UNIT 0: Scientific Foundations of Psychology Terms

psychology

science of behavior and mental processes

critical thinking

Thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions

structuralism

Early school of thought promoted by Wundt and Titchener used introspection to reveal the structure of the human mind.

functionalism

School of thought that explored how mental and behavioral processes function.

behaviorism

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

hindsight bias

Tendency to believe that one would have foreseen an outcome.

hypothesis

Testable prediction, often implied by a theory

operational definition

Statement of exact procedures (operations) used in a research study.

replication

Repeating the essence of a research study to see whether the basic finding can be reproduced.

case study

Descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles.

naturalistic observation

Technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate.

population

All in a group being studied from which samples may be drawn.

random assignment

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

correlation coefficient

Statistical index of the relationship between two things.

correlation

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

scatterplot

Graph cluster of dots representing the values of two variables.

control group

The group NOT exposed to the treatment.

independent variable

The factor that is manipulated, the variable whose effect is being studied.

dependent variable

In an experiment, the outcome that is measured.

quantitative research

measurable data that stems from research

qualitative research

data that cannot be measured

positive correlation

when two variables are moving in the same direction

negative correlation

when two variables are moving in opposite directions

standard deviation

statistical measurement that shows how spread out the data is

double-blind study

situation in which neither the researcher nor the participants know which groups are receiving the experimental treatment

bimodal distribution

distribution with two distinct peaks

variation

differences that exist within a population or set of data

experimental group

group that is receiving the variable being tested

random sampling

method used in psychology experiments to select a group from a larger population