PSY101 Key Terms Chapter 1

behavior

Everything we do that can be directly observed.

behavioral approach

An approach to psychology emphasizing the scientific study of observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants.

biological approach

An approach to psychology focusing on the body, especially the brain and nervous system.

biopsychosocial approach

A perspective on human behavior that asserts that biological, psychological, and social factors are all significant ingredients in producing behavior.

case study or case history

An in-depth look at a single individual.

cognitive approach

An approach to psychology emphasizing the mental processes involved in knowing: how we direct our attention, perceive, remember, think, and solve problems.

confederate

A person who is given a role to play in a study so that the social context can be manipulated.

control group

The participants in an experiment who are as much like the experimental group as possible and who are treated in every way like the experimental group except for a manipulated factor, the independent variable.

correlational research

Research that examines the relationships between variables, whose purpose is to examine whether and how two variables change together.

critical thinking

The process of thinking deeply and actively, asking questions, and evaluating the evidence.

demand characteristics

Any aspects of a study that communicate to the participants how the experimenter wants them to behave.

dependent variable

The outcome; the factor that can change in an experiment in response to changes in the independent variable.

double-blind experiment

An experimental design in which neither the experimenter nor the participants are aware of which participants are in the experimental group and which are in the control group until the results are calculated.

empirical method

Gaining knowledge through the observation of events, the collection of data, and logical reasoning.

evolutionary approach

An approach to psychology centered on evolutionary ideas such as adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection as the basis for explaining specific human behaviors.

experiment

A carefully regulated procedure in which the researcher manipulates one or more variables that are believed to influence some other variable.

experimental group

The participants in an experiment who receive the drug or other treatment under study, that is, those who are exposed to the change that the independent variable represents.

experimenter bias

The influence of the experimenter’s expectations on the outcome of research.

external validity

The degree to which an experimental design actually reflects the real-world issues it is supposed to address.

functionalism

James’s approach to mental processes, emphasizing the functions and purposes of the mind and behavior in the individual’s adaptation to the environment.

humanistic approach

An approach to psychology emphasizing a person’s positive qualities, the capacity for positive growth, and the freedom to choose any destiny.

hypothesis

A testable prediction that derives logically from a theory.

independent variable

A manipulated experimental factor; the variable that the experimenter changes to see what its effects are.

internal validity

The degree to which changes in the dependent variable are due to the manipulation of the independent variable.

longitudinal design

A special kind of systematic observation, used by correlational researchers, that involves obtaining measures of the variables of interest in multiple waves over time.

mental processes

The thoughts, feelings, and motives that people experience privately but that cannot be observed directly.

natural selection

Darwin’s principle of an evolutionary process in which organisms that are best adapted to their environment will survive and produce offspring.

naturalistic observation

The observation of behavior in a real-world setting.

neuroscience

The scientific study of the structure, function, development, genetics, and biochemistry of the nervous system, emphasizing that the brain and nervous system are central to understanding behavior, thought, and emotion.

operational definition

A definition that provides an objective description of how a variable is going to be measured and observed in a particular study.

placebo

In a drug study, a harmless substance that has no physiological effect, given to participants in a control group so that they are treated identically to the experimental group except for the active agent.

placebo effect

The situation where participants’ expectations, rather than the experimental treatment, produce an experimental outcome.

population

The entire group about which the researcher wants to draw conclusions.

psychodynamic approach

An approach to psychology emphasizing unconscious thought, the conflict between biological drives (such as the drive for sex) and society’s demands, and early childhood family experiences.

psychology

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

random assignment

Researchers’ assignment of participants to groups by chance, to reduce the likelihood that an experiment’s results will be due to preexisting differences between groups.

random sample

A sample that gives every member of the population an equal chance of being selected.

replication

The process in which a scientist attempts to reproduce a study to see if the same results emerge.

research participant bias

In an experiment, the influence of participants’ expectations, and of their thoughts on how they should behave, on their behavior.

sample

The subset of the population chosen by the investigator for study.

science

The use of systematic methods to observe the natural world, including human behavior, and to draw conclusions.

sociocultural approach

An approach to psychology that examines the ways in which social and cultural environments influence behavior.

structuralism

Wundt’s approach to discovering the basic elements, or structures, of mental processes.

theory

A broad idea or set of closely related ideas that attempts to explain observations and to make predictions about future observations.

third variable problem

The circumstance where a variable that has not been measured accounts for the relationship between two other variables. Third variables are also known as confounds.

validity

The soundness of the conclusions that a researcher draws from an experiment. In the realm of testing, the extent to which a test measures what it is intended to measure.

variable

Anything that can chan