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AP Students—please review this study guide in preparation for your Unit 1 exam
Introduction to Psychology Study Guide
Chapter: Prologue (The Story of Psychology)
AP Objective I: History and Approaches (2-4%)
Psychology has evolved markedly since its inception as a discipline in 1879. There have been significant changes in the theories that psychologists use to explain behavior and mental processes. In addition, the methodology of psychological research has expanded to include a diversity of approaches to data gathering.
AP Objective: Recognize how philosophical and physiological perspectives
shaped the development of psychological thought.
Intro Terms:
Philosophy: The study of the fundamental nature of knowledge and reality. Asks questions such as “what is truth?”; “what is real?”; “how do we know what we know?”; “what is knowledge?” etc.
Physiology: Branch of biology that studies the function and parts of living organisms (cells, bodily systems, organs, etc.).
Psychology’s Ancient Greek Roots
Hippocrates (460 BC-370 BC): o Thought the mind/soul resided in the brain, but had no physical substance. This theory is called mind-body dualism and suggests that the body and mind are separate entities.
Plato: (428-423 BC): o Also believed in dualism. o Used self-examination of inner ideas and experiences to conclude that who we are and what we know are innate (inborn). This knowledge is not obtainable simply by observing the physical world.
Aristotle ( 384 BC-322 BC ): o A student of Plato, Aristotle believed that the mind/soul results from our anatomy and physiological processes. o He believed in monoism , the idea that the mind and body are one in the same. o He believed that reality is best studied by observation, and that who we are and what we know are derived from experience. o We derive truth from the physical world.
Advent of the Scientific Revolution (c.1600-1700)
Ren é Descartes (1596-1650): o Defended mind-body dualism and that what we know is innate (like Plato). o World and creatures are all machines; humans are the exception because we have minds. o The mind is not observable, so is not subject to natural laws; the mind is what makes us distinct from other living creatures.
John Locke (1632-1704): o Believed the mind and body are one (monoism, like Aristotle). o Knowledge comes from observation and experience. o We are born as blank slates ( tabula rasa ), so what we know comes from experience. This theory has since been disproven. o The mind is subject to natural laws.
Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679): o Believed the idea of a soul, spirit, or mind is meaningless. o The only things that exist are matter and energy ( materialism ). o What we experience as consciousness is a byproduct of the brain’s machinery. o Greatly influenced the behaviorists.
AP Objective: Identify major historical figures in psychology.
Dorthea Dix (1802-1887): o American activist on behalf of the mentally insane (terminology used at the time). o Lobbied Congress to create the first generation of mental asylums.
Wilhelm Wundt (1832-1920): o Considered the father of psychology. o Founded first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879, dedicated to the scientific study of the immediate conscious experience of sensation. o Using careful methodology, he trained is associates to objectively analyze their sensory experiences systematically through introspection (inward looking). o Required that results of experiments be replicated in order to be validated. o School of Structuralism: focused on the structure of the mind and identification of the basic elements of consciousness (sensations, feelings, and images) using trained introspection.
Edward Titchener (1867-1927): o Student of Wilhelm Wundt. o Analyzed consciousness into its basic elements and investigated how elements were related (structuralism). o Used introspection.
G. Stanley Hall (1846-1924): o American psychologist o Set up lab at Johns Hopkins University employing introspection. o Helped found the American Psychological Association. o Focused on child development and evolutionary theory
William James (1842-1910): o Thought structuralists were asking the wrong questions. o Was interested in the function or purpose of behavioral acts. o Viewed humans as more actively involved in processing sensations and actions. o Wrote the first psychology textbook called Principles of Psychology. o School of Functionalism : focused on the application of psychological findings to practical situations and the function of mental operations in adapting to the environment. The goal was to explain behavior.
