Psych notes chapter 1 - 2

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Empiricism

Philosophical tenet that knowledge comes through experience.

Determinism

Belief that all events are governed by lawful, cause-and-effect relationships.

Confirmation bias

Tendency to look for or only pay attention to information that confirms one’s beliefs.

Materialism

Belief that humans and other living beings are composed exclusively of physical matter.

Psychoanalysis

Theory emphasizing unconscious causes of psychological problems, developed by Sigmund Freud.

Classical Conditioning

Associates an involuntary response and stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

Associates a voluntary behavior and consequence.

Behaviorism

Study of observing behavior with little or no reference to mental events.

Pillars of Modern Psychology

Biological, Cognitive, Developmental, Social and Personality, Mental and Physical Health.

Theory

Organized system of assumptions and principles that explains certain phenomena.

Hypothesis

Testable prediction about processes that can be observed and measured.

Validity

Accuracy in the measurement process, including content and criterion validity.

Operational definition

Specification of precisely how to observe and measure a variable in a hypothesis.

Correlational Research

Involves measuring the degree of association between two variables.

Experimental Group

Receives special treatment in regard to the independent variable.

Control Group

Similar subjects who do not receive the special treatment.

Descriptive Statistics

Techniques used to organize, summarize, and interpret data.

Standard Deviation

Measure of variability around the mean or the average distance from the mean.

Inferential Statistics

Used to assess potential differences or relationships in data.

Null Hypothesis

Assumes any differences between groups are due to chance (Control Group).