ad pespeties? What ae psholog’s ai sufields ad aeas of
practice?
• Chapter 1, The Need for Psychological Science
o Did we know it all along?
o Example of hindsight bias: After the first two murders at Virginia Tech, and before the
massacre, many people say it was obvious that the university should have locked down
the campus.
o Commonsense describes what has happened after the fact more easily than it predicts
what will happen before the fact. This is called the hindsight bias
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find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
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