images o Introspection Analyzing your sensory experiences by reporting what you see, experience, and feel during the experiment. Requires you to look inside your own mind and report your own feelings/experiences. This is the method used by structuralists to study the components of the human mind (those components include sensations, feelings, and images). This was a flawed method, because everyone’s experience and interpretation of sensations, feelings, and images will be different. o Important figures include: Wilhelm Wundt, Edward Titchener
Functionalism o Focuses on the functions and purposes of the mind and behavior rather than the structure. o Explores how mental and behavioral processes function—how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish. o The goal was to actually explain behavior (structuralism never went this far). o Important figures include: William James
Behaviorism o Focuses on the scientific study of observable behavior and the environmental causes of that behavior. o Is not interested in understanding thoughts and feelings (cognition) because they are a part of the mind, and the mind cannot be physically observed. o Important figures include: Ivan Pavlov, John B. Watson, B.F. Skinner
Gestalt (we will spend more time on this during the sensation and perception unit) o Interested in how people naturally organize their perceptions according to certain patterns. o Emphasizes our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes. o The main idea is that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. You cannot understand someone or something by analyzing its parts by themselves. o Important figures include: Max Wertheimer
Psychoanalytic/Psychodynamic o Emphasizes the ways our unconscious thought processes and our emotional responses to childhood experiences affect our behavior. o Believes early childhood experiences greatly influence development and behavior later in life. o Believes psychological problems are caused by unresolved inner conflicts of which the person is unaware. o Important figures include: Sigmund Freud
Humanism o Focuses on a person’s positive qualities, the capacity for positive growth, and the freedom to choose one’s destiny. o Emphasizes the importance of having our needs for love and acceptance satisfied. o Views human nature as naturally positive and growth-seeking. o Believes the greatest goal is to become our best possible selves. o Important figures include: Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow
Evolutionary o Focuses on evolutionary ideas such as adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection as the basis for explaining specific human behavior. o Argues that evolution molds our physical features and our behavior, such as decision making, levels of aggressiveness, fears, and mating patterns. o Important figures include: Charles Darwin
Biological o Focuses on how the body and its biological processes, especially the brain, influence thought and behavior. o Neuroscience The scientific study of the structure, function, development, genetics, and biochemistry of the nervous system (which includes the brain and the spinal cord).
Cognitive o Focuses on the mental processes involved in knowing: how we direct our attention, perceive, remember, think, and solve problems. o Emphasizes the importance of how our mind processes, stores, and retrieves information. o Examines how thinking influences behavior. o Important figures include: Jean Piaget
Sociocultural o Focuses on the ways in which social and cultural environments influence behavior. o Argues that you must understand a person’s culture and social environment in order to understand their behavior. o Focuses not only on comparisons of behavior across different countries but also on the behavior of individuals from different ethnic and cultural groups within a single country. Biopsychosocial o Emphasizes that no single theoretical approach explains all aspects of behavior. o Different perspectives offer different pieces of the same puzzle. o Explores how biological, psychological, and social-cultural forces work together to influence a person’s thoughts and behavior.
AP Objective: Recognize the strengths and limitations of applying theories to
explain behavior.
The various psychological approaches provide different views of the same behavior, and all of them may offer valuable insights that the other perspectives miss. No single theoretical approach explains all aspects of behavior, so trying to explain thought and behavior from only one perspective is limiting. The most widely accepted approach today is the biopsychosocial approach because it uses multiple perspectives to explain thought and behavior.
AP Objective: Distinguish the different domains of psychology.
Biological Psychology: How the body and brain enables emotions, memories, and sensory experiences; how genes combine with environment to influence individual differences.
Cross Cultural Psychology: Compares the nature of psychological processes in different cultures with a particular focus on whether psychological phenomena are universal or specific to an individual culture.
Health Psychology: Studies the psychological and behavioral processes in health, illness, and healthcare. Studies the roles of stress and coping in people’s lives.
Research Methods Study Guide
Chapter: 1 (Thinking Critically with Psychological Science)
AP Objective II: Research Methods (8-10%)
Psychology is an empirical discipline. Psychologists develop knowledge by doing research. Research provides guidance for psychologists who develop theories to explain behavior and who apply theories to solve problems in behavior.
Part 1: The Need for Psychological Science
Our intuition is more inaccurate than we realize.
Hindsight Bias o Also known as the knew-it-all-along effect o The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that you could have predicted or foreseen it all along. Example: When the Patriot’s came back to win the Super Bowl, many people looked back after the game and said they knew it would happen all along when really there was no evidence to indicate that (after all, the Falcons were winning by a mile for the majority of the game). o We think things are more predictable than they really are.
Overconfidence o We humans tend to think we know more than we do. o We are wrong far more often than we realize.
Perceiving Order in Random Events o We have a tendency to look for patterns and meaning even when they aren’t there. o Random sequences often don’t look random even though they are.
Part 2: The Scientific Method
Theory o A tested and widely accepted model that helps explain and predict behaviors or events. o It is based on observations, experiments, and reason (logical thinking/arguments). o One feature of a good theory is that it should be falsifiable. If you can find one instance where the theory is proven wrong and replicate the study and results, the theory can be rejected.
o In order for a theory to develop credibility, it must be subjected to the rigorous test of a thorough peer review performed by experts in the same field.
Hypothesis o A specific, testable prediction that is based on a theory.
Example of Theories and Hypotheses o According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, our personality is shaped by early childhood experiences. o A hypothesis based on this theory would be: children who come from abusive homes are more likely to mistrust others later in life. o Theories are more general; hypotheses are more specific (and must be based on theories)
Our theories can bias our observations. If we firmly believe that personality is shaped by early childhood experiences, we might only look for information that confirms our belief and avoid or discard information that doesn’t. o Operational Definitions A definition that provides an objective description of procedures and concepts and how they will be measured in a research study. Example: If we are conducting a study on how sleep deprivation affects memory, we need to provide operational definitions of sleep deprivation and memory. o Sleep deprivation: for our test, we might say that sleep deprivation consists of 24 hours without sleep. o Memory: for our test, we might say that memory is the ability to recall items in a list. Used to make sure biases don’t interfere with research results. Used so other researchers can replicate our study They must be precise o Replication Repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic results are similar with other participants and circumstances. No research finding is credible unless the study can be replicated with similar results.
Part 3 : Descriptive Research
Descriptive research is about describing some phenomenon—determining its basic dimensions and defining what the thing is, how often if occurs, and so on.
Can help identify (describe) problems, but cannot prove what causes them.
Types of Descriptive Research
Naturalistic Observation o Records behavior in natural environments o Provides interesting snapshots of everyday life, but it does so without controlling for all the factors that may influence behavior. o Limitations: May not be generalizable to the wider population. o Naturalistic observation does not explain behavior, it describes it.
o Example: As hours of sleep decrease, levels of stress increase. Zero Correlation: there is no systematic relation between the variables. Scatterplot: A type of graph that is used to represent correlations.
CORRELATION DOES NOT EQUAL CAUSATION: Just because two variables are related does not mean that one causes the other. o Being able to predict one event based on the occurrence of another event does not necessarily tell us anything about the cause of either event. o Confounding Variable: Some other variable that has not been measured which may account for the relationship between two others. Example: If the increase of ice cream sales correlates with an increase in violent crime, it would be silly to suggest that one causes the other. One or more confounding variables are likely involved. o Even if one variable was the cause of the other, a correlation coefficient could not tell us which was the cause and which was the effect.
Cross-Sectional Design: compares different population groups at the same time. o Allows you to measure the correlation between variables among different groups. Example: a study that splits men and women into separate groups and then measures the relationship between sleep deprivation and stress levels among each group. This allows you to see whether the same variables relate differently among different groups.
Longitudinal Design: measures the relationship between two variables within the same population over time. o This shows how the relationship between the two variables changes as people grow older. Example: by measuring the relationship between sleep deprivation and stress levels in the same population over time, we can see if age plays a role in the relationship between the two variables. This only works if you use the same participants from beginning to end.
Part 5 : Experimental Research
Experimental research is the only way to determine a cause and effect relation between variables.
