Introduction to Psychology

These flashcards cover essential vocabulary and concepts from introductory psychology, providing definitions and clarifications for key terms and theories relevant to the subject.

Psychology

The science of behavior and mental processes.

Critical Thinking

The objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgment.

Structuralism

An early school of thought that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind.

Functionalism

A school of thought that focuses on how mental and behavioral processes function and how they enable organisms to adapt, survive, and flourish.

Behaviorism

The view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes.

Humanistic Psychology

A historically significant perspective that emphasized human growth potential.

Cognitive Psychology

The study of mental processes involved in perceiving, learning, remembering, and thinking.

Cognitive Neuroscience

The interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition.

Nature-Nurture Issue

The long-standing controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors.

Natural Selection

The principle that inherited traits that contribute to survival and reproduction will likely be passed on to succeeding generations.

Positive Psychology

The scientific study of human flourishing, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities thrive.

Biopsychosocial Approach

An integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis.

Experimental Group

In an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment.

Control Group

In an experiment, the group not exposed to the treatment, serving as a comparison.

Random Assignment

Assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups.

Placebo Effect

Experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition.

Hindsight Bias

The tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it.

Correlational Research

Research designed to discover the degree to which two variables are related to each other.

Experimental Research

Research that manipulates one or more independent variables to observe their effect on some behavior or mental process.

Survey

A descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample.

Informed Consent

Giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate.

Debriefing

The post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants.

Retrieval Practice Effect

The enhanced memory that results from repeated retrieval of previously learned information.