PSY100 - Midterm Exam Review

Wilhelm Wundt & Edward Tichner

Founded experimental psychology and created thought meter and voluntarism, and mental process hierarchy

an approach that emphasizes the role of will and choice in determine thoughts, perceptions and behaviors

involves breaking down the mind into small sections, such as sensations, images, and feelings.

wundet’s student, believed in structuralism

William James

coined stream of consciousness, ideas people experience when awake + functionalism

views behavior as purposeful and contributing to survival.

John Waston, Edward Thorndike, B.F Skinner

measurement of observable behaviors

Tied psychology to the study of observable behaviors (brain images / reaction times) - little albert

Law of effect: behavior with more pleasant outcomes are more likely to reoccur

extended thorndike’s idea in experimentation of how frequent behaviours performed with the Skinner box (reward/punishment)

Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

people as inherently good and motivated to learn and improve.

founded gestalt psychology and focused on the whole of behaviour

looks at the human mind and behavior as a whole focusing on principles such as proximity, similarity, continuity, closure, and simplicity.

hints that influence particpants bejaviours

survery responders answeing to beviewed favourably

change in subjects behaviour simply but the awareness of being observed

most people perceive themselves as bette than average

Conclusions based on facts without influence from emotion or biases.

Conclusions that reflect personal point of view.

A set of facts and relationships that can explain and predict phenomena.

a systematic procedure of observing and measuring phenomena, used to achieve the goals of description, prediction, and explanation

Testable, Falsifiable, Parsimonious 

intergroup contact, social comparison, social learning

A proposed explanation for a situation, often taking the form "if A happens, then B will result."

a characteristic or condition that changes or has different values for different individuals

manipulated in an experiment to see its impact on the dependent variable.

measured to see how it is affected by the independent variable.

Conceptual (textbook definition) and Operational (definition of constructs)

Internal attributes or characteristics that cannot be directly observed but are useful for describing and explaining behavior

The group that researchers want to generalize their findings to.

The group of individuals from the population who are part of a study.

concerned with a single variable of interest and may lead to claims regarding the frequency of a behavior.

Passive observation

Observers do not change or alter ongoing behaviour

Active observation

Researcher actively involved in the situation

Systematic observation

are made within a laboratory setting

Reactivity → demand characteristics 

Observer/experimenter bias

Self-report bias → social desirable bias and better than average effect

associations between two or more variables; without manipulation

single group of participants

does not allow us to make causal claims

shows the strength and the direction of the relationship between two variables (ranges from -1.00 to +1.00)

Directionality → unsure which variable is influencing the other

Third variable problem → unsure whether another variable is also affecting the other two to change

examine cause and effect relationships between two variables

Tightly controlled, Involve manipulating an independent variable to determine its impact on dependent variable

only be made after a justified experiment

an equal chance of being placed in any group in an experiment

 equal chance of being chosen to participate 

 anything that may unintentionally vary along with the independent variable

no random assignment is possible

a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another

search in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period

organized data into meaningful patterns and summaries

a symmetrical probability function

measure of how tightly cluster around the mean and group of scores 

extends conclusions from a sample to a population

deciding whether an observed result is due to chance 

the science over-relies on these types of participants: Western, Educated, Industrialised, Rich, and Democratic

accuracy in results (must be reliable to be valid)

how accurate are my operationalization?

extent to which we can generalize findings to real-world settings

extent to which the study established a cause and effect relationship between variables

consistency (doesn’t have to be valid)

different judges agree in their assessment decisions

administering the same test twice over a period of time to a group of individuals

changes in the gene expression that are due to non-genetic behaviour

genetic transmission of characteristics from parents to offspring

estimate of genetic proportion of variation in some specific trait (in a population, not individual)

The brain and spinal cord, which are responsible for processing and coordinating information.

The network of nerves that connects the CNS to the rest of the body.

basic units of the nervous system; operate through electrical impulses

where action potiental travels down; transmit info to other neurons

receives information from neurons

insulator for axons; allow rapid transmission of signals

large central mass of neurons; contains nucleus

gaps in axon

1 - resting potential
2 - depolarization
3 - repolarization
4 - resting potential

neural impulse that travels along the axon causes release of chemicals from terminal buttons

polarized state; negative INSID the cell. more sodium (Na+) OUTSIDE and more potassium (K+) INSIDE. (-70mV)

area between two neurons

part of a nerve that recieves and reads neurotransmitters

chemical signals that transmit signals to one neuron to another

send signals from the CNS to the skeletal muscles 

send information from sensory system, processes input from environment and senses

Sensory = Afferent, Motor = Efferent

Drugs that enhance the actions of endogenous neurotransmitters by binding receptors and producing a response that mimics the effects.

neurotransmitters are recycled back into the neuron by transporters and stored for later use.

Drugs that inhibit the actions of endogenous neurotransmitters by blocking release of neurotransmitters, destroying neurotransmitters in the synapse, or mimicking a neurotransmitter to block neurotransmitter binding.

The brain's ability to be changed or reorganized as a result of experience, drugs, or injury.

primary excitatory transmitter

primary inhibitory neurotransmitter

mood, impulsiveness, hunger, sleep

reward and motivation, voluntary movement

movement, memory, cognition, sleep

(adrenaline) energy

arousal, alertness

brain and spinal cord

Controls life-sustaining functions of the autonomic nervous system; breathing, digestion, and heartbeat.

coordinated movement and balance.

The brain's master regulatory structure that connects the nervous system to the endocrine system and controls functions related to homeostasis.

Acts as a relay station and handles all incoming sensory information except smell.