PSYC340 Study Guide - Spring 2018, Comprehensive Midterm Notes - Psychology, Anxiety, Artificial Intelligence
12 Oct 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
PSYC340
MIDTERM EXAM
STUDY GUIDE
Fall 2018
Psychology 290
Unit 1: The Evolution of Psychology
Theme 1: Psychology is empirical. It is important to understand the need to acquire
knowledge through systematic observation rather than through intuition, common
sense, or speculation. Understanding this concept will allow you to recognize the
problems some psychologists have with such topics as extrasensory perception (ESP) or
with psychoanalytic suppositions.
Theme 2: Psychology is theoretically diverse. This is an important concept because
many studets of psholog epet lak ad hite solutios to thei uestios
about psychology. The fact is that, in many areas, one of several theoretical
explanations can be correct.
Theme 3: Psychology evolves in a sociohistorical context. Unless you accept this
concept, it is all too easy to ridicule or disparage previous discoveries. For example,
students often mock behaviourism in favour of cognitive psychology because a strict
ehaiouisti itepetatio of the old sipl aot e ight. Without
understanding the context of behaviourism and its once dominant position in
psychology, it is far too easy to be deprecating. Simply stated, no single theory can easily
explain everything that is known about behaviour.
Theme 4: Behaviour is determined by multiple causes. It is common for introductory
students to believe that there is a cause for a behaviour, rather than accepting that
complex behaviours are more typically a function of multiple causation. The last 30
years have seen an increasing tendency for psychologists to accept this truism and to
investigate several factors that might affect behaviour within the design of a single
experiment.
Theme 5: Behaviour is shaped by cultural heritage. Although a common definition of
psholog is the siee that studies ehaiou, a oe auate peeptio is that,
until recently, it has been largely the science of Caucasian male behaviour. Much of the
early experimental psychological research was based on the findings derived from a
restricted population: undergraduate students who were usually male.
Theme 6: Heredity and environment jointly influence behaviour. While this statement
may seem obvious, there was, in previous years, a tendency to believe that behaviour
could be either 100% genetic or 100% environmental. For example, it used to be asked
whether instinct could be described as completely genetic. Now it is recognized that all
behaviours are a function of both environmental and genetic factors.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Thee 7: People’s eperiee of the world is highl sujective. Students of psychology
often believe that their own interpretation of the world is the correct one and that
everyone else either does or should interpret the world in this way. Only when one
appreciates the need to overcome subjectivity can one really understand the research
approaches highlighted in Chapter 2 of the text that are referred to throughout the
course.
Key Terms and Concepts
• applied psychology (p. 15):The branch of psychology concerned with the diagnosis and
treatment of psychological problems and disorders.
•
behaviour (p. 7):Refers to any overt observable response or activity by an organism
behaviourism (p. 7):A theoretical orientation based on the premise that scientific psychology should
study only observable behaviour
biological psychology (p. 15.
clinical psychology (p. 15): ):The branch of psychology concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of
psychological problems and disorders
cognition (p. 16): Refers to the mental processes involved in acquiring knowledgecounselling psychology
(p. 27): Overlaps with clinical psychology in that specialists in both area engage in similar activities
interviewing, testing, and providing therapy however, counselling psychologists usually work with a
somewhat different clientele, providing assistance to people struggling with everyday problems of
moderate severity. Thus, they often specialize in family, marital or career conselling
critical thinking (p. 38): Is the use of cognitive skills and strategies that increase the probability of a
desirable outcome
culture (p. 29): Refers to the widely shared customs beliefs, values,norms, institution and otherproducts
of a community that are transmitted socially across generations
developmental psychologist (p. 26): Looks at human development across the life span. Developmental
psychology one focused primarly on child development but today devotes a great deal of research to
adolescent, adulthodd and old age.
empiricism (p. 28): The premise that knowledge should be acquired through observation
ethnocentrism (p. 18): The tendency to view one s own group as superior to others and as the standard
for judging the worth of foregh ways,
evolutionary psychology (p. 20): Examines behavioural processes in terms of their adaptive values for
members of species over the course of many generations
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
It is important to understand the need to acquire knowledge through systematic observation rather than through intuition, common sense, or speculation. Understanding this concept will allow you to recognize the problems some psychologists have with such topics as extrasensory perception (esp) or with psychoanalytic suppositions. This is an important concept because many stude(cid:374)ts of ps(cid:455)(cid:272)holog(cid:455) e(cid:454)pe(cid:272)t (cid:862)(cid:271)la(cid:272)k a(cid:374)d (cid:449)hite(cid:863) solutio(cid:374)s to thei(cid:396) (cid:395)uestio(cid:374)s about psychology. The fact is that, in many areas, one of several theoretical explanations can be correct. Theme 3: psychology evolves in a sociohistorical context. Unless you accept this concept, it is all too easy to ridicule or disparage previous discoveries. Simply stated, no single theory can easily explain everything that is known about behaviour. Theme 4: behaviour is determined by multiple causes. It is common for introductory students to believe that there is a cause for a behaviour, rather than accepting that complex behaviours are more typically a function of multiple causation.
