Introduction to Psychology — Key Terms & Concepts (Lecture Notes)

Vocabulary flashcards covering major concepts, figures, and research methods from the psychology lecture notes.

Cognitive

How we process information; thinking about thinking.

Biological Perspective

How mental processes and behavior relate to the brain.

Social Psychology

Interactions among two or more people; how behavior changes in groups versus when alone.

Personality

What makes us different and where these differences come from.

Organizational Psychology

Study of workplace behavior; how people are selected and why those people fit in organizations.

Nature vs. Nurture

Debate over whether genes or environment/experiences shape behavior and traits; there is no single answer.

Consciousness vs. Unconscious Mind

The debate about the role of conscious experience versus unconscious processing in behavior.

Dualism

Descartes' view that mind and body are distinct; the body is observable while the mind is nonmaterial.

Empiricism

Belief that all knowledge and behavior come from experience; mind is a blank slate at birth (nurture over nature).

Blank Slate

The idea that the mind is blank at birth and gains knowledge through experience.

Structuralism

Early approach that analyzed the mind by breaking it into basic elements, using introspection.

Introspection

Self-report of inner sensations in response to stimuli; subjective and not objectively measurable.

Functionalism

Focus on the purposes of behaviors and mental processes; influenced by evolutionary thinking.

Evolutionary Psychology

Approach explaining mental traits as adaptations shaped by natural selection.

Unconscious Mind

Part of the mind outside awareness that influences thoughts and behaviors (Freud).

Psychoanalytic Theory

Freud's theory that unconscious forces shape behavior and personality.

Behaviorism

School of psychology that studies observable behavior and environmental influences, rejecting introspection.

Cognitive Revolution

Period when psychology revived interest in studying mental processes through behavior and neuroscience.

Description (in scientific psychology)

Describing events or phenomena.

Explanation (in scientific psychology)

Explaining why events occur.

Prediction (in scientific psychology)

Forecasting future events based on known relationships.

Theory

A coherent set of principles that explains or predicts a phenomenon.

Hypothesis

A specific, testable prediction derived from a theory.

Descriptive Research

Systematic observation methods (case studies, surveys, naturalistic observation).

Correlation

A statistical measure of the relationship between two variables; ranges from -1.0 to +1.0.

Correlation does not imply causation

A correlation shows association but does not prove that one variable causes the other.

Independent Variable (IV)

The variable that the experimenter manipulates to observe its effect on the dependent variable.

Dependent Variable (DV)

The variable that is measured in an experiment.

Experiment

A research design that manipulates the independent variable to determine causal effects on the dependent variable.