 | Term | Definition |
| |
psychology |
the scientific study of behavior and mental processes |
| |
Tictchener/ structuralism |
early school of psychology that emphasized studying the most basic components, or structures, of conscious experiences |
| |
James/ Functionalism |
early school of psychology that emphasized studying the purpose, or function, of behavior and mental experiences. |
| |
Wilhelm Wundt |
founder of psychology |
| |
Freud/ Psychoanalysis |
personality theory and form of psychotherapy that emphasize the role of unconscious factors in personality and behavior |
| |
pavlov, watson, skinner/ Behaviorism |
school of psychology and theoretical viewpoint that emphasize the study of obserable behaviors, especially as they pertain to the process of learning |
| |
Roger, Maslow/ Humanistic Psychology |
school of pschology and theoretical viewpoint the emphasize each person's unique potential for psychological growth and self-direction |
| |
culture |
the attitudes, values, beliefs and behaviors shared by a group of people and communicated from one generation to another |
| |
cross-culture psychology |
branch of sychology that studies the effects of culture on behavior and metnal processes |
| |
ethnocentrism |
the belief taht one's own culture or ethnic group is superior to all others, and the related tendency to use on's own culture as a standard by which to judge other cultures |
| |
individualistic cultures |
cultures that emphasize the needs and goals of the individual over the needs and goals of the group |
| |
collectivistic cultures |
cultures tht emphasize the needs and goals of the group over the needs and goals of the individual |
| |
evolutionary psychology |
the application of principles of evolution, including natural selection, to explain psychological processes and phenomena |
| |
scientific method |
a set of assumptions, attitudes, and procedures that guide researchers in creating questions to investigate, in gernerating evidence, and in drawing conlcusions |
| |
empirical evidence |
evidence that is based upon objective observation, measurement, and/or experimentation |
| |
variable |
a factor that van vary, or cahge, in ways that can be observed, measured, and verified |
| |
operational definition |
a precise description of how the variables in a study will be manipulated or measured |
| |
critical thinking |
the active process of trying to minimize the influence of preconceptions and biases while rationlly evaluating evidence, determining the conclusions that can be drawn form evidence, and considering alternative explanations |
| |
statistics |
a branch of mathematics used by researchers to organize, summarize, and interpret data |
| |
statistically significant |
a mathematical indiction that research results are not very likely to have occured by chance |
| |
meta-analysis |
a statistical technique taht involves combining and analyzing the results of many research studies on a specific topic in order to identify overall trends |
| |
replicate |
to repeat or ducplicate a scientific study in order to increase confidence in the validity of the original findings |
| |
theory |
a tentative explanation that tries to intergrate ad accound fro the relationship of various findings and observations |
| |
descriptive research methods |
scientific procedures that involve systematically observing behavior in order to describe the relationship among behaviors and events |
| |
naturalistic observation |
the systematic observation and recording of behaviors as they occur in their natural setting |
| |
pseudoscience |
a fake or false science that makes claims based on little or no scientific evidence |
| |
paranormal phenomena |
alleged abilites or events that fall outside the range of normal experience and established scientific explanations |
| |
rule of falsifiablility |
in order for a claim to be scientifically tested and proved true, there must be identifiable evidence that could prove the claim false |
| |
illusory correlation |
the mistaken belief that two factors or events are related when they are not |
| |
case study |
an intensive study of a single individual or small group of individuals |
| |
survey |
a questionnaire or interview designed to investigate the opinions, behaviors, or characteristics of a particular group |
| |
sample |
a selected segment of the population used to represents |
| |
representative sample |
a selected segment that very closely parallels the larger population being studied on relevant characteristics |
| |
random selection |
process in which subjects are selected randomly from a larger group such that every group member has an equal chance of being included in the study |
| |
correlational study |
a research strategy that allows the precise calculaction of how strongly related two factors are to each other |
| |
correlation coefficient |
a numerical indication of the magnitude and direction of the relationship(the correlation) between two variables |
| |
positive correlation |
a findings that two factors vary systematically in the same direction, increasing or decreasing together |
| |
negative correlation |
a findings that two factors vary systematically in opposite drections, one increasing as the other decreases |
| |
experimental method |
a method of investigation used to demonstrate cause-and effect relationships by purposely manipulating one factor thought to produce change in another factor |
| |
independent variable |
the purposely manipulated factor thought to produce change in an experiement; also called the treatment of interest |
| |
dependent variable |
the factor that is observed and measured for change in an experiement; thought to be influenced by the independ variable |
| |
random assignment |
the process of assigning participants to experimental conditions so that all participants have an equal chance of being assigned to any of the conditions or groups in the study |
| |
experimental group |
in an experiment, the group of participants who are exposed to all experimental conditions, including the independent variable or treatment of interest |
| |
control group |
in an experiment, the group of participants who are exposed to all experimental conditions, except the independent variable or treament of interest; the group against which changes in the experimental group are compared |
| |
placebo control group |
in an experiment, a control group in which the participants are exposed to a fake independent variable, or placebo. The effects of the placebo are compared to the effects of the actual independent variable, or treatment of interest, on the experimental group. |
| |
practice test |
any change in performance that results from mere repetition of a task |
| |
expectancy effects |
changes in a subject's behavior produced by the subject's belief that change should happen; also called placebo effects. |
| |
double-blind study |
experimental technique in which neither the participants nor the researcher interacting with the participants is aware of the group or condition to which the participants have been assigned. |
| |
demand characteristics |
in a research study, subtle cues or signals expressed by the researcher that communicate the kind of response or behavior that is expected from the participant |
| |
comparative psychology |
branch of psychology that studies the behavior of different animal species |
Share on Facebook
Share on MySpace