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Summary AP Psychology Unit 1 Comprehensive Notes
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What is psychology?A scientific study of behavior and mental processes.
- Scientific = evidence, factual, supported with data
Science of psych. is based on objective and verifiable evidence obtained using the scientific
method
- Verifiable = can be proved repeatedly
Scientific Method
1. Question
2. Theory
3. Hypothesis (if… then…)
4. Test hypothesis (operational definitions → key to a smooth experiment, clear & concise)
5. Replication of results
- Base findings off of data, NOT use data to support your hypothesis
Empirical Approach
- A set of standards to conduct a study
- Emphasizes careful observation and scientific research
- We need curiosity, skepticism (questioning), humility
- Psychologist must be critical thinkers
Pseudoscience V.S. Real science
Pseudoscience = Methods (like Freud) only served to confirm beliefs
- Trying to prove theory every time
- Only finding data to support
- No room for failure
Examples:
- Palm readings: Pretends to be legitimate → Pretends to look at lines which is evidence
- Pretends to be something grounded in years of knowledge but it’s just a trick
- False claims about vaccines from fake doctors (measles, vaccines causing autism)
NOT:
- Chinese herbal medicine → Proven to help and rooted in history
Pseudoscience can be dangerous and harmful
- Vaccine example can cause the disease to resurface and the disease to mutate
- Palm readings are a scam → waste your money
Pseudoscience won’t actually tell you who did the experiment / credibility
- Thus, pseudoscience PRETENDS to be legitimate
Real science = Trying to disprove theory
- Element of risk and failure
- Cannot test theory = NOT a scientific theory
- Scientific theories = testable, refutable and falsifiable
,Pseudo-Psychology
Fake, unscientific psychology
- It pretends to be the real thing
Negative impacts:
- People believe fake psychology → Miss out on real psychological insights that are
helpful
- Confirmation bias: Only paying attention to the events and evidence that confirms our
desired beliefs
- Palm reading video: Volunteers wanted to believe the women was a good palm
reader → Only paid attention to when they said “health” or “female” → Didn’t pay
attention to how the “palm reader” was fishing for info
- Produce a lot of fraud
- More fraud incidents = less public support for legitimate psychological science
- Ie. Fake counselors/therapists who didn’t get proper education can cause harm
→ Cause distress in the scientists in psych. (clinicians, therapists)
→ Impact those people’s (mental) health
→ More people distrust the system
- Ie. How we treat depression
→ Many people just dismiss depression (go on walks, ignore)
→ They don’t treat depression properly which can lead to suicide → This is a
fateful disease
- Fake vaccine articles from “scientists” on how vaccine causes autism
- So people refuse to take vaccines for diseases and then they contract these
diseases
- These diseases can mutate and be different
- Which puts the rest who ARE vaccinated at risk as well
- Lots of this in California or something I forgot
Psychology V.S. Psychiatry
Psychiatry: Speciality in the medical field, not part of psychology
Psychiatrist: doctor who has MD or medical degree + specialized training in treatment of mental
and behavioral problems
- Goes through medical school
- They are the only ones who can prescribe medicine
- People like counselor or youth counselors are NOT allowed to prescribe or advising you
to TREAT your mental illness
- They should direct you to psychologist who will direct to a psychiatrist
- Psychological diseases are still DISEASES, so you need someone with a medical
background
- Versus if you’re dealing with the ups and downs of life (relationship issues, stress), then
you can visit wellness counselor
Psychology: Much broader field that has many different specialties
, Psychological Subfields (Specialties)
Basic Research: Psychologists that study research to create a knowledge base
- Ie. Biological, developmental, cognitive, personality, social psychologist
- Just does basic research to build research on our mind and body → Not necessarily
doing anything with the research
Applied Research: Apply researched gained to tackle practical problems
- Ie. industrial/organizational psychologists
- Ie. how to increase employee productivity, how can we make students learn better, how
to decrease theft in a business → Take research regarding topic and apply to tackle the
problem
Counseling psychologists: Assists people with problems in living and achieving well-being
- Not doctors, only advising
- Do have certificate, are training, just not in medical sense
Clinical psychologists: Study, asses, and treat people with psychological disorders (depression,
eating disorder)
Psychiatry: Branch of medicine, can prescribe medicinal treatments and therapy
- Highest order
Beginning of the History of Psychology
- Greeks first identified ideas about consciousness
- Asian and African cultures also had ideas
- But Greeks and later Roman Catholic church had most influence on western psych.
- A lot of pscyh. is based on European, white, western perspectives
- Even back in stone age, there was evidence of people trying to fix psychological issues
→ They thought that there was devil or demon inside you; they didn’t know about
psychology yet
→ They “fixed” this by drilling a hole into skull to “let evil spirits out”
- Known as trephination
- Lobotomy: if you had depression or any ailment, they would cut out parts of your brain,
leaving you thoughtless and unable to do anything
→ Many parents prefer their children do this, especially with severe psychological
diseases
- So psychology dates back to ancient times!
- For hundreds of years, medieval Christian churches believed that the human mind, like
that of God, was an unsolvable mystery
- It was mystery and only God knows what goes on in someone’s mind
- So they never really explored
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