All Unit Vocabulary

empiricism

empiricism

view that knowledge originates in experience and therefore, science should rely on observation + experimentation (3)

structuralism

used introspection (looking inward) to reveal structure of human mind (4)

functionalism

explore how mental and behavioral processes function (how they enable organisms to adapt, survive, flourish) (4)

behaviorism

view that psych should (1. be objective science) or (2. studies behavior w/o reference to mental processes)

consciousness

“the state of being awake and aware of one's surroundings" / enables us to consider past, adjust to present, plan future

experimental psychology

study of behavior + thinking, using experimental method (5)

humanistic psychology

emphasize growth potential of healthy ppl (6) / how we meet our needs for love and acceptance and achieve self-fulfillment (12)

Freudian psychology

emphasize the ways our unconscious thought processes + emotional responses to childhood affects behavior (6)

cognitive neuroscience

study of brain activity linked w/ cognition (includes perception, thinking, memory, language) (7)

psychology

science of behavior + mental processes (7)

mental processes

internal, subjective experiences inferred from behavior (7)

behavior

anything an organism does ; any action that can be observed/recorded (7)

pseudo-psychology

unscientific psychology, acting as real thing: statements being so vague that it could apply to anyone, so that they will believe it (ex, zodiac signs)

nature-nurture issue

controversy of whether genes or experience develop individuals’ psychological traits + behaviors (9)

natural selection (Charles Darwin)

among range of inherited trait variations, those who survive environment + reproduce will pass those traits so next generations (10)

levels of analysis

differing views (from biological, psychological, or social-cultural) for analyzing any given phenomenon (11)

biopsychosocial approach

approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis (11)

behavioral psychology

study of observable behavior and its explanation by principles of learning (12) / how we learn observable responses

biological psychology

study of links betwn biological (genetic, neural, hormonal) and psychological processes (12) / how body + mind enable emotions, memories, sensory experiences

cognitive psychology

study of all mental activities associated w thinking, knowing, remembering, communicating (13) / how we encode, process, store, retrieve info

evolutionary psychology

study of evolution of behavior + mind using principles of natural selection (13) / how natural selection of traits have promoted survival of genes / DARREN’s definition: perspective that humans have evolved with certain "beneficial" behaviors that persist to modern humans

humanistic psychology

how we meet out mental + physical needs for love and acceptance and achieve self-fulfillment (12)

psychodynamic psychology

studies how unconscious drives or how conflicts influence behavior, and use that info to treat ppl w psychological disorders (13) / how behavior springs from unconscious drives

social-cultural psychology

study of how situations + cultures affect behavior + thinking (13) / how behavior and thinking vary across situations + cultures

psychometrics

study of measurement of human abilities, attitudes, traits (13)

basic research

science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base (14)

developmental psychology

study of physical, cognitive, social change throughout lifespan (14)

educational psychology

study of how psychological processes affect + can enhance teaching + learning (14)

personality psychology

study of individuals’ characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, acting (14)

social psychology

study of how we view + affect each other (14)

applied research

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems (15)

industrial-organization psychology (I/O)

application of psychological concepts + methods to optimize human behavior in workplace (15)

human factors psychology

I/O psychology subfield that explores how ppl + machines interact and how machines + physical environment can be made safe and easy to use (15)

counseling psychology

assists ppl w problems in living (school, work, marriage) and in achieving higher well-being (15)

clinical psychology

studies, assesses, treats ppl w psychological disorders (15)

psychiatry

branch of medicine dealing w disorders ; practiced by physicians who provide (medical) treatments as well as psychological therapy (15)

positive psychology

study of human functioning w goals of discovering + promoting strengths that help individuals and communities survive (15)

community psychology

studies how ppl interact w social environment and how social institutions affect individuals/groups (15)

SQ3R

study method incorporating 5 steps (Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve, Review)

hindsight bias

tendency to believe, only after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it (31) “i knew it this whole time!!” (when really they weren’t 100% sure)

critical thinking

thinking that doesn’t blindly accept arguments/conclusions (instead: examines assumptions, assesses source/conclusions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence) (35)

scientific method

self-correcting process for evaluating ideas w observation and analysis (38)

theory

explains behaviors/events by offering ideas that organize what has been observed (38)

hypothesis

testable prediction, often implied by theory (38)

operational definition

statement of exact procedure/operation used in research study (39)

replication

repeating operations of research study-- usually recreate experiment w diff participants + situations (39)

descriptive methods

describes behaviors, often using case studies, surveys, naturalistic observations (39)

correlation methods

associates different factors/variables (39)

experimental methods

manipulate variables to discover their effects (39)

case study

descriptive technique in which individual/group is studied in depth (show what CAN happen) (40)

survey

technique for attaining population/participants’ self-reported attitude/behaviors (42)

naturalistic observation

observing + recording behavior in natural occurring situation w/o manipulating or controlling it (describes behavior, not explain) (40)

sampling bias

flawed sampling process that produces unrepresentative sample (43)

population

all people in group being studied, from which samples may be drawn (42)

random sample

sample that fairly represents population bc each member has equal chance of inclusion/being chosen (43)

correlation

measure of extent to which two variables change together, and how well either variable predicts the other (46) indicates possibility of cause-effect relationship but doesn’t prove

correlation coefficient

statistical measure of relationship betwn two variables (from -1.0 to +1.0, and the closer to either number = the stronger the correlation) (46)

scatterplot

graphed cluster of dots, each representing value of two variables; amount of scatter suggests strength of correlation (46)

perfect positive (correlation)

variables rise or fall together (correlation)

perfect negative (correlation)

one rises as other falls (correlation)

illusory correlation

perception of relationship where none exists (50) random events we notice + falsely assume are related (54)

experimentation

to test theoretical principles OR research method which manipulates one/more factors to observe effect on behavior (51)

experimental group

group that is exposed to treatment/procedure to one version of independent variable (51)

control group

for comparison of experimental group, the group NOT exposed ti treatment/procedure; serves as comparison for evaluating effect of independent variable in experimental (51)

random assignment

assigning participants to experimental/control groups by chance (51)

double-blind procedure

experimental procedure where neither participants nor researcher/staff know which group have received treatment or placebo (51)

placebo effect

experimental results caused by expectation recipient assumes that any effect of behavior is caused by administration of treatment/substance (but actually has no effect) (52)

independent variable

experimental factor that’s being manipulated, whose effects are being studied in experiment (52)

dependent variable

outcome factor; variable may change in response to manipulation of independent variable that could/might produce effect in experiment (52)

validity

extent to which test/experiment measures or predicts what it’s supposed to (53)

culture

shared behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, traditions, that one generation passes to the next (65)

American Psychology Association (APA)

“researchers must ensure comfort, health, humane treatment of animals + minimize infection, illness, pain” (67)

informed consent

ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose if they wish to participate (68)

debriefing

post-experimental explanation of research study to participants (68)

descriptive statistics

numerical data used to measure + describe characteristics of groups; organize data meaningfully (57)

histogram

bar graph depicting frequency distribution (57)

mode

most frequently occurring score(s) in distribution (57)

mean

average of distribution (add all scores, divide by number of scores) (57)

median

middle score in distribution (listed from highest→lowest) (57)

skewed distribution

representation of scores that lack symmetry (around average value) (58)

range

difference (-) between highest and lowest scores in distribution (58)

standard deviation

measuring how much the scores deviate from one another OR measure of how much the scores vary around average (58)

normal curve/distribution

symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes distribution of data (59)

inferential statistics

numerical data that allows one to generalize/infer probability of sth being true in population (60)

statistical significance

statement of how likely it is that a result occurred by chance (60)