Psychology Midterm Essay

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Psychology 1010: Midterm Study Guide
1. ABCs of Psychology
A. Psychology is the science that studies affect, behavior, and cognition
a. Affect: a term that refers to feelings, emotions, or moods
b. Behavior: what organisms do (their actions and reactions)
c. Cognitions: mental events, such as beliefs, perceptions, thoughts, ideas, and memories
2. Hypothesis
A. A tentative explanation of some phenomenon that can be tested and then either accepted or rejected (an educated guess)
B. **A scientific hypothesis may be rejected because there is no data to support it. On the basis of evidence, a hypothesis may be supported, but it cannot be proven as true.
3. Reliability in observations
A. Consistency, dependability, or repeatability
1 For observations to be worthwhile, they must be reliable. They must be stable and a number of people must agree on the observations under study.
4. Validity in observations
A. The extent to which an observation reflects what is actually happening
1 A test is said to be valid if it measures what it claims to be measuring
5. Correlation Research
A. A method on which one looks for a lawful relationship between variables that are observed and measured, but not manipulated
a. Variable: anything that can take on different values
B. Two important points to keep in mind:
1. No matter how strong two variables are correlated, one cannot make predictions for individual cases; there always will be exceptions.
2. No matter how logical it may be, if all you know is that two variables are correlated, you cannot infer a cause- and- effect relationship between them.
6. Independent & Dependent Variables
A. Independent Variable: the variable that the experimenter manipulates
B. Dependent Variable: (in an experiment) the variable that provides a measure of the participants’ behavior
7. Schools of (Thought of) Psychology
A. Represents the following major theories within psychology
a. Structuralism: understanding the structure of the human brain
b. Functionalism: the function of the human conscious
c. Behaviorism: understanding Behavior (events that can be observed and measured)
d. Psychoanalysis: emphasized the influence of the unconscious mind on behavior
e. Humanistic Psychology: focused on the individual free will, personal growth and the concept of self-actualization
8. Fields/ Professions in Psychology
A. Cognitive psychologists, Physiological psychologists, Social psychologists, Health psychologists, Developmental psychologists, Psychometric psychologists, Industrial- Organizational psychologists, Rehabilitation psychologists, Educational, or Instructional psychologists, Clinical psychologists, Counseling psychologists, Licensed professional counselors, Occupational therapists, Psychiatric nurses, Pastoral counseling, Mental health technicians, psychiatry.
9. Neuron- Parts of
A. A Neuron is a basic cell of the nervous system. Every neuron has three parts: the cell body, dendrites, and axon.
a. Cell body: contains the structures needed to sustain the life of the neuron
b. Dendrites: extend from the cell body and receive messages from other neurons
c. Axon: extends from the cell body and carries the neural message away from the cell body.
i. At their ends, axons branch out to form several axon terminals
10. Neurotransmitters
A. Chemicals that act to excite or inhibit the transmission of a neural impulse in the next neuron.
11. Somatic Nervous System
A. Includes those neurons that are outside the CNS and serves the skeletal muscles and pick up impulses from our sense receptors such as the eye and ears
12. Sympathetic & Parasympathetic divisions
A. The autonomic nervous system has two subsystems
a. The sympathetic system is activated under conditions of excitement or arousal
b. The parasympathetic system is activated when a person is relaxed and calm
13. Endocrine System
A. The endocrine system is a network of glands that influence behaviors through the secretion of