Psychology Unit 0 & Research Methods Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards generated from introductory psychology lecture notes covering major perspectives, research methods, statistical concepts, and ethical guidelines.

Psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Nature

Genetic/biological/hereditary factors that an individual inherits from their biological parents.

Nurture

All of the environmental/external/non-genetic influences that shapes one's behavior, personality, and mental processes.

Psychodynamic Perspective

Perspective stating behavior and personality are driven by unconscious forces, internal conflicts, and early childhood experiences.

Cognitive Perspective

Focuses on how internal mental processes (perception, thinking, memory, problem solving) drive human behavior.

Behavioral Perspective

Focuses on observable actions and how the environment shapes human behavior through learning, rather than internal thoughts/hidden motives.

Humanistic Perspective

Optimistic (happy) approach focusing on conscious experiences, free will, and the innate drive humans have for personal growth and self-actualization.

Biological Perspective

Human behavior and mental processes being driven by physical/chemical causes, including the brain, nervous system, genetics, hormones, and evolutionary adaptation.

Evolutionary Perspective

Human behaviors, thoughts, and psychological traits are adaptations shaped from natural selection (Charles Darwin!).

Sociocultural Perspective

How our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are shaped by our culture, language, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and social groups (social culture).

Biopsychosocial

A combination of biological, psychological, and sociocultural factors to explain behavior and mental processes.

Confirmation bias

Cognitive shortcut where you intentionally search for/interpret/favor/recall information that matches your pre-existing beliefs.

Hindsight bias

The tendency one has to falsely believe that an outcome could have been predicted after learning the true outcome.

Overconfidence

Cognitive bias a person has, where they're more certain than they are correct (overestimating the accuracy of our knowledge).

Empirical evidence

Information acquired via direct/objective observation, measurements, and systematic experimentation, instead of intuition/logic/anecdotes.

Scientific method

Process of empirical investigation, intended to evaluate ideas and gather empirical evidence.

Hypothesis

A specific, testable prediction about the relationship b/w 2+ variables, derived from a broader theory.

Falsifiable

A hypothesis that can be tested in a way that could show that it is false.

Peer Review

Independent evaluation of scientific/academic/professional research by other experts prior to publication.

Replication

Repeating the main purpose of a prior research study in order to see if the findings can be reproduced.

Validity

The extent to which a test/tool/experiment actually measures what it claims to measure.

Reliability

The extent to which a test/research study yields consistent, reputable results.

American Psychological Association (APA)

The largest scientific and professional organization, representing psychologists in the U.S.

Quantitative Data

Numerical values that can be analyzed using statistical methods.

Qualitative Data

Descriptive information that captures qualities/characteristics/meanings of psychological phenomena (why/how?).

Likert Scales

Closed-ended rating scale used by researchers to measure one's attitudes/opinions/beliefs by asking them to rate their level of agreement with a series of statements.

Structured Interviews

Research and hiring method where an interviewer asks all participants the same questions on a fixed script.

Survey Technique

Research technique used to collect self-reported attitudes/opinions/behaviors of a particular group, done by questioning a sample of individuals.

Wording effect

How changes in phrasing/choice of words significantly influences one's expressed opinions/responses/behaviors.

Social desirability bias

Response bias where survey participants may answer questions in ways to make them look better/moral/socially aligned, rather than telling the truth.

Naturalistic observation

Researchers study and observe behavior in the real world (a natural setting), without manipulating or controlling anything.

Case study

Researchers examine one person or a small group of people in great depth and detail.

Correlational Research

Research method which measures 2+ variables to determine the strength of their relationship, with no manipulation to any variable.

Third Variable Problem

A problem which occurs when an unmeasured factor is actually responsible for the observed relationship b/w two correlated variables.

Scatterplot

A graphed cluster of dots, representing the values of two variables.

Positive Correlation

Relationship b/w two variables where both move in the same direction.

Negative Correlation

Relationship b/w two variables where they move in opposite directions.

