Prologue and Chapter 1 Key Terms

Psychology

the science of behavior/mental processes

Structuralism

discover mind's structure

Functionalism

explored function of mental/behavior processes to help organism survive/adapt

introspection

self-reflecting

natural selection

nature selects traits that best enable an organism to survive and reproduce

evolutionary psychology

common biology/evolution of behavior and mind

culture

shared ideas and beliefs one generation passes on

communication

Languages share basic grammar principles/communicate with facial expressions

complementary perspectives

everything related to everything else

bio-psychological approach

influences of biological, psychological, social-cultural factors

neuroscience

how body and brain enable emotions/memories

evolutionary

how natural selection of traits promotes survival of genes

behavior genetics

how environment and genetics influence behavior

psycho-dynamic

how behavior springs from unconscious drives/conflicts

behavioral

how we learn observable responses

cognitive

how we encode, process, store, and retrieve information

social cultural

how behavior and thinking vary in cultures/situations

testing effect

repeated self-testing and rehearsal of material

intuition

confidence from recalling cases where favorable impression proved right

hindsight bias

"I-knew-it-all-along" phenomenon --> good ideas seem obvious once created

scientific attitude

curious, skeptical, humble

Scientific method

self-correcting process for evaluating ideas with observation and analysis

theory

explanation using a set of principle that organizes observations and predicts behaviors/events

case study

examines individuals/groups in depth to reveal principles

naturalistic observations

technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occuring situations

survey

technique for obtaining self-reported attitudes/behaviors of a particular group, questioning random sample of group

hypothesis

testable prediction implied by a theory

operational definitions

statement of exact procedures used in a research study

replication

repeating essence of a research study with different participants in different situations to see if basic finding extends to other participants/circumstances

descriptive method

behaviors, case studies, surveys, observations

correlational method

associate different factors

experimental method

manipulate factors

random sample

every person in a group can participate/can't survey whole group

population

those in group being studied; complete set of cases from which samples may be drawn

correlation

measure of the extent to which two factors vary together and thus how well either factor predicts the other --> does not prove causation but indicates possibility of cause and effect relationships

correlation coefficient

statistical index of relationship between two things (-1.00 --> +1.00)

regression towards mean

tendency for extremes/unusual scores or events to regress toward the average

illusory correlation

illusion of control/chance events subject to our personal control

experiment

research method where investigator manipulates 1+ factors to observe effect on dependent variable

experimental group

exposed to treatment

control group

no treatment

random assignment

assign participants to experimental/control groups RANDOMLY

placebo

effect experimental results caused by expectations alone/caused by an inert substance, which recipient assumes is an active agent

double-blind procedure

both researchers and participants blind about if participants got drug or placebo

mode

most frequently occuring

mean

average

median

midpoint

range

highest value minus lowest value

standard deviation

measure of how much scores vary around mean

normal curve

bell-shaped curve, most scores near the mean, few extremes

inferential statistics

determine if results are generalized to a larger population

statistical significance

statistical statement of how likely it is an obtained result occured by chance

false consensus effect

tendency for people to believe their own beliefs, opinions are more common/we overestimate the amount of people that agree with us

scatterplots

graphed dot cluster each represents values of two variables of two variables (slopes of points suggest direction of relationship between variables)

informed consent/assent

agree to participate in experiment/leave at any time/right to refuse

single-blind procedure

participant doesn't know if they got the experimental/control treatment or group but researcher does

The Right to be Protected from Harm or Discomfort

Researchers must protect their participants. Only under certain circumstances can researchers conduct studies involving harm or discomfort and they MUST have informed consent.

The Right to Confidentiality

Researchers must never release data about individual participants, and members of the research team may not gossip or spread information about other participants.

The Right to Debriefing

participants have a right to receive a complete explanation of the experimetn that they took part in especially if the experiment involved deception