AP Review

1. AP Review Chapter 1, 2, & 3

2. Chapter 1: Terms • Structuralism • Functionalism • Behaviorism • Evolutionary Nature v. Nurture • Gestalt Psychology • Psychoanalysis • Humanist • Cognition • Biological • Sociocultural • BehavorialGenetics • Ethnocentrism • Dualism • Rene Descartes • John Locke • Empiricism • Thomas Hobbes

3. 7 major fields • Developmental – human development (mostly children) • Social – attitudes, prejudice, conformity, attraction • Experimental – sensation, perception, learning, conditioning, motivation, emotion • Physiological – genetics, brain, nervous system, endocrine system • Cognitive – mental processes, memory, reasoning, language, problem solving • Personality – what shapes our personality • Psychometrics – measurement of behavior, capacities through test, designing test, look for new data

4. Focus of professional practice • Clinical – Evaluation, diagnosis, treatment of disorders • Counseling – Overlaps clinical, work usually with people suffering moderate severity • Educational & School – improve curriculum design, achievement testing, work in schools aiding students • Industrial & Organizational – HR department, improve staff moral, productivity

5. Structuralism • Smallest possible elements of the mind • Understand all the parts = understanding structure of the mind • Examples: • Patient shown picture, listen to sounds and record thoughts (Sensation, feelings, images) • People: Edward Titchener (student of Wundt)

6. Functionalism • Influenced by Darwin (Natural Selection) • How people adapt to the world around them (Survival/reproduction advantage) • “Stream of consciousness” • Looks at function/ purpose of consciousness rather than structure (leads to behaviorism) • People: William James

7. Behavioral (Stimulus – Response Psychology • Study observable behavior, mind and mental events unimportant (why?) • Can not study consciousness • Scientific Method rests on verifiability • People: Ivan Pavlov (Classical Conditioning – dog), John Watson (Classical Conditioning – Little Albert), B.F. Skinner (Operant Conditioning – Skinner Box)

8. Evolutionary Nature vs. Nurture • Nature (genetic) vs. Nurture (Environment/Experience) • Watson argued environment played large role • Could specialize any child in any profession

9. Gestalt Psychology • Concerned with perception of conscious experience. • How we experience the world rather than how we felt • The whole of an experience can be more than the sum of its parts • Law of Closure – group items together see whole (3/4 circle – we fill in the gap) • Law of Pragnanz – organize, reduce to simplest form • Law of Proximity – Objects near each other we group • Law of Similiarty – group items that are similar together • Law of Continuity – Lines seen following smooth path

10. Psychoanalysis/Psychodynamic • Unconscious – thoughts below surface of awareness • Explains personality, motivation, mental disorders through unconscious • You are not the master of your own mind • Repressed thoughts • People: Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Alfred Adler

11. Humanist • Humans are unique and free in will (different from animals) • Optimistic about human nature • People: Abraham Maslow (Self-Actualization – reach full potential), Carl Rogers (Unconditional Positive Regard – positive self concept in attaining self actualization)

12. Cognitive • Thinking or conscious experience • Combines Structuralist (look at subcomponents of thought) and functionalist (understand purpose of thought) • People: Jean Piaget, Noam Chomsky

13. Biological • Looks at interaction of anatomy and physiology (Nervous system) and behavior • Example: look at what part of the brain is at work during a task

14. Sociocultural • Environment person lives in has great influence on how we behave. • Cultural values vary from society to society

15. Behavorial Genetics • Certain behaviors happen due to genetically-based psychological characteristics • Looks at Biological/ environmental effects on trait • Example: What extent does risk taking behavior in teens have to do with genetics

16. Ethnocentrism • Ones own ethnicity superior to others • Fear of cultural comparisons may have lead to ethnocentrism so many psychologist focused on middle class whites

17. Dualism • Divides the world and all things in it into two parts: • Body • Spirit • Questions the Greeks pondered

18. Rene Descartes • “I Think Therefore I am” • Mind controls the body • Physical world is not under divine influence rather followed by a set of observable laws/rules • The world and all creatures are like machines behavior is predictable • Humans exception = mind (not observable, not subject to natural laws) • Reflex – not controlled by the mind rather an unconscious reaction to environmental event

