One List to Rule Them All--Myers 3rd Edition--complete set of vocabulary words.

psychotherapy

treatment involving psychological techniques; consists of interactions between a trained therapist and someone seeking to overcome psychological difficulties or achieve personal growth

biomedical therapy

prescribed medications or procedures that act directly on the person's physiology

eclectic approach

an approach to psychotherapy that uses techniques from various forms of therapy

psychoanalysis

(1) Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts. (2) Sigmund Freud's therapeutic technique used in treating psychological disorders. Freud believed the patient's free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences—and the therapist's interpretations of them—released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight

resistance

in psychoanalysis, the blocking from consciousness of anxietyladen material

interpretation

in psychoanalysis, the analyst's noting supposed dream meanings, resistances, and other significant behaviors and events in order to promote insight

transference

in psychoanalysis, the patient's transfer to the analyst of emotions linked with other relationships (such as love or hatred for a parent)

psychodynamic therapy

therapy deriving from the psychoanalytic tradition; views individuals as responding to unconscious forces and childhood experiences, and seeks to enhance self-insight

insight therapies

therapies that aim to improve psychological functioning by increasing a person's awareness of underlying motives and defenses

client-centered therapy

a humanistic therapy, developed by Carl Rogers, in which the therapist uses techniques such as active listening within an accepting, genuine, empathic environment to facilitate clients' growth

active listening

empathic listening in which the listener echoes, restates, and clarifies. A feature of Rogers' client-centered therapy

unconditional positive regard

a caring, accepting, nonjudgmental attitude, which Carl Rogers believed would help clients develop self-awareness and self-acceptance

behavior therapy

therapy that applies learning principles to the elimination of unwanted behaviors

counterconditioning

behavior therapy procedures that use classical conditioning to evoke new responses to stimuli that are triggering unwanted behaviors; include exposure therapies and aversive conditioning

exposure therapies

behavioral techniques, such as systematic desensitization and virtual reality exposure therapy, that treat anxieties by exposing people (in imaginary or actual situations) to the things they fear and avoid

systematic desensitization

a type of exposure therapy that associates a pleasant relaxed state with gradually increasing anxiety-triggering stimuli. Commonly used to treat phobias

virtual reality exposure therapy

a counterconditioning technique that treats anxiety through creative electronic simulations in which people can safely face their greatest fears, such as airplane flying, spiders, or public speaking

aversive conditioning

a type of counterconditioning that associates an unpleasant state (such as nausea) with an unwanted behavior (such as drinking alcohol)

token economy

an operant conditioning procedure in which people earn a token for exhibiting a desired behavior and can later exchange tokens for privileges or treats

cognitive therapy

therapy that teaches people new, more adaptive ways of thinking; based on the assumption that thoughts intervene between events and our emotional reactions

rational-emotive behavior therapy (REBT)

a confrontational cognitive therapy, developed by Albert Ellis, that vigorously challenges people's illogical, self-defeating attitudes and assumptions

cognitive-behavioral therapy

a popular integrative therapy that combines cognitive therapy (changing self-defeating thinking) with behavior therapy (changing behavior)

group therapy

therapy conducted with groups rather than individuals, providing benefits from group interaction

family therapy

therapy that treats people in the context of their family system. Views an individual's unwanted behaviors as influenced by, or directed at, other family members

meta-analysis

a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies

evidence-based practice

clinical decision making that integrates the best available research with clinical expertise and patient characteristics and preferences

therapeutic alliance

a bond of trust and mutual understanding between a therapist and client, who work together constructively to overcome the client's problem

psychopharmacology

the study of the effects of drugs on mind and behavior

antipsychotic drugs

drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other forms of severe thought disorder

antianxiety drugs

drugs used to control anxiety and agitation

antidepressant drugs

drugs used to treat depression, anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder

electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

a biomedical therapy for severely depressed patients in which a brief electric current is sent through the brain of an anesthetized patient

repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)

the application of repeated pulses of magnetic energy to the brain; used to stimulate or suppress brain activity

psychosurgery

surgery that removes or destroys brain tissue in an effort to change behavior

lobotomy

a psychosurgical procedure once used to calm uncontrollably emotional or violent patients. The procedure cut the nerves connecting the frontal lobes to the emotion-controlling centers of the inner brain

resilience

the personal strength that helps most people cope with stress and recover from adversity and even trauma

posttraumatic growth

positive psychological changes as a result of struggling with extremely challenging circumstances and life crises

critical thinking

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, appraises the source, discerns hidden biases, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions.

empiricism

the idea that knowledge comes from experience, and that observation and experimentation enable scientific knowledge

structuralism

an early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener; used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind

introspection

the process of looking inward in an attempt to directly observe one's own psychological processes

functionalism

an early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function—how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish

behaviorism

the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2)

humanistic psychology

a historically significant perspective that emphasized human growth potential

cognitive psychology

the study of mental processes, such as occur when we perceive, learn, remember, think, communicate, and solve problems

cognitive neuroscience

the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language)

psychology

the science of behavior and mental processes

nature-nurture issue

the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today's science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture

natural selection

the principle that inherited traits that better enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment will (in competition with other trait variations) most likely be passed on to succeeding generations

evolutionary psychology

the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection

behavior genetics

the study of the relative power and limits of genetic and environmental influences on behavior

culture

the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next

positive psychology

the scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive

biopsychosocial approach

an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural viewpoints

behavioral psychology

the scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning

biological psychology

the scientific study of the links between biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes

psychodynamic psychology

a branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders

social-cultural psychology

the study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking

testing effect

enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply rereading, information

SQ3R

a study method incorporating five steps: Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve, Review

psychometrics

the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits

basic research

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

developmental psychology

a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span

educational psychology

the study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning

personality psychology

the study of individuals' characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and acting

social psychology

the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another

applied research

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

industrial-organizational psychology

the application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces

human factors psychology

a field of psychology allied with I/O psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use

counseling psychology

a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being

clinical psychology

a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders

psychiatry

a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who are licensed to provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy

community psychology

a branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals and groups

hindsight bias

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it

theory

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

hypothesis

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

operational definition

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study

replication

repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced

case study

a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

naturalistic observation

a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate or control the situation

survey

a descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group

sampling bias

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

population

all those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn

random sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

correlation

a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between two things (from −1.00 to +1.00)

variable

anything that can vary and is feasible and ethical to measure

scatterplot

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation

illusory correlation

perceiving a relationship where none exists, or perceiving a stronger-than-actual relationship

regression toward the mean

the tendency for extreme or unusual scores or events to fall back toward the average

experiment

a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process

experimental group

in an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable

control group

in an experiment, the group not exposed to the treatment

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between the different groups

double-blind procedure

an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo

placebo effect

experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent

independent variable

in an experiment, the factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied

confounding variable

a factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study's results

dependent variable

in an experiment, the outcome that is measured

validity

the extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to