In this bundle summaries, exam questions and lecture notes are shared for the course Introduction to Psychology, IBP Bachelor 1, Leiden University.
For a complete overview of the summaries and other study
This bundle contains Summaries, Study Notes and Practice Exams for the course Experimental and Correlational Research of the
This bundle contains Summaries, Study Notes and Practice Exams are shared for the course Social
On this page study materials for the study Psychology, Leiden University (UL), are bundled.
For a full overview of available study materials for this study, please visit the
Summary of Psychology (Gray, 6th edition)Introduction
Psychology is the science of the mind and behaviour.
The Mind consists of an individual’s sensations, perceptions, memories, dreams, thoughts, motives, feelings, and other subjective experiences, as well as the subconscious processes of knowledge. The mind controls the observable actions, behaviours of the individual.
The three fundamental ideas of psychology are:
Behaviour and thinking have measurable physical causes.
Thoughts, behaviour and emotions are gradually modified by environmental influences.
The body is a product of evolution by natural selection.
The Christian view of the human being consisted of two distinct but conjoined elements: the material body and the immaterial soul. This idea is called dualism.
Descartes concluded that the body was like a machine, capable of functioning on its own. The soul, therefore, must be responsible for all that differentiates the human being from the animal: specifically, human thought. He believed that the immaterial soul acts through the pineal body organ in the brain and sends information to the senses. This theory began to solidify the connection between body and mind, and suggest a physical source of behaviour.
Thomas Hobbes did away with the concept of dualism, arguing that nothing exists beyond matter and energy. This philosophy is called materialism. He concluded that conscious thought was a product of the mechanics of the brain, and subject to the laws of nature. This mode of thinking inspired empiricism.
Working upon the idea that the body and brain are like a machine, a great deal of research into human physiology was undertaken in the 19th
century.
In 1822, François Magendie demonstrated that the spinal cord consists of two directional nerve systems – one bringing information to the brain and the other sending instructions out to the limbs. After this discovery, scientists began to learn more about reflexes, even suggesting that all behaviour (even voluntary) might occur through reflex. This philosophy is called reflexology. This idea inspired Ian Pavlov to begin his studies on reflexes and behaviour.
ExamTickets with Introduction to Psychology at the Leiden UniversityThe exam consists mostly of factual questions. Make sure you study all of the facts, definitions and concepts well.
Important concepts and experiments in this course are:
Important pioneers of psychology are:
Important opposite theoretical positions in psychology are:
The exam consists of multiple choice questions. So you don't have to explain anything, but you need to know what the consequences are if someone no longer has a corpus callosum, for example.
A) ...can study cognition because it is caused by neurons.
B) ...can not study cognition, because the mind does not exist, everything is matter and energy.
C) ...see cognition as something that does not exist.
A) Watson's traditional S-R (stimulus-response) approach.
B) The ecological approach.
C) The cognitive-psychological approach.
D) The operant conditioning approach.
A) The schemes that children use undergo qualitative changes as they develop.
B) Children learn specific rules that are increasingly advanced when solving certain types of problems.
C) Children can learn more and more complicated behavior because the capacity of their working memory increases.
Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 1 at Leiden University - Year 2022/2023
Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 1 at Leiden University - Year 2022/2023 Samenvattingen en studiehulp:Psychologie Bachelor 1 aan de Universiteit Leiden 2022/2023 Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 2 at Leiden University - 2022/2023On this page study materials for the study IBP Bachelor 2, Leiden University (UL), are bundled.
For a full overview of available study materials for this study, please visit the Summary Shop on JoHo.org.
Samenvattingen en studiehulp voor Psychologie Bachelor 2/3 aan de Universiteit Leiden - Verplichte vakken - Year 2022/2023
Deze bundel helpt je navigeren door de studiematerialen voor de verplichte vakken van Psychologie Leiden jaar 2 die geplaatst zijn door 'Psychologie World Supporter'. Blijf op de hoogte van de nieuwste studiematerialen door mij te volgen maar vooral ook je medestudenten die actief zijn op WorldSupporter!
Summaries and study services for Psychology Bachelor 2/3 at Leiden University - Specialisation courses & Electives - Year 2022/2023This bundle contains relevent study materials with the second and third year of the Psychology Bachelor programme, in Dutch and English for Leiden University. Do you have your own lecture notes or summaries to share? Make your fellow students happy and upload them to your own WorldSupporter profile.
Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 1 at Leiden University - Year 2022/2023 Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 2 at Leiden University - 2022/2023On this page study materials for the study IBP Bachelor 2, Leiden University (UL), are bundled.
For a full overview of available study materials for this study, please visit the Summary Shop on JoHo.org.
Summaries and study services for Psychology Bachelor 2/3 at Leiden University - Specialisation courses & Electives - Year 2022/2023This bundle contains relevent study materials with the second and third year of the Psychology Bachelor programme, in Dutch and English for Leiden University. Do you have your own lecture notes or summaries to share? Make your fellow students happy and upload them to your own WorldSupporter profile.
Workgroup notes with Personality, Clinical and Health Psychology at the Leiden University - 2018/2019
Unconscious behaviour = automatisms
95% of our behaviour. This is simply routine behaviour, which is context/stimulus-driven. This means that something in your surrounding simply activates this behaviour, such as coughing after inhaling smoke from a fire.
It is a result of conditioning or associations.
Conscious behaviour = planned behaviour
5% of our behaviour. It is the result of what we plan to do. It takes into account our assessment of our own abilities and what we think other people will think of our behaviour.
Antecedents are stimuli that precede behaviour. They are a signal to our brain to instigate (start) a certain behaviour. Antecedents can take the form of events, people, feelings, thoughts, etc.
There are three types of antecedents, beliefs, interpretations and self-convictions.
Describe one negative behaviour of your own that you’d like to work on (or should work on) over the next few weeks. It must be a behaviour that currently has a negative effect on your life or a behaviour that prevents a positive effect that you would actually like. The behaviour must also occur regularly (at least twice a week). Tip: If you can’t think of anything that would be good to change, you can ask someone else (who knows you well): perhaps he/she has noticed an area where you could / should change your behaviour.
Formulate one sentence that expresses what you want to change: “I want to……..”. Your description of the behaviour should be measurable (state how often the behaviour may/must occur within a specific time period), active (describe what you will do, not what you will refrain from doing) and personal (describe what you are going to change, not what other people should do). Together, these three terms stand for MAP.
Describe why changing this behaviour is important for you.
What is making you tackle it right now, at this time?
What do you want to achieve,
Staying healthy abroad and health insurances abroad - WorldSupporter theme
English summary - Introduction to Personality, Clinical and Health Psychology - Part: HealthGood health is a personal and collective goal. That is why one must promote good health. This can be done through the media, through doctors and through the government that makes policy plans. It appears that promotion of health costs less and is more successful than disease prevention, which used to happen more. By teaching people good health habits, they will experience fewer illnesses.
behaviorsbehaviors play a role in the development of diseases. Although in the past people mainly died of acute infectious diseases (flu, tuberculosis, measles and polio), there is now an increase in so-called 'preventive' diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, lung cancer, car accidents and alcohol and drug abuse. If more good health behaviors were to occur, the number of deaths due to these lifestyle diseases could decrease. In addition, people will die less quickly, increasing the life expectancy of the entire population. Third, people with good health behaviors will have more years of life without symptoms of chronic diseases. Finally, good health behaviors have a cost-saving effect.
Health behaviors are behaviors that people perform to increase or maintain their health. Poor health behaviors can easily turn into bad health habits and play a role in the development of diseases.
A health habit is a form of behavior that is related to health, and that one automatically exercises without being aware of it. Examples include wearing a safety belt, eating healthy food and brushing your teeth. These habits are often developed in childhood and stabilize at eleven to twelve years of age. Because a health habit can not easily be changed, it is important that one develops good health habits and the bad one learns.
Primary prevention has the task of developing good health habits and changing bad ones. This primary prevention is aimed at changing / removing the risk factors for a disease before the disease develops. This can be done by:
behavioral change methods to change problematic health behaviors, and
by preventing people from developing bad health habits.
There are several factors that influence healthy behavior and health habits.
Demographic factors: people who have little stress, are highly educated, are young and people who have many sources of social support generally have better health habits than people with a lot of stress, little social support and people with fewer sources.
Age: health habits are good
.....read more Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 1 at Leiden University - Year 2022/2023
Workgroup Answers with Inferential Statistics at the Leiden University - 2018/2019This file contains the answers to my preparatory assignments for the course Inferential Statistics, Leiden University.
Workgroup notes with Inferential Statistics at the Leiden University - 2018/2019The answers can be found in the corresponding download file (right column)
What symbols are used for the population mean and the sample mean?
What is the difference between the H0 and the Ha?
What is the definition of a p-value?
What is the definition of the rejection criterion α?
