Essay on Final Exam Study Guide

Epilogue & Chapter 1:
-psychology: the science of behavior and mental processes.

-A psychiatrist is a medical doctor licensed to prescribe drugs and otherwise treat physical causes of psychological disorders.

-A psychologist is someone who can administer and interpret tests, provide counseling and therapy, and sometimes conduct basic and applied research.

-biopsychosocial approach: an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social cultural levels of analysis.

-three important components of the scientific method:
Theory: an explanation using integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events. - a good theory should organize observed facts. - and it should imply hypotheses that offer testable predictions and, sometimes, practical applications.
2. Hypothesis: a testable prediction, often implied by a theory.
3. Replication: repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations.

Four goals of psychology: To describe, To explain, To predict, To change.

Hindsight bias: The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it.

Overconfidence: The tendency to be more confident than correct - to overestimate the accuracy of our beliefs and judgements.

Non-experimental methods of research:
Descriptive Study Methods: To observe and record behavior.
Correlational Studies: To detect naturally occurring relationships. To assess how well one variable predicts another.

Type of descriptive study methods:
Case Study: An observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.
Survey: A technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group.
Naturalistic Observation: Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to.

Correlation: A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.
-A correlation is positive if two sets of scores, such as height and weight, tend to rise or fall together.
-A correlation is negative if two sets of scores relate inversely, one set going up as the other goes down.

Population: All the cases in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn.

Random Sample: A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion.

Experiment: A research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variable) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental processes (dependent variable).

Experimental Group: In an experiment, the group that is exposed to the treatment, that is, one version of the independent variable.

Control Group: In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment.

Random Assignment: Assigning participants by experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups.

Independent Variable: The experimental factor that is manipulated. The variable whose effect is being studied.

Dependent Variable: The outcome factor. The variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable.

Experimenter Bias: The phenomenon in experimental science by which the outcome of an experiment tends to be biased towards a result expected by the human experimenter.

Placebo Effect: Experimental results caused by expectations alone. Any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent.

Double-Blind Procedure: An experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the

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FInal Exam Study Guide Essay

Final Exam Study Guide Essay