History and Research Methods Review Sheet (Chapter 1)

History Concepts:
Psychology

science of MENTAL PROCESSES and BEHAVIOR

Roots of Psychology

are in the subjects: _____________________________________________

______________________

the mind and body are two separate things that interact. Ex: body is physical but mind is nonphysical like soul-concept.

Plato

Ancient Greek philosopher also believed in dualism and believed that who we are and what we
know are INNATE (were born with it).

Renee Descartes

Enlightenment (17th Century) thinker that defended dualism and ideas that are innate.
(Cogito ergo sum---I think therefore I am).

Monism

the mind and body are two aspects of the same thing. Ex: mind and body both physical things.

Aristotle

Greek philosopher and student of Plato who believed that mind/soul results from our anatomy and
physiological processes (monism). Reality is best studied through OBSERVATION (early
precursor to the scientific method-Behaviorism).

_____________________

Enlightenment thinker that defended monism and believed all knowledge comes from observation
and experience since we are born with a BLANK SLATE (tabla rasa).

_____________________

Evolutionist; applied law of natural selection to human beings forwarding the idea that human
behavior and thinking are subject to scientific inquiry.

Wilhelm Wundt

FOUNDER of scientific psychology since he set up the first ____________________ in Germany.

Main research method was ___________________: inward looking study of individuals inner
feelings, sensations, and consciousness. Founded school of thought called STRUCTURALISM.

Structuralism

school of thought sponsored by Wundt, Hall, and _______________ which looked to analyze the
elements of consciousness (thoughts) using introspection. Early psych focus: mental processes.

Functionalism

Looks at how an organism uses its perceptual abilities/consciousness to adapt to the environment.
Still mental process focus. Sponsored by William James who wrote 1st Psychology textbook

Components of Experiment and Research:

Critical thinking

______________________________________________________________________________

Theories

organized sets of concepts that explain and predict phenomena

Hypothesis

testable prediction related to two or more factors.

______________________

repetition of the methods used in a previous experiment to see whether the same methods will
yield the same results. Is it Reliable? The extent to which a test yields consistent results.

______________________

the extent to which a test measures or predicts what it is supposed

Population

all of the individuals in the group to which the study applies. Ex: study of drugs impact of
teenagers. Population is ALL TEENAGERS not just ones in experiment.

______________________

subgroup of the population that PARTICIPATES in the study.

Random Sample

choosing of members of a population so that every individual has AN EQUAL CHANCE of being
chosen.
factor that the researcher manipulates in a controlled experiment. Ex: In study of drugs impact on
weight; IV is drug

______________________
______________________

the BEHAVIOR or MENTAL PROCESS that is measured in an experiment. Is the EFFECT.

Ex: In a study of drugs impact on weight, DV is the amount of weight gained or lost.

Experimental Group

subgroup of the sample that receives the treatment or independent variable. Ex: Group

______________________

of people who got weight loss pill.

the comparison group; subgroup of the sample that is similar to the experimental group in every
way EXCEPT they do not get IV. Ex: Group who gets a placebo.

______________________

division of the sample into groups so that every individual has an equal chance of being put in
experimental or control group.

Confounding Variable

differences between the experimental group and control group other than IV. Ex: If 2 groups are
eating different meals in weight loss study, the meals are confounding (get in way of results)

______________________

description of the specific procedure used to determine the presence of a variable. Ex: If
researching the effectiveness of studying, a quiz could be used as an operational definition for the
effectiveness of studying. IS THE WAY TO MEASURE DV.

Experimental Bias

phenomenon that occurs when a researchers expectations about outcome influences study. When
a researcher purposely tries to prove their results by manipulating the experiment.

Single-Blind Procedure

research design where participants dont know if they are in the experimental or control group.

______________________

research design where neither the experimenter nor the participants know which group they are in

Statistics:
______________________
Standard deviation
Range
Variability

Mean (average), Median (score in middle), Mode (most occurring score).

a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score
the difference between the lowest and highest scores in a distribution
how spread out the data is. Ex: Standard Deviation: measures average difference between each
score and the mean of the data set.

______________________

statistical measure of the degree of relatedness or association between two sets of data that ranges
from -1 and +1. -1 and +1 are PERFECT CORRELATIONS.

Statistical Significance

TELLS EXPERIMENTER HOW LIKELY THEIR RESULTS ARE DUE TO RANDOM

CHANCE. Want a low percentage (p-value) to show your results were not likely random. Shows
effectiveness of IV. SS of .01 means 1 percent chance of results being wrong.

Type ______ Error

false-positive. Results show difference that is not true. Ex: Pregnancy test says a woman is
pregnant when she is not.
false-negative. Results fail to detect difference when there is one. Ex: Pregnancy test says a
woman is not pregnant when she is.

Type ______ Error

Ethical Guidelines

suggested rules for acting morally in an experiment. Major concepts Include: 1. Inform
volunteers of purpose of experiment. Debrief volunteers. 3. Results confidential. 4. Should Be
voluntary and allowed to quit. 5. Need consent. 6. Minimize emotional and physical pain.

Perspectives:
Behavioral
Humanistic
Neuroscience
Psychodynamic
Cognitive

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________

_____________________

controversy over the contributions that genes and experience make on humans

False consensus effect

our tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our ideas

Hind sight bias

____________________________ believing that after the outcome, one would have foreseen it

_____________________

one person studied in depth in hope of revealing universal principles

Survey

a technique for ascertaining the ___________________________________ or behaviors of people

_____________________

observing/recording behavior in naturally occurring situations. No manipulation

Illusory correlation

the perception of a _____________________ where none exists.