Select the correct response(s). (More than one may be correct.) The p-value for testing H0 : µ = 100 against Ha : µ is not 100 is p = .001. This indicates that:
1. There is strong evidence that µ = 100.
2. There is strong evidence that µ is not 100.
3. There is strong evidence that µ > 100.
There is strong evidence that µ < 100.
If µ were equal to 100, it would be unusual to obtain data such as those observed.
It is important that you understand the difference between a sample and a population, and that you understand the difference between the symbols for them. A sample is the one test result set that a research or investigation delivers, or one group of people from one specific experiment, while a population is an overview of anybody who fits to the requirements. Below is a table of different symbols for the two different situations.
Parameter | Population | Sample |
Mean | µ | x̄ |
Probability | P | P |
Standard Deviation | σ | S |
What is meant by events A and B being independent?
What is meant by events A and B being disjoint?
Can disjoint events be independent from each other?
What are the formulas for the:
General additive rule
Additive rule for disjoint events
Complement rule
General multiplicative rule
Multiplicative rule for independent events
Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 1 at Leiden University - Year 2022/2023 Lecture notes with Developmental and Educational Psychology at the Leiden University - 2018/2019There is only 15% chance on a woman’s most fertile days to get pregnant. Upon ejaculation, 500 million sperms cells try to get to the egg, 6 hours later, only 1% reaches the egg. Gametes are the sex cells, which each have 23 chromosomes. When these fuse together, it becomes a zygote with 46 chromosomes.
Zygote (0-2 weeks)
In the first weeks, cell division, aka mitosis, starts. Processes that occur are;
2 weeks after conception, the zygote has moved to the uterus, this is a vulnerable stage that 50% of the zygotes do not survive. This is due to genetic defects. This implantation means that the zygote implants itself in the uterus well. Cells become a hollow sphere called the inner cell mass. Some parts of these become the embryo, embryonic sack or placenta. hGC is secreted, which can be tested for pregnancy.
Twins
Identical twins happen when the inner cell mass splits into two embryo’s. Genetically identical
Fraternal twins happen when 2 eggs are present and both fertilized.
Triplets happen when there are multiple eggs fertilised and one of these even possibly splits as well.
Embryo (3-8 weeks)
Fetus (9 weeks until birth)
Fact: 51.3% of the babies born are male. The chances of
.....read more
IBP Leiden - Developmental and Educational PsychologyExam advice for the following course: Developmental and Educational Psychology (2018):
Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 1 at Leiden University - Year 2022/2023 Summary Biological psychology by Kalat (11th edition)
Biological Psychology is the study of the physiological, evolutionary, and developmental mechanisms of behavior and experience.
There are four categories of biological explanations of behavior:
The Physiological explanation focuses on the brain and other anatomical structures.
The Ontogenetic explanation focuses on the development of structures/behavior.
The Evolutionary explanation focuses on the evolutionary history of structures/behavior.
The Functional explanation focuses on the functions of structures/behavior, why they developed.
The mind-body problem asks the question: What is the relationship between between mental activity and brain experience? There are two different approaches to this question:
Dualism is the view that the mind and body function separately.
Monism is the view that the mind and body are the same substance. We can identify various forms of monism: materialism (everything is physical) mentalism (the mind is a precondition for the physical world) and identity position (the mind and body are the same but described by different terms).
Do other people have consciousness?
Solipsism is the belief that “I am the only one who exists”.
Easy and hard problems of consciousness
Genes are units of heredity, which come in pairs. Chromosomes are strands of genes and they also occur in pairs (with.....read more
Kalat - Biological Psychology: practice questions
1. The two kinds of cells in the nervous system are __________, which receive and transmit information to other cells, and __________, which do not transmit information.
A) neurons, glia
B) glia, hypoglia
C) glia, neurons
D) neurons, corpuscles
2. The outer surface of a cell is called the __________ and the fluid inside the cell is the __________.
A) cytoplasm, endoplasm
B) membrane, nuclear fluid
C) wall, goo
D) membrane, cytoplasm
3. Which structure within an animal cell contains the chromosomes?
A) endoplasmic reticulum
B) mitochondrion
C) membrane
D) nucleus
4. The main feature that distinguishes a neuron from other cells is the neuron's
A) larger nucleus.
B) ability to metabolize a variety of fuels.
C) high internal concentration of sodium ions.
D) varied shape.
