all concepts - all units

consciousness

our awareness of ourselves and our environment

wakefulness

condition of awareness of one's surroundings, generally coupled with an ability to communicate with others or understand what is being communicated by others

hypnosis

a social interaction in which one person responds to a hypnotist's suggestions that certain perceptions, feelings, thoughts, or behaviors will occur

posthypnotic suggestion

a suggestion made during hypnosis (a hypnosis session), lasts until the subject is no longer hypnotized; helpts control undesired symptoms and behaviors

sleep

periodic, natural loss of consciousness; distinct from unconsciousness resulting from a coma, anaesthesia, or hibernation

EEG (electroencephalography)

a method of studying brain waves using an electroencephalograph that amplifies and records the electrical activity of the brain through electrodes placed on various points on the scalp

sleep/wake cycle

the natural (brain controlled) bodily rhythm that results in alternate periods of sleep and wakefulness

circadian rhythm

the biological clock; regulates bodily rhythms (ex. temperature and wakefulness) that occur on a 24-hour cycle

N1

(sleep stage) when a person first falls asleep; if undisturbed, moves quickly into the next stage; lasts 1-7 minutes

N2

(sleep stage) drop in temperature, relaxed muscles, slowed breathing and heart rate; brain activity slows, but short bursts of activity help resist being woken up; lasts 10-25 minutes in first cycle, becomes longer each cycle after

N3 (deep sleep)

(sleep stage) harder to be awoken from; as the body relaxes further, muscle tone, pulse, and breathing rate decrease; allows for body recovery (tissues) and growth (bones and muscles); boosts immune system and other body processes; contributes to insightful thinking, creativity, and memory; occurs mostly in first half of night, lasts up 20-40 minutes each cycle

REM sleep (paradoxical sleep)

a recurring sleeps stage where vivid dreams commonly occur; muscles are relaxed but other body systems are active (awake-like); dreaming emotional processing, memory consolidation, brain development, and wakefulness preparation occur; lasts about 10 minutes in first cycle, increases to up to 1 hour in final cycle

hallucinations

false sensory experiences, such as seeing something in the absence of a visual stimulus

information consolidation theory

suggests that people sleep in order to process information that has been processed during the day; allows the brain to prepare for the next day

repair and restoration theory

suggests that sleeping is essential for revitalizing and restoring the physiological processes that keep the body and mind healthy and properly functioning

REM rebound

the tendency for REM sleep to increase as a result of REM sleep deprivation, created by repeated awakenings during REM sleep

melatonin

a naturally occuring hormone that helps regulate the body's circadian rhythms, produced around evening (sunset), gradually increases sleepiness; exposure to light stops production, helps body feel alert upon waking up

effects of sleep loss

problesm with learning, focusing, and reacting; trouble making decisions, solving problems, and remembering; negative impact on emotions and behavior

insomnia

recurring/persisting problems in falling or staying asleep

narcolepsy

a sleep disorder characterized by uncontrollably falling asleep; may lapse directly into REM sleep, often at inconvenient times

sleep apnea

a sleep disorder characterized by temporary cessations (endings) of breathing during sleep and repeated momentary awakenings

night terrors

a sleep disorder characterized by high arousal and an appearance of being terrified; occur during N3; seldom remembered

somnambulism (sleep walking)

walking or performing complex behaviors while still mostly asleep; occurs during N3; borders between sleep and wakefulness; no recollection of event upon waking up

REM sleep behavior disorder

causes people to act out their dreams; physical movements and talking during sleep, often coexists with other neurological conditions

jet lag

a circadian rhythm disorder that occurs when a person's internal circadian clock is out of sync with the same zone they are in; symptoms include fatigue, insomnia, irritability and digestive problems; clock can be reset through light (ex. sunlight)

shift work

any work schedule that falls outside the hours 7AM and 6PM; includes evening, night, or early morning shifts, and fixed or rotational; people who work night, early morning, or rotational shifts are at higher risk of developing shift work disorder and other sleep problems

dream

a sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a persons mind during sleep; notable for hallucinatory imagery, discontinuities, and incongruities, and for the dreamer's delusional acceptance of the content and difficulties remembering it

activation synthesis theory

the forebrain attempts to place meaning on the random signals created from the activation of the brainstem, resulting in coherent (ordered) dreams

critical thinking

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions

scientific method

a self-correcting process for asking questions and observing nature's answers

theory

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

falsifiability

the logical possibility that an assertion, hypothesis, or theory can be shown to be fals by an observation or experiment

hypothesis

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

operational definition

a carefully worded statement of the exact procedures (operations) used in a research study

replication

repetition of an original experiment or research study to verify or boost confidence in its results

replication crisis

denotes that findings in behavioral science often cannot be replicated; researchers do not obtain results comparable to the original

