Psychology: A Science and a Perspective

Psychology

The science of behavior and cognitive processes.

Behavior

Any observable action or reaction of a living organism ranging from overt actions to subtle electrical activity in the brain.

Cognitive processes

Every aspect of our mental life including our thoughts memories reasoning and decision making.

Rationalism

An approach used by early philosophers to answer questions about the human mind through careful reasoning.

Dualism

The view suggested by René Descartes that the mind and body are distinct entities that interact through the pineal gland.

Interactionism

The view that the mind can influence the body and the body can influence the mind.

Wilhelm Wundt

The founder of the first formal laboratory for research in psychology at the University of Leipzig in 1879.

Structuralism

An early view suggesting that psychology should focus on identifying the basic structures and elements of the human mind.

Introspection

A research method where trained individuals report in detail on their conscious experiences in response to specific stimuli.

Functionalism

An early view suggesting that psychology should focus on the functions of consciousness and how it helps humans cope with their world.

Behaviorism

The view that psychology should focus only on observable forms of behavior and ignore internal cognitive states.

Cognitive revolution

A renewal of interest in all aspects of cognition that challenged behaviorism aided by the development of computer technology.

Ethnocentrism

Adopting one cultural position projecting it as a universal standard and treating differences as deficits.

Androcentrism

A male-centered view that treats male characteristics as the norm and evaluates women's behaviors or traits negatively.

Nature-nurture question

The debate concerning the extent to which aspects of behavior are shaped by genetic inheritance versus learned experiences.

Multicultural perspective

A perspective that pays careful attention to the role of cultural and ethnic diversity in human behavior.

Empiricism

The assumption that scientific concepts and theories must be based on public evidence obtained through observation.

Determinism

The belief that everything that happens has definite causes meaning the goal of research is to find the causes of behavior.

Parsimony

The scientific principle of describing phenomena using relatively few words and as simply as possible.

Theories

Frameworks constructed by scientists for explaining various events or processes.

Hypotheses

Testable predictions derived from scientific theories.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to notice and remember primarily information that lends support to our existing views.

Availability heuristic

A mental shortcut suggesting that the easier it is to bring something to mind the more frequent or important it is.

Critical thinking

Thinking that closely examines all assumptions carefully evaluates evidence and avoids the blind acceptance of conclusions.

Systematic observation

A basic method of science in which the natural world or specific events are observed and measured in a very careful manner.

Naturalistic observation

A research method in which behavior is studied in the settings where it usually occurs.

Case method

A research method in which detailed information about specific individuals is used to develop general principles about behavior.

Survey method

A research method in which large numbers of people answer questions about their views or behavior usually through questionnaires.

Sampling

The methods used to select the individuals who respond to a survey which must be representative to avoid serious errors.

Correlational method

A research method in which researchers attempt to determine whether and to what extent different variables are related to each other.

Experimental method

A research method in which researchers systematically alter one or more variables to determine if such changes influence an aspect of behavior.

Independent variable

The specific factor or variable that is systematically changed by the researcher in an experiment.

Dependent variable

The aspect of behavior or variable that is measured in an experiment.

Random assignment

Ensuring that all research participants have an equal chance of being assigned to each experimental condition.

Confounding of variables

Confusion that occurs when factors other than the independent variable are permitted to vary across experimental conditions.

Experimenter effects

Unintended effects on research participants' behavior caused by the researchers themselves.

Double-blind procedure

A procedure where researchers who interact with participants do not know the hypothesis under investigation to prevent bias.

Deception

The temporary withholding of information about a study from the research participants.

Informed consent

A principle requiring that participants be provided with as much information as possible about a study before they agree to participate.

Debriefing

Providing research participants with full information about all aspects of a study after they have participated in it.

Qualitative methods

Methods involving interpretive study yielding data in words or pictures emphasizing contextual understanding and emergent reality.

Reflexive relationship

The idea that the psychological states of researching psychologists influence their work which in turn influences the subject matter.

Folk psychology

Naive categories of uncertain nature used by people to build psychology-like theories and explanations.

René Descartes

A French philosopher who suggested that mind and body are distinct entities that interact through the pineal gland.

Johannes Müller

A physiologist who described how electrical signals were conducted by nerves within the body.

Hermann von Helmholtz

A researcher who showed how receptors in the eyes and ears receive and interpret sensations from the outside world.

Gustav Fechner

A scientist who demonstrated that perceptions of physical stimuli are related in predictable ways to the physical energies of these stimuli.

G. Stanley Hall

The psychologist who founded the first laboratory of psychology in the United States and helped start the American Psychological Association.

William James

A psychologist who challenged structuralism and argued that psychology should focus on the functions of consciousness.

John B. Watson

A psychologist who published a provocative article in 1913 arguing that psychology should focus only on observable behavior.

B. F. Skinner

A famous behaviorist who argued that internal mental states cannot be studied scientifically and should not be part of psychology.

Sigmund Freud

A psychiatrist who argued strongly for the role of the unconscious and other internal processes in human behavior and mental disorders.

Humanistic psychologists

Researchers who argued that people have free will and are strongly motivated by future plans goals and the desire for personal growth.

Evolutionary psychology

A subfield that focuses on the possible role of evolved psychological mechanisms in human behavior.

Stability versus change

A grand issue in psychology questioning the extent to which we remain stable over time versus the extent to which we change.

Rationality versus irrationality

A grand issue in psychology exploring why humans are not always perfectly logical in their behavior and decisions.

Behavioral perspective

A psychological viewpoint that emphasizes overt actions and how people respond to their environment.

Biological perspective

A psychological viewpoint that focuses on the physical events and processes that underlie behavior.

Developmental perspective

A psychological viewpoint that focuses on changes in behavior and cognitive processes over the life span.

Psychodynamic perspective

A psychological viewpoint that focuses on the role of hidden unconscious internal motives.

Social and cultural perspective

A psychological viewpoint that focuses on how environmental factors and society influence behavior.

Clinical psychology

A subfield that studies the diagnosis causes and treatment of mental disorders.

Exportation of psychology

The trend of using psychological findings and principles to solve practical problems in other fields.

Control condition

A group in an experiment that does not receive the real independent variable used as a baseline for comparison.

N. N. Sengupta

A Harvard-trained scholar appointed as the first faculty of psychology at Calcutta University in 1916.

Girindra Shekhar Bose

The scholar awarded the first doctorate in psychology in India who founded the Indian Psychoanalytical Society.

Jiva

The classical Indian psychological concept of the person which is transpersonal and bound by transcognitive states.

Yoga

In the classical Indian perspective diverse forms like Jnana Bhakti and Karma are used for liberation and attaining higher states of awareness.