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Summary Introduction to Psychology (Ch.1-16)
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summary written in English Covers Chapters 1 through 16 of the book Psychology by Peter Gray and David. F. Bjorklund.
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TEST BANK -- SUMMARY INTRODUCTION TO PSYCHOLOGY, 8TH EDITION BY PETER O. GRAY (AUTHOR), DAVID BJORKLUND (AUTHOR)PART 1 (PB0014) -- SAMENVATTING INLEIDING TOT DE PSYCHOLOGIE, 8E EDITIE DOOR PETER O. GR...
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Introduction to Psychology: CHAPTER 1-16 (Grey)CHAPTER 1
Psychology – the science of behaviour and the mind
Physical Causation of Behaviour
- Descartes’ dualism placed more emphasis on the role of the body than had previous
versions of dualism. Hobbes’s materialism held that behaviour is completely a product of the
body and thus physically caused.
- To the degree that behaviour and the mind have a physical basis, they are open to study
just like the rest of the natural world
- Nineteenth-century physiological studies of reflexes and localization of function in the brain
demonstrated the applicability of science to mental processes and behaviour
The role of Experience
- The British empiricists claimed that all thought and knowledge are rooted in sensory
experience
- Empiricists used the law of association by contiguity to explain how sensory experiences
can combine to form complex thoughts
- In contrast to empiricism, nativism asserts that some knowledge is innate and that such
knowledge provides the foundation for human nature, including the human abilities to learn
The Evolutionary Basis of Mind and Behaviour
- Darwin proposed that natural selection underlies the evolution of behavioral tendencies
(along with anatomical characteristics) that promote survival and reproduction
- Darwin’s thinking led to a focus on the functions of behaviour
- Natural selection also offered a scientific foundation for nativist views of the mind
Psychology is a broad, diverse field of research, and it is a profession
Levels of causal analysis and topics of study in psychology
- Four types of biological causal explanations are used in psychology: neural, physiological,
genetic and evolutionary explanations
- Five other types of causal explanations in psychology are learning, cognitive, social,
cultural, and developmental explanations
- As demonstrated with jealousy, each level of analysis can be applied to any given type of
behaviour or mental experience
- Some subfields in psychology are defined primarily by the level of analysis; others are
defined more by the topics studies
A discipline among disciplines
- Scholarly disciplines can be broadly classified as belonging to natural sciences, social
sciences, or humanities
- Psychology has strong connections with each class of disciplines and is a hub science
The profession of psychology
- The profession includes academic psychologists, who teach and do research, and
practicing psychologists, who apply psychological knowledge and principles to the real-world
issues.
- Psychologists work in various settings – including universities, clinical settings, and
businesses – and typically hold advanced degrees
,CHAPTER 2
The case of the horse named Clever Hans illustrates several issues fundamental to
scientific research
Observations, theories and hypotheses
- Objective observations of behaviour lead psychologists to create conceptual models or
explanations (theories), which give rise to specific, testable predictions (hypotheses)
- Pfungst drew testable hypotheses from his theory that Hans was guided by visual cues
from onlookers
The importance of scepticism
- Sceptics seek to disprove claims. This is the logical foundation of scientific testing
- A scientific theory becomes more believable as repeated, genuine attempts to disprove it
fail
- Pfungst’s scepticism caused him to test rather than simple accept claims about Hans’s
abilities
Observation and control
- To test hypotheses, scientists control the conditions in which they make observations, so as
to rule out alternative explanations
- Pfungst measures Hans’s performance in conditions arranged specifically to test his
hypothesis – with and without blinders, for example
Observer-expectancy effects
- Science is carried out by people who come to their research with certain expectations
- In psychology, the subjects – the people and the animals under study – may perceive the
observer’s expectations and behave accordingly
- Cues from observers let Hans to give responses that many misinterpreted as signs of vast
knowledge
Research strategies used by psychologists vary in their design, setting, and data-
collection method
Research designs
- In an experiment the researcher can test hypotheses about causation by manipulating the
independent variable(s), while keeping all other variables constant
- In a correlational study, a researcher measures two or more variables to see if there are
systematic relationships among them. Such studies do not tell us about causation
- Descriptive studies are designed only to characterize and record what is observed, not to
test hypotheses about relationships among variables
Research settings
- Laboratory settings allow researchers the greatest control over variables, but they may
interfere with the behaviour being studies by virtue of being unfamiliar or artificial
- Field studies, done in “real-life” settings, have the opposite advantages and disadvantages,
offering less control but the likelihood of more natural behaviour
