TSU Exit Exam Comprehensive Study Guide Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering research methods, assessment, physiological psychology, history, developmental psychology, learning, ethics, and psychopathology.

Case Study

An intensive, in-depth investigation of a single individual, small group, or unique case used when phenomena are rare, complex, or ethically impossible to manipulate.

Observational Studies

Research methods involving the systematic watching and recording of behavior without manipulating variables.

Surveys

Self-report methods, such as questionnaires and interviews, asking participants about their attitudes, behaviors, or symptoms.

Experiment

A research strategy that manipulates an independent variable ($IV$), measures a dependent variable ($DV$), and controls extraneous variables to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

Experimental Group

The treatment condition in an experiment that receives the independent variable manipulation.

Control Group

The benchmark condition in an experiment (either no-treatment or placebo control) used to ensure no extraneous variables cause score differences.

Null Hypothesis ($H_0$)

A prediction stating that there is no effect or no difference between treatment conditions

Alternative Hypothesis ($H_1$)

A prediction stating that there is a real effect or difference between conditions.

Type I Error

Concluding that an effect or difference exists when none actually exists in the population.

Type II Error

Failing to detect a real effect or difference, often occurring when effect size or sample size is small.

Standardization

The establishment of uniform procedures for administering and scoring a test so all examinees experience identical conditions.

Norming

The process of collecting test data from a large, representative sample to establish standard reference scores such as means and percentiles.

Correlation Coefficient

A single numerical value that measures and describes the direction, form, and strength of the relationship between two variables.

Coefficient of Determination ($r^2$)

A statistic that expresses the percentage of variability in one variable that is explained by its linear relationship with another variable.

Third-Variable Problem

A challenge in correlational studies where an unmeasured variable may be causing the observed changes in both studied variables.

Directionality Problem

The inability in correlational research to determine which variable causes changes in the other.

Standard Deviation

A measure of variability representing the square root of variance, describing the average distance of scores from the mean.

Inter-Rater Reliability

The degree of agreement or consistency between two or more independent observers rating the same behavior simultaneously.

Test-Retest Reliability

The consistency of test scores across time, evaluated by administering the same test twice to the same individuals.

Construct Validity

The degree to which test scores behave exactly like the theoretical variable or construct being measured.

Internal Validity

The extent to which observed changes in the dependent variable can be confidently attributed to the independent variable rather than confounds.

External Validity

The extent to which study findings can be generalized beyond the specific study to other populations, settings, times, and measures.

Criterion Keying

A test development technique used in the MMPI to find response patterns typical of groups known to differ in specific ways, such as having a diagnosed mental disorder.

Full Scale IQ (FSIQ)

The composite score on the WISC representing overall intellectual ability.

Resting Potential

The electrical state inside an inactive neuron, maintained by ion gradients at approximately $-70\text{mV}$.

Action Potential

A rapid neural impulse following the all-or-none principle, shifting membrane potential from $-70\text{mV}$ up to $+30\text{mV}$ to $+35\text{mV}$ when a threshold of $-55\text{mV}$ is reached.

Agonists

Drugs or substances that increase synaptic activity or mimic neurotransmitter action.

Antagonists

Drugs or substances that decrease synaptic activity or block neurotransmitter receptors.

Heritability

A statistic ranging from $0$ to $1$ representing the proportion of trait variance attributable to genetic differences within a population.

Somatic Nervous System

The peripheral nervous system division that carries sensory signals to the CNS and motor signals to skeletal muscles for voluntary movement.

Autonomic nervous system

The involuntary branch of the peripheral nervous system that regulates internal processes such as heart rate, respiration, and digestion.

Functionalism

An early psychological perspective led by William James focusing on how mental processes function to help organisms adapt to their environment.

Structuralism

An early approach led by Wundt and Titchener aimed at analyzing conscious experience into basic structural elements via trained introspection.

Law of Effect

Thorndike's principle stating that behaviors followed by satisfying consequences are strengthened, while those followed by unsatisfying consequences are weakened.

