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applied psychology
The branch of psychology concerned with everyday, practical problems
cognition
The mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating
confounding variables
A factor, other than the independent variable, that might produce an effect in an experiment
control group
In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment.
control variables
The factors that are kept the same to ensure that the results are caused by the manipulated variable (constants)
correlation
A measure of the relationship between two variables
dependent variable
The measurable effect, outcome, or response in which the research is interested; "dependent" upon changes in another variable.
double-blind procedure
A research strategy in which neither subjects nor experimenters know which subjects are in the experimental or control groups.
experimental group
In an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable
experimenter bias
A phenomenon that occurs when a researcher's expectations or preferences about the outcome of a study influence the results obtained
mean
The arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores
median
The middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it
mode
The most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution
normal distribution
A function that represents the distribution of variables as a symmetrical bell-shaped graph.
participants
Subjects of psychological research
placebo effect
The phenomenon in which the expectations of the participants in a study can influence their behavior
population
The entire group that the experimenter wants to learn about
psychology
The science of behavior and mental processes.
random assignment
Assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups
random selection
A way of ensuring that a sample of people is representative of a population by giving everyone in the population an equal chance of being selected for the sample
sample
A subset of the population
sampling bias
A problem that occurs when a sample is not representative of the population from which it is drawn.
subjects
Individuals studied in an experiment/research
theory
A hypothesis that has been tested with a significant amount of data
validity
The ability of a test to measure what it is intended to measure
variation
A change or slight difference in condition, amount, or level.
Mary Whiton Calkins
First female president of the APA (1905); a student of William James; denied the PhD she earned from Harvard because of her sex (later, posthumously, it was granted to her)
Sigmund Freud
Austrian physician whose work focused on the unconscious causes of behavior and personality formation; founded psychoanalysis.
G. Stanley Hall
Opened first psychology lab in the US, and he founded and became the first president of the APA
pioneer of child psychology
William James
Founder of functionalism; studied how humans use perception to function in our environment
Ivan Pavlov
Discovered classical conditioning; trained dogs to salivate at the ringing of a bell
Jean Piaget
Known for his theory of cognitive development in children
B.F. Skinner
Behaviorist that developed the theory of operant conditioning by training pigeons and rats
Margaret Floy Washburn
First female to be awarded a PhD in psychology; 2nd president of the APA (1921)
John B. Watson
Founder of behaviorism
Structuralism
An early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind
Functionalism
A school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function - how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish.
Behaviorism
The science of behavior that focuses on observable behavior only
Gestalt
An organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes.
Psychoanalytic/Psycychodynamic
Freud's theory of personality that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts; the techniques used in treating psychological disorders by seeking to expose and interpret unconscious tensions
Humanist
Perspective in psychology that stresses the goodness of people and their possibility of reaching their fullest potential
Cognitive psychology
The scientific study of mental processes, including perception, thought, memory, and reasoning
experiments
A technique that tests predicted relationships among variables in a controlled environment
naturalistic observations
Observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation
survey research
The most popular technique for gathering primary data, in which a researcher interacts with people through questionnaires to obtain facts, opinions, and attitudes
Behaviorlism
the dominant paradigm of psychology
little Albert experiment
psychology based on observations
is not concerned with describing elements or consciousness
includes the idea of reinforcment
confounding variables
in an experiment, a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect
Correlation
A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.
independent variable
The experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied.
Placebo
an object or procedure
control group ties the placebo
they believe they are the experimental group
Mode
the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution
Median
the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it
standard deviation
measures a function of average dispersion of numbers around the mean and is commonly used measure of variablity
Charles Darwin
published On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection
proposed "natural selection"
Carl Rogers
stressed the role of positive self concept
free choice
biosychosocial approach
an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis
all three are equal responsible
evelutionary psychology
traits are passed through generations
traits improve chances of survival
Scatterplot
a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables
statistical significance
how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance
can't be higher than 5%
Empiricism
the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation
natural selection
A process in which individuals that have certain inherited traits tend to survive and reproduce at higher rates than other individuals because of those traits.
Wilhelm Wundt
german physiologist who founded psychology as a formal science; opened first psychology research laboratory in 1879
Edward Titchener
Student of Wilhelm Wundt
brought psych to the US
founder of structuralism
correlation coefficient
a statistical measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other
positive correlation
0 to 1
x and y value goes up
negative correlation
0 to -1
as one variable increases, the other decreases
p-value
The probability level which forms basis for deciding if results are statistically significant (not due to chance).
informed consent
an ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate
Debriefing
the postexperimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants
Confidentiality
the act of holding information in confidence, not to be released to unauthorized individuals
Cognitive Approach
rooted in the idea that to understand behavior, we need to understand how they think
this approach combines both the structuralist approach of looking at subcomponents of thought and the functions approach of understanding the purpose of thought
This is the predominant psychological method used in the US
sociocultural perspective
A psychological approach that emphasizes social and cultural influences on behavior
