Psychological Perspectives and Research Methods

A set of vocabulary terms and definitions covering introductory psychology concepts, historical perspectives, research methodologies, and ethical standards as specified in the lecture notes.

Psychology

The scientific study of mind and behavior.

Structuralism

An early perspective focused on understanding the conscious experience through introspection, emphasized by Wilhelm Wundt.

Introspection

A process by which someone examines their own conscious experience in an attempt to break it into its component parts.

Wilhelm Wundt

Credited as one of the founders of psychology, he created the first laboratory for psychological research and emphasized structuralism.

Functionalism

Focused on how mental activities helped an organism adapt to its environment, established by William James.

William James

The first American psychologist who drew from the functionality of cognitive processes to establish functionalism.

Gestalt Psychology

A perspective focusing on humans as a whole rather than individual parts, associated with Wertheimer, Koffka, and Kohler.

Psychoanalytic Theory

Founded by Sigmund Freud, it focuses on the role of a person’s unconscious and early childhood experiences.

Behavioral Perspective

The belief that behavior is a response to environmental stimuli or rewards and punishments; associated with John B. Watson, Ivan Pavlov, and B. F. Skinner.

John B. Watson

Known as the father of behaviorism, he focused on observable behavior rather than the objective analysis of the mind.

Classical Conditioning

A concept discovered by Ivan Pavlov involving conditioned reflexes where an animal produces a response to a stimulus associated with an original stimulus.

Operant Conditioning

The principle of modifying behavior through reinforcement and punishment, studied by B. F. Skinner.

Humanistic Perspective

Focuses on the uniqueness of the individual, free will, and self-actualization; associated with Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow.

Client-centered therapy

A therapy method developed by Carl Rogers where the patient takes a lead role and the therapist provides unconditional positive regard, genuineness, and empathy.

Hierarchy of Human Needs

A proposal by Abraham Maslow that basic survival needs must be met before higher-level social needs begin to motivate behavior.

Cognitive Perspective

Focuses on behavior as the result of internal thoughts, such as perception, attention, language, memory, and thinking.

Noam Chomsky

Influential figure in the cognitive revolution who believed psychology needed to incorporate mental functioning to understand human behavior.

Biological Perspective

Focuses on behavior as the result of genetics, physiology, and brain chemistry like neurotransmitters.

Sociocultural Perspective

The study of how behavior is influenced by the rules and expectations of social groups and cultures.

Evolutionary Perspective

Focuses on behavior as the result of natural selection, driven by survival or the perpetuation of genes.

Biopsychology Perspective

The study of how the structure and function of the nervous system generate behavior.

Empirical Research

Research that is grounded in objective, tangible evidence that can be observed regardless of who is observing.

Deductive Reasoning

The process of predicting results based on a general premise.

Inductive Reasoning

The process of drawing conclusions from observations.

Theory

A well-developed set of ideas that propose an explanation for observed phenomena.

Hypothesis

A tentative and testable statement (prediction) about the relationship between two or more variables, often in an "if-then" format.

Falsifiable

The characteristic of a hypothesis being capable of being shown to be incorrect.

Clinical or Case Study

An in-depth focus on one individual, typically in an extreme or unique circumstance.

Naturalistic Observation

Observation of behavior in its natural setting to capture the most accurate and genuine behaviors.

Observer Bias

When observations are skewed to align with the expectations of the observer.

Surveys

A list of questions delivered to a sample of individuals to gather a large amount of data from a larger population.

Archival Research

The use of past records or data sets to search for patterns or relationships.

Longitudinal Research

A study conducted over a long period of time with the same group of participants.

Cross-Sectional Research

A study conducted at a single point in time with one group of participants.

Correlation

A relationship between two or more variables where one variable changes as the other does.

Correlation Coefficient ($r$)

A number from $-1$ to $+1$ indicating the strength and direction of the relationship between variables.

Positive Correlation

When two variables change in the same direction, both becoming either larger or smaller.

Negative Correlation

When two variables change in different directions, with one becoming larger as the other becomes smaller.

Confounding Variable

An unanticipated outside factor that affects both variables of interest, potentially creating a false sense of causation.

Illusory Correlation

Seeing a relationship between two things when no such relationship exists, such as the belief that a full moon influences behavior.

Confirmation Bias

The tendency to ignore evidence that disproves one's ideas or beliefs.

Experimental Group

The participants in an experiment who experience the manipulated variable.

Control Group

Participants who do not experience the manipulated variable, serving as a basis for comparison.

Operational Definition

A description of the specific actions and operations used to measure and manipulate variables.

Single-blind Study

An experiment where the researcher knows group assignments but the participants do not.

Double-blind Study

An experiment where both the researchers and the participants are unaware of the group assignments.

Placebo Effect

When people's expectations or beliefs influence or determine their experience in a situation.

Independent Variable

The variable that is influenced or controlled by the experimenter.

Dependent Variable

The variable that a researcher measures to see the effect of the independent variable.

Random Sample

A subset of a larger population where every member has an equal chance of being selected.

Random Assignment

A method of assigning participants to groups ensuring everyone has an equal chance of being in the experimental or control group.

Statistical Analysis

A process determining if the difference between groups is significant, occurring by chance only $5\%$ of the time or less.

Peer-reviewed journal article

An article evaluated by other scientists with expertise in the subject to ensure quality and potential for replication.

Reliability

The consistency and reproducibility of a given result or data collection instrument.

Validity

The accuracy of a given result in terms of measuring what it was designed to measure.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

A committee that reviews proposals for research involving human participants to ensure ethical standards.

Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC)

A committee that reviews proposals for research involving non-human animal subjects.