PSY 103 Study Guide - Spring 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Memory, Anxiety, Syndrome
12 Oct 2018
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Department
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PSY 103
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Chapter 1: What is Psychology?
Psychology is the systematic study of behavior and experience - experience lets us discuss
perceptions without implying that a mind exists independently of the body.
3 most general statements about psychology:
1. “It Depends” -> how someone answers a question depends on the exact wording of the
question/wording of the previous question/who is asking the question, substantial
influences are often overlooked
2. Progress Depends on Good Measurement -> new discoveries and ideas depend on good
measurement, areas of psychology with less certain measurement have less definite
conclusions and slower progress
3. Confidence in the Conclusions Should Depend on the Strength of the Evidence ->
distinguish between opinions based on strong evidence and those based on less
Major Philosophical Issues in Psychology: 3 of the most profound philosophical questions
related to psychology:
1. Free Will vs. Determinism -> determinism = the idea that everything that happens has a
cause/determinant that someone could observe or measure, free will = the belief that
behavior is caused by a person’s independent decisions, although determinism makes
sense theoretically it doesn’t work well as a philosophy of life
2. The Mind-Brain Problem -> philosophical question of how experience relates to the brain
a. Dualism = the mind is separate from the brain but somehow controls the brain and
therefore the rest of the body, contradicts law of conservation of matter and
energy.
b. Monism = more favored view, the view that conscious experience is inseparable
from the physical brain, mental activity is the brain activity.
3. The Nature-Nurture Issue -> how do differences in behavior relate to differences in
heredity and environment?
Service Providers:
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● Clinical Psychologists: have an advanced degree in psychology (masters, PhD, PsyD),
specialty in understanding and helping people with psychological problems
● Psychiatry: branch of medicine that deals with emotional disturbances
● Psychoanalysts: therapy providers who rely heavily on the theories and methods
pioneered by Sigmund Freud
● Clinical Social Worker: similar to clinical psychologist but with different training
● Counseling Psychologists: help people with educational, vocational, marriage, health-
related, and other decisions
● Forensic Psychologists: provide advice and consultation to police, lawyers, and courts
- Industrial/organizational (I/O) psychology = psychological study of people at work
- Human factor specialist (ergonomist) = attempts to facilitate the operation of machinery so that
ordinary people can use it efficiently and safely
- Military psychologists = specialists who provide services to the military
- School Psychologists = specialists in psychological condition of students
- Developmental Psychologists = study how behavior changes with age
- The research field of learning and motivation studies how behavior depends on the outcomes of
past behaviors and current motivations
- Cognition means thought and knowledge. A cognitive psychologist studies those processes,
focus on how people make decisions, solve problems, and convert thoughts into language
- A biopsychologist (behavioral neuroscientist) explains behavior in terms of biological factors,
such as activities of the nervous system and the effects of drugs and hormones
- An evolutionary psychologist tries to explain behavior in terms of the evolutionary history of
the species, including why evolution might have favored a tendency to act in particular ways
- Social psychologists study how an individual influences other people and how the group
influences an individual
- Cross cultural psychology = compares the behavior of people from different cultures
Wilhelm Wundt set up the first laboratory intended exclusively for psychological research in
1879 - goal was to find the elements of experience
- Experience is under your voluntary control
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Psychology is the systematic study of behavior and experience - experience lets us discuss perceptions without implying that a mind exists independently of the body. Clinical psychologists: have an advanced degree in psychology (masters, phd, psyd), specialty in understanding and helping people with psychological problems. Psychiatry: branch of medicine that deals with emotional disturbances. Psychoanalysts: therapy providers who rely heavily on the theories and methods pioneered by sigmund freud. Clinical social worker: similar to clinical psychologist but with different training. Counseling psychologists: help people with educational, vocational, marriage, health- related, and other decisions. Forensic psychologists: provide advice and consultation to police, lawyers, and courts. Industrial/organizational (i/o) psychology = psychological study of people at work. Human factor specialist (ergonomist) = attempts to facilitate the operation of machinery so that ordinary people can use it efficiently and safely. Military psychologists = specialists who provide services to the military. School psychologists = specialists in psychological condition of students.
