Psych I Test Review

History

Psychology:

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes

Careers in Psychology:

48% of psychologists practice in the clinical setting

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History

Applied Research:

Solves specific practical problems

Basic Research:

Work to increase scientific knowledge base

History

Wilhelm Wundt: Established the first psychology lab for studying humans in Germany

Sigmund Freud: Austrian psychologist who established psychoanalysis

Ivan Pavlov: Russian physiologist who established classical conditioning

William James: American psychologist who wrote the first American psych textbook

History

Six Psychological Perspectives: Behavioral: How we learn through rewards, punishments, and

observations

Cognitive: How we process information

Socio-Cultural: How thinking and behavior change depending on the setting and situation

Psychodynamic: How we are affected by unconscious drives and conflicts

Humanistic: How healthy people strive to reach their full potential

Biological: How our biological structures and substances underlie a given behavior, thought, or emotion.

Research

Scientific Method: Application of critical thinking and tools such as observation, experimentation, and statistical analysis

Research Bias: Occurs when researchers look for evidence that supports their hypothesis

Survey: Research technique that collects information about peoples attitudes or behaviors

Naturalistic Observation: Involves watching and recording behaviors without manipulation, or controlling the situation

Cross-Sectional Study: Compares individuals from different age groups at one time

Research

Longitudinal Study: Follows the same group of individuals over a long period of time

Independent Variable: The variable that the researcher manipulates that can cause a change in the dependent variable

Dependent Variable: The change caused by the introduction of the independent variable

Ethics in Research:

Brain

Limbic System:

Hypothalamus: Temp, hunger, thirst, and sexual functions

Hippocampus: Processing memory

Amygdala: Emotional responses (especially anger and fear)

Cerebral Cortex:

Frontal Lobe: Advance Critical Thinking and Judgment

Parietal Lobe: Sensory and General Association Areas

Occipital Lobe: Visual Processing Area

Temporal Lobe: Auditory Processing Area

Neuron Structure:

Dendrites, Cell Body, Axon, Axon Terminals, Synapse

Brain

Central Nervous System:

Consists of the brain and spinal cord

Peripheral Nervous System:

Motor and sensory neurons that communicate with the

CNS

Neurotransmitter:

Chemical messengers that communicate between

neurons across the synapse

Learning

Classical Conditioning:

Type of learning where stimulus gains the power to cause a

response

Reinforcement:

Anything that causes a behavior to be strengthened or repeated

Punishment:

Anything that causes a behavior to be weakened or eliminated

Learning

Operant Conditioning:

Type of learning in which the frequency of a behavior

depends on the consequences that follow

Observational Learning

Learning by observing others

Learning

Stimulus:

Anything in the environment that one can

respond to

Response:

Any behavior or action that occurs after a

stimulus

Extinction:

Diminishing, or loss, of a learned response

Memory

Short-Term Memory:

Briefly holds 5-9 pieces of information

Long-Term Memory

Relatively limitless permanent storehouse

Sensory Memory

Brief initial encoding of information into the

memory system

Memory

Encoding Failure:

Error in processing information into the memory system

Storage Failure:

Error in retaining information over time

Retrieval Failure:

Error in getting information out of memory storage (forgetting)

Misinformation Effect:

Incorporating misleading information into a memory of an event

Personality

Id:

Operates on the pleasure principle demanding immediate gratification

Ego:

Operates on the reality principle and mediates between the id and the

superego

Superego:

Represents the internalized ideals of what we should do (conscience)

Trait:

Characteristic patterns of behavior

Personality

Reliability:

Extent to which a test yields consistent results

Validity:

Extent to which a test measures what it is supposed to.

Disorders

Psychological Disorder:

Behavior that is maladaptive, unjustifiable, disturbing,

and atypical

Medical Model:

Concept that mental diseases can be diagnosed,

treated, and in most cases cured

DSM-IV-TR:

Manual used classifying psychological disorders

Disorders

Mood Disorders:

Disturbances of emotion includes: depressions, bipolar, and

mania

Anxiety Disorders:

Feelings of apprehension and nervousness includes: generalized

anxiety disorder, panic disorder, phobia, OCD, and PTSD

Childhood Disorders:

Disorders that develop during early development stages includes

Autism, ADD, ADD/HD

Disorders

Schizophrenia:

Disorders marked by disorganized and delusional thinking,

disturbed perceptions and inappropriate emotions and behaviors

includes: paranoid, catatonic, disorganized, and undifferentiated

Personality Disorders:

Disorders characterized by rigid and lasting behavior patterns

that disrupt social functioning includes: avoidant, dependent,

paranoid, schizoid, borderline, and antisocial

Treatment

Types of Therapy:

Psychoanalysis: Transference & Free Association

Humanistic: Client Centered & Active Listening

Behavior: Systematic Desensitization & Averse Conditioning

Cognitive: Destructive vs. Constructive Explanations

Family/group: Relationship and Communication Building

Biomedical: Drug, ECT , and Psychosurgery

Eclectic: Combination of therapies

Treatment

Deinstitutionalization:

Decrease in patients at institutions due to the

successful introduction of psychotropic drugs used to

treat serious mental disorders. One negative side

effect was an increase in homelessness.