PSYC 100A

how humans perceive, think, feel, and behave

advance notification at the start of information that contains potentially distressing content

Trigger warnings appear to not impact emotional reactions to upsetting content or worsen the negative emotions/anxiety before viewing something. They also cause avoidance of the topic which interferes with coping and learning

dedicating time and conscious effort to the management of stress levels and problems that you are faced with

practices we engage in that are important for maintaining mental health and preventing psychological conditions such as burnout and mental illness

state of physical, mental and emotional collapse caused by overwork or stress

the use of systematic observation to acquire knowledge.

way of using observable data to help explain and understand the world around us in a trustworthy way

The careful observation of the natural world with the aim of better understanding it. Observations provide the basic data that allow scientists to track, tally, or otherwise organize information about the natural world.

Approaches to inquiry that are tied to actual measurement and observation.

explicitly measuring something about the world.

Systematic observation (core of science) Observation leads to hypotheses we can test Science is democratic Science is cumulative

A logical idea that can be tested.

Groups of closely related phenomena or observations.

asking close friends and family members about the feelings of a target individual to get more accurate results

Professional guidelines that offer researchers a template for making decisions that protect research participants from potential harm and that help steer scientists away from conflicts of interest or other situations that might compromise the integrity of their research.

Psychologists must follow a code of ethics;

1. Informed consent (no coercion)

2. Confidentiality

3. Privacy

4. Benefits outweigh risks

5. Deception and debriefing

in research, information systematically collected for analysis and interpretation

in research, a number of people selected from a population to serve as an example of that population

Accurate: Can it explain lots of data and real-world observations? Relatively simple, broad, 3 or 4 factors

Consistent: Are there very few exceptions and does it fit with other theories?

Scope: Can it explain things beyond the current data or research findings?

Simplicity: Is it less complex than other theories that explain the pattern of data similarly well?

Fruitfulness: Does it generate new, testable hypotheses?

Falsifiable: Can it be tested and proven wrong?

feature that has so permeated scientific practice that it warrants additional clarification

everyday reasoning. Beliefs or practices that are presented as being scientific, or which are mistaken for being scientific, but which are not scientific (e.g., astrology, the use of celestial bodies to make predictions about human behaviors, and which presents itself as founded in astronomy, the actual scientific study of celestial objects. Astrology is a pseudoscience unable to be falsified, whereas astronomy is a legitimate scientific discipline).

the ability of a claim to be tested and possibly refuted, a defining feature of science (similar to testable)

Popper was dissatisfied with Freud’s explanations of mental illness and argued against statements that can’t be falsified

Popper claims ‘if science showed all the possibilities that were not true, we would be left only with what is true” - we need to know the evidence that will disprove our hypothesis so we can abandon it

measure of the degree of certainty of the occurrence of an event

form of reasoning in which a general conclusion is inferred from a set of observations (a specific observation leads to a general conclusion)

form of reasoning in which a given premise determines the interpretation of a specific observations (begins with general principles/premises applied to specific instances to prove something)

in research, the degree to which a sample is a typical example of the population from which it is drawn

piece of biased evidence, usually drawn from personal experience, used to support a conclusion that may or may not be correct

in research, all the people belonging to a particular group

in statistics, the measure of relatedness of two or more variables

in statistics, a test created to determine the chances that an alternative hypothesis would produce a result as extreme as the one observed if the null hypothesis were actually true

statement that two variables are not related

statement that two variables are related

in statistics, the relative frequency that a particular value occurs for each possible value of a given variable

pattern of variation in a set of data. Must consider the distributions as a whole not just the median

the researcher’s conclusion mirrors reality (finds a real relationship or not finding a relationship that doesn't exist)

in statistics, the error of rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true (research concludes that there is a relationship between two variables but in reality there is not)

the error of failing to reject the null hypothesis when it is false. (researcher concludes that there is no relationship, but there actually is one)

inferential statistic that establishes threshold for determining whether a given value occurs by chance

tells you how often a random process would give a result at least as extreme as what was found in the actual study assuming everything was random. Lower p-value = stronger correlation.

When p < 0.05, if the study were repeated 100 times, we would see the result less than 5 times, is usually the cutoff

1. larger sample size = greater statistical significance because outliers have less impact on average

2. larger initial difference between groups = greater statistical significance

3. greater variation in the measures = lower statistical significance

explanation for observed phenomena that is empirically well-supported, consistent, and fruitful (predictive)

comprehensive framework for making sense of evidence regarding a particular phenomenon

concerned with observation and/or the ability to verify a claim

being free of personal bias (unbias)

objective information about the world

belief about the way things should be

in science, there are complementary understandings and explanations of phenomena

in research, the determination that one variable causes (is responsible for) an effect

belief that knowledge comes from experience

An electro-chemical signal that enables neurons to communicate

Study of the relationships between physical stimuli and the perception of those stimuli.

method of focusing on internal processes

A school of American psychology that sought to describe the elements of conscious experience.

looks at actual structures of brain and our thoughts.

A school of American psychology that focused on the utility of consciousness.

looks at what we observe and function of mind instead of physical structure.

study of mental processes, information processing. formed as reaction to behaviourism.

study of observing behaviour (neglects mental processes). Focuses on external processes, rejects introspection.