5. Which part of a neuron contains the nucleus?
A) cell body
B) dendrites
C) axon
D) presynaptic ending
6. Neurons have one __________, but can have any number of __________.
A) dendrite, axons
B) axon, dendrites
C) cell body, axons
D) axon hillock, cell bodies
7. An axon hillock is
A) the end of an axon, close to the next cell.
B) a swelling in the middle of an axon.
C) a point at which the axon branches in two or more directions.
D) a swelling at the start of an axon, next to the cell body.
8. As a general rule, axons convey information
A) toward dendrites of their own cell.
B) toward their own cell body.
C) away from the cell body.
D) to glia.
9. One way to tell the difference between a dendrite and an axon is that dendrites usually
A) form branches perpendicular to the main trunk of the dendrite.
B) are longer than the axon.
C) are covered with myelin.
D) taper in diameter toward their periphery.
10. An interneuron is
A) a glia cell that separates one neuron from another.
B) a neuron that receives all its information from other neurons and conveys impulses only to other neurons.
C) a neuron that has its cell body in the spinal cord and an axon that extends to a muscle or gland.
D) a cell whose properties are halfway between those of a neuron and those of a glia cell.
11. A neuron that conveys information toward the hippocampus is considered a (an) __________ cell, with regard
.....read more Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 1 at Leiden University - Year 2022/2023 Psychology and Science
Psychology and Science bundle
Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 1 at Leiden University - Year 2022/2023 Cognitive Psychology - UL - ExamTests (2018-2019) (EN)What do cognitive neuropsychologists conclude from the occurrence of a 'double dissociation' between two cognitive functions?
That the two functions are performed by the same brain structure
That the two functions are performed by the same brain structure, but by different parts of it
That the two functions are performed by two separate but dependent brain structures
That the two functions are performed by two separate and independently functioning brain structures
Broadbent's model for visual attention contains a 'desicion channel' with a limited processing capacity. What inspired this idea of limited capacity?
The computer and telecommunication technology
Visual attention of animals
Filtering coffee
The memory card of a camera
What has Gestalt Psychology been particularly concerned with?
'Laws' in grouping elements in the visual field
'Laws' in grouping elements in the auditory field
'Laws' in grouping brain structures
'Laws' in grouping auditory and visual information
The visual system in the brain has two 'flows' or streams: the dorsal flow or stream and the ventral flow or stream. What is probably the function of the dorsal flow or stream?
Recognizing objects
The perception of the visual world
Steering movement based on perception
None of the above
The expression "perception lies in the brain or the perceiver" is most consistent with ...
The approach to low vision
The neuropsychological approach to visual perception
'The Gibsonian view' on visual perception
The constructivist theory of Richard Gregory and others
Richard Gregory distinguished between 3 types of visual illusions:
Physical phenomena, with as an example ...
Illusions due to physiological processes in the brain that are not influenced top-down, with as an example ...
Illusions due to top-down influence on perception, with as an example ...
What's on the dotted lines?
1) Color after effect, 2) Mirage, 3) Muller-Lyer illusion
1) Mirage, 2) Hermann grid, 3) Ames chamber
1) Mirage, 2) Muller-Lyer illusion, 3) Hermann grid
1) Color after effect, 2) Ames chamber, 3) Hermann grid
What does the "law of similarity" from the Gestalt psychology state?
That "figure" and "background" are easier to separate as they resemble each other
That elements in the visual field can be grouped together based on common color or shape
Cognitive Psychology - UL - ExamTests (2016-2017) (EN)Selective attention models proposed by Treisman, Broadbent and Deutsch & Deutsch differ in the extent to which irrelevant (ignored) information is processed to a meaningful (semantic) level. What is the correct order of the models, from little meaning processing to much meaning processing?
Broadbent, Deutsch & Deutch, Treisman
Deutsch & Deutsch, Treisman, Broadbent
Broadbent, Treisman, Deutsch & Deutsch
Deutsch & Deutsch, Broadbent, Treisman
In a test, the assignment is to complete the letters 'l-c-m-t-e' into a complete word. The chance that this will succeed is greater if the word 'locomotive' has been read some time before (the 'repetition priming' effect).
This chance depends on being able to remember the earlier offer of the word in a "recall" task.
This chance depends on being able to recognize the word in a "recognition" task
This chance is independent of being able to remember or recognize the word.
This chance depends on both remembering and recognizing the word.
Broadbent's model for visual attention contains a "decision channel" with limited processing capacity. What inspired this idea of limited capacity?
