AP Psych: Unit 1 (copy)

Empiricism

The idea that what we know comes from experience, and observation/experimentation enables scientific knowledge.

Structuralism

to identify what the mind and consciousness were (understanding elements of the structure of the mind.) through introspection

Experimental Psychology

Applying experimental methods to psychology

uses scientific methods to study human behavior and mental processes through controlled experiments.

Behaviorism

Studying how people act and behave in a scientific way; watch and write down how people's actions change as they are taught

Humanistic Psychology

our ability to develop and grow as individuals. Looks at self-potential.

Cognitive Neuroscience

Blending (cognitive psychology) with (neuroscience) to understand things like seeing, thinking, memory, and language.

Psychology

Science of behavior and mental processes

Nature/ Nurture issue

Do our human characteristics come from our genes, or do they form because of what we go through?

Natural Selection

Traits that give an organism an advantage in surviving and reproducing are more likely to survive.

Biopsychosocial Approach

An approach thats considers biology, thoughts and feelings, and social-cultural viewpoints.

Behavioral Psychology

Scientific examination of actions we can see, and understand through learning rules. (figure out what situations make people react angrily or act aggressively.)

Biological Psychology

Explores the connections between biology (genes, nerves, hormones) and thoughts/feelings. (the brain pathways responsible for red ears)

Psychodynamic Psychology

how hidden desires and internal struggles impact behavior, using this insight for therapy. (*Could show an emotional outburst as a way to release hidden anger.)

Social-cultural Psychology

Explores how surroundings and cultures impact how we act and think. (how displays of happiness differ in different cultural settings.)

Cognitive Psychology

The scientific study of all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating

Evolutionary Psychology

Using the principles of natural selection studying the evolution of behavior and the mind

Psychometrics

Concerned with numerical methods of measuring psychological variables by creating valid and reliable tests.

Clinical Psychology

Practitioner that works with the diagnosis, causes, and treatment of mental disorders.

Psychiatry

Psychiatry is a medical field that deals with mental disorders. It involves diagnosing, treating, and preventing these disorders.

Hindsight bias

Tendency to believe, after learning the outcome, that this knowledge was already known

Coincidence Error

Mistakenly thinking a random sequence of events has a pattern

Overconfidence

tendency to think we know more than what we actually know

Confrimation Bias

The tendency to favor info that confirms to our beleifs and is difficult to change when affirmed

Operational Definitions

A carefully worded statement of the exact procedure used in a research study

Case study

Examines one individual or group in depth to reveal thing s applicable to all of us

Naturalistic observation

Descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations w/o trying to control the situation or be manipulative

The survey

Looks at many cases in less depth asking people to report their behavior or opinions

Random Sample

fairly represents a sample because each member has an equal chance at inclusion

Meta Analysis

Comparing Data from numerous studies on the same topic to generalize a hypothesis based ona a large sample

Longtiudinal Time

Studies the same individual or group of them over a length of time to examine changes in the devolopment of behaviors relates to growth and aging

Correlate

A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together and how well either factor predicts the other

Illusory correlation

Perceiving a relationship when none exisits or a stringer than actual relationship

Random Assignment

Assigning people to groups by chance, minimizing the differences between the two different groups

Double Blind procedure

Neither the participant nor the administrator will know which group is receiving the treatment

Placebo

Just thinking you are getting a treatment can boost your spirits and relieve your body of symptoms

Confouding variables

Factors other than the ones being studied that might influence the studies result.