Psych BOE

Hindsight Bias

Hindsight Bias is the tendency to believe that you knew something all along after learning the outcome.

Operational Definition

A precise, carefully worded statement about the exact procedure used in a research experiment

Case Study

A non-experimental technique where one individual person or group is being examined in depth in order to reveal universal principles.

Naturalistic Observation

A non-experimental technique where something is being examined in a naturally occurring setting or environment.

Survey

A non-experimental technique where people self report their attributes or behaviors.

Experiment

A research method used to examine a cause and effect relationship through the manipulation of independent and dependent variables.

Control Group

A group in an experiment which isn’t being manipulated in order to find a comparison between itself and the experimental group

Experimental Group

The group that is being experimented with or changed in order to find a comparison between itself and the Control group.

Population

All the people that are being studied.

Random Sample

A sample taken from the population in which everyone in the population had a equal chance of being selected.

Representative Sample

A sample taken from the population in which all the people in the sample are a fair representation of all of the people in the population in terms of characteristics.

Convenience Sample

A sample taken from the population out of convenience because they are more easily accesible and readily available to the researcher.

Random Assignment

Random Assignment is assigning participants into a study into control and experimental groups on a random basis in order to eliminate preexisting differences.

Double-Blind Procedure

An experimental method in which neither the researchers or participants know who is receiving the treatment, or who is in which group.

Placebo

A placebo is a insert substance.

Independent Variable

The Independent variable is the variable being manipulated in order to determine it’s effect on another variable.

Dependent Variable

The Dependent variable is the variable that is not experimented with, but that is measured.

Statistical significance

A statistical statement discussing how likely it is that a result occurred by chance.

Effect Size

The strength in relationship between 2 variables.

Standard Deviation

The measure of how much the scores vary from the mean.

Quantitative Measures

A research method that relies on numerical data.

Qualitative Measures

A research method that relies on in-depth narrative data.

Meta-analysis

A statistical procedure for identifying the results of various studies and drawing conclusions between them.

Aggression

Any physical or verbal action meant to hurt someone physically or emotionally.

altriusm

Altriusm is a unselfish regard for the well being of others

Bystander Effect

The Bystander effect explains how in a group people are less likely to take action and help others

Social Loafing

When put in a group, people may exclude themselves from the work and depend on the others to complete a task, more so than if they were alone.

Reciprocity Norm

The Reciprocity Norm asserts that if someone is to help you or shows you good treatment, you should help them back or show them that type of treatment back.

Conflict

Conflict is a disagreement, clash or tension between two elements.

social facilitation

People tend to do better at what they are confident in, whilst in a group setting.

Social Trap

In social traps we harm our collective well being by pursuing our own interests

Out-group Homogenity Bias

we view a group that is different from us as the “outgroup”, and tend to mistakenly think fothem all as the same.

fundamental attribution error

The Fundamental Attribution Error describes how one makes internal judgements about someone without considering their external environments

diffusion of responsibility

when one is in a group setting, they tend to diffuse the responsibility of completing an act to everyone else, taking less initiative by assuming someone else will do so.

deindividuation

when someone loses their sense of self and self restraint in a group setting leading to a sense of anonomity

Social Responsibility Norm

the expectation that people will naturally help those who are dependent on them.

Groupthink

When in a group situation people try to diminish their opposing opinions in order to maintain a good relationship with the rest if the group of their leader.

Obedience

Obedience is a behavior in compliance with a command.

Conformity

Adopting a group’s standards of behavior and beliefs as your own in the hopes to fit in.

Asch’s Experiment

Solomon Asch developed an experiment to analyze social conformity. He gathered a group of several random people, all except one being a actor and asked them several simple questions with there being a obvious answer. All the actors purposely chose the wrong one, and eventually the participnt, even thought he new what the right answer was, began to choose the wrong one too in order to conform with the group.

Milgram Study

In this study John Milgram attempted to identify if people would obey a command even if it meant harming someone else. He did this by ordering participants to deliver a shock to other participants if they got a question wrong, gradually increasing the shock. The results of this study show that people are more likely to obey the commands of authority figures, even if it clashes with their own moral ideas.

Stanford Prison experiment

The Stanford Prison Experiment was a 1971 psychology study by Philip Zimbardo that simulated a prison environment, assigning participants to roles as guards or prisoners. It aimed to investigate how situational factors influence behavior, but it quickly escalated, with guards becoming abusive and prisoners showing extreme emotional distress. The study, which was terminated after six days, is a notable example in social psychology of how ordinary individuals can engage in harmful behaviors within specific social contexts and is a significant case study on research ethics

neuron

nerve cells, building blocks of the nervous system

action potential

a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon

myelin sheaths

insulating materials that encases axons, and increases the speed of impulses traveling down an axon. 

reuptake

the neurotransmitter’s reabsorption of the sending neuron

endocrine system 

the body’s chemical communication system that secretes hormones into the bloodstream

pituitary gland 

the body’s master gland at the base of the brain which secretes hormones that control growth, metabolism, and more. 

glutamate

an excitatory neurotransmitter that plays a part in memory

dopamine

a neurotransmitter that produces a reward feeling and pleasureable emotions

acetylcholine

a neurotransmitter that influences memory learning and muscle movement.

norepenephrine

a neurotransmitter that controls alertness and arousal.

GABA

an inhibitory neurotransmitter that calms and relaxes the brain

serotonin

a neurotransmitter that regulates mood, hunger, sleep and arousal. 

medulla

A hindbrain structure that controls heartbeat and breathing

thalamus

a forebrain structure that controls the body’s snesory info

cerebral cortex

the outer wrinkly part of a brain that controls higher level functioning

hypothalamus

the hypothalamus is a brain structure which controls basic biological needs such as hunger, thirst, 

reticular formation

a system of nerve networks that go through the brain stem into the thalamus and controls alertness and arousal.