Unit 0: Vocabulary - Psychology

Psychology

Psychology is a social science that helps us decode human behavior and mental processes.

Ex: Psychology is considered a science because Psychological researchers rely on observation and experimentation when testing claims.

Psychodynamic/psychoanalytic perspective 

Focuses on unconscious conflicts/drives, and depression, First perspective of psychology

Ex: The unconscious mind influences everything we do

Cognitive perspective

How internal mental processes contribute to human thought/behavior

Ex: Psychologists say the mind acts like a computer - Change your thoughts change your life

Social-cultural perspective

Power of how social situation influences human behavior (presence of others)
Ex: Eating disorders are more common in the west because everyone is bombarded with the image of being skinny

Behavioral perspective

focuses on observable behaviors and the role of learning on behaviors -human behavior affected by rewards and punishments

Ex: Our environment rewarding and punishing us has a huge impact on our behavior

Evolutionary perspective

Examines how natural selection influences behavior

Ex: Adam chooses to marry Cindy because her wide hips indicate she will bear healthy children

Biological perspective

How physiological mechanisms in the brain and body create the foundation of human thought, behavior, and functioning

Ex: An imbalance of hormones can contribute to aggressive behavior

Humanistic perspective

emphasizes importance of current environmental influences on our growth potential, importance of having needs for love/acceptance

Ex: Behavior is motivated by self-actualization and the promise of human potential

Biopsychosocial perspective

explains behavior and mental processes as the interaction of biological, psychological, and social factors

Ex: Alex is depressed so the psychologist breaks his situation into three core areas: Genetics, thought patterns, and isolation

Confirmation Bias

Likelihood to search for information that confirms our preexisting beliefs/opinions

Ex: Maria only notices and records the data that supports her hypothesis.

Hindsight Bias

Tendency to believe something after learning the outcome.

Ex: Following an election, people often claim the winning candidate's victory was obvious all along, ignoring how close and uncertain the polls were beforehand.

Overconfidence

When we overestimate our knowledge and judgements.

Ex: Alex turned in his test without checking for mistakes because he believes he got a perfect grade.

Peer Review

Scientific experts review a research article’s theory, originality, and accuracy

Ex: Before a psychology journal publishes Dr. Smith’s new study on anxiety treatments, other independent psychologists read and evaluate her work to make sure the methods and results are accurate and fair.

Experiment

Controlled procedure to determine cause and effect by manipulating a variable and measuring its effect on another variable

Ex: Researchers recruited 100 students and randomly assigned them to two groups: one group received 8 hours of sleep per night for a week, while the other group was restricted to only 4 hours of sleep. The researchers aimed to determine if the group with reduced sleep would perform differently on cognitive tasks compared to the well-rested group.

Case Study

Non-experimental technique where one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles
Ex: Sigmund Freud's study of 5-year-old Hans’ extreme fear of horses led to his theory of childhood sexuality

Correlational Study

Examines the relationship between two or more variables

Ex: Investigating the relationship between hours of sleep and academic performance

Meta-Analysis

Statistically combines the results of multiple studies on the same topic

Ex: Analyzing numerous studies on the effectiveness of a specific therapy

Naturalistic Observation

Non-experimental technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate/control the situation
Ex: Anonymously tapping into 15 million cell phones GPS data which allowed scientists to track whether people in different regions obeyed stay at home orders

Survey

Non-experimental technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group

Ex: Pew reporting 54 percent of humans say that religion is very important in their lives.

Hypothesis

Testable predictions, specifies what will support the theory and what will disconfirm it
Ex: Dr Smith states if students consume caffeine before studying, then they will score higher on a memory recall test than students who do not consume caffeine.

Falsifiability

The possibility that a theory or hypothesis can be proven wrong by an observation or experiment

Ex: Hypothesis that “playing violent video games always increases aggressive behavior” is falsifiable because observing a group of participants who show no change in aggression after playing would prove the statement wrong

Operational Definition

Making it measurable, specifies how a concept is measured/manipulated in a study

Ex: Defining “stress” as cortisol levels in saliva

Replication

Repeating observations with different participants, materials, and circumstances (repeating the essence of a research study)
Ex: An independent research team conducts an exact rerun of a classic memory experiment using the same methods and a new group of participants to see if the original results can be consistently reproduced

Sample

A subset of individuals selected from the population to participate in a study

Ex: A researcher wants to know about alcohol use habits among all college students in the United States. Sample: A manageable group of 500 students chosen to complete a survey on their drinking habits

Population

The whole group that a researcher is interest in studying, important because it defines the group to which the research findings will be generalized to

Ex: A researcher wants to know about alcohol use habits among all college students in the United States. Population: Every single student enrolled in a U.S college or university(millions of people)

Representative Sample

Sample that accurately reflects the characteristics of the population

Ex: Researchers want to study the prevalence of generalized anxiety disorder in US adults. Instead of surveying every single citizen researchers select a group using methods like random sampling.

Random Sampling

A sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

Ex: A psychology researcher studying anxiety in university students uses a computer program to randomly select 100 student ID numbers from the total enrollment list so that every student has an equal chance of being chosen

Convenience Sampling

Collecting research from a group that is readily available

Ex: Surveying your friend group rather than the whole school

Sampling Bias

Flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample
Ex: A researcher studying sleep habits who only surveys undergraduate psychology majors creates a sampling bias because those students’ sleep patterns do not represent the general public

Reliability

The consistency and repeatability of a research measure or test.

Ex: A researcher gives an IQ test to a group of teens today and gives the exact same test a month later. If the teens get nearly identical scores both times, the test has high test-retest reliability.

Generalization

How the results of a study are applied to people, settings, or situations beyond the specific sample/conditions that were studied

Ex: Low generalizability - A memory study that only tested 20 psychology undergrads at one university High -generalizability - Large scale study on stress with thousands of participants across different ages, genders, and cultural backgrounds

Social Desirability Bias

Bias from people responding in ways they presume a researcher expects or wishes

Ex: A participant on a health survey reports exercising five times a week instead of their actual once a week because they want the researcher to view them as a healthy person

Quantitative Research

Numbers and statistics
Ex: Measuring reaction time in seconds

Qualitative Research

Descriptions and meanings, non numerical, goal is to understand experiences, motivations, and perspectives

Ex: How adults with late-diagnosed ADHD describe changes in their self-perception.

Likert Scales

Respondents read a declarative statement.They choose a response from a symmetrical, graduated range. The answers range from one extreme to the other, such as positive to negative

Ex: A classic 5-point scale includes these options: 

• Strongly Disagree

• Disagree

• Neutral

• Agree

• Strongly Agree

Self Report Bias

Bias when people report their behavior incorrectly by either doing it intentionally or not remembering.
Ex: During a health survey, a participant might claim they exercise five times a week and eat vegetables daily because they want to appear healthier than they are.