Intro to Psychology Chapter 1

What is psychology?

Psychology is the science of behavior and mental processes.

What is behavior in psychology?

Any action that can be observed and recorded.

What are mental processes in psychology?

Internal states inferred from behavior, including thoughts, beliefs, and feelings.

What is critical thinking?

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions, but examines assumptions, assesses sources, evaluates evidence, and draws conclusions.

What is the scientific attitude in psychology?

Curiosity, skepticism, and humility.

Who are some of psychology’s earliest explorers?

Wilhelm Wundt, Charles Darwin, Ivan Pavlov, Jean Piaget, William James, Mary Whiton Calkins, Margaret Floy Washburn.

Name key figures in contemporary psychology. John B. Watson, B. F. Skinner, Sigmund Freud.

What are the major schools of psychology?

Structuralism, Functionalism, Behaviorism, Humanistic Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Cognitive Neuroscience.

What is the biopsychosocial approach?

An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural viewpoints.

What is the nature vs. nurture issue?

The debate over the relative contributions of genetics (nature) and experience (nurture) in shaping behavior and traits.

What is dual processing?

The principle that the mind processes information simultaneously on separate conscious and unconscious tracks.

What is positive psychology?

The scientific study of human flourishing, focusing on positive emotions, traits, and institutions.

What is hindsight bias?

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that it could have been predicted ("I knew it all along" phenomenon).

What is overconfidence in psychology?

The tendency to think we know more than we do.

What is perceiving order in random events?

Seeing patterns in random data due to our desire to make sense of the world.

What is a post-truth world?

A situation where emotions and beliefs override acceptance of objective facts.

What is the scientific method in psychology?

A self-correcting process for evaluating ideas with observation and analysis.

What is a theory?

An explanation using principles that organize observations and predict behaviors or events.

What is a hypothesis?

A testable prediction, often implied by a theory.

What is an operational definition?

A carefully worded statement of the exact procedures used in a research study.

What is replication in research?

Repeating a study to confirm results and increase confidence in the findings.

What makes a good theory?

It organizes observations, offers testable predictions, stimulates further research, and may lead to a revised theory.

What are descriptive methods in research?

Techniques like case studies, naturalistic observation, and surveys that describe behaviors.

What are correlational methods?

Research methods that measure how closely two factors vary together.

What are experimental methods?

Research methods that manipulate variables to determine cause and effect.

What is a case study?

A detailed examination of a single individual or group.

What is naturalistic observation?

Observing behavior in a natural setting without manipulating the situation.

What is a survey?

A technique for determining self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a group.

What is a random sample?

A sample where every person has an equal chance of being selected.

What is a correlation coefficient?

A statistical index of the relationship between two variables (ranges from -1.00 to +1.00).

What is positive correlation?

A relationship where both variables increase or decrease together.

What is negative correlation?

A relationship where one variable increases as the other decreases.

Does correlation prove causation?

No, correlation indicates a relationship but does not prove one causes the other.

What is random assignment?

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance to minimize differences.

What is the double-blind procedure?

An experimental method where neither the participants nor the researchers know who received the treatment.

What is a placebo?

An inactive substance used as a control in testing new drugs or treatments.

What is the placebo effect?

Improvement resulting from the mere expectation of improvement.

What are independent variables?

The variables that are manipulated in an experiment.

What are dependent variables?

The outcomes that are measured in an experiment.

What are confounding variables?

Factors other than the independent variable that might affect the dependent variable.

What is the purpose of experimentation?

To isolate cause and effect relationships.

What is the focus of psychological science?

Revealing general principles that explain many behaviors.

What are research ethics in psychology?

Guidelines to protect human and animal subjects during research.

What do ethics codes require of researchers?

Informed consent, protection from harm, confidentiality, and full debriefing.

What is the testing effect?

Enhanced memory after retrieving information rather than simply rereading it.

What is the SQ3R method?

A study method involving Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve, and Review.