Chapter 1: Psychology as a Science

A complete set of vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, historical figures, schools of thought, perspectives, research methods, and ethical studies in Chapter 1: Psychology as a Science.

Psychology

The science that studies behavior and mental processes, seeking to describe, predict, and explain human behavior.

Theory

A proposed reasoning for relationships among events that creates a testable prediction.

Clinical Psychologist

A psychologist who diagnoses and helps clients resolve severe, complex, or chronic psychological disorders and distress.

Counseling Psychologist

A psychologist who discusses problems with clients navigating life stressors, wellness, career transitions, or mild-to-moderate distress without severe disorder diagnoses.

Forensic Psychologist

A psychologist who applies psychological principles and methods to the criminal justice system.

Sports Psychologist

A psychologist who helps athletes concentrate on themselves and their performance rather than crowds.

Glossophobia

The clinical term for the fear of public speaking.

Socrates

An ancient Greek philosopher who suggested that people influence one another and advocated using rational thoughts and introspection to gain self-knowledge.

Aristotle

An ancient Greek philosopher who explored cause and effect and declared that people are motivated to seek pleasure and avoid pain.

Structuralism

An early school of psychology founded by Wilhelm Wundt proposing that the mind consists of three basic elements: sensations, feelings, and images.

Wilhelm Wundt

The psychologist who established the first psychological laboratory in Germany in 1879 and founded the school of Structuralism.

Functionalism

A school of psychology developed by William James that examines how experiences help organisms function adaptively in their environments.

William James

The psychologist who developed Functionalism and was inspired by Herbert Spencer's theory of "survival of the fittest."

Behaviorism

A school of thought founded by John Broadus Watson that studies observable relationships between environmental stimuli and behavioral responses.

John Broadus Watson

The founder of Behaviorism who investigated how behavior is learned through stimulus-response associations using maze experiments.

Gestalt Psychology

A school of psychology created in the 1920s asserting that human perception views experiences as an organized whole rather than individual parts.

Psychoanalysis

A theory and therapeutic method founded by Sigmund Freud proposing that lives are driven by unconscious motives stemming from early childhood developmental conflicts.

Sigmund Freud

The founder of psychoanalysis who emphasized the influence of unconscious motives and early childhood experiences on behavior.

Mary Whiton Calkins

A pioneer psychologist who completed all PhD requirements at Harvard in the 1890s, became the first female president of the APA, and developed paired-associate learning.

Paired-Associate Learning

A technique developed by Mary Whiton Calkins examining how individuals learn items in pairs (e.g., associating the color red with "Stop").

Biological Perspective

A psychological viewpoint asserting that thoughts, feelings, and behaviors stem primarily from the brain, nervous system, genetics, and heredity.

Cognitive Perspective

A psychological perspective focusing on mental processes such as thinking, memory, perception, and problem-solving.

Psychodynamic Perspective

A psychological viewpoint maintaining that the unconscious mind and early childhood experiences control most behavior and mental processes.

Sociocultural Perspective

A psychological perspective studying how ethnicity, gender, culture, and socioeconomic factors shape behavior and mental processes.

Scientific Method

A systematic process used by psychologists to observe, formulate hypotheses, test research questions, and analyze outcomes.

Hypothesis

An educated guess or testable prediction formulated within the scientific method.

Sample Selection

The process of selecting a subset of individuals from a target population so that it accurately represents the entire population in a research study.

Volunteer Bias

A systematic error in research occurring because individuals who volunteer for studies differ significantly from those who choose not to participate.

Case Study

An observational research method that collects detailed information from an individual or small group using descriptions of psychological problems and treatments.

Survey

A research method administering structured questionnaires to gather data from a large sample pool simultaneously.

Naturalistic Observation

A research method involving the observation of humans or animals in their everyday natural habitats without interference.

Placebo

A fake treatment (such as a sugar pill) designed to appear genuine.

Placebo Effect

A change in a participant's condition or behavior resulting from their belief in a fake treatment rather than the treatment itself.

Blind Study

An experimental procedure where participants do not know whether they received the real treatment or a placebo, but the researcher does.

Double-Blind Study

An experimental design where neither the participants nor the experimenters know who received the real treatment or the placebo.

Critical Thinking

An intentional, analytical, and logical process of questioning, fact-checking, and evaluating ideas, assumptions, and potential biases.

Informed Consent

An ethical requirement where participants explicitly agree to participate in a study after full disclosure of its nature, duration, risks, and procedures.

Confidentiality

An ethical standard requiring researchers to keep participant records private and identity data secure so individuals cannot be identified.

Harlow Experiment

A 1950s study by Harry Harlow using infant monkeys and surrogate wire and cloth mothers, demonstrating that attachment is fundamentally based on physical and emotional comfort rather than food alone.

Milgram Experiment

A study on obedience to authority that demonstrated how far people would go when instructed by an authority figure to administer severe shocks to others.

Stanford Prison Experiment

A study conducted by Philip Zimbardo simulating prison roles that demonstrated extreme psychological distress, role absorption, and ethical flaws like researcher bias.