A highly detailed and vivid memory of an emotionally significant event.

Typically related to; Emotional? Detailed? Confident? Accurate?

Often they are not accurate

The inability to pull a word from memory even though there is the sensation that that word is available.

A model of training of professional psychologists that emphasizes the development of both research and clinical skills.

A model of training of professional psychologists that emphasizes clinical practice.

a supreme court ruling that ended school segregation, 1954

Thompson Woolley examined women being ‘overemotional’

Hollingworth examined women’s emotions during menstruation

the Clarks demonstrated that school segregation was negative,

Hooker got homosexuality removed from the APA mental disorders, 1957

1968

1879, formal development of modern psychology, he worked on psychoanalysis (inernal processes) and reductionism. He promoted that psychology could be an experimental field, provided classes, books, and labs for it in germany

Wundt added a lab to his psychology class, this date is considered the ‘establishment of the science of psychology’

student of Wundt that introduced psychology to America as structuralism and inrospection.

1892

1904

1894, Tichener’s woman student, first to earn a PHD in psychology 1921, she is second woman president of APA

1936

1988

1890, wrote the book principles of psychology that proposed consciousness as ongoing and continuous.

took a functional approach (functionalism)

founded the first psychology lab in America (1883), created the american journal of psychology (1887), founded the APA (1892) hosted Freud in America (1909)

1920, first African American to earn a PHD in psyc in america, student of G Hall

the practice of selective breeding to promote desired traits

in the 1930s, but it later joined with APA

study of behaviour, thought, experience and the science of the mind and behaviour

something that has controlled conditions for which people are randomly assigned and observe the outcome.

Experiments allow researchers to make causal inferences

science of gaining insight from data

• Planning the study (asking testable research questions and deciding how to collect data)

• Examining the data (patterns, graphs, observations)

• Inferring from the data (draw reasonable statistics from the data)

• Draw conclusions (who do the conclusions apply to, is it cause and effect)

careful design of a study to collect meaningful data to answer a focused research question, detailed analysis of patterns in the data, and drawing conclusions that go beyond the observed data

Using a probability-based method to divide a sample into treatment groups. Creates groups that are similar in characteristics except what the experiment manipulates

help us assess how much random variation we can expect in our results

gives every member of the population an equal chance of being selected for the sample. should produce groups that are as similar as possible. Necessary for generalizing results

certain percentage that accounts for anything that is randomized. Calculated by doing 1/sqrt of the sample size. The expected amount of random variation in a statistic; often defined for 95% confidence level

consistency of a measure, same results each time

synonymous with dependable

a result is statistically significant if it is unlikely to arise by chance alone. If the P-value is less than 5%.

An interval of plausible values for a population parameter; the interval of values within the margin of error of a statistic.

A numerical result summarizing a population (e.g., mean, proportion).

Sometimes a person just knowing that he/she is receiving special treatment or something new is enough to actually cause changes in behaviour or perception

the ability to arrive at broad conclusions based on a smaller sample of observations. For these conclusions to be true the sample should accurately represent the larger population from which it is drawn.

the degree to which one can extend conclusions drawn from the findings of a study to other groups or situations not included in the study

how researchers specifically measure a concept (scale, measurement, system)

something that can undermine your ability to draw causal inferences (for example the placebo effect or participant demand)

AKA 3rd variable problem

1. based on measurable data that was collected in an objective, reliable, valid way

2. generalizable

3. unbiased

4. available to whole scientific community

5. it is replicable

1. experimental research

2. correlational design

3. qualitative designs (including participant observation, case study, narrative analysis)

4. quasi-experimental design

5. longitudinal study

6. survey

7. field study

8. experience sampling (DRM, EAR, daily diary, lived day analysis)

When scientists passively observe and measure phenomena without intervening or changing behaviour

• Identify patterns of relationships without determining the cause and effect relationship

• Only 2 variables at a time

• Use scatter plot to plot the relation between two scores to find out how well 2 variables correspond

• often includes confounds

summarizes the association between two variables and provides info about the direction/strength of the association. The more exceptions/outliers an association has, the weaker the correlation, and the lower the r value. Ranges from -1 to 1.

Positive correlation: two variables go up or down together, going from bottom left to upper right corner on a graph. The r value is positive

Negative correlation: the two variables move in opposite directions (one variable goes up the other goes down). Graph goes from top left to bottom right. The r value is negative.

When it is 0 there is no correlation at all.

gather observation without attempting to examine relaionships between variables

Participant observation: distinct methodology that involves the researcher embedding themselves into a group to study it’s dynamic

Case study: intensive examination of specific individuals or specific contexts. Lots of depth but low generalizability.

Narrative analysis: study of stories and personal accounts of people, groups or cultures. Analyzes the themes, structures and dialogue of each person’s narrative. Personal testimonies.

isolate effect of one or more variables on another variable (independent on dependent)

only type of study that can infer cause and effect. Includes experimental group and control group that are randomly assigned.

Experiment that does not require random assignment to conditions and instead relies on existing group members (ex married vs single). Causal inference is more difficult

track the same people over time (weeks to years). Can be valuable but costly.