pysch vocabulary

psychology

The science of the mind and behavior.

level of the person

Events that involve the function (mental processes) and content (mental content) of the mind.

level of the group

Events that involve relationships between people (such as love, competition, and cooperation), relationships among groups, and culture.

level of the brain

Events that involve the activity, structure, and properties of the organ itself—brain cells and their connections, the chemical solutions in which they exist, and the genes.

mental contents

Knowledge, beliefs (including ideas, explanations, and expectations), desires (such as hopes, goals, and needs), and feelings (such as fears, guilts, and attractions).5 of 7

behavior

The outwardly observable acts of a person, alone or in a group.

mental processes

Sets of operations that work together to carry out a function, such as attention, perception, or memory.

cognitive psychology

The approach in psychology that attempts to characterize the mental events that allow information to be stored and operated on internally.

evolutionary psychology

The approach in psychology that assumes that certain cognitive strategies and goals are so important that natural selection has built them into our brains.

counseling pyschologist

The type of psychologist who is trained to help people with issues that naturally arise during the course of life.

unconscious

Outside conscious awareness and not able to be brought into consciousness at will.

pyschodynamic theory

A theory of mental events that specifies the continual push-and-pull interaction among conscious and unconscious thoughts and feelings and specifies how such interactions affect behavior.

psychiatrist

A physician with special training in treating mental disorders.

social worker

A mental health professional who may use psychotherapy to help families (and individuals) or help clients to use the social service systems in their communities.

clinical psychologist

The type of psychologist who is trained to provide psychotherapy and to administer and interpret tests.

introspection

The technique of observing your mental events as, or immediately after, they occur.

academic psychologists

Psychologists who focus on teaching and conducting research.

structuralism

The school of psychology that sought to identify the basic elements of consciousness and to describe the rules and circumstances under which these elements combine to form mental structures.

functionalism

The school of psychology that sought to understand how the mind helps individuals to adapt to the world around them, to function effectively in it.

psychiatric nurse

A nurse with a master’s degree and a clinical specialization in psychiatric nursing who provides psychotherapy and works with medical doctors to monitor and administer medications.

behaviorism

The school of psychology that focuses on how a specific stimulus (object, person, or event) evokes a specific response (behavior in reaction to the stimulus).

cognitive neuroscience

The approach in psychology that blends cognitive psychology and neuroscience (the study of the brain) when attempting to specify how the brain gives rise to mental processes that store and process information.

psychotherapy

The process of helping people learn to change so they can cope with troublesome thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.

applied psychologists

Psychologists who use the principles, findings, and theories of psychology to improve products and procedures and who conduct research to help solve specific practical problems.

humanistic psychology

The school of psychology that assumes people have positive values, free will, and deep inner creativity, the combination of which allows them to choose life-fulfilling paths to personal growth.

Gestalt psychology

An approach to understanding mental events that focuses on the idea that the whole is more than the sum of its parts.

random assignment

The technique of assigning participants randomly, that is, by chance, to the experimental and the control groups, so that members of the two groups are comparable in all relevant ways.

experimental condition

A part of a study in which participants receive the complete procedure that defines the experiment.

prediction

A hypothesis that follows from a theory, which should be confirmed if the theory is correct.

confound

Any aspect of the situation that varies along with the independent variable (or variables) of interest and could be the actual basis for what is measured.

bias

When conscious or unconscious beliefs, expectations, or habits alter how participants in a study respond or affect how a researcher sets up or conducts a study, thereby influencing its outcome.

experimental group

A group that receives the complete procedure that defines the experiment.

experimenter expectancy effects

Effects that occur when an investigator’s expectations lead him or her (consciously or unconsciously) to treat participants in a way that encourages them to produce the expected results.

correlation coefficient

A number that ranges from -1.0 to 1.0 that indicates how closely interrelated two sets of measured variables are; the higher the coefficient (in either the positive or negative direction), the better the value of one measurement can predict the value of the other. Also simply called a correlation.

case study

A scientific study that focuses on a single participant, examining his or her psychological characteristics (at any or all of the levels of analysis) in detail.

double-blind design

A study in which the participant is “blind” to (unaware of) the predictions and therefore cannot consciously or unconsciously produce the predicted results; the investigator is also “blind” to the group to which the participant has been assigned or to the condition that the participant is receiving and therefore cannot produce the predicted results.

dependent variable

The aspect of the situation that is measured as the values of an independent variable are changed; in an experiment, the value of the dependent variable is expected to depend on the value of the independent variable.

scientific method

A way to gather facts that will lead to the formulation and validation (or refutation) of a theory.

meta-analysis

A statistical technique that allows researchers to combine results from different studies on the same topic in order to discover whether there is a relationship among variables.

theory

Concepts or principles that explain a set of research findings.

pseudopsychology

Theories or statements that at first glance look like psychology but are in fact superstition or unsupported opinion, not based in science.

independent variable

The aspect of the situation that is deliberately and independently varied while another aspect is measured.

sampling bias

A bias that occurs when the participants are not chosen at random but instead are chosen so that one attribute is over- or underrepresented.

replication

Repeating the method of a study and collecting comparable data as were found in the original study.

debriefed

An interview after a study to ensure that the participant has no negative reactions as a result of participation and to explain why the study was conducted.

hypothesis

A tentative idea that might explain a set of observations.

validity

A method does in fact measure what it is supposed to measure.

variable

An aspect of a situation that can vary, or change; specifically, a characteristic of a substance, quantity, or entity that is measurable.

