Year 11 Psychology

Year 11 Psychology : 

Year 11 Psychology Exam- Unit 1

What is Psychology? : 

What is Psychology? Psychology is the systematic study of behaviour and mental processes including perception, cognition and emotion Goals of Psychology To describe, understand and predict behaviour

What is behaviour : 

What is behaviour Behaviour is an individuals actions and responses to a stimulus. Behaviour can be overt (observable), or covert (hidden, internal)

Psychologist : 

Psychologist A psychologist is a highly trained professional who specialises in creating, teaching and applying psychological knowledge through discovery and counselling. Psychiatrist A Psychiatrist is a person trained in medicine who has specialist qualifications in psychiatry and can partake in counselling and presribing drugs.

Psychologists : 

Psychologists Willam James- Studied conscious experience Wilhelm Wundt- Introduced psychology as a science. He is known as the ‘father of psychology’. He studied conscious experiences through introspection. John Watson- Was a behaviouralist. His interest was in observable behaviour.

Pseudo-psychology : 

Pseudo-psychology Any false and un-scientific system of beliefs and practices that is offered as an explanation of behaviour. It is not based on empirical evidence.

7 Steps in Psychological Research- IFDCAIR : 

7 Steps in Psychological Research- IFDCAIR Identify the research problem Formulate a hypothesis Design the method Collect data Analyse Data Interpret results Report findings

Deception : 

Deception Misleading study participants to prevent information from influencing behaviour and affecting the results. Researcher must de- brief participants afterwards.

Variables : 

Variables IV affects DV Independant variable (IV) has an impact on the DV Dependant variable (DV) is influenced by IV, doesn’t change Extraneous variable (EV) any unwanted effects that influence changes in the dependant variable.

Reliability : 

Reliability Ensures that a test has consistent results each time it is done by the same person Validity Ensures that a test measures what it is supposed to measure

Pro- Social Behaviour : 

Pro- Social Behaviour Spontaneous, unplanned Positively valued by society Has little or no expected rewards and is carried out to help another person. E.g picking up something someone dropped

Anti-social Behaviour : 

Anti-social Behaviour Selfish behaviour that is negatively valued by society and is carried out to harm another person and/or gain a reward for oneself. E.g bullying or harassing someone

Helping Behaviour : 

Helping Behaviour Intentional and designed to benefit the person receiving assistance.

Bullying : 

Bullying Repeated unpleasant behaviours directed from a stronger to a weaker or less powerful person designed to make the weaker person fear the stronger person.

Factors that influence Pro-social Behaviour : 

Factors that influence Pro-social Behaviour SITUATIONAL FACTORS PERSONALITY FACTORS Location Victim’s Circumstances Bystander Intervention Social Norms Empathy Mood Competence Altruism

Factors that influence a reluctance to help : 

Factors that influence a reluctance to help THE BYSTANDER EFFECT Diffusion of responsibility Audience Inhibition Social Influence

Latane and Darley : 

Latane and Darley The more people present, the less likely it is that help will be given

Cost- Benefit Analysis : 

Cost- Benefit Analysis Before taking action, individuals weigh up what are the advantages vs. disadvantages. If advantages outweigh disadvantages then they act.

Group Sanctions : 

Group Sanctions Group sanctions are rewards and punishments administered by members of a group to ensure that individuals go along with the group.

Deindividuation : 

Deindividuation The loss of social identity and inhibition causing a person to lose responsibility for their actions.

Status and Power : 

Status and Power Status is an individual’s position in a group. Power is an individual’s influence over another person

Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment : 

Zimbardo’s Prison Experiment Zimbardo investigated how participants who were assigned a role of either a prisoner or guard in a jail would act. He discovered that their roles had an influence on their behaviour.

Asch’s Conformity Experiment : 

Asch’s Conformity Experiment Participants were shown an image of a vertical line, then asked to choose which of the three comparison lines were the same. Despite the other people in the group choosing the line that was obviously wrong, it was found that the majority of the participants conformed to the group and also gave the incorrect response, even though they knew that it was obviously wrong.

Milgram’s Obedience Experiment : 

Milgram’s Obedience Experiment Milgram studied 40 male participants, designating each the role of either learner or teacher. If the learner made a mistake then the teacher would press a button, giving the learner an ‘electric shock’. The teacher was unaware that the sounds of the learner screaming after each electric shock was only a tape recorder. For each question the learner gave the wrong answer to, the voltage increased until it eventually reached the fatal level of 450 volts. Milgram discovered that although the teacher felt that what they were doing was wrong, when the experimenter told them to continue; 70% of participants delivered the maximum 450 volts.

Conformity and Obedience : 

Conformity and Obedience Conformity is influenced by: Normative influence Unanimity Group size Obedience is influenced by: Social proximity Legitimacy of authorative figures Group pressure

Nature vs. Nurture : 

Nature vs. Nurture Nature- Inherited characteristics E.g. gender, eye colour, hair colour Nurture- Environmental experience E.g. upbringing, lifestyle, life experiences

Maturation : 

Maturation The biological growth processes of an organism that results in changes in behaviour at fairly predictable ages. Maturation begins at conception and leads to the maturity of an organism

Deprivation : 

Deprivation The loss or withholding of normal stimulation, nutrition, comfort or love, which leads to disrupted physical and/or psychological development

Perceptual ability : 

Perceptual ability The mental ability to organise incoming sensory information into meaningful patterns.

Adaptive Reflexes : 

Adaptive Reflexes Automatic simple responses to sensory stimuli. e.g. grasping finger, sucking etc.

Preferential Looking : 

Preferential Looking The preference for paying attention to a new stimulus rather than a familiar stimulus

Habituation and Dishabituation : 

Habituation and Dishabituation Habituation- A decrease in attention to a repeated stimulus Dishabituation- A renewed interest in a familiar stimulus

Depth Perception : 

Depth Perception Depth Perception is the ability to perceive three- dimensional space and to accurately estimate distances. Gibson and Walk discovered that depth perception was evident in infants as young as 6 months. Campos and Berenthal found that mobil infants had an increased heart rate on the deeper side of the cliff indicating fear.

Cognitive development : 

Cognitive development The progressive changes that occur in human thinking, knowing, understanding, problem solving and information processing.

Assimilation : 

Assimilation Assimilation is the application of existing patterns to new situations e.g a hammer is given to a child who used it to hit something, then a spanner is given to the child; the child has to realise that they both have different uses.

Accommodation : 

Accommodation Accommodation is the modification of existing mental patterns to fit new demands. E.g a child may presume that because a 50 c coin is larger than a $2 coin, it would be worth more even though it isn’t.

PIAGET’S 4 STAGES : 

PIAGET’S 4 STAGES

Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 Years) : 

Sensorimotor Stage (0-2 Years) The stage of intellectual development, during which sensory input and motor responses become co-ordinated.

Pre- operational Stage(2-7 Years) : 

Pre- operational Stage(2-7 Years) The period of intellectual development during which children begin to use language and think symbolically, yet remain intuitive and ego-centric in their thoughts.

Concrete-Operational Stage(7-11 Years) : 

Concrete-Operational Stage(7-11 Years) The period of intellectual development during which children develop the ability to understand conservation, but in ways that remain simplified and concrete rather than abstract.

Pre-Operational Stage (11 Years and up) : 

Pre-Operational Stage (11 Years and up) Based more on an abstract though process. Following this stage it is believed that life experiences influence your growth, responses and behavioural patterns