Psychology in Everyday Life Chapter 1

behaviorism

school of psychology that studies only observable and measurable behavior

humanistic psychology

An approach to understanding human nature that emphasizes the positive potential of human beings

cognitive neuroscience

the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language)

hindsight bias

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it

illusory correlation

The perception of a relationship where none exists

hypothesis

an educated guess

operational definition

a description of an experimental variable in such a way that the variable can be measured and the procedure can be replicated

replication

the repetition of an experiment in order to test the validity of its conclusion

case study

scientific investigation in which a single subject is studied in great detail

survey

a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them

random sample

a sample in which every element in the population has an equal chance of being selected

naturalistic observation

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

correlation

a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other

experiment

a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups

experimental group

A subject or group of subjects in an experiment that is exposed to the factor or condition being tested.

control group

the group that does not receive the experimental treatment.

placebo effect

a change in a participant's illness or behavior that results from a belief that the treatment will have an effect, rather than the actual treatment

single-blind

when subjects do not know which experimental group they are in

double-blind

this term describes an experiment in which neither the subjects nor the experimenter knows whether a subject is a member of the experimental group or the control group

independent variable

variable that is changed in an experiment

dependent variable

the variable that is measured in an experiment

Wilhelm Wundt

german physiologist who founded psychology as a formal science; opened first psychology research laboratory in 1879

Sigmund Freud

Austrian neurologist who originated psychoanalysis (1856-1939)

John B. Watson

American psychologist who founded behaviorism, emphasizing the study of observable behavior and rejecting the study of mental processes