The discoveries in the field of neuropsychology
Through the discovery of the modular organization of the brain
The computer and telecommunications technology
The laws from Gestalt psychology
Characteristic of the reading disorder "deep dyslexia" is / are:
Semantic errors in reading (for example, calling a jacket a skirt)
Patients with deep dyslexia do not read words as existing words
Both A and B are correct
Neither A nor B is correct
What is the most important characteristic of "form" agnosia (compared to "integrative" agnosia)?
In form agnosia, there is also "unilateral neglect"
In form agnosia, the patient can not only not visually recognize objects, but also not after them to touch.
In form agnosia, the patient cannot copy drawings.
Form agnosia is primarily a disorder of the "true" system.
The best estimate of the memory capacity is:
Seven (± two) units
The capacity cannot be determined because it depends on the nature of the units
Four (± one) units
For numbers 7 ± 2 and for letters 4 ± 1
The expression "perception lies in the brain of the perceiver" is the most consistent with which approach in visual perception research?
The "feature" approach
Gibson's "perception
Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 1 at Leiden University - Year 2022/2023 Lecture notes with Social and Organisation psychology at the Leiden University - 2018/2019
We’re all basic social psychologists all constantly using social assumptions, social derivations of what we see and observe of other people.
We, humans, are a social species -> Social brain hypothesis. Our prefrontal cortex has increased considerable in size over the ages. This led to Robin Dunbar’s social brain hypothesis and experiment. In order to perform well in larger social groups, we need bigger brains. large correlation between larger brain and larger social groups.
Social psychology: what happens to an individual in a group and situations on a group, aka how context influences an individual.
Situational factors used to explain large events such as terrorist attacks or genocide. What makes good people perform such bad act?
Kurt Lewin: Behaviour = f(person x situation). If you want to understand a behaviour, you must look at what happens to a person who finds themselves in a particular situation.
Almost all situations we find ourselves in are social.
Three aspects within social psychology: cognition, motivation and behaviour (interaction between the other two).
Recurring themes: Individual vs group, cognition vs affect, genes vs environment, evolution vs culture.
If two variable correlate is can be in two ways. X causes Y, X and Y cause Z or Z influences X and Y. If two things seem to correlate but in reality don’t, it is called spurious correlation. If you have a very large data set, it is easy to find any correlation that seems to be true. Correlations are easier to obtain, but they do not say anything about cause and effect, so that is why we perform experiments.
Social psychology often deals with more sensitive topics. Now, we are bound to ethics, but a lot of our information we get from experiments in the past that seriously lacked any ethics boundaries. Important now is that people sign their complete consent.
Themes of the topic social cognition
We tend to avoid most cognitive effort, we
.....read more Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 1 at Leiden University - Year 2022/2023 Lecture notes with Experimental and Correlational Research at the Leiden University - 2018/20196/2/2019
-Correlation is about two variables being associated, but there is no evidence of causality.
-Causality however requires multiple factors: covariance (variables have an association), directionality(cause precedes effect (in time)) and internal validity(eliminate alternative explanations).
- Correlations can be displayed in scatterplots that show:
- Direction: positive or negative
- Strength: density of the points
- Shape: linear/nonlinear and homogeneous (one cluster) / heterogeneous (multiple clusters).
- Outliers
-Covariance (sxy): to measure the degree to which two variables vary together.
Formula: sxy = Σ(xi-x)(yi-y) / N-1
It provides us with information on the strength and direction of the association. The disadvantage is that the covariance is dependent on the unit of measurement of the variables.
-Pearson r is a standardized measure that describes the linear relationship between two quantitative variables, and always lies between -1 and +1.
Formulas: r = sxy / sxsy Alternative: r = Σzxzy / N-1
- Remember that a z-score is a standardized score that displays how many standard deviations a certain score is away from the mean.
Alternative correlational techniques:
- The Pearson r is the correlation coefficient that is most commonly used. There are alternatives:
quantitative + quantitative --> Pearson r
ordinal + ordinal --> Spearman’s rho (rs)
dichotomous(only two possible values)+ quantitative --> point-biserial correlation (rpb)
dichotomous + dichotomous --> phi coefficient (ϕ)
-Spearman’s rho (rs) describes relationship between two ordinal variables/ranked scores.
Formulas: xrank = N + 1 / 2 srank = √ (N(N+1) / 2)
rs = r on ranked data
Spearman’s rho is also an alternative to Pearson r in case of outliers and/or weak non-linearity.
-Point-biserial correlation describes relationship between quantitative and dichotomous variables. We use the Pearson correlation formula to calculate rpb: rpb = r
The sign of the correlation (+/-) depends on the way 0 and 1 are assigned to groups.
