chapter 1

Empirical approach

Gaining knowledge through observation and experimentation rather than intuition or opinion.

Critical thinking

Thinking carefully and logically about evidence instead of accepting claims automatically.

Behaviorism

The study of observable behavior, emphasizing how the environment influences behavior.

Humanistic psychology

A perspective emphasizing free will, personal growth, and reaching one's full potential.

Cognitive psychology

The study of mental processes such as thinking, memory, perception, and language.

Cognitive neuroscience

The study of the brain activity underlying mental processes.

Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Nature-nurture issue

The debate over how much genes (nature) versus environment and experience (nurture) influence behavior.

Natural selection

The evolutionary process in which organisms with helpful inherited traits are more likely to survive and reproduce.

Evolutionary psychology

The study of how natural selection may have shaped behaviors and mental processes.

Behavior genetics

The study of how genes and environment influence behavior.

Culture

Shared ideas, behaviors, attitudes, values, and traditions of a group.

Positive psychology

The study of factors that help people thrive, flourish, and live fulfilling lives.

Biopsychosocial approach

Understanding behavior through biological, psychological, and social-cultural factors.

Levels of analysis

Different perspectives used to study behavior, ranging from biological to psychological to social-cultural influences.

Basic research

Research aimed at increasing knowledge rather than solving an immediate practical problem.

Applied research

Research designed to solve practical problems.

Counseling psychology

A field that helps people deal with everyday challenges and improve well-being.

Clinical psychology

A field that assesses and treats mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders.

Psychiatry

A medical field focused on diagnosing and treating mental disorders, including through medication.

Community psychology

The study of how social environments and communities affect people's well-being.

Testing effect

The finding that retrieving information through testing improves long-term memory.

Hindsight bias

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that you could have predicted it beforehand.

Peer reviewers

Experts who evaluate research before it is published.

Theory

An organized explanation that uses evidence to explain observations and make predictions.

Hypothesis

A specific, testable prediction about how variables are related.

Operational definition

A specific description of how a variable will be measured or manipulated in a study.

Replication

Repeating a study to see whether the original findings can be reproduced.

Preregistration

Publicly recording a study's hypotheses, methods, and analysis plan before conducting or analyzing the study.

Meta-analysis

A statistical method that combines results from multiple studies to identify overall patterns.

Case study

An in-depth study of one individual or a small group.

Naturalistic observation

Observing and recording behavior in its natural environment without interfering.

Survey

A research method that collects information by asking people questions.

Random sample

A sample chosen so that every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected.

Population

The entire group that a researcher wants to study.

Correlation

A relationship between two variables in which changes in one are associated with changes in the other.

Correlation coefficient

A number from -1.00 to +1.00 showing the strength and direction of a correlation.

Variable

Anything that can vary or take different values.

Scatterplot

A graph showing the relationship between two variables.

Illusory correlation

The perception of a relationship between variables when no real relationship exists or the relationship is weaker than believed.

Regression toward the mean

The tendency for extreme results to move closer to the average when measured again.

Experiment

A research method that manipulates a variable to determine whether it causes a change in another variable.

Experimental group

The group that receives the treatment or experimental manipulation.

Control group

The group that does not receive the experimental treatment and provides a comparison.

Random assignment

Assigning participants to groups randomly, helping make the groups similar at the beginning.

Double-blind procedure

A procedure in which neither the participants nor the researchers interacting with them know who received the treatment.

Placebo effect

A person's belief that they are receiving treatment can produce an improvement even when the treatment has no active effect.

Independent variable

The variable that the researcher manipulates.

Confounding variable

An unwanted variable that changes along with the independent variable, making it difficult to determine what caused the result.

Dependent variable

The variable that is measured to see whether it changes because of the independent variable.

Informed consent

Participants are given enough information about a study to voluntarily agree to participate.

Debriefing

Explaining the study's purpose, procedures, and any deception to participants after the study.

Statistics

Numerical methods used to collect, organize, analyze, and interpret data.

Descriptive statistics

Statistics that summarize and describe data.

Mode

The most frequently occurring score.

Mean

The average; add all scores and divide by the number of scores.

Median

The middle score when scores are arranged from lowest to highest.

Range

The difference between the highest and lowest scores.

Standard deviation

A measure of how much scores vary or spread out around the mean.

Normal curve

A symmetrical, bell-shaped distribution in which most scores cluster around the mean.

Inferential statistics

Statistics used to draw conclusions about a population based on a sample.

Statistical significance

A result is statistically significant when it is unlikely to have occurred by chance alone, according to a chosen significance level