PSCH 100 Midterm Lock-In Packet Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards generated directly from the bold terms and definitions in the PSCH 100 Midterm Lock-In Packet covering Chapters 1, 2, and 5.

Statistics

Methods used to collect, organize, analyze, and interpret numerical data.

Psychology

Scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Empiricism / empirical approach

Building knowledge through observation, measurement, and evidence.

Critical thinking

Examining assumptions, evaluating evidence, considering alternatives, and avoiding unsupported conclusions.

Theory

Organized explanation that predicts behaviors or events.

Hypothesis

Specific, testable prediction derived from a theory.

Operational definition

Exact description of how a variable is measured or manipulated.

Replication

Repeating a study to see whether its result occurs again.

Peer review

Experts evaluate research before publication.

Preregistration

Researchers publicly record their hypotheses and methods before collecting or analyzing data.

Meta-analysis

Statistical combination of results from many studies to estimate an overall effect.

Basic research

Research aimed at increasing knowledge.

Applied research

Research aimed at solving practical problems.

Naturalistic observation

Observing behavior in its normal setting without manipulating it.

Case study

Detailed examination of one person or a small group.

Survey

Collecting self-reported information by asking questions.

Population

Entire group a researcher wants to understand.

Random sample

Sample selected so each population member has an equal chance of inclusion; improves representativeness.

Correlation

Degree to which two variables change together; it does not prove causation.

Correlation coefficient

Number from $-1.00$ to $+1.00$ showing a correlation's direction and strength. The sign gives direction; distance from zero gives strength.

Scatterplot

Graph of paired scores used to display a correlation.

Illusory correlation

Perceiving a relationship that is absent or weaker than believed.

Regression to the mean

An unusually extreme result is often followed by a result closer to average.

Experiment

Method in which a researcher manipulates a variable and controls other factors to test causation.

Variable

Any factor that can change or take different values.

Experimental group

Group receiving the treatment or manipulation.

Control group

Comparison group that does not receive the treatment or receives a placebo.

Independent variable

Factor the researcher manipulates.

Dependent variable

Outcome the researcher measures.

Random assignment

Placing participants into groups by chance; helps make groups similar and supports causal conclusions.

Placebo

Inactive treatment made to resemble the real treatment.

Informed consent

Participants receive enough information to voluntarily agree to a study.

Debriefing

Explanation after a study of its purpose, procedures, and any deception.

Descriptive statistics

Numbers that organize and summarize observed data.

Inferential statistics

Methods used to draw conclusions about a population from sample data.

Mode

Most frequent score.

Median

Middle score after values are ordered.

Range

Highest score minus lowest score.

Standard deviation

Measure of how spread out scores are around the mean.

Normal curve

Symmetrical, bell-shaped distribution in which most scores cluster near the mean.

Statistical significance

Evidence that a result would be unlikely if there were truly no effect; it does not automatically mean the effect is large or important.

Hindsight bias

After learning an outcome, believing you knew it all along.

Testing effect

Long-term memory improves when information is actively retrieved instead of only reread.

SQ3R

Study method: Survey, Question, Read, Retrieve/Recite, Review.

Levels of analysis

Examining behavior from biological, psychological, and social-cultural viewpoints.

Biopsychosocial approach

Explains behavior through interacting biological, psychological, and social-cultural influences.

Nature-nurture debate

Question of how genes and experience jointly influence traits and behavior.

Natural selection

Inherited traits that improve survival or reproduction become more common across generations.

Culture

Shared ideas, behaviors, values, and traditions passed across generations.

Behavior genetics

Study of how genes and environment influence individual differences.

Evolutionary psychology

Study of how natural selection may have shaped behavior and mental processes.

Cognitive psychology

Study of thinking, memory, language, perception, and problem solving.

Cognitive neuroscience

Study of brain activity underlying cognition.

Clinical psychology

Assessment and treatment of mental, emotional, and behavioral disorders, plus research.

Counseling psychology

Helps people manage life changes and less severe emotional or personal difficulties.

Psychiatry

Medical specialty that diagnoses and treats mental disorders; psychiatrists are physicians and can prescribe medication.

Positive psychology

Scientific study of strengths, well-being, and human flourishing.

Structuralism

Early approach using introspection to identify the basic elements of conscious experience.

Functionalism

Early approach studying how thoughts and behaviors help organisms adapt.

Behaviorism

Approach emphasizing observable behavior and learning.

Humanistic psychology

Approach emphasizing free will, personal growth, meaning, and human potential.

Biological psychologists

Study links between biological processes and behavior or mental processes.

Neuron

Nerve cell that receives, processes, and transmits information.

Cell body (soma)

Contains the nucleus and maintains the neuron.

Dendrites

Branches that receive incoming messages.

Axon

Fiber that carries impulses away from the cell body.

Myelin

Fatty sheath insulating the axon and speeding neural transmission.

Glial cells

Cells that support, nourish, protect, and help neurons communicate.

Action potential

Brief electrical impulse traveling down an axon.

Threshold

Minimum stimulation needed to trigger an action potential.

All-or-none response

A neuron fires completely once threshold is reached or does not fire; stronger stimulation changes firing rate, not impulse size.

Refractory period

Brief recovery time after firing when another action potential is difficult or impossible.

Synapse

Tiny junction between a sending neuron and receiving cell.

Neurotransmitters

Chemical messengers released into a synapse.

Reuptake

Reabsorption of neurotransmitters by the sending neuron.

Endorphins

Natural neurotransmitters involved in pain relief and pleasure.

Agonist

Substance that increases a neurotransmitter's action by mimicking it or enhancing its effect.

Antagonist

Substance that decreases a neurotransmitter's action by blocking it.

Nervous system

Body's electrochemical communication network.

Central nervous system (CNS)

Brain and spinal cord.

Spinal cord

Connects brain and body and coordinates simple reflexes.

Sensory neurons

Carry information from receptors toward the CNS.

Motor neurons

Carry commands from the CNS to muscles and glands.

Interneurons

CNS neurons that process information and connect other neurons.

Somatic nervous system

Controls voluntary skeletal muscles and carries sensory information.

Autonomic nervous system

Controls glands and internal organs.

Sympathetic nervous system

Arouses the body and mobilizes energy for action.

Parasympathetic nervous system

Calms the body and conserves energy.

Reflex

Rapid, automatic response often coordinated by the spinal cord.

Hormones

Chemical messengers released by endocrine glands and carried in blood; slower but longer-lasting than neural messages.

Endocrine system

Glands that secrete hormones regulating growth, metabolism, stress, reproduction, and other functions.

Pituitary gland

Endocrine 'master gland,' directed by the hypothalamus, that influences growth and other glands.

Adrenal glands

Glands above the kidneys that release stress-related hormones such as epinephrine and cortisol.

Hindbrain

Evolutionarily older region supporting survival functions; includes medulla, pons, and cerebellum.

Medulla

Controls heartbeat and breathing.

Cerebellum

Coordinates balance, voluntary movement, and procedural learning.

Midbrain

Helps coordinate movement, arousal, and orientation to sights and sounds.

Reticular formation

Brainstem network involved in arousal and alertness.

Forebrain

Largest, most complex region; supports emotion, motivation, sensory processing, thought, and voluntary action.

Thalamus

Sensory relay station sending most incoming sensory information to the cortex; smell is the major exception.