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Summary Introduction to Psychology (6461PS002)
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Summary of the most important aspects of each chapter H1 to H16 that are necessary for the examination of Introduction to Psychology.
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Inleiding in de Psychologie literatuursamenvatting PEDA
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Samenvatting Inleiding in de Psychologie, literatuur (foundations and frontiers psychology) + hoorcolleges (eigen cijfer 8)
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Samenvatting Inleiding In De Psychologie, Psychology, ISBN: 9781305114302
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Samenvatting Inleiding in de PsychologieH1
Psychology—the science of behavior and the mind—rests on prior intellectual
developments.
Physical Causation of Behavior
● Descartes’ dualism placed more emphasis on the role of the body than had previous
versions of dualism. Hobbes’s materialism held that behavior is completely a product
of the body and thus physically caused.
● To the degree that behavior 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 behavior.
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 Behavior
● 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 behavior. 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 behavior or mental experience.
● Some subfields in psychology are defined primarily by the level of analysis; others
are defined more by the topics studied.
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.
1
,H2
The case of the horse named Clever Hans illustrates several issues fundamental to
scientific research.
Observations, Theories, and Hypotheses
● Objective observations of behavior lead psychologists to create conceptual models or
explanations (theories), which give rise to specific, testable predictions (hypotheses).
The Importance of Skepticism
● Skeptics 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 skepticism caused him to test rather than simply 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 measured 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 animals under study—may perceive the
observer’s expectations and behave accordingly.
● Cues from observers led 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 (such as the experiment on treatments for depression), the researcher
can test hypotheses about causation by manipulating the independent variable(s) and
looking for corresponding differences in the dependent 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 behavior being studied 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 behavior.
Data-Collection Methods
● Self-report methods ask the people being studied to rate or describe themselves,
usually in questionnaires or interviews.
2
, ● Observational methods require the researcher to observe and record the subjects’
behavior through naturalistic observation or some form of test.
● Each data-collection method has advantages and disadvantages.
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 and 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.
Replicating 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.
3
, H3
Genes affect behavior by affecting the bodily structures involved in behavior.
Nature of Genetic Influence
● Through their influence on protein synthesis, genes affect bodily structures and
behavior.
● 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 sickle-cell 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 or none) in
nature.
● Mendelian patterns of inheritance indicate single-gene control. Examples are breed
differences in fearfulness in dogs and the human hereditary disorder phenylketonuria
(PKU).
Polygenic Traits
● Polygenic traits (influenced by many gene pairs) are continuous (present in varying
degrees) and often fit a normal distribution.
● Through selective breeding, a trait can be strengthened or weakened gradually over
generations. Examples include Tryon’s breeding of rats for maze ability and the
Russian program of breeding foxes for tameness.
Epigenetics
● Experiences cause biochemical changes that affect the activation of genes.
● The best understood mechanism for epigenetic effects is that of DNA methylation.
● Experiences early in life can produce effects that persist years later. In some
situations, epigenetic effects can be transmitted to children and grandchildren without
any changes in the genes themselves.
4
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