19. John Lock • Empiricism – acquisition of truth through observations and experiences • Humans born knowing nothing (“blank slate”), nothing is innate it is all learned • Nurture over nature in development

20. Thomas Hobbes • Materialism – only things that exist are matter and energy • What we experience as consciousness is simply by-product of machinery of the brain

21. Subfields in Psychology • Applied Psychology – everyday practical problems • Clinical Psychology – Diagnosis treatment

22. Methods of Research

23. Scientific Method • Independent Variable • Dependent Variable • Extraneous Variable • Confounding of Variables • Mean/Median/Mode • Standard Deviation • Correlational coefficient • Sampling Bias • Placebo effect • Experimenter Bias • Double blind • Single blind

24. Scientific Method • IV – Manipulated variable (change) • DV – what’s measured • Extraneous Variable – Something not apart of the experiment that effects the results • Confounding of Variables - anything that could cause change in B, that is not A • Object of experiment is to prove A causes B

25. Mean/Median/Mode • Mean – average score • Median – middle score • Mode – most frequent

26. Standard Deviation • An index of the amount of a variability in a set of data • When the variability is larger so to will the the standard deviation • Typical distribution is: • 1 standard deviation is 68% • 2 standard deviation is 95% • 3 standard deviation is 98%

27. Correlation Coefficient • A number that measures the strength of a relationship • Range from -1 to +1 • Relationship gets weaker the closer to zero • Which is a stronger correlation? • -.13 or +.38 • -.72 or +.59 • -.91 or +.04

28. Sampling Bias • When a sample is not representative of the population from which it is drawn from • Example: Dewy defeats Truman election results • Polls tend to focus on middle/upper class white college students

29. Placebo Effects • Resembles a drug, but no effect • Why is it used? Expectations can influence feelings, reactions, behavior and going into something positive can have a beneficial effect

30. The Biased &The Blind • Experimenter Bias • Another confounding variable • Not a conscious act • Looks for the good results in study not the bad • Double-Blind Procedure - neither the participants or the experimenters know who is receiving a particular treatment • Single-Blind - an experiment in which the person collecting data knows whether the subject is in the control group or the experimental group, but subjects do not

31. Biological Bases of Behavior

32. The Neuron • Dendrites – receive message • Soma – cell body • Axon – carries the electrical message • Myelin Sheath – protects the axon, and speed up the message • Node of Ranvier – gap between myelin sheath – helps speed up message • Synapse – chemical message takes place

33. The Neuron • Action Potential (nerve impulse) – firing of neuron • Allows electrical charged ions of potassium/sodium to enter cells • All or nothing • Absolute Refractory Period – minimal length of time to fire again • Resting Potential – 70 millivolts

34. The Neuron • Post Synaptic Potential • Excitatory PSP – Ups likelihood of firing • Inhibitory PSP – Hampers likelihood of firing • Reuptake – after neurotransmitter is released had has conducted the impulse to the next cell(s), it is either broken down by enzymes or absorbed back into firing cell for reuptake

35. Key Neurotransmitters • Acetylcholine – memory, muscle contraction, particularly in the heart • Serotonin – arousal, sleep, pain sensitivity, and mood and hunger regulation (OCD/Depression) • Dopamine – movement, attention, and reward; dopamine imbalances may play a role in (low levels) Parkinson’s disease and in (high levels) schizophrenia • GABA – inhibitory neurotransmitter • Norepinephrine– affects alertness; lack of depression • Endorphins – body’s natural painkillers

36. Nervous System • Peripheral – all nerves outside brain and spinal cord • Somatic – connect voluntary muscles to sensory receptors • Autonomic – Connect the heart, blood vessels, smooth muscles, and glands • Sympathetic - mobilizes resources for emergencies • Fight or Flight • Parasympathetic – Conserves body resources

37. Roger Sperry – Split Brain Research • Sperry received the prize for his discoveries concerning the functional specialization of the cerebral hemispheres • corpus callosum

38. Endocrine System • Pituitary gland (master gland) – releases hormones which control release of other glands • Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH) – released in stressful situations • Adrenal glands – fight-or-flight • Epinephrine (adrenaline) and Norepinephrine (noradrenaline) • Thyroid produces thyroxin regulate metabolism