experimental research

manipulates variables to discover results

non-experiment research

describes behavior; uses case studies; real life setting; not possible to control all variables

peer review

the evaluation of scientific or academic work by other qualified professionals working/practicing in the same field

meta analysis

a procedure for statistically combining the results of many different research studies

confirmation bias

a tendency to search for information that supports preconceptions and to ignore contradictory evidence

hindsight bias

a tendency to view events as more predictable than they actually are ("i knew all along")

overconfidence

the tendence to overestimate the accuracy of beliefs or judgements

standardized test

an assessment instrument administered in a predetermined manner, such that the questions, onditions of administration, scoring, and interpretation of responses are consistent from one occasion to another

case study

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

naturalistic observation

observing and recording behavior in naturally occuring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

survey/interview

a technique for ascertaining (making sure of) the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group

wording effects

the way a question is framed (order or wording) can have major effect

social desirability bias

the tendency for individuals to present themselves in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others

self report bias

a methological problem that arises when researchers rely on asking people

sampling bias

a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample

internal validity

the extent to which a study or experiment is free from flaws in its internal structure and its results can be taken to represent the true nature of the phenomenon

external validity

the extent to which the results of research or testing can be generalized beyond the sample that generated them

sampling error

the predictable margin of error that occurs in studies of samples of cases or observations from a larger population

population

everything in a group that is being studied, from which samples may be drawn

sample

a subset of a population of interest that is selected for study with the aim of making inferences to the population (must be representative)

random sample

a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of being included

convenience sampling

any process for selecting a sample of individuals or cases that is neither random nor systematic but rather is governed by chance or ready availability

representative sampling

the selection of study units (ex. participants, homes, schools) from a larger group (population) in an unbiased way, such that the sample obtained accurately reflects the total population

quantitative research

a method of research that relies on measuring variables using a numerical system, analyzing these measurements using any variety of statistical models, and reporting relationships and associations among the studied variables

qualitative research

a method of research that produces descriptive (non-numerical data), such as observations of behavior or personal accounts of experiences

correlation

a measure of the extent to which two variables change together, and thus how well either variable predicts the other

positive correlation

a relationship between two variables in which both of them move in the same direction (increasing and decreasing at the same time)

negative correlation

a relationship between two variables in which an increase in one decreases the other

correlation coefficient

a statistical index of the relationship between two variables (from -1.0 to +1.0)

scatterplots

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables.

third variable

when an observed correlation between two variables can be explained by an additional one that has not been accounted for

directionality problem

the situation in which it is known that two variables are related although it is unknown which is the cause and which is the effect

illusory correlation

the perception of a relationship where none exists

regression toward the mean

the tendency for extreme or unusual scores to fall back (regress) towards their average

experiment

a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable)

experimental group

in an experiment, the group exposed to the treatment of one version of the independent variable

control group

in an experiment, the group not exposed to any treatment, serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between the different groups

single blind procedure

a procedure in which participants are unaware of experimental conditions under which they are operating

double blind procedure

a procedure in which both the participants and research staff are unaware about which experimental conditions are being operated

placebo

experimental results caused by expectations alone; any behavior caused by the administration of an inactive substance or condition, in which the recipient assumes is active

placebo effect

a clinically significant response to a therapeutically inert substance or nonspecific treatment, deriving from the recipient's expectations or beliefs regarding the treatment

placebo group

a group of participants in a study who receive an inert substance instead of the active drug under investigation, functioning as a control group

independent variable

the experimental factor that is manipulated, the variable whos effect is studied

dependent variable

the outcome factor, the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable

cofounding variable

a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment

validity

the extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to

construct validity

the degree to which a test or experiment is capable of measuring a concept, trait, or other theoretical entity

predictive validity

evidence that a test score or other measurement correlates with a variable that can only be accessed at some point after the test has been adiminstered or the measurement has been made

reliability

the trustworthiness or consistency of a measure; the degree to which a test or other measurement is free of a random error, yielding the same results across multiple applications to the same sample

test-retest

taking the same test again over time

split-half

the test or measurement instrument is divided into two halves, and the scores on each half are compared with each other

experimenter bias

the unintentional influence of the experimenter's expectations, beliefs, or preconceived notions on the outcome of a study or research experiment

descriptive statistics

numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups

central tendency

the middle or center set of scores

mean

the numerical average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores

median

the middle score in distribution; half of the scores above and half are below

mode

the score that occurs the most frequently in a distribution

histogram

a bar graph depicting a frequency distribution

percentile

the location of a score in a distribution expressed as the percentage of cases in the data set with scores equal to or below the score

percentile rank (ex.)

if a score is on the 90th percentile, 90% of scores are equal to or below that score

variation

the degree of variance or dispersion of values that is obtained for a specific variable

range

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

standard deviation

a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score