Psychology a level- all key terms

Conditions of worth

Conditions imposed on an individual that are considered necessary to earn positive regard from others

Free will

Being free to chose what you do and the kind of person you can be

Hierarchy of needs

A motivational theory displayed as a pyramid. The most basic needs are at the bottom and higher needs at the top

Incongruent

Inconsistent, contradictory

Ideal self

An idealised version of yourself

Idiographic

Focussing on studying individual people rather than large groups

Self actualisation

Reaching your full potential

Unconditional positive regard

Acceptance and support of a person regardless of what the person says or does

Castration anxiety

an unconscious fear of castration that results from a boy's struggle to deal with his love for his mother

Defence mechanism

Methods used by the ego to reduce stress and anxiety

Denial

Failure to admit or recognise a source of conflict

Displacement

Transferring undesirable impulses from one person or object to another

Ego

Tries to find a balance between the id and superego

Electra complex

A girls unconscious desire for the father

Fixation

Having a portion of the libido being permanently stuck at a particular psychosexual stage

Oepedius complex

A boys unconscious desire for the mother

Penis envy

Desire to possess male genitals

Preconcious

Stored memories that can be easily recalled

Psychosexual stages

Psychodynamic stages of personality development

Repression

Pushing bad experiences/memories into the unconscious

Superego

Contains the values and morals of society as well as a persons concious

Unconscious

Thoughts and feelings which are inaccessible

Perception

How we experience the world through our five senses

Attention

A state of awareness in which the senses are focussed on a particular aspect of the environment

Information processing

Applying computer models to human mental processing

Memory

The ability to store and retrieve information

Schema

A unit of information that allow us to make sense of the world

Computer analogy

Comparison of the human mind with a computer

Input

The taking in of information

Process

Thinking, remembering, making decisions etc

Output

The response or action taken

Cognitive neuroscience

A combination of both cognitive psychology and neuroscience

Natural selection

The process by which inherited characteristics increase an individual chance of reproduction and survival

Genotype

A persons genetic makeup

Phenotype

The way the genotype of an individual is expressed through physical and psychological characteristics

MZ twins

Identical twins- from one egg

DZ twins

Fraternal or non identical twins- from two eggs

Concordance rates

Measure of similarity in traits between twins.

Imitation

Observing a model and then copying their behaviour

Identification (SLT)

When an individual is influenced by another because they are in some way simmilar or wish to be like them

Modelling

Someone who influences another person and/or is imitating a persons behaviour

Vicarious reinforcement

Learning by observing the consequences of another persons behaviour

Attention

Noticing and observing the models behaviour

Retention

Remembering and retaining the observed behaviour

Reproduction

Being physically capable of acting out the behaviour

Motivation

When the possible rewards for imitating behaviour are greater than the costs

Independent groups design

an experimental design in which different groups of participants are exposed to different conditions, such that each participant experiences only one condition

matched pairs design

Participants are matched on key characteristics. One participant does control condition and the other does the experimental condition.

Repeated measures design

The same participants are used in all the conditions in an experiment.

Measures of central tendency

mean, median, mode

Mean

The average of all the data

Mode

The most common number/value in a set of data

Median

The central number in a set of data

Measures of dispersion

standard deviation and range

Standard deviation

How far on average each value in a set of data is from the mean

Range

How spread out a set of data is
Highest value - lowest value

Ethics

The potential for participants to be harmed during research

Psychological body

Group that encourages researchers to follow guidelines and ensure participants do not get harmed

Protection from harm

Participants protected from physical or psychological harm

Privacy and confidentiality

Personal information should be kept private

Deception

Not telling participants the true aim of the study

Informed consent

Consent from people who fully understand what is about to happen

Questionnaire

Set of standardised questions handed out to participants for them to fill out

Interview

Verbal questioning of participants, usually done face to face

Different types of interviews

Structured and unstructured

Open questions

Questions that allow for a variety of extended responses

Closed questions

questions that ask for specific information and elicit a short, one- or two- word answer, a "yes" or "no," or a forced choice

Meta-analysis

When a variety of studies on a particular topic area are summarised together and their findings collated

Random allocation

Method used to minimise the effect of confounding variables by giving each participant an equal chance of doing different conditions

Standardisation

Ensures that all procedures and instructions are kept the same between conditions to minimise bias

Counterbalancing

Attempts to balance out order effects by splitting the group and doing the conditions in an AB/BA order

Single-blind procedure

Where participants are unaware of the research aims and do not know which condition they are in

Double-blind procedure

Where neither the observer nor the participants know the true aim of the study

Primary data

Data collected by a researcher specifically for the purpose of their study

Secondary data

Data which has already been collected by someone else

Qualitative data

Data that consists of words/longer answers

Quantitative data

Numerical data that can be measured.

Laboratory experiment

The researcher manipulates the IV in a controlled environment

Field experiment

The researcher manipulates the IV in a natural environment

Natural experiment

An experiment in which nature, rather than an experimenter, manipulates an independent variable.

Quasi experiment

A comparison that relies on already-existing groups (i.e., groups the experimenter did not create).

Naturalistic observation

Observations that are carried out in a natural setting

Controlled observation

Observations that are carried out in lab conditions

Covert observation

Observations that are done in secret, the participants are unaware of being observed

Overt observation

Observations done openly where the participants ae aware of being researched

Participant observation

when a researcher immerses themself in a group or social setting in order to make observations from an "insider" perspective

Non-participant observation

The researcher is not involved in what is going on. The researcher is external to what is going on/the people being observed.

Independent variable (IV)

Characteristics that are manipulated in the study that causes the DV to change

Dependent variable (DV)

Variable that is measured that changes throughout the experiment as a result of the DV

Extraneous variable

In an experiment, a variable other than the IV that might cause unwanted changes in the DV.

Confounding variable

a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment

Operationalisation

Making sure the variable being studies is clearly defined in a form that can be easily measured

Correlation

a mutual relationship or connection between two or more things

correlation coefficient

A statistical that tells us the type and strength of correlation

Demand characteristics

Clues that may help a participant guess the true aim of the study

Investigator effects

Any unwanted influence of the investigator on the research outcome

Pilot study

Trial run of the study on a smaller scale

Behavioural categories

Examples of behaviours that have been predetermined, that well be recorded during an observation

Event sampling

the observer records all instances of a particular behavior during a specified time period

Time sampling

The procedure of observing and recording behavior during intervals or at specific moments