1st Psych Test

Psychology

The science of behavior and mental processes.

Hindsight bias

The tendency to believe, after an event has occurred, that one would have accurately predicted it.

Overconfidence

Being too certain of your abilities or chances of success.

Scientific attitude

Encourages critical thinking and skepticism.

Theory

Organizes observations to explain behavior.

Hypothesis

Testable predictions based on theory.

Methods

Ways to test hypotheses, such as experiments.

Case study

Analyzing one individual in-depth.

Naturalistic Observation

Observing and recording behavior in a natural setting.

Survey (Questionnaires)

Obtaining self-reported behaviors from a sample.

Correlation

Measures relationships between two variables, without implying causation.

Experimentation

Manipulating variables to observe effects on behavior.

Random sampling

Obtaining a sample that can be generalized to the entire population.

Independent Variable (IV)

The manipulated variable in an experiment.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The measured variable in an experiment.

Extraneous Variable (EV)

Additional variable that may influence the DV.

Central Nervous System (CNS)

Includes the brain and spinal cord.

Peripheral Nervous System (PNS)

Links the CNS with sense receptors, muscles, and glands.

Neurotransmitters (NTs)

Chemical messengers of the nervous system.

Synapse

Junction between two neurons where NTs cross to bind with the next neuron.