PSYCH 10 Study Guide - Winter 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Stroke, Maze, Long-Term Memory
PSYCH 10
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Week 1: Intro to Psych notes
•Psychology: scientific investigation of behavior (observable actions of humans
and animals) and mental processes (the mind, private inner experiences,
memories, feelings)
•Hindsight bias: belief that an outcome was foreseeable all along (ex: personality
tests)
•Descartes--dualist. The physical body was a container for the non-physical mind
•Hobbes and many other--mind is what the brain does tho.
•Structuralism: Wilhelm Wundt. Discover mind's structure by breaking down
experiences into their underlying components. The analysis of basic elements
that constitute the mind
◦Uses method of introspection (observing one's own experience)
◦Ex: presented w. stimulus, then report introspection. Listened to clicks of
metronome and discovered some patterns were more pleasant
◦Ex: objective measurement. Perceive the tone before pressing button vs.
pressing button
◦Science requires replicable observations, some doubted if this was
possible with introspection alone
•Functionalism: William James. the study of the purpose behaviors and mental
processes serve in enabling people to adapt to their environment
◦What is the importance of this feeling? How does it relate to our survival?
◦Disagree with Wundt because consciousness is a flowing stream rather
than bundle of separate elements
◦Evolutionary. Based on Darwin's. Mental abilities must have evolved too
◦Instead of structuralism (examined structure of mental process),
functionalism strives to understand the functions the mental processes
served
•Behaviorism: John Watson. Redefined psychology as the scientific study of
objectively observable behavior
◦Rejected introspection.
◦Measured what people DO rather than what they EXPERIENCE, bc
behavior can be observed and measured objectively
◦It was something tangible, unlike consciousness, which is harder to
measure
•Cognitive revolution
◦Reaction against behaviorism, brought back interest in mental processes
◦Behaviorism can't explain functions like learning and language, so
understanding mental processes is necessary to fully understand behavior
•Sigmund Freud
◦Believed traumatic childhood experiences that patient couldn't remember
was what caused problem, and that these seemingly lost memories
implies there is an unconscious mind. Tried to bring up underlying,
unconscious feelings.
◦Most theories were difficult to study scientifically and negative
•Good theory--falsifiable
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
•Good hypothesis can be concretely tested and is specific
•Scientific method is cyclical. You get results and see how they align with original
theory--data either supports or doesn't support the theory.
◦Replication is important
!
How to test hypothesis?
•Barnum effect--vague things apply to a lot of people. Horoscopes, etc
•Descriptive methods--identifies/describes behavior but can't make predictions/
determine causality
◦Case studies--looks at one participant in great depth, doesn't manipulate
anything
◦Naturalistic observation--observing subjects in their natural environments
•Caution with observational studies
▪Observer bias: errors that occur bc of an observer's
expectations
•Especially if cultural norms favor inhibiting or
expressing certain behaviors
•Ex: men & women interviewed & said the same thing,
men said to be assertive, women bitchy
▪Experimenter expectancy effect: actual change in behavior
due to observer's expectations
•Rosenthal & Fode experiment: college students
trained rats in maze. Some were told rats were
naturally fast (actually got rats to finish quickly),
others told they were naturally slow (trained them
slower).
•!Double-blind can solve this. Both observer and
person being observed are blind, so observer doesn't
have expectations about the people being observed
◦Self-report
•Ex: surveys, interview
•Correlational methods--used to look at descriptive studies. Measures how closely
two factors vary together/how well you can predict a change in one from
observing a change in the other.
◦Determines whether a relationship/association exists between 2 or more
variables
◦Ex:
•Case study--the fewer hours the boy was allowed to sleep, the
more episodes of aggression he displayed
•Naturalistic observation: children in a classroom who were dressed
in heavier clothes were more likely to fall asleep than those wearing
lighter clothes (positive correlation)
•Survey: the greater number of Facebook friends, the less time was
spent studying (negative correlation)
◦Correlational studies: direction
•Positive correlation: both variables increase or decrease together
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Psychology: scienti c investigation of behavior (observable actions of humans and animals) and mental processes (the mind, private inner experiences, memories, feelings) Hindsight bias: belief that an outcome was foreseeable all along (ex: personality tests) The physical body was a container for the non-physical mind. Hobbes and many other--mind is what the brain does tho. Discover mind"s structure by breaking down experiences into their underlying components. The analysis of basic elements that constitute the mind. Uses method of introspection (observing one"s own experience) Listened to clicks of metronome and discovered some patterns were more pleasant. Perceive the tone before pressing button vs. pressing button. Science requires replicable observations, some doubted if this was possible with introspection alone. Disagree with wundt because consciousness is a owing stream rather than bundle of separate elements. Instead of structuralism (examined structure of mental process), functionalism strives to understand the functions the mental processes served.
