psych unit 0 vocab quiz 1

"Psychology"

"The scientific study of behavior and mental processes."

"Empiricism"

"The view that knowledge comes from experience and that science should rely on observation and experimentation."

"Structuralism"

"An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind."

"Introspection"

"The process of looking inward to directly observe one’s own psychological processes."

"Functionalism"

"A school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function and help an organism adapt and survive."

"Behaviorism"

"The scientific study of observable behavior

"Humanistic psychology"

"A perspective that emphasized human growth potential and personal fulfillment."

"Cognitive psychology"

"The scientific study of mental processes, such as perception, memory, and problem-solving.

"Nature–nurture issue"

"The longstanding debate over the relative contributions of biology (genes) and experience (environment)."

"Natural selection"

"The principle that traits contributing to survival and reproduction are most likely to be passed on."

"Levels of analysis"

"The different complementary views for analyzing phenomena (biological, psychological, social-cultural).

"Biopsychosocial approach"

"An integrated perspective that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.

"Basic research"

"Pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base."

"Applied research"

"Scientific study that aims to solve practical problems."

"Counseling psychology"

"A branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living and achieving greater well-being."

"Clinical psychology"

"A branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats psychological disorders."

"Psychiatry"

"A branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders

"Scientific attitude"

"Approach to psychology that requires curiosity

"Curiosity"

"Desire to explore and understand without being misled."

"Skepticism"

"Questioning claims and looking for evidence rather than accepting them blindly."

"Humility"

"Awareness of our own vulnerability to error and openness to new perspectives."

"Critical thinking"

"Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments but examines assumptions

"Theory"

"An explanation using principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors/events."

"Hypothesis"

"A testable prediction, often implied by a theory."

"Falsifiable hypothesis"

"A prediction that can be proven wrong through evidence."

"Operational definition"

"A carefully worded statement of exact procedures (operations) used in research."

"Replication"

"Repeating a study with different participants and situations to confirm findings."

"Pseudoscience"

"Claims that appear scientific but lack supporting evidence or testability."

"Hindsight bias"

"The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that we “knew it all along.

"Overconfidence"

"The tendency to think we know more than we actually do."

"Pattern perception"

"The tendency to see patterns in random events."

"Illusory correlation"

"Perceiving a relationship between variables when none exists."

"Case study"

"A descriptive research method in which one individual or group is studied in depth."

"Naturalistic observation"

"Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without manipulation."

"Survey"

"A research method in which people self-report their attitudes or behaviors."

"Self-report bias"

"Inaccuracy in survey responses due to dishonesty, memory errors, or social desirability.

"Sampling bias"

"A flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample."

"Population"

"The entire group being studied, from which samples are drawn.

"Random sample"

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

"Longitudinal study"

"Research in which the same people are restudied over a long period of time."

"Cross-sectional study"

"Research comparing people of different ages or groups at one point in time."

"Reliability"

"The extent to which research results are consistent and repeatable."

"Validity"

"The extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it claims to."

"Qualitative research"

"Research that explores ideas and experiences through non-numerical data (e.g., interviews).

"Quantitative research"

"Research that collects and analyzes numerical data for statistical analysis."

Correlation

how two variables move together

Correlation Coefficient (r)

value from -1 to 1 that indicates the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two variables.

Scatterplot

visually maps the relationship between two quantitative variables, displaying data points.

Experiment

structured test to determine cause-and-effect, unlike correlation which only shows relationship.

Independent variable

The factor the researcher intentionally changes or manipulates to see its effect.

Dependent variable

variable measured to see changes in response to the independent variable.

Confounding variable

extra variable influences both IV and DV, creating a misleading association (correlation v. causation)

Control group

group that doesn’t receive a treatment, serving as a baseline for comparison

experimental group

group receiving the treatment or manipulation of the independent variable being tested

Variable

anything that can be changed or measured in a study

Random assignment

assigning participants to experimental or control groups by chance, ensuring complete randomness.

Double-blind procedure

neither participants or researcher knows whos receiving the active treatment and who’s receiving the placebo.

Placebo effect

A person experiences a genuine improvement in symptoms after receiving a fake treatment

descriptive statistics

methods to organize, summarize, and present data in an informative way, contrasting with statistics that make predictions

frequency distribution

graph showing how often each data value or range of values appears in a dataset

mean

The average of all values, calculated by summing them and dividing by the count.

median

The middle value in a dataset when ordered from lowest to highest; it splits the data in half.

mode

The value that appears most frequently in the dataset.

range

The difference between the highest and lowest values, indicating the total spread.

standard deviation

typical amount of variation of data points from the mean; a low SD means data is close to the mean, while a high SD means it's spread out. 

normal curve

mean, median, and mode are all equal, and the data is evenly distributed around the center [1, 2]

skewed distribution

not symmetrical. The majority of the data points cluster toward one side (either the left or the right)

"positively skewed" (skewed right) if the tail points to the right, and "negatively skewed" (skewed left) if the tail points to the left

inferential statistics

uses a random sample of data taken from a population to make inferences, predictions, or draw conclusions about the entire population.

histogram

A graphical representation of the distribution of numerical data

percentile rank

A measure indicating the percentage of scores in a distribution that are equal to or lower than a specific score

statistical significance (p-value)

a result is unlikely to have occurred by chance alone.

The p-value (probability value) measures the probability of observing a test result at least as extreme as the one actually observed, assuming the null hypothesis is true.

informed consent

Researchers must tell potential participants about the study's purpose, duration, procedures, risks, benefits, and their right to withdraw before they agree to join.

debiefing

researchers must fully explain the study's purpose, reveal any deception used, and address any negative effects on participants.

confidentiality

Researchers must keep participants' identities and data private, not revealing it to others unless legally required or if there's risk of harm.

protection from harm

Psychologists have a duty to minimize any potential physical or psychological distress to participants.

APA ethical guidelines

emphasizing voluntary participation, minimizing risks (beneficence), and upholding participant well-being