Data-collection methods
- Self-report methods ask the people being studied to rate or describe themselves, usually in
questionnaires or interviews
- Observational methods require the researcher to observe and record the subjects’
,behaviour through naturalistic observation or some form of test
- Each data-collection method has advantages and disadvantages
Researchers use statistics to analyse and interpret the results of their studies
Descriptive statistics
- Descriptive statistics help to summarize sets of data
- The central tendency of a set of data can be represented with the mean (the arithmetic
average) or the median (the middle score, 50 th percentile)
Inferential statistics
- Correlation coefficients represent the strength and direction of a relationship between two
numerical variables
- Inferential statistics help us assess the likelihood that relationships observed are real and
repeatable or due merely to chance
- Statistically significant results are those in which the observed relationships are very
unlikely to be merely the result of chance
- Researchers calculate a statistic called p, which must generally be .05 or lower (indicating a
5% or lower probability that the results are due to chance) before the results are considered
to be statistically significant
- the calculation of a p value takes into account the size of the observed effect, the number of
subjects or observations, and the variability of data within each group
Bias – non-random effects caused by extraneous factors – must be avoided
Biased samples
- unless subjects in a between-groups experiment are assigned to groups randomly, an
observed difference in the dependent variable may be caused by systematic differences
between the groups rather than by the independent variable
- Bias and false conclusions can occur if the subjects in a study are not representative of the
group to which the researcher wants to generalize the results
- Most psychological research with people is done from samples from Western, Educated,
Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic (WEIRD) societies, which are not representative of
humans
Measurement error and bias
- A good measure is reliable – able to yield similar results with repeated use on the same
subjects under the same conditions
- An operational definition specifies exactly what constitutes an example of your dependent
measure, defining something in terms of the operations by which it could be observed or
measured
- Unreliable measurement produces random variability that makes it more difficult to
establish statistical significance
- A good measure is also valid – able to measure what it is intended to measure. Invalid
measures are sources of bias
- A measurement procedure that appears to assess the variable construct that it is supposed
to measure has face validity. A measure that correlates significantly with another, more direct
measure of the variable has criterion validity
Expectancy effects
- A researcher’s expectations about a study’s results can influence those results. This is
, observer-expectancy bias
- Subjects’ expectations as to how they should respond can also influence results. This is
subject-expectancy bias
- such expectancy effects can occur without intention or even awareness
- In observer-blind studies, the observer is deliberately kept ignorant of information that could
create expectancies. In double-blind studies, both observers and subjects are kept ignorant
of such information
Replication earlier studies
- Scientific ideas are tested by reproducing, or replicating, the results of prior studies
- Recent research has shown that many findings published in prominent psychology journals
do not replicate, although most replication studies produced the same pattern as the original
studies
- Science is a conservative institution, and textbook writers in particular are likely to include
only well-established findings
CHAPTER 3
Genes affect behaviour by affecting the bodily structures involved in behaviour
Nature of genetic influence
- through their influence on protein synthesis, genes affect bodily structures and behaviour
- Genes act in concert with the environment, not in isolation. For example, environmental
cues can activate genes that make rats or mice nurturant to newborns
Meiosis and sexual reproduction
- Meiosis results in egg and sperm cells that are genetically unique and contain only half the
full number of chromosomes
- Meiosis involves random assortment of paired genes
- Genetic diversity produced by sexual reproduction promotes survival of genes by reducing
the chance that all offspring will die
Gene pairing
- Paired genes, which occupy the same locus (location) on a pair of chromosomes, may be
identical (homozygous) or different (heterozygous). Gene variations that can occupy the
same locus are called alleles
- Mendel’s discovery of consistent ratios of traits in offspring of cross-pollinated strains of
peas led to the gene concept and to the concepts of dominance and recessiveness
- Some genetic conditions, such as sicklecell anemia, carry both risks and benefits for the
individuals born with them
Hereditary effects on behavioral traits can involve just one gene, but usually involve
many
Single-gene traits
- Single-gene traits (controlled by one pair of genes) are categorical (all of none) in nature
- Mendelian patterns of inheritance indicate single-gene control
- Examples are breed differences in fear-fulness in dogs and the human heredity disorder
phenylketonuria (PKU)
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