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| the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2) |
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| historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people and the individual's potential for personal growth |
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| the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory and language) |
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| the science of behavior and mental processes. |
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| the lonstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today's science sees traites and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture |
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| the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations |
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| the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon |
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| an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological and social-culutral levels of analysis |
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| pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base |
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| scientific study that aims to solve practical problems |
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| a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living and inachieving greater well-being |
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| a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders |
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| a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy |
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| the scientific study of human functioning, with the goals of human functioning, with the goals of discovering and promoting strengths and virtues that help individuals and communities to thrive |
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| a branch of psychology that studies how people interact with their social environments and how social institutions affect individuals |
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| enhanced memory after retrieving, rather than simply reading, information. Also sometimes referred to as retrieval practice effect or test-enhanced learning |
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| a study method incorporating five steps: survey, question, read, retrieve and review |
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| the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have forseen it. |
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| thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions |
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| an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events |
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| a testable prediction, often implied by a theory |
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| a statement of the procedures used to define research variables. For example, human intelligence may be operationsally defined as "what an intelligence test measures" |
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| repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances |
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| an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles |
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| observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation |
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| a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group |
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| all the cases in a group being studied, from which samples may be studies |
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| a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion |
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| a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other |
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| a statistical index of the relationship between two things |
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| a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables. The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables. The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation |
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| a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process. By random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors |
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| in an experiment, the group that is exposed to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable |
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| in an experiment, the group that is NOT exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating to the effect of the treatment |
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| assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisiting difference between those assigned to the different groups |
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| an experimental procedure in which both the research partcipants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies |
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| experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the adminstration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent |
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| the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied |
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| a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment |
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| the outcome facto; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable |
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| the most frequently occurring scores in a distribution |
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| the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and the dividing by the number of scores |
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| the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it |
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| the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution |
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| a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score |
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| a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes the distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean and fewer and fewer near the extremes |
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| a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance |
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| the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, values, and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next |
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| an ethical principle that research participants be told enough to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate |
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| the postexperimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants |
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| concerned with the links between biology and behavior. Inclsdes psychologists working in neuroscience, behavior gentics, and evolutionary psychology. These researchers may call themselves behaviroal neuroscientists, neuropsychologists, behavior geneticists, psychological psychologists or biopsychologists |
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| a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system |
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| a neuron's bushy, branching extensions that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body |
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| the neuron extension that passes messages through its branches to other neurons or to muscles or glands |
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| a fatty tissue layer segmentally encasing the axons of some neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed as neural impulses hop from one node the next |
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| a neural impulse; a brief electrical charge that travels down an axon |
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| the level of stimulation requried to trigger a neural impulse |
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| the junction between the axon tip of the sending neuron and the dendrite or cell body of the receiving neuron. The tiny gap at this junction is called the synaptic gap or synaptic cleft |
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| chemical messengers that cross the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, neurotransmitters travel across the synapse and bind to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse |
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| a neurotransmitter's reabsoption by the sending neuron |
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| "morphine within"- natural, opiatelike neurotransmitters linked to pain control and to pleasure |
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| the body's speedy, electrochemical communication network, consisting of all the nerve cells of the peripheral and central nervous system |
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| central nervous system (CNS) |
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| the brain and spinal cord |
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| peripheral nervous system (PNS) |
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| the sensory and motor neurons that connect the central nervous system to the rest of the body |
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| bundled axon that form neural "cables" connection the central nervous system with muscles, glands and sense organs |
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| neurons that carry incoming information from the sensory receptors to the brain and spinal cord |
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| neurons that carry outgoing information from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles and glands |
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| neurons within the brain and spinal cord that communicate internally and intervene between the sensory inputs and motor outputs |
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| the divison of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles. Also called the skeletal nervous system |
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| autonomic nervous system (ANS) |
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| the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs(such as the heart). Its sympathetic division arouses; its parasympathetic division calms |
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| sympathetic nervous system |
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| the division of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body, moblizing its energy in stressful situations |
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| parasympathetic nervous system |
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| the division of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body, conserving its energy |
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| a simple, automatic response to a sensory stimulus, such as the knee jerk response |
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| the body's "slow" chemical communication system; a set of glands that secrete hormones into the bloodstream |
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| chemical messengers that are manufactured by the endocrine glands, travel through the bloodstream, and affect other tissues |
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| a pair of endocrine glands that sit just above the kidneys and secrete hormones that help arouse the body in times of stress. |
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| pituitary gland (master gland) |
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| the endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates gorwth and controls other endocrine glands |
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| tissue destruction. A brain lesion is a naturally or experimentally caused destruction of brain tissue |
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| electroencephalogram (EEG) |
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| an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. These waves are measured by electrodes placed on the scalp |
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| PET (positron emission tomography) Scan |
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| a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes while the brain performs a given task |
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| MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) |
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| a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue. MRI scans show brain anatomy |
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| a technique for revealing bloodflow and therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. fMRI scans show brain function |
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| the oldes part and central core of the brain, beginning where the spinal cord swells as it enters te skull; the braintstem is responsible for automatic suvival functions |
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| the base of the brainstem; controls heartbeat and breathing |
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| the brain's sensory switchboard, located on top of the brainstem; it directs messages to the sensory receiving areas in the cortex and transmits replies to the cerebellum and medulla |
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| a nerve netwrok that travels through the brainstem and plays an important role in controlling arousal |
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| the "little brain" at the rear of the brainstem; functions include processing sensory input and coordinating movement output and balance |
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| neural system located below the cerebral hemispheres; associated with emotions and drives |
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| two lima bean-sized nerual cluster in the limbic system; linked to emotion |
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| a neural structure lying below the thalamus; it directs several maintenance activities, helps govern the endocrine system via the pituitary gland and is linked to emotion and reward |
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| the intricate fabric of interconnected nerual cells covering the cerebral hemispheres; the body's ultