Psychology: Lifespan Development

Hello Again, Here are the notes I will be using for tomorrows class. I'm sharing my personal notes and there are some typos. If you want to earn some extra credit points feel free to transfer them into a word document and fix the typo's and email them back to me. Ether way these notes will help so you won't have to write feverishly trying to jot down the info. (there is information here not in your text)

Chapter One
Psychology: the scientific study of behavior and the mental process.
Lifespan development: lifespan development encompasses all of the development that occurs from conception throughout life to death.
Scientific Observation: An empirical investigation structured to answer questions about the world in a systematic and intersubjective
It is theory that enables researchers to fit many separate facts into a larger framework and thus impose order on what would otherwise be a disconnected jumble of data.
Replication: the process of a study to verify research findings.
There are two types of research psychologists pursue to accomplish their goals:
Basic Research: research done to advance knowledge rather then for practical application.
Applied Research: research conducted specifically for the purpose of solving practical problems and improving the quality of life.
Descriptive Research Methods: research methods that yield descriptions of behavior rather then causal explanations
Naturalistic Observation: research method in which the researcher observes and records behavior in its natural setting, without attempting to influence or control it.
Observing animals - candid camera? The difficulty here is ethically we need permission to use a person for a research study - if they know they are being observed it is no longer natural observation.
Case Study: is descriptive method using one single individual over a prolonged period of time: advantages and
Also know as the treatment (alcohol)
Dependent Variable: is measured at the end of the experiment and is presumed to vary (increase or decrease) as a result of the manipulations of the independent variable (anger)
Extraneous Variable: conditions the researchers wishes to prevent from affecting the outcome of an experiment. (all other variables that are not being measured by the experiment, sleep, food, mood, previous experiences)
Experimental Group: a group of participants who are exposed to the independent variable or treatment
Control Group: is exposed to same experimental environment as the experimental group but is not given the independent variable or