Psychology Revision Notes Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering core concepts, key research studies, branches of psychology, research methodology, and ethical considerations from the psychology revision notes.

Psychology

The study of behaviour and mental processes, originating from the Latin meaning "study of the soul".

Aristotle

An ancient philosopher who believed consciousness was located in the heart.

Sigmund Freud

Psychologist associated with the idea that personalities are shaped by unconscious processes.

Wilhelm Wundt

An early psychologist associated with Structuralism.

Behaviourism

An approach in psychology focused on the study of observable behaviour.

Humanistic Psychology

An approach in psychology focused on nurturing and personal growth.

Cognitive Psychology

An approach in psychology focused on mental processes.

Educational Psychology

A branch of psychology focusing on children and young people in educational settings to help with learning difficulties, social/emotional problems, and developmental disorders.

Forensic Psychology

A branch of psychology working with offenders, prisoners, and the legal system on treatment programmes, behavior modification, profiling, and court evidence.

Environmental Psychology

A branch of psychology that studies how physical environments, architecture, and urban design affect psychological functioning.

Occupational Psychology

A branch of psychology aiming to improve organisational effectiveness and job satisfaction through ergonomics, personnel management, and time management.

Clinical Psychology

A branch of psychology dealing with problems such as addiction, anxiety, depression, and relationship issues through psychometric tests, interviews, and therapy.

Asch's Conformity Study

A study where participants judged line lengths alongside confederates giving wrong answers, showing people conform to fit in or avoid social rejection.

Misinformation Effect

The phenomenon where misleading information is incorporated into a person's memory after an event occurs.

Loftus

Researcher who demonstrated that the wording used in leading questions regarding car accidents affected estimated speed and recall of details.

Steve Titus

An individual wrongly identified after being arrested because his car was similar to the real offender's, demonstrating memory misidentification.

Cerebral Cortex

The outer grey-matter layer of the brain, approximately $2\text{--}4\text{ mm}$ thick, which is folded for extra surface area.

Occipital Lobe

The region at the back of the brain responsible for visual processing; damage to it can cause cortical blindness.

Frontal Lobe

The region at the front of the brain involved in decision making, emotional processing, and motor functions.

Motor Cortex

A brain area that controls movement; damage can cause loss of muscle function or paralysis.

Broca's Area

A region in the left frontal lobe; damage causes Broca's aphasia and difficulty producing fluent speech.

Phineas Gage

A 25-year-old railway worker who suffered left frontal lobe damage from an iron rod explosion, resulting in personality changes while retaining normal memory.

Stanford Prison Experiment

An investigation by Zimbardo using 21 participants to evaluate dispositional vs. situational factors, finding rapid conformity to assigned social roles.

Little Albert Study

A study demonstrating that phobias can be learned in infants by pairing a stimulus with an unpleasant experience.

Social Learning Theory

A theory proposing that human behaviour is learned through exposure to and observation of others.

Models (Social Learning Theory)

Real or symbolic individuals (such as TV or movie characters) whose behaviour is observed by others.

Vicarious Reinforcement

The increased likelihood of repeating a behaviour after seeing someone else rewarded for that behaviour.

Vicarious Punishment

The decreased likelihood of repeating a behaviour after seeing someone else punished for that behaviour.

Mediational Processes (ARRM)

Four cognitive processes in Social Learning Theory: Attention, Retention, Reproduction, and Motivation.

Bandura's Bobo Doll Experiment

A study with 72 children (36 boys and 36 girls aged 3–6) demonstrating that aggression can be learned through observation and imitation.

Lab Experiment

A research study conducted in a controlled or artificial setting.

Hypothesis

A specific, testable prediction.

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable that the researcher intentionally changes or manipulates.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The variable that the researcher measures to assess the effect of the IV.

Experimental Condition

The group in a study that is exposed to the independent variable.

Control Condition

The group in a study that is not exposed to the independent variable.

Extraneous Variable

An unwanted variable that could potentially affect the results of an experiment.

Reliability

The consistency of research results across measurements.

Validity

The accuracy of research results and whether a test measures what it claims to measure.

Ecological Validity

The extent to which research findings can be applied to real-life situations.

Internal Validity

The extent to which an experiment accurately measures what it intended to without confounding factors.

Generalisability

The extent to which research findings can be applied to a wider population.

Demand Characteristics

Cues in an experiment that reveal the study's purpose to the participants.

Informed Consent

The ethical practice of giving participants sufficient information to decide whether to participate in a study.

Right to Withdraw

The ethical principle that participants are allowed to leave a study at any point.

Deception

The ethical issue where participants are misinformed or given false information regarding a study's true aim.

Protection from Harm

The ethical principle requiring that participants do not experience excessive psychological or physical harm.

IRDPP

A memory aid for ethics standing for Informed consent, Right to withdraw, Deception, Protection from harm, and Privacy/confidentiality.