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Operational Definition

Explaining exactly how you’re going to measure something in your study.

Case Study

When a researcher studies one person, group, or situation very closely to understand it deeply.

Survey Method

Research method where researchers collect data by asking people questions, usually to understand opinions, behaviors, or characteristics of a larger population.

Observation Method

A researcher observes and records the behavior of participants without actively manipulating or interfering with their actions.

Correlational Method

Studies how two things are related without changing anything.

Experimental Methods

A way to see if one thing causes another by changing something and watching the result.

Random Sampling

A method of selecting participants for a study where every individual from the population has an equal chance of being chosen.

Positive Correlation

Variables change in the same direction.

Negative Correlation

Variables change in opposite directions.

Does correlation indicate causation

Correlation does not imply causation; C could also cause A and B.

Random Assignment

People are chosen at random to receive different parts of the experiment

Independent Variables (IVs)

What the experimenter changes on purpose.(the cause)

Dependent Variables (DVs)

What the experimenter measures.(the outcome)

Experimental Control

Keeping everything the same in an experiment except for the one thing you’re testing

Confound (Confounding Variable)

A hidden factor that might affect your results and confuse what’s really causing the change.

Generalizability

How well the results apply to other people or situations.

Myelin Sheath

A protective cover around the axon of a neuron that helps send messages faster.

Action Potential

An electrical signal that travels along the axon to send a message; the on switch that tells neurons to send messages.

Synapse

A tiny gap between two neurons that lets messages jump from one neuron to the next.

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers that carry signals between nerve cells.

Endorphins

Chemicals that reduce pain and promote pleasure.

Dopamine

A brain chemical that affects mood, motivation, and movement.

Serotonin

A brain chemical that helps control mood, sleep, and appetite

Epinephrine

A chemical that gets your body ready for action—increases heart rate, energy, and alertness during stress or danger

Agonists

Substances that increase the normal activity of a neurotransmitter.

Antagonists

Substances that decrease the activity of a neurotransmitter.

Sympathetic Nervous System

The part of your body that gets you ready to act in stressful situations.

Parasympathetic Nervous System

Decreases physiological arousal (P for peace).

Endocrine System

A network of glands that produce and release hormones into the bloodstream.

Pituitary Gland

The master gland responsible for growth and metabolism.

Adrenal Glands

Glands important in mood, energy level, and stress response.

EEG

Electroencephalogram, detects electrical activity of neurons in specific brain regions.

fMRI

A brain scan that shows which parts are more active while doing a task.

Brainstem

Region of the brain that regulates basic life functions such as heartbeat and breathing.

Amygdala

The part of the brain that controls emotions like fear and anger.

Hippocampus

The part of the brain that helps you form memories and remember places.

Lobes of the Cerebral Cortex

Four major lobes: Frontal, Parietal, Occipital, and Temporal.

Mirror Neurons

Neurons that fire when observing another person doing something.

Somatosensory Cortex

Receives information about touch sensation.

Motor Cortex

Involved in voluntary movement.

Plasticity

The brain's ability to change and adapt

Inattentional Blindness

Missing something in plain sight because you’re focused on something else.

Change Blindness

Not noticing something has changed because you’re focused on something else.

How does light affect the SCN

Helping it control your sleep wake cycle

Pineal gland involve in sleep

Secretes melatonin

Melatonin

A hormone that makes us tired.

REM Sleep

A sleep stage where your eyes move fast and your brain is active, often where dreaming happens.

Sleep Paralysis

when you wake up but can’t move your body for a short time.

3 stages of N-REM sleep? 

N(1)Light sleep,N(2)true sleep, N(3) Deep sleep

When is growth hormone released from the pituitary gland?

During deep sleep

Piaget’s Cognitive Development

Children make constant mental adaptations to new observations and experiences.

Assimilation

Fitting new information into the present system of knowledge.

Accommodation

Changing existing schema as a result of new information.

Piaget’s Stages of Cognitive Development

Sensorimotor, Preoperational, Concrete Operational, Formal Operational.

What is objective permanence?

Understand that something continues to exist even though we cannot see it

What is egocentrism?

Only use own frame of reference

What is conservation

Understanding that physical properties do not change when appearance changes

Vygotsky’s Theory

Learning happens by getting help from others through talking and doing things together.

Zone of Proximal Development

The level at which a child can almost perform a task independently but still needs support.

Scaffolding

Giving just the right amount of help based on what the child can handle.

Theory of Mind

Understanding how other people think.

Erikson’s Stages of Social Development

Eight stages with basic challenges that individuals face throughout life.

Trust vs. Mistrust

Learning to trust caregivers and the world

Autonomy vs Shame and doubt

Learning to do things on your own or feeling doubt about your abilities

Initiative vs. Guilt

Wanting to try new things, but might feel bad or guilty if it goes wrong.

Industry vs Inferiority

Feeling capable and proud from success or feeling like a failure

Identity vs Role Confusion

Figuring out who you are or feeling lost and unsure

Intimacy vs Isolation

Forming close relationships or feeling alone

Generative vs Stagnation

Helping others and feeling useful or feeling stuck and unimportant

Integrity vs Despair

Feeling proud of your life or full of regret

Harlow’s Studies

Baby monkeys chose soft fake mothers over wire ones with food.

Ainsworth’s Attachment Styles

Identified different attachment styles based on children's reactions during separations and reunions.

Secure Attachment

Child feels safe to explore, knowing they can return to caregiver for comfort.

Insecure-Avoidant Attachment

Child tends to avoid caregiver after separation.

Insecure-Anxious/Ambivalent Attachment

Child becomes very distressed when separated from caregiver.

Baumrind’s Parenting Styles

Authoritative, Authoritarian, Permissive, Uninvolved.

Authoritative

Warm but sets rules

Authoritarian

Strict and controlling

Permissive

Very loving, but no rules

Uninvolved

Cold and doesn’t care much

Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development

Preconventional, Conventional, Postconventional.

Preconventional

Doing whats right to avoid punishment or get a reward

Conventional

Doing whats right to follow rules or fit in

Postconventional

Doing whats right based on your own values, even if it means breaking rules

Delay of Gratification

Choosing to wait for a better reward instead of taking a smaller one right away.

What was Mischel’s (1961) “marshmallow test?”

Studied self control in kids , by seeing if they would could wait to get a bigger reward. Choosing to wait for two marshmallows later instead of eating one right away.

What is bottom-up processing?

Understanding something by using your senses first, then letting your brain figure it out.

What is top-down processing?

Using what you already know to understand what you’re seeing or experiencing.

What are absolute thresholds?

Minimal amount of stimulation that can be detected half of the time (the lowest amount you can hear)

What are the different thresholds(JND)?

The tiniest change between two things that you can notice.

What is sensory adaptation

When your senses stop noticing something that stays the same for a while. No longer smelling a strong scent after being in a room for a few minutes

What is the Gestalt approach

We see the full picture, not just separate pieces.

What is perceptual constancy?

Seeing things as the same even if they look different (like size, shape, or color) because of angle, distance, or lighting.

Classical Conditioning

learning to respond to a new stimulus that has been associated with another stimulus

Pavlov’s Conditioning

Dogs learned to salivate at the sound of a bell after repeated pairings with food.

Unconditioned Response

automatic reaction to an unconditioned stimulus

Unconditioned Stimulus

Stimulus that naturally triggers an unconditioned response.

Conditioned Response

Learned response to a previously neutral stimulus.

Conditioned Stimulus

Something that didn’t cause a reaction before but does now after being paired with something meaningful

Generalization

Conditioned response to stimuli similar to the conditioned stimulus.