Psych C1000 Exam 1

Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Structuralism

An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind, associated with Wundt and Titchener.

Functionalism

A school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function and enable organisms to adapt, survive, and flourish, associated with James.

Psychoanalytic theory

A theory of personality organization and the dynamics of personality development that guides psychoanalysis, associated with Freud.

Behaviorism

A perspective in psychology that focuses on observable behavior and the ways it's learned, associated with Watson and Skinner.

Humanism

A psychological perspective that emphasizes the study of the whole person and the uniqueness of each individual, associated with Maslow and Rogers.

Cognitive psychology

The branch of psychology that studies mental processes including how people think, perceive, remember, and learn.

Biopsychology

A field of psychology that examines the relationship between biological processes and psychological phenomena.

Evolutionary psychology

A theoretical approach that examines psychological traits such as memory, perception, and language from a modern evolutionary perspective.

Scientific method

A systematic procedure for collecting and analyzing evidence that is crucial to the validity of psychological research.

Hypothesis

A testable prediction about the relationship between two or more variables.

Theory

A well-substantiated explanation of an aspect of the natural world that can incorporate laws, hypotheses, and facts.

Experiment

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

Observation

The action or process of observing something or someone carefully in order to gain information.

Conclusion

A summary of the results of an experiment or research study, indicating whether the hypothesis was supported.

Independent variable

The variable that is manipulated in an experiment to test its effects on the dependent variable.

Dependent variable

The variable that is measured in an experiment to see if it is affected by changes in the independent variable.

Confounding variable

An outside influence that changes the effect of a dependent and independent variable.

Induction

A reasoning process that involves forming generalizations based on specific observations.

Deduction

A reasoning process that involves drawing specific conclusions from general principles.

Causation

The action of causing something; establishing a cause-and-effect relationship.

Correlation

A statistical measure that indicates the extent to which two or more variables fluctuate together.

Ethics in research

The moral principles that govern the conduct of research, including IRB approval, informed consent, confidentiality, and debriefing.