operational definition

A definition of a concept that specifies how it is measured or manipulated.

data

Careful descriptions or numerical measurements of a phenomenon.

population

The entire set of relevant people or animals.

sample

A group that is drawn from a larger population and that is measured or observed.

control condition

A part of a study in which participants receive the same procedure as in the experimental condition except that the independent variable of interest is not manipulated.

informed consent

The requirement that a potential participant in a study be told what he or she will be asked to do and be advised of possible risks and benefits of the study before formally agreeing to take part.

reliability

Consistency; data are reliable if the same values are obtained when the measurements are repeated.

survey

A set of questions that people are asked about their beliefs, attitudes, preferences, or activities.

response bias

A tendency to respond in a particular way regardless of respondents’ actual knowledge or beliefs.

effect

The difference in the value of the dependent variable that arises from changes in the independent variable.

control group

A group that is treated exactly the same way as the experimental group, except that the independent variable that is the focus of the study is not manipulated. The control group holds constant—“controls”—all of the variables in the experimental group.

interneuron

A neuron that is connected to other neurons, not to sense organs or muscles.

myelin

A fatty substance that helps impulses efficiently travel down the axon.

action potential

The shifting change in charge that moves down the axon.

synaptic cleft

The gap in the synapse between the axon of one neuron and the membrane of another, across which communication occurs.

neuron

A cells that receives signals from sense organs or other neurons, processes these signals, and sends the signals to muscles, organs, or other neurons; the basic unit of the nervous system.

cell membrane

The skin that surrounds a cell.

axon

The sending end of the neuron; the long, cable-like structure extending from the cell body.

dendrite

A tree-like part of a neuron that receives messages from the axons of other neurons.

receptor

A site on a dendrite or cell body where a neurotransmitter molecule attaches itself; like a lock that is opened by one key, a receptor receives only one type of neurotransmitter.

cell body

The central part of a neuron (or other cell), which contains the nucleus.

terminal button

A structure at the end of the branch of an axon that can release chemicals into the space between neurons.

endogenous cannabinoids

Neurotransmitter substances released by the receiving neuron that then influence the activity of the sending neuron.

serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI)

A chemical that blocks the reuptake of the neurotransmitters serotonin and norepinephrine.

mental processes

Sets of operations that work together to carry out a function, such as attention, perception, or memory.

brain circuit

A set of neurons that works together to receive input, operates on it in some way, and produces specific output.

motor neuron

A neurons that sends signals to muscles in order to control movement (and also to bodily organs, such as glands).

reuptake

The process by which surplus neurotransmitter in the synaptic cleft is reabsorbed back into the sending neuron so that the neuron can effectively fire again.

mental contents

Knowledge, beliefs (including ideas, explanations, and expectations), desires (such as hopes, goals, and needs), and feelings (such as fears, guilts, and attractions).

resting potential

The negative charge within a neuron when it is at rest.

selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)

A chemical that blocks the reuptake of the neurotransmitter serotonin.

antagonist

A chemical that blocks the effects of a neurotransmitter.

neurotransmitter substance

A chemicals that carries a signal from the terminal button of one neuron to the dendrite or cell body of another; often referred to as a neurotransmitter.

synapse

The place where an axon of one neuron sends signals to the membrane (on a dendrite or cell body) of another neuron; the synapse includes the sending portions of an axon, the receiving portions of the receiving neuron, and the space between them.

agonist

A chemical that mimics the effects of a neurotransmitter by activating a type of receptor.

ion

An atom that has a positive or negative charge.

sensory neuron

A neuron that responds to signals from sensory organs and transmits those signals to the brain and spinal cord.

glial cell

A type of cell that helps neurons to form both synapses and connections when the brain is developing, influences the communication among neurons, and generally helps in the “care and feeding” of neurons.

all-or-none law

States that if the neuron is sufficiently stimulated, it fires, sending the action potential all the way down the axon and releasing chemicals from the terminal buttons; either the action potential occurs or it doesn’t.

sympathetic nervous system

Part of the autonomic nervous system that readies an animal to fight or to flee by speeding up the heart, increasing the breathing rate to deliver more oxygen, dilating the pupils, producing sweat, decreasing salivation, inhibiting activity in the stomach, and relaxing the bladder.

meninges

Three protective layered membranes that cover the brain.

parasympathetic nervous system

Part of the autonomic nervous system that is “next to” the sympathetic nervous system and that tends to counteract its effects.

reflex

An automatic behavioral response to an event.

somatic nervous system (SNS)

Part of the peripheral nervous system that consists of neurons in the sensory organs (such as the eyes and ears) that convey information to the brain as well as neurons that actually trigger muscles and glands.

cerebral hemisphere

A left or right half-brain, shaped roughly like half a sphere.

autonomic nervous system (ANS)

Controls the smooth muscles in the body, some glandular functions, and many of the body’s self-regulating activities, such as digestion and circulation.

sulci

Creases in the cerebral cortex.

peripheral nervous system (PNS)

The autonomic nervous system and the somatic nervous system.

lobes

The four major parts of each cerebral hemisphere: occipital, temporal, parietal, and frontal; each lobe is present in each hemisphere.

corpus callosum

The large bundle of axons that connects the two halves of the brain.

spinal cord

The flexible rope of neurons and their connections that runs inside the backbone (spinal column).

subcortical structures

Parts of the brain located under the cerebral cortex.