Summary
Experimental Psychology, Full Summary, English
- Course
- Institution
- Book
Full Summary for the course 'Experimental Psychology'
[Show more]
Connected book
Book Title:
Author(s):
- Edition:
- ISBN:
- Edition:
More summaries for
-
Chapter 8 Lecture Notes Psychology 1200
-
Complete summary of Experimental Psychology
-
(iPad) Introductory Psychology I - Brain & Behaviour
Seller
Follow
zehrakarakilic
Content preview
Tuesday, 30 August 2022Lecture 1
Experimental Psychology
Experiment: a technique of establishing a causal rel. between variables
Experimental Psychology: the scienti c study of mind and behavior by means of
experiments
- Study Psychology by focusing on cognitive functions
Cognition: mental processes leading to thought, knowledge, and awareness
- Cognitive processes govern Cog. Functions include attention, memory, learning,
language, mental processing, motor skills, and imagination.
- CF are “building blocks” of all complex behavior (like eating peas) > This task
requires attention, perception, decision-making, motor skills
- Patients with (local) brain damage allow for more speci c and reliable inferences
about brain functioning.
e.g. Patients with
• Neglect (hemi spatial/unilateral inattention)
• Aphasia (trouble producing or understanding)
• Dyslexia (trouble with reading)
• Prosopagnosia (inability to recognise faces)
• Visual agnosia (inability to recognise objects)
Cognitive Neuroscience attempts to understand the biological foundation of
cognition > the main idea is that cog.process can be tracked and measured
Rationalists (Knowledge is innate or inborn: Nativism):
- Benedict de Spinoza
- Gottfried Leibniz
1
fi fi
, - Rene Descartes: Believed in Dualism. That the mind and body are separate
entities that interact via the pineal gland. (Bc. The bodily re exes do not involve
the mind/free will, the body and mind must be distinct)
Empiricists (Knowledge is acquired through senses):
- John Locke
- George Berkeley
- David Hume
In the 19th Century, Psychology started to evolve into a science
- Hermann von Helmholtz conducted experiments on the conduction velocity of
the nerve impulse
- Franciscus Donders: Mental Chronometry “How much time do you need to
decide”
1) Simple reaction time
2) Di erential/choice reaction time
3) Go/No go reaction time
-> This additive factor logic is still widely used today in modern-day research where
brain activity (EEG or fMRI) in an experimental condition is subtracted from a control
condition or when two experimental conditions are subtracted
- Ernst Weber and Gustav Fechner introduced the Just Noticeable Di erence (JND),
which is still used in psychophysics
- Wilhelm Wundt - Structuralism: consciousness should be the focus of study via
analyses of the basic elements that constitute the mind
> achieved by breaking down consciousness into sensations and feelings via
analytical introspection
- Further developed by Edward Titchener and proposed 3 elementary states of
consciousness: Sensations (sight, sound, taste), Images (components of
thought), and A ections (components of emotions)
2
ff ff fl ff
,Behaviorism (John Watson): The mind cannot be studied and behavior should be
studied instead because
- The only way to understand learning and adaptation is by focusing on behavior
- Behavior can be observed by anyone and measured objectively
- The goal is to predict and control behavior to bene t society
Behaviorism was a part of the logical positivism movement that introduced the
operational de nition: Description of an abstract property in terms of a concrete
condition that can be measured
> allow for precise measurements and direct comparisons between studies
But, operational def. are not always good de nitions. Clear measurable conditions
can still be quite useless
- Happiness is the number of smiles during a speci c episode
- Age is the response that participants provide on a questionnaire
IVAN PAVLOV: CLASSICAL CONDITIONING
US (Unconditioned Stimulus) that produces an UR (Unconditioned Response)
When the US is repeatedly paired with another stimulus, the other stimulus
becomes a CS (Conditioned Stimulus) that produces a CR (Conditioned Response)
which is the same as the UR but now occurs with our the original US.
SKINNER: OPERANT CONDITIONING
Learning occurs through reinforcement and punishment, that can be positive
(means sth is added) or negative (sth is removed).
GESTALT PSYCHOLOGY:
- KEY PRINCIPLE: The whole is more than the sum of its parts
- They rejected Wundt’s structuralism > because experience is more than a
function of sensation
3
fi fi fifi
, - They rejected Behaviorism > because complex behavior (‘the whole’) is more than
the sum of its components
- Gestalt psychologists use apparent motion to prove their point
- Perception is a construction, not a re ection of the sensation
EMPIRICIS
= Acquiring knowledge through observation
Scienti c Method: Observations can lead to mistakes, false conclusions and
illusions, so we need a set of rules and techniques to avoid those.
1- Theorize/generate idea
=> Often based on literature/previous experience
=> Use principle of Ockham’s razor
2- Formulate falsi able hypothesis
=> if…is true, we should observe… (speci c, veri able)
3- Collect and analyse data
=> observations in a lab or in the real world, using speci c techniques
=> operationalism should be concrete
4- Draw conclusions regarding hypothesis
=> Results align with hypothesis? Con rm theory
=> Results do not align with hypothesis? Theory is wrong (falsi cation) or mistakes
in operationalisation
Deduction: Drawing inferences based on premises (assumptions). General =>
Speci c
Problem: We cannot observe ALL premises so we must use Induction. Speci c =>
General
4
fi fi fi fl fi fi fi fi fi fi
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller zehrakarakilic. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $5.78. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
Can Stuvia be trusted?
4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)
67474 documents were sold in the last 30 days
Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy study notes for 14 years now