Psychology Study Guide: Perspectives, Research Methods, and Statistics

Flashcards testing core vocabulary terms, major psychological perspectives, foundational researchers, research design methods, and statistical terminology from the study guide.

Behaviorism

The field of psychology that centers around what can be observed.

Humanistic Psychology

A perspective focused on encouraging individuals to reach their fullest potential, operating on the belief that this can only occur if basic needs are met.

Community Psychology

A subfield emphasizing that human behavior is powerfully influenced by the interaction between people and their physical, social, political, and economic environments.

Evolutionary Psychology

The perspective stating that our universal mental characteristics adapt over time.

Sociocultural Perspective

The study of the effect that human interaction, customs, and norms have on an individual.

Operational Definition

A clear, concise, detailed definition of a measure, instructions, and procedures that allows researchers to replicate a study.

Psychometrics

The field studying the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits.

Biological Perspective

A perspective based on the physiological basis for behavior and mental processes, focusing on what is going on in the body.

Eclectic Approach

A treatment strategy in which psychologists use a combination of multiple theories rather than relying on a single approach.

Clinical Psychologist

A specialist in psychology who evaluates and treats emotional disturbances.

Developmental Psychology

The study of emotional, biological, personal, and social changes that occur as an individual matures.

Educational Psychology

The subfield aligned with investigating the methods teachers use to enhance student learning.

Health Psychologist

A professional who helps people make good decisions regarding their physical well-being.

Forensic Psychologist

A psychologist who works in the legal court and correctional systems, performing duties such as helping pick a jury, examining mental state, or mediating family disputes.

Wilhelm Wundt

Known as the father of psychology for seeking to measure 'atoms of the mind' and opening the first true laboratory.

Objective Introspection

The process of thinking about one's own thoughts, experiences, emotions, and levels of consciousness in an unbiased manner.

Overconfidence

The tendency to exaggerate the correctness or accuracy of our beliefs and predictions prior to testing.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one knew the answer all along or could have foreseen it.

Psychiatrist

A licensed medical doctor eligible to prescribe medication, distinguishing them from traditional psychologists.

Human Factors Psychologist

A subfield of psychology that studies the interaction of people, machines, and physical environments.

Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Structuralism

An early school of psychology aimed at analyzing consciousness broken down into individual sensations and emotions.

Functionalism

An early perspective focused on the flow of consciousness and the overall interworking and purpose of thoughts and sensations.

Sigmund Freud

A controversial psychologist who focused on repressed and unconscious desires heavily influenced by sex and aggression.

Philosophy

A foundational root of psychology dealing with thoughts and ideas regarding the source of knowledge, associated with thinkers like Aristotle and Socrates.

Physiology

A root of psychology dealing with the function of living organisms' bodily parts.

Psychodynamic Perspective

A perspective stemming from psychoanalysis that focuses less on sex while maintaining that the unconscious is an important behavioral component.

Ivan Pavlov

A researcher who accidentally discovered classical conditioning while studying digestion in dogs.

John B. Watson

A prominent behaviorist known for the Lil Albert fear study who also applied psychology to advertising.

B.F. Skinner

A psychologist who studied operant conditioning and how voluntary behavior is affected by positive and negative consequences using an experimental box.

Cognitive Psychology

The field of psychology concerned with how people solve, store, and use information.

Applied Research

Scientific study that aims to use practical results to solve existing real-world problems.

Target Population

The entire group of individuals that a researcher wants to study or describe.

Case Study

An in-depth observational research method used to investigate a single individual through tools like brain scans, tests, and interviews.

Naturalistic Observation

A descriptive research technique involving the recording of behavior in natural environments without intervention.

Longitudinal Study

A research method in which data are collected about a group of participants over a span of years to measure changes over development.

Independent Variable

The experimental factor that researchers manipulate to test its specific effects.

Double-Blind Study

An experimental procedure where neither the participants nor the experimenters know who has received the active treatment.

Milgram Experiment

An experiment inspired by the Holocaust demonstrating that ordinary people could inflict pain on others when commanded by an authority figure.

Placebo Effect

A change in a participant's illness or behavior resulting from their expectation or belief in a treatment's efficacy rather than the actual treatment.

Statistics

The branch of mathematics concerned with summarizing and making meaningful inferences from collections of data.

Standard Deviation

A measure of variability describing the average distance of every individual score from the mean.

Validity

The extent or degree to which a test actually measures what it claims to measure.

Qualitative Data

In-depth, holistic research data gathered from sources such as interviews, self-reports, and open-ended survey questions.

Statistical Significance

A statistical standard, typically defined as less than $5\%$ or $0.05$, used to determine if research results are meaningful rather than due to chance.

Descriptive Statistics

Statistical procedures used to summarize and organize raw data.

Inferential Statistics

Statistical calculations used to determine whether data collected from a sample can be generalized to broader populations.