Notes, summaries, assignments, exams, and exercises for Psychology and sociology for Baccalaureate

Data Gathering Methods

Physical Data Gathering Methods

1. Notes

   • Pros: Good overview, flexible, less intrusive, aids focus.
   • Cons: Can be difficult and slow, requires concentration, potential for bias.

2. Audio/Video Recording

   • Audio combined with photos can add valuable context.
   • Requires explicit permission from participants.
   • Raises potential privacy issues.
   • Requires good quality recording equipment.

Data Gathering Techniques

Surveys

Recruitment

• Define the target population clearly.
• Gather relevant demographic information.

Sampling

• Probabilistic Sampling: Each member has a known probability of being chosen.
  • Example: Census.
  • Random Sampling: Every individual has an equal chance.
  • Stratified Sampling: Ensures representation from each subset of the population.
• Non-probabilistic

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Motivation

Types of Motivation

There are two main types of motivation:

• Intrinsic Motivation: This stems from personal factors. Different approaches to intrinsic motivation include:

1. Humanistic approaches
2. Cognitive approaches
3. Social cognitive theories
4. Sociocultural conceptions

Extrinsic Motivation: This comes from environmental factors. Different approaches to extrinsic motivation include:

1. Behavioral approaches
2. Social cognitive theories

Strategies to Motivate Students

• Extrinsic: Leaderboards, gold stars, and punishments.
• Intrinsic: Self-knowledge, love, and passion.

Setting challenging yet realistic goals is crucial for student motivation. Strategies to increase motivation include:

• Building positive relationships with students
• Providing regular feedback on

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The British Psychological Society (BPS) defines psychology as the scientific study of the human mind and behavior, while the American Psychological Association (APA) corroborates that the definition of psychology embraces all aspects of human experience. Psychologists typically observe, measure, and test before arriving at conclusions rooted in sound scientific methodology.

Moreover, psychology is a broad field with many different sub-disciplines that share a common objective: promoting health and human welfare. This document aims to describe these diverse branches of psychology.

Key Branches of Psychology

Clinical Psychology

Clinical psychology is the branch focused on assessing, diagnosing, and treating mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders...

Research Design Types

Cross-Sectional Design

• A cross-sectional design is used for research that collects data on relevant variables one time only from a variety of people, subjects, or phenomena.
• A cross-sectional design provides a snapshot of the variables included in the study at one particular point in time.
• Cross-sectional designs generally use survey techniques to gather data, for example, the U.S. Census.

Advantages

• Data on many variables
• Data from a large number of subjects
• Data from dispersed subjects
• Data on attitudes and behaviors
• Good for exploratory research
• Generates hypotheses for future research
• Data useful to many different researchers

Disadvantages

• Increased chances of error
• Increased cost with more subjects and each location
• Cannot measure

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Psychology

• Definition: The scientific study of mind and behavior.
• Pioneer: Wilhelm Wundt
• Key Work: Principles of Physiological Psychology (book)

Consciousness

• Definition: A person's subjective experience of the world and the mind.

Structuralism

• Definition: The analysis of the basic elements that constitute the mind.

Behavior

• Definition: Observable actions of a human or animal.

Philosophers

• Approach: Do not draw conclusions or seek truth by examining observable events (*empiricism*) but rather by using *rationalism*—drawing conclusions by reasoning and logic.

Nativism

• Pioneer: Plato
• Definition: The philosophical view that certain kinds of knowledge are innate or inherent.

Philosophical Empiricism

• Pioneer: Aristotle
• Core Idea: All knowledge is acquired through

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Understanding Behaviors to Predict Performance and Enhance Effectiveness

Replacing Intuition with Systematic Study

Attribute causes and effects, draw conclusions based on scientific evidence: provide a means to predict behaviors.

Evidence-Based Management (EBM)

Managerial decisions based on scientific evidence.

Relevant Disciplines

Psychology (human behaviors)
Social Psychology (people's influence on one another in groups)
Sociology (social environment and culture/group behaviors)
Anthropology (study of societies)

Management Functions

Planning (goals, strategy)
Controlling (monitoring)
Organizing (what, who, how)
Leading (motivating, directing)

Mintzberg's Managerial Roles

1. Interpersonal

Figurehead, leader, liaison

2. Informational

Monitor, disseminator, spokesperson

3.

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Understanding Personality: Traits and Theories

Big Five Traits:

• Neuroticism: Tendency to experience unpleasant emotions frequently (e.g., depression).
• Extraversion: Tendency to seek stimulation and enjoy the company of others (e.g., warmth, happiness, excitement).
• Agreeableness: Tendency to be compassionate toward others.
• Conscientiousness: Tendency to show self-discipline and strive for achievement and competence.
• Openness to Experience: Enjoyment of new intellectual experiences. (Note: This does not take into account the importance of the situation.)

Factor Analysis

Factor analysis helps to identify clusters and score tests.

Biological Theory

This theory suggests that personality changes according to the environment (reinforcements and punishments)...

Understanding Learning and Conditioning

Operant Conditioning

Refers to voluntary behavior. An instrumental behavior is one that helps us achieve certain effects.

Classical Conditioning

A learning relationship between stimuli.

Key Memory Concepts and Processes

Anterograde Amnesia

The inability to acquire new information or remember events after a brain injury.

Blockade (Tip-of-the-Tongue Phenomenon)

Occurs when an information search is frustrated, and we are unable to retrieve a specific memory, even though we feel it's accessible.

Short-Term Memory

Analyzes and organizes knowledge.

Long-Term Memory

Stores our knowledge of the physical world, social and cultural reality, autobiographical memories, language, and the meanings of concepts.

Basic Memory

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Major Stages of Human Development

Developmental psychology is the scientific study of changes in the human individual from birth through old age. The developmental process is a continuous journey; significant changes in personality and psychological traits occur throughout distinct life stages, including adolescence, adulthood, and old age.

Key Theories of Psychological Development

• Sigmund Freud: Studied the evolution of sexuality in children and its impact on personality and social relations. He proposed that children move from primary narcissism to channeling sexual impulses toward others. Genital sexuality develops in two phases: the first from ages 1 to 4-5 (Oedipus complex) and the second during puberty following the latency period.
• Jean Piaget:

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Applying this distinction to the first four types of needs in Maslow's scale:

• The needs that Maslow called physiological or biological are objective.
• The needs that Maslow called social (or affection and belonging) and esteem are called existential.
• Security is of a mixed type because it covers the two levels of conservation and development of life: the body and the intimate.

This is a principle called the principle of general correlation between aspects of reality and human needs.

Dependence and Interest in Human Relationships

All the needs arising in the gap function within the relationship between scarcity and resources. This relationship provides a general framework within which many specific human relations are accommodated: both relations with...