Experimental Method

A researcher manipulates independent variables (the variable that gets changed) in order to observe an effect on a dependent variable (the variable that gets observed). This is the only research method that can establish a cause and effect relationship.

Independent variable

Factor that the researcher manipulates.

Dependent variable

Factor that the researcher measures.

Confounding variables

Outside, uncontrolled factor that changes alongside the independent variable, changing the dependent variable.

Operational definitions

A detailed statement of how a researcher measures/manipulates a variable in a study.

Experimental groups

Group of participants in a research study, who are being exposed to the independent variable.

Control Group

Group of participants in a research study that is not exposed to the independent variable.

Random assignment

Using chance to place participants into experimental/control groups.

Placebo effect

Psychological phenomenon - a person experiences a real change in behavior/health/symptoms after receiving a fake treatment, due to their belief that the fake treatment would work.

Experimenter Bias

The tendency of a researcher to influence the treatment of participants/interpretation of data in a way that aligns with their own expectations/hypotheses/desired outcomes.

Single blind study

Experimental procedure - participants do not know whether they're receiving the actual treatment or a placebo, but the researcher does.

Double blind study

Experimental procedure - both participants and researchers do not know who received the actual treatment or placebo.

Placebo condition

Experimental group of participants who receive a fake treatment, instead of the real one.

Sample

Subset of individuals selected from a larger population to participate in a research study.

Representative sample

Subgroup of research participants that mirrors the demographics/behavioral characteristics of the entire population that is being studied.

Random sample

Select group of participants chosen from a larger population by chance, with everyone having an equal chance of selection.

Sample bias

Flawed research process - a sample is collected in a way preventing accurate representation of the target population.

Generalizability

Extent to which results from a research study can be applied to a wider population/other settings beyond the experiment.

Statistics

Mathematics used by researchers to organize/summarize/analyze/interpret quantitative data collected from research studies.

Measures of Central Tendency

Statistic that identifies the single, typical score that represents the center of a dataset.

Mean

Average of a dataset.

Median

Middle value in a dataset (via numerical order).

Mode

Most frequently occurring value in a dataset.

Range

Difference b/w highest and lowest values in a dataset.

Normal curve/Bell curve

Symmetric, bell-shaped graph showing how data is spread out.

Regression to the mean

Statistical tendency for extreme scores/data to be followed by values closer to the average.

Positive skew

Score distribution where most data points are clustered on the left side.

Negative skew

Score distribution where most data points are clustered on the right side.

Standard deviation

Measure of variability, telling us the avg. difference b/w scores in a dataset and the mean (avg.) (how much scores vary from the center).

Percentile (rank)

Percentage of scores in a distribution that fall at/below a specific score. It shows how one's standing is compared to a larger group.

Bimodal Distribution

Frequency distribution/graph that has two peaks/modes.

Statistical Significance

Mathematical statement proving that the results of a research study are very unlikely to have occurred randomly.

Effect Sizes

Statistical measure - strength/magnitude of the difference b/w groups (closeness of rls. b/w variables).

Meta Analysis

Research method - The combination of results from many different studies to come to a single conclusion.

Institutional Review Boards

Committee at a research institution that reviews research proposals involving humans.

Protects Participants from Harm

Ethical rule - Researchers must keep humans/animals safe from physical/mental/long-term damage during a study.

Informed Consent

Ethical rule - Research participants must receive enough info about a study's purpose/methods/risks to freely decide whether they want to participate.

Informed Assent

A minor's agreement to participate in a study after receiving an age-appropriate explanation (not legally binding).

Confidentiality

Ethical rule - Researchers must keep a participant's private information secure and secret from unauthorized people.

Deception

Intentionally misleading research participants about the true purpose/nature/procedures of an experiment.

Confederates

Actor/assistant who works for the researcher.

Debriefing

Post-experiment - Researchers explain the true purpose/goal/procedures of a study to participants.