PSYCH 105 FLASHCARDS: Ch 2, 9, 10

Empiricism

belief that accurate knowledge of the world can be acquired through observation

Dogmatism

tendency to adhere to one’s beliefs without consideration for evidence or others opinions

Scientific Method

procedure using empirical evidence to establish facts by developing a theory, deriving a hypothesis from the theory, and to test the hypothesis through observation

Theories

explanations of natural phenomena

Hypothesis

falsifiable prediction made by a theory

Empirical Method

a set of rules and techniques for observation

Operational Definition

a description of a property in measurable terms

Construct Validity

how well an operational definition represents or reflects a concept that is not directly measurable

Power

ability of a measure to detect the conditions specified in the operational definition

Reliability

ability for a certain property to consistently and accurately measured

Demand Characteristics

aspects of observational setting that cause people to behave as they think someone else wants or expects

Naturalistic Observation

technique for gathering information by unobtrusively observing people in their natural environments

Observer Bias

tendency for observer’s expectations to influence what is believed to be observed and what is actually observed

Double-Blind Study

study in which neither researcher nor participant knows how the participants are expected to behave

Population

complete collection of people

Sample

a partial collection of people drawn from a population

Frequency Distribution

a graphic representation displaying the how often a property appears in a dataset

Negatively Skewed Distribution

more values are concentrated on the right side of a distribution

Positively Skewed Distribution

more values are concentrated on the left side of a distribution

Normal Distribution

distribution in which the frequency of measurements is highest in the middle and decreses symmetrically in both directions

Descriptive Statistics

summary statements capturing the essential information from a frequency distribution

Central Tendency

descriptive statistic that attempts to describe a whole set of data with a single value that represents the middle of a distribution

Mode

central tendency measuring the most frequently observed value

Mean

central tendency measuring the average value of all the measurements

Median

central tendency measuring value in the middle of the frequency distribution

Range

value of the largest measurement minus the value of the smallest measurement in a frequency distribution

Standard Deviation

statistic describing how each measurement differs from the mean; high SD=values in frequency distribution are further apart, low SD=values in frequency distribution are closer together

Variables

properties that can change/be assigned to different values

Correlation

statistical relationship between variables measuring the degree to which the variables are linearly related

Correlation Coefficient

mathematical measure of the direction and strength of a correlation symbolized by the letter r

Perfect Positive Correlation

y increases by the same value as x, r=1

Perfect Negative Correlation

y decreases by the same value x increases, r=-1

No Correlation

there is no relationship between x and y values, r=0

Natural Correlation

correlation observed in the natural world

Third-Variable Problem

natural correlation between two variables cannot be taken as evidence of a causal relationship because a third variable may be causing them both

Experimentation

technique for establishing the causal relationship between variables

Manipulation

technique for determining the causal power of a variable by actively changing its value

Independent Variable

the variable manipulated in an experiment

Dependent Variable

variable that is measured in an experiment

Self-Selection

problem occurring when anything about a participant determines the value of the independent variable to which the participant was exposed

Random Assignment

procedure assigns participants to conditions by chance

Statistical Significance

measures the likelihood that the results of data generated by testing or experimentation can be attributed to a clear and identifiable source rather than by chance; p<0.5

Internal Validity

extent to which a piece of evidence supports a claim about cause and effect, within the context of a particular study

External Validity

extent to which variables have been operationally defined in a representative way that can be applied outside the context of a particular study

Case Method

procedure for gathering scientific information by studying a single individual

Random Sampling

technique for selecting participants that ensures that every member of a population has an equal chance of being included in the sample

Replication

experiment using the same procedures as a previous experiment with a new sample from the same population

Type I Error (False Positive)

conclusion of a causal relationship between two variables when there is not

Type II Error (False Negative)

conclusion that there is no casual relationship between two variables when there is

Sir Francis Bacon

described a new method for discovering facts about the natural world (scientific method)

Informed Consent

verbal agreement made by an adult informed of all possible risks to participate in a study

Debriefing

verbal description of the true nature and purpose of a study

Replacement

researchers must prove there is no alternative to using animals in research and that animal use is justified by the scientific/clinical value of the study

