1

Summary of Concepts

LO 1     Define psychology.

Psychology is the scientific study of behavior and mental processes. Psychologists are scientists who work in a variety of fields, studying behavior and mental processes.

LO 2     Describe the scope of psychology and its subfields.

Psychology is a broad field that includes many perspectives and subfields. Psychologists conduct two major types of research: basic research and applied research. Basic research focuses on collecting data to support or refute theories, gathering knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Applied research focuses on changing behaviors and outcomes, often leading to real-world applications.

LO 3     Summarize the goals of the discipline of psychology.

The goals of psychology are to describe, predict, explain, and control behavior. These goals lay the foundation for the scientific approach and the experimental designs used to carry out research.

LO 4     Identify influential people in the formation of psychology as a discipline.

The roots of psychology lie in disciplines such as philosophy and physiology. The early philosophers established the foundation for some of the long-standing issues in psychology (nature and nurture). In 1879 psychology was officially founded when Wilhelm Wundt created the first psychology laboratory, located in Leipzig, Germany. Edward Titchener established structuralism to study the elements of the mind. In the late 1870s, William James offered the first psychology class in the United States, at Harvard, and developed the early school of psychology known as functionalism.

LO 5     List and summarize the major perspectives in psychology.

Psychologists use different perspectives to understand and study issues and topics in the field. Each perspective provides a different vantage point for uncovering the complex nature of human behavior. The psychoanalytic perspective looks at the unconscious conflicts at the root of personality development. The behavioral perspective examines human behavior as learned primarily through associations, reinforcers, and observation. The humanistic perspective focuses on the positive and growth aspects of human nature. The cognitive perspective considers the mental processes that direct behavior. The evolutionary perspective examines the aspects of human behavior that are genetically passed across generations. The biological perspective identifies the physiological and neurological basis of behavior. The sociocultural perspective looks at the social and cultural influences that impact behavior. The biopsychosocial perspective explains human behavior in terms of biological, psychological, and sociocultural interactions.

LO 6     Evaluate pseudopsychology and its relationship to critical thinking.

Pseudopsychology is an approach to explaining and predicting behavior and events that appears to be psychology, but is not supported by empirical, objective evidence. Critical thinking, on the other hand, is the process of weighing various pieces of evidence, synthesizing them, and determining how each contributes to the bigger picture. Critical thinking is absent from the “pseudotheories” used to explain the pseudopsychologies.

Page 46

LO 7     Describe how psychologists use the scientific method.

Psychologists use the scientific method to provide empirical evidence based on systematic observation or experiments. The scientific method includes five basic steps: develop a question, develop a hypothesis, collect data, analyze the data, and publish the findings. The scientific method is a continuing cycle of exploration, which uses critical thinking as it looks at each and every step in the process, and asks new questions along the way.

LO 8     Summarize the importance of a random sample.

A population includes all members of an identified group a researcher is interested in exploring. If it is a large population, then the researcher will select a subset, called a sample. A random sample ensures that all members of a population have an equally likely chance of being selected to participate in a study, thus increasing the likelihood of a representative sample being used.

LO 9     Recognize the forms of descriptive research.

Descriptive research is a type of investigation psychologists conduct when researchers need to describe and explore a phenomenon or topic. It is especially useful for studying new or unexplored topics, when researchers might not have specific expectations about outcomes. Descriptive research methods include naturalistic observation, case studies, the survey method, and the correlational method.

LO 10     Explain how the experimental method relates to cause and effect.

The experimental method is a type of research that incorporates independent and dependent variables to uncover cause-and-effect relationships. A well-designed experiment holds everything constant, except for the variables being manipulated by the researcher. If following the manipulation the groups of participants differ on the measure of interest, we can say with confidence that the experimental manipulation caused that change. This allows researchers to observe the variable of interest without interference from other variables.

LO 11     Demonstrate an understanding of research ethics.

Researchers must abide by guidelines to ensure the ethical treatment of research participants. These guidelines encourage psychologists to do no harm; safeguard the welfare of humans and animals in their research; know their responsibilities to society and community; maintain accuracy in research, teaching, and practice; and respect human dignity.

key terms

behaviorism

biopsychosocial perspective

case study

confounding variable

control group

correlation

correlation coefficient

correlational method

critical thinking

debriefing

dependent variable (DV)

descriptive research

double-blind study

experiment

experimental group

experimental method

experimenter bias

extraneous variable

functionalism

humanistic psychology

hypothesis

independent variable (IV)

informed consent

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

introspection

natural selection

naturalistic observation

observer bias

operational definition

placebo

population

positive psychology

pseudopsychology

psychologists

psychology

random assignment

random sample

replicate

representative sample

sample

scientific method

structuralism

survey method

theory

third variable

variables

TEST PREP  are you ready?

Question

1. Researchers at a large university were asked to devise a stop-smoking campaign. They created a program based on findings from research on learning to help students, faculty, and staff quit smoking. This is an example of:

A.
B.
C.
D.

b. applied research.

Question

2. _________ is a collection of knowledge that any reasonably smart person can pick up through casual observations of everyday experiences.

A.
B.
C.
D.

a. Common sense

Page 47

Question

3. The Greek philosopher Plato believed that truth and knowledge exist in the soul before birth and that humans have innate knowledge. This positions supports:

A.
B.
C.
D.

c. the nature side of the nature–nurture issue.

Question

4. Inspired by the work of Charles Darwin, William James proposed that the purpose of thought processes, feelings, and behaviors is to adapt to the environment, which is an important concept of:

A.
B.
C.
D.

d. functionalism.

Question

5. ________ suggests that human nature is by and large positive.

A.
B.
C.
D.

d. Humanistic psychology

Question

6. Psychology is driven by __________, but pseudopsychology is not.

A.
B.
C.
D.

b. critical thinking

Question

7. The goal of __________ is to provide empirical evidence or data based on systematic observation or experimentation.

A.
B.
C.
D.

c. the scientific method

Question

8. ___________ allow us to make inferences and determine the probability of certain events occurring.

A.
B.
C.
D.

a. Inferential statistics

Question

9. A psychologist studying the Chilean miners was interested in their leadership qualities and educational backgrounds. These characteristics are generally referred to as:

A.
B.
C.
D.

c. variables.

Question

10. One way to pick a random sample is to make sure every member of the population has:

A.
B.
C.
D.

d. an equally likely chance of being picked to participate.

Question

11. Descriptive research is invaluable to psychologists at the beginning stages of a study. Some forms of descriptive research can provide information on:

A.
B.
C.
D.

c. relationships among variables.

Question

12. A researcher interested in learning more about the effect of isolation might choose the Chilean miners as a(n) __________, which is a type of descriptive research invaluable for studying rare events.

A.
B.
C.
D.

b. case study

Question

13. The __________ variable is what the researcher manipulates, and the __________ variable is the response the researcher measures.

A.
B.
C.
D.

d. independent; dependent

Question

14. With a __________ study, neither the researchers nor the participants know who is getting the treatment or who is getting the placebo.

A.
B.
C.
D.

a. double-blind

Question

15. The members of the __________ include those participants who receive the real treatment as opposed to a placebo.

A.
B.
C.
D.

b. experimental group

Question

16. Explain how a thorough review of the literature plays a part in the scientific method.

A thorough review of the literature informs us about what has been learned in the past. Without doing a literature search, we may find ourselves redoing a study that has already provided the answers we seek. In addition, it may help us develop research questions, move in new directions, and deepen our understanding of psychological phenomena.

Question

17. A researcher has suggested that handwriting analysis may reveal dishonesty through stroke size and pressure used. If you were to use an experimental design to further study this topic, what would your treatment and control groups be?

Answers will vary. Possible answer may include: The treatment group could be told to write a lie, while the control group is instructed to write something truthful. The researcher could determine if other factors change the pressure and strokes of handwriting. She may include a treatment group to measure the effects of sleepiness, for example. In this instance, the treatment group would include those who get little sleep and the control group would include those who get an average amount of sleep.

Question

18. Which survey is potentially more accurate: a face-to-face interview or written questions to be answered in private? Explain your answer.

The most accurate data are likely to come from participants who answer written questions in private. Those answering in face-to-face interviews are not always forthright with their answers, or they may be uncomfortable or embarrassed to reveal the truth.

Question

19. Find an article in the popular media that presents variables as providing cause-and-effect relationships, but that is really a correlational study.

Answers will vary. Look for studies on topics that would be very hard for researchers to manipulate in an ethical manner (for example, breast feeding, amount of television watched, attitudes).

Question

20. Reread the feature on the Sponge Bob study. If you were to replicate the study, what would you do to change or improve it?

Answers will vary. Some possibilities include showing the children a different cartoon; changing the ages of the children, including children of different ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds; determining whether they are hungry prior to participating; and so on.

[Leave] [Close]