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

A four-stage framework comprising Sensorimotor ($0$–$2$ years), Preoperational ($2$–$7$ years), Concrete Operational ($7$–$11$ years), and Formal Operational ($12+$ years) stages of intellectual growth.

Erikson's Psychosocial Stages of Development

An eight-stage lifespan model where individuals navigate developmental crises ranging from Trust vs. Mistrust in infancy to Integrity vs. Despair in late adulthood.

Freud's Psychosexual Stages of Development

A five-stage developmental model consisting of Oral ($0$–$1$), Anal ($1$–$3$), Phallic ($3$–$6$), Latency ($6$–$12$), and Genital ($12+$) stages, each centered on specific bodily erogenous zones and conflicts.

Schema

A mental framework or cognitive structure used to organize and interpret information about the world.

Assimilation

The cognitive process of fitting new information or experiences into existing mental schemas.

Accommodation

The cognitive process of altering existing schemas or creating new ones to incorporate novel information.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

A stimulus that naturally and automatically elicits a reflexive response without any prior learning.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

A previously neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Extinction

The weakening and gradual disappearance of a conditioned response when a conditioned stimulus is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus (classical) or when reinforcement stops (operant).

Spontaneous Recovery

The sudden reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a rest period.

Shaping

The gradual creation of a new operant behavior by systematically reinforcing successive approximations toward the target behavior.

Token Economy

A behavior modification system where secondary reinforcers are earned for target behaviors and later exchanged for backup reinforcers.

Response-Cost

A negative punishment procedure involving the removal of a specific desirable stimulus or token contingent on problem behavior.

Privileged Communication

A legal concept that protects clients from having their confidential therapeutic communications disclosed in judicial proceedings.

Ethical Bracketing

The intentional practice of setting aside personal values and beliefs to provide objective, ethically sound care to diverse clients.

4 Ds of Psychopathology

The core clinical dimensions used to define abnormality: Deviance (violating social norms), Distress (emotional pain), Dysfunction (impaired daily living), and Danger (risk of harm).

Observational Studies

Research methods involving the systematic watching and recording of behavior without manipulating variables.

Surveys

Self-report methods, such as questionnaires and interviews, asking participants about their attitudes, behaviors, or symptoms.

Experiment

A research strategy that manipulates an independent variable ($IV$), measures a dependent variable ($DV$), and controls extraneous variables to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

Experimental Group

The treatment condition in an experiment that receives the independent variable manipulation.

Control Group

The benchmark condition in an experiment (either no-treatment or placebo control) used to ensure no extraneous variables cause score differences.

Null Hypothesis ($H_0$)

A prediction stating that there is no effect or no difference between treatment conditions (e.g., $\\mu_1 = \\mu_2$).

Alternative Hypothesis ($H_1$)

A prediction stating that there is a real effect or difference between conditions.

Type I Error

Concluding that an effect or difference exists when none actually exists in the population.

Type II Error

Failing to detect a real effect or difference, often occurring when effect size or sample size is small.

Standardization

The establishment of uniform procedures for administering and scoring a test so all examinees experience identical conditions.

Norming

The process of collecting test data from a large, representative sample to establish normative reference scores such as means and percentiles.

Correlation Coefficient

A single numerical value that measures and describes the direction, form, and strength of the relationship between two variables.

Coefficient of Determination ($r^2$)

A statistic that expresses the percentage of variability in one variable that is explained by its linear relationship with another variable.

Third-Variable Problem

A challenge in correlational studies where an unmeasured variable may be causing the observed changes in both studied variables.

Directionality Problem

The inability in correlational research to determine which variable causes changes in the other.

Standard Deviation

A measure of variability representing the square root of variance, describing the average distance of scores from the mean.

Inter-Rater Reliability

The degree of agreement or consistency between two or more independent observers rating the same behavior simultaneously.

Test-Retest Reliability

The consistency of test scores across time, evaluated by administering the same test twice to the same individuals.