Reduction

researchers must use the smallest number of animals possible to achieve their research

Refinement

procedures must be modified to minimize discomfort, infection, illness, and pain for animals

Language

system for communicating with others using signals that are combined according to rules of grammar and used to communicate

Grammar

set of rules that specify how the units of language can be combined to produce meaningful messages

Phonemes

smallest units of speech distinguishing one word from another

Phonological Rules

indicate how phonemes can be combined to form words

Morphemes

smallest meaningful units of language

Morphological Rules

indicate how morphemes can be combined to form words

Function Morphemes

serve grammatical functions

Content Morphemes

refer to things and events

Syntactic Rules

indicate how words can be combined to form phrases and sentences

Overregularizing

 part of the language-learning process in which children extend regular grammatical patterns to irregular words

0-4 Months

language milestone where infants can tell the difference between all possible phonemes, cooing especially in response to speech

4-6 Months

language milestone where infants babble consonants

6-10 Months

language milestone where babies understand some words and simple requests

10-12 Months

language milestone where toddlers begin to use single words and cannot distinguish phonemes outside of their native language

12-18 Months

language milestone where toddlers have a vocabulary of 30-50 words including simple nouns, adjectives, and action words

18-24 Months

language milestone where two-word phrases are ordered according to syntactic rules, vocabulary consists of 50-200 words, and rules are understood

24-36 Months

language milestone where children have a vocabulary of about 1000 words and produce phrases and incomplete sentences

36-60 Months

language milestone in children where vocabulary grows to more than 10000 words, full sentences are produced, mastery of grammatical morphemes and function words, can form questions and negations

Telegraphic Speech

speech devoid of function morphemes, consisting of mostly content words

Nativist Theory

language development is best explained as an innate biological capacity

Universal Grammar

collection of processes that facilitate language learning, postulating that there are innate constraints on the grammar of a possible human language

Wernicke’s Area

area in the left temporal cortex involved in language comprehension (spoken or signed)

Wernicke’s Aphasia

inability to comprehend speech, producing grammatically correct speech that conveys no mearning

Broca’s Area

area in the left frontal cortex involved in the production of sequential patterns in vocal and sign languages

Broca’s Aphasia

inability to produce speech & proper grammatical structure

Aphasia

difficulty in producing or comprehending language

Linguistic Relativity Hypothesis

idea developed by Whorf that language shapes the nature of thought

Concept

mental representation that groups or categorized shared features of related objects, events, or other stimuli

Necessary Condition

condition that must be true of the object in order for it to belong to the category

Sufficient Condition

condition that guarantees, by its presence alone, the desired outcome. It is sufficient to belong to the category, regardless of any other factors

Prototype Theory

concept that new objects are classified by comparing them to the “best” or “most typical” member of a category

Exemplar Theory

category judgements are made by comparing a new instance with stored memories of other instances of the category

Category-Specific Deficit

neurological syndrome characterized by an inability to recognize objects belonging to a particular category, even when object recognition for other categories is undisturbed

Rational Choice Theory

classical view that decisions are made by determining how likely something is to happen, judging the value of the outcome and multiplying the two

Availability Heuristic

items more readily available in memory are judged as having occurred more frequently

Heuristic

process by which humans use mental shortcuts to arrive at decisions, not necessarily always right or accurate

Algorithm

well defined sequence of procedures or rules that guarantee a solution to a problem

Representativeness Heuristic

mental shortcut involving making a probability judgement by comparing an object/event with a prototype of the object/event

Conjunction Fallacy

belief that two events are more likely to occur together rather than separately

Framing Effects

cognitive bias where people's decisions change depending on how options or statements are framed, even when they are logically identical

Sunk-Cost Fallacy

framing effect in which people make decisions about a current situation on the basis of what they have previously invested in the situation

Optimism Bias

individual belief that they are more likely to experience positive events and less likely to experience negative events in the future

Prospect Theory

individuals choose to take on risks when evaluating potential losses and avoid risks when evaluating potential gains

Ill-Defined Problem

problem with no clear goal or defined path to a solution

Well-Defined Problem

problem with clearly specified goals and clearly defined solution paths