Relationship rpb and tindependent: rpb = Square root of t2 / t2 + df
-Phi-coefficient (ϕ) describes relationship between two dichotomous variables: ϕ
.....read more Workgroup notes with Experimental & Correlational Statistics at the Leiden University - 2018/2019
Prep exercises
Correlation is NOT causation. It is an association between variables.
Positive correlation = both increase or decrease
Negative = One increases, the other decreases
Pearson’s r; both variables are at an interval level. Formula: ∑ZxZy/n-1
Spearman rho = two ordinal variables (To avoid outlier influence in Pearson’s r) rs = r Important: RANK IT FIRST, then take the z scores
Point Biserial; one dichotomous and one continuous variable rpb = r
Phi is a nominal variable, that only has two levels each aka dichotomous X2 = r
Dichotomous means that the value can only be one of two things. For instance yes/no, male/female, left/right. It is a nominal variable, but where with a simply nominal variable answers can be red/blue/green/yellow, a dichotomous variable could in this case only be red/blue, for instance.
Basically, all of these correlation have the basic formula, which is ∑ZxZy/n-1
R is about sample, ρ is population
Parameter | Population | Sample |
Mean | µ | x̄ |
Probability | P | p |
Standard Deviation | σ | S |
Correlation |
What is a correlational research design?A correlational research design investigates the relationship between two or more variables without directly manipulating them. In other words, it helps us understand how two things might be connected, but it doesn't necessarily prove that one causes the other.
Imagine it like this: you observe that people who sleep more hours tend to score higher on tests. This correlation suggests a link between sleep duration and test scores, but it doesn't prove that getting more sleep causes higher scores. There could be other factors at play, like individual study habits or overall health.
Here are some key characteristics of a correlational research design:
Examples of when a correlational research design is useful:
Limitations of correlational research:
While correlational research doesn't provide definitive answers, it's a valuable tool for exploring relationships and informing further research. Always remember to interpret correlations cautiously and consider alternative explanations.
What is the correlational method?In the realm of research methodology, the correlational method is a powerful tool for investigating relationships between two or more variables. However, it's crucial to remember it doesn't establish cause-and-effect connections.
Think of it like searching for patterns and connections between things, but not necessarily proving one makes the other happen. It's like observing that people who sleep more tend to score higher on tests, but you can't definitively say that getting more sleep causes higher scores because other factors might also play a role.
Here are some key features of the correlational method:
Here are some examples of when the correlational method is useful:
Limitations of the correlational method:
While the correlational method doesn't provide definitive answers, it's a valuable tool for exploring relationships and informing further research. Always remember to interpret correlations cautiously and consider alternative explanations.
Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 1 at Leiden University - Year 2022/2023 Summary with the 6th edition of Introduction to Behavioral Research Methods by LearyWhat does the history of this research look like?
Many people think that psychologists are only concerned with treating people with mental problems. That is partly true, but psychologists also conduct research to find out more about people's behavior and mental processes. People have been explaining human behavior for centuries. Aristotle and Buddha for example systematically asked questions about why people behave in certain ways. In the past, however, explaining human behavior was not done scientifically. The statements that were made were mainly speculative. It was therefore impossible to test the validity of the statements. Consequently the accuracy and correctness of the statements could not be tested either. Declarations were often given on the basis of, for example, religious dogmas. Scientific psychology originated in the last 25 years of the 19th century. Scientists such as Wundt, James, Watson and Hall began to see that psychological issues can be answered using scientific methods that are also used in, for example, biology or physics.
What types of investigations can be distinguished?
Researchers distinguish between two types of research that are used for different purposes:
' Basic research': this type of research is conducted to gain a better understanding of psychological processes. It is not important in this context whether this knowledge can be applied immediately. The primary goal is just to increase knowledge about a psychological process.
' Applied research': this type of research is carried out to find solutions to specific problems instead of increasing our general knowledge about certain processes. For example, sometimes psychologists are hired to detect and resolve problems in the workplace. In this context research is a matter of understanding and eliminating problems.
In addition to these types of research, some scientists also speak of a third type of research, namely 'evaluation research' (also known as 'program evaluation' ). This type of research is aimed at understanding the effects of programs on behavior using scientific research methods.
In this context, think of new school programs that are being applied. It is important to investigate to what extent these programs are effective.
What is the.....read more
Summaries and study services for IBP Bachelor 1 at Leiden University - Year 2022/2023
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