Experiment: a carefully regulated procedure in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables that are believed to influence some other variable. o Example: to measure whether taking antidepressants decreases depression, the researcher would create two groups: one that takes the medication and one that does not. By comparing the results between the groups, the experimenter can determine whether taking antidepressants does indeed reduce depression. Experimental Group: the people who receive the treatment. Control Group: the people who do not receive the treatment. Random Assignment: assigning participants to experimental and control groups randomly, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups. o This allows us to determine whether the treatment itself caused the result and not some other confounding variable. Population: the entire group about which the investigator wants to draw conclusions. Sample: the subset of the population chosen by the investigator to study. Random Sample: a sample that gives every member of the population an equal chance of being selected. Representative Sample: a sample that accurately represents the population being studied. You can only obtain a representative sample by randomly selecting participants from the population. We tend to generalize from samples we observe, so if we want our studies to be accurate, we must make sure we select participants that accurately represent the population we are studying. We achieve this by selecting participants randomly rather than targeting a specific group. Example: your study of whether lack of sleep impacts performance on college exams would be broken down as follows: o Population: college students o Representative Random Sample: the group of college students randomly selected to participate in the study.
Variables involved in experiments: o Independent Variable: the variable that the experimenter manipulates in order to determine its effects. It is a potential cause of some outcome (dependent variable). o Dependent Variable: the variable that may change as a result of manipulations in the independent variable. Represents the outcome (effect) in an experiment. Is dependent on the independent variable. o Independent and dependent variables are two of the most important concepts in psychological research. Remember: The independent variable is the cause. The dependent variable is the effect.
Some Cautions About Experimental Research
If the results of a research study are replicated (repeated multiple times by different experimenters), the results are considered to be reliable. o Reliability: the degree to which a research study produces stable and consistent results. Just because a study is reliable doesn’t mean the study is valid.
Measures of Variation: variation refers to how similar or diverse the scores are. o Averages derived from scores with low variability are more reliable than averages based on scores with high variability. Consider a basketball player who scored between 13 and 17 points in each of her first 10 games in a season. Knowing this, we would be more confident that she would score near 15 points in her next game than if her scores had varied from 5 to 25 points. o Range: the gap between the lowest and highest scores. Provides only a basic estimate of variation. o Standard Deviation: A measure of dispersion that indicates how much the scores in a sample differ from the mean in a sample. If the standard deviation approaches 0, the scores are very similar to each other and very close to the mean. The higher the standard deviation, the greater the difference among the scores. The most useful measure of variation.
Graphing Variation: o In nature, most scores tend to form a symmetrical, bell-shaped distribution known as a normal curve. This means that most scores fall near the mean, and fewer cases fall near either extreme. o Positive Skew: a curve where most values are on the lower end, but there are some exceptionally large/high values. o Negative Skew: a curve where most values are on the higher end, but there are some exceptionally small/low values.
Part 7: Inferential Statistics
Inferential statistics are mathematical methods that are used to indicate whether the data sufficiently support a research hypothesis.
Statistical Significance: a statistical statement of how likely it is than an obtained result of a research study occurred by chance. o In order for the results of a study to be statistically significant, the likelihood of the results happening by chance must be less than 5% (.05).
Part 8: Conducting Ethical Research
Ethics is a crucial consideration for all science. A number of guidelines have been developed to ensure that research is conducted ethically. At the base of all these guidelines is the notion that people participating in psychological research should be no worse off coming out of the study than they were going in.
Informed Consent: All participants must know what their participation will involve and what risks might develop before they consent to participating in the study. o Even after informed consent is given, participants must retain the right to withdraw from the study at any time and for any reason.
Confidentiality: Researchers are responsible for keeping all of the data they gather on individuals completely confidential and, when possible, completely anonymous.
Debriefing: After the study has been completed, the researchers should inform the participants of its purpose and the methods they used. In most cases, the experimenters can inform participants in a general manner beforehand about the purpose of the research without leading the participants to behave in a way that might confound the results. When preliminary information about the study is likely to affect the results, the participants must be debriefed after the study’s completion.
Deception: In some circumstances, telling the participants beforehand what the research study is about substantially alters the participants’ behavior and invalidates the researcher’s data. Thus, researchers sometime deceive participants about the purpose of the study. In all cases of deception, the researcher must ensure that the deception will not harm the participants and that the participants will be told the true nature of the study (will be debriefed) as soon as possible after the study is completed.
Ethical Treatment of Research Animals: The American Psychological Association guidelines state that researchers must ensure the “comfort, health, and humane treatment” of animals and minimize “infection, illness, and pain.”
