PSYCH 100 Study Guide - Final Guide: Alpha Wave, Muscle Relaxant, Cognitive Dissonance
Adeline Mahoney
Psychology 100 Final Exam Study Guide
Lecture 2 and Modules 1-2
1. What are the goals of Psychology?
- Description
- Prediction
- Explanation
- application/ control
2. Understand the distinction between nativism/empiricism (nature/nurture).
- Nativism (nature) The idea that our thoughts, ideas, and characteristics are inborn
- Learn more about ourselves by examining one's thoughts and feelings.
- Introspection: modern term meaning “looking within”
- Empiricism (nurture) Knowledge is gained through experience (senses)
3. Know the modern perspectives of psychology.
- Psychodynamic- focus on unconscious and early development
- Behavioral- focus on operant conditioning, punishment and reinforcement
- Humanistic- focus on human potential, choosing own destiny
- Biopsychological- attribute human and animal behavior and biological events.
- Cognitive- memory, intelligence, perception, learning
- Social cultural- relationship between social behavior and culture
- Evolutionary- biological mental traits shared by all humans
Key Terms
Behaviorism-(1920s)
- Emphasized the objective, scientific analysis of observable behaviors.
- Mental events are triggered by external stimuli which lead to behavior.
- Looked at behavior and its measurement rather than “consciousness” of what Wundt and
James .
Functionalism-(1890)
- The study of the function rather than the structure of consciousness.
- Functions of the mind.
- How our minds adapts to changing environment
- Behavioral observations conducted in a lab
- William James (U.S.)
- 1st psychological lab in U.S. (1879)
Structuralism-(1879)
- Elements of the mind
- The study of the most basic elements, primarily sensations and perceptions, that
make up our conscious mental experiences
- Involves introspection
- Wilhelm Wundt (Germany)
- 1st psychological lab (1875)
- Considered founder of the modern psychology
Lecture 3 and Modules 3-4
1. What is the scientific method? Know the steps involved.
- Steps (details can vary)
- 1. Perceive
- 2. Hypothesize
- 3. Test
- 4. Draw conclusions
- 5. Report, revive, replicate
- 6. Repeat
2. What are the three types of research designs? Know the advantages and
disadvantages of the three types of designs.
- Specific method a researcher uses to collect, analyze, and interpret data.
- Three types:
- Descriptive research
- Correlational research
- Experimental research
- Descriptive Research: describes behaviors
- Naturalistic Observation
- Advantages:observe organism in the natural environment
- Disadvantages: no control in environment
- Laboratory Observation
- Advantages: control, specialized equipment
- Disadvantages:
- Case Studies- Study individual or small group of people that have a certain
type of characteristic.
- Advantages: have certain
- Disadvantages: characteristics you can’t manipulate
- Survey- a technique for ascertaining the self reported attitudes, opinions,
or behavior of people.
- Representative sample is key
- Random sampling- a process by which each member of the
population has an equal chance of being selected.
- Problems with surveys
- Wording effect- of statement questions can affect the outcome
- Knowledge- must understand all words used in question
- Representativeness- need a representative sample
- Summary
- Case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation all describe behaviors
- Generally easy and inexpensive to get data
- Problem is that they may not be representative of the population you are
interested in
- Correlation research
- Correlation- a measure of the relationship between two variables
- Range: +1.0 to -1.0
- Variable- anything that changes or varies
- Scatterplot- a graph comprised of points generated by two
variables. The slope points depicts the direction, and the amount of
scatter indicates the strength of the relationship
- Correlation vs Causation
- Positive: variables related in same direction
Document Summary
Explanation application/ control: understand the distinction between nativism/empiricism (nature/nurture). Nativism (nature) the idea that our thoughts, ideas, and characteristics are inborn. Learn more about ourselves by examining one"s thoughts and feelings. Empiricism (nurture) knowledge is gained through experience (senses: know the modern perspectives of psychology. Psychodynamic- focus on unconscious and early development. Behavioral- focus on operant conditioning, punishment and reinforcement. Humanistic- focus on human potential, choosing own destiny. Biopsychological- attribute human and animal behavior and biological events. Social cultural- relationship between social behavior and culture. Evolutionary- biological mental traits shared by all humans. Emphasized the objective, scientific analysis of observable behaviors. Mental events are triggered by external stimuli which lead to behavior. Looked at behavior and its measurement rather than consciousness of what wundt and. The study of the function rather than the structure of consciousness. How our minds adapts to changing environment.