Construct Validity

The degree to which test scores behave exactly like the theoretical variable or construct being measured.

Internal Validity

The extent to which observed changes in the dependent variable can be confidently attributed to the independent variable rather than confounds.

External Validity

The extent to which study findings can be generalized beyond the specific study to other populations, settings, times, and measures.

Criterion Keying

A test development technique used in the MMPI to find response patterns typical of groups known to differ in specific ways, such as having a diagnosed mental disorder.

Full Scale IQ (FSIQ)

The composite score on the WISC representing overall intellectual ability.

Resting Potential

The electrical state inside an inactive neuron, maintained by ion gradients at approximately $-70\,\text{mV}$.

Agonists

Drugs or substances that increase synaptic activity or mimic neurotransmitter action.

Antagonists

Drugs or substances that decrease synaptic activity or block neurotransmitter receptors.

Heritability

A statistic ranging from $0$ to $1$ representing the proportion of trait variance attributable to genetic differences within a population.

Somatic Nervous System

The peripheral nervous system division that carries sensory signals to the CNS and motor signals to skeletal muscles for voluntary movement.

Autonomic Nervous System

The involuntary branch of the peripheral nervous system that regulates internal processes such as heart rate, respiration, and digestion.

Functionalism

An early psychological perspective led by William James focusing on how mental processes function to help organisms adapt to their environment.

An early approach led by Wundt and Titchener that interprets human culture, language, and behavior through underlying systems of relationships rather than as isolated phenomena

Structuralism

Piaget's Stages of Cognitive Development

A four-stage framework comprising Sensorimotor ($0$–$2$ years), Preoperational ($2$–$7$ years), Concrete Operational ($7$–$11$ years), and Formal Operational ($12+$ years) stages of intellectual growth.

Erikson's Psychosocial Stages of Development

An eight-stage lifespan model where individuals navigate developmental crises ranging from Trust vs. Mistrust in infancy to Integrity vs. Despair in late adulthood.

A five-stage developmental model consisting of Oral ($0$–$1$), Anal ($1$–$3$), Phallic ($3$–$6$), Latency ($6$–$12$), and Genital ($12+$) stages, each centered on specific bodily erogenous zones and conflicts.

Freud’s Psychosexual Stages of Development

Schema

A mental framework or cognitive structure used to organize and interpret information about the world.

Assimilation

The cognitive process of fitting new information or experiences into existing mental schemas.

Accommodation

The cognitive process of altering existing schemas or creating new ones to incorporate novel information.

Unconditioned Stimulus (US)

A stimulus that naturally and automatically elicits a reflexive response without any prior learning.

A previously neutral stimulus that comes to elicit a conditioned response after being paired with an unconditioned stimulus.

Conditioned Stimulus (CS)

Spontaneous Recovery

The sudden reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a rest period.

Shaping

The gradual creation of a new operant behavior by systematically reinforcing successive approximations toward the target behavior.

Token Economy

A behavior modification system where secondary reinforcers are earned for target behaviors and later exchanged for backup reinforcers.

Response-Cost

A negative punishment procedure involving the removal of a specific desirable stimulus or token contingent on problem behavior.

A legal concept that protects clients from having their confidential therapeutic communications disclosed in judicial proceedings.

Privileged Communication

Ethical Bracketing

The intentional practice of setting aside personal values and beliefs to provide objective, ethically sound care to diverse clients.

The core clinical dimensions used to define abnormality: Deviance (violating social norms), Distress (emotional pain), Dysfunction (impaired daily living), and Danger (risk of harm).

4 D’s of Psychopathology

Trade-off in Experimental Validity

The inherent compromise in experimental designs where tight laboratory control maximizes internal validity but reduces external validity.

A distribution shape with a tail extending to the right, where the mean is pulled to a higher value than the median due to low-frequency high scores.

Positive Skew

Negative Skew

A distribution shape with a tail extending to the left, where the mean is pulled to a lower value than the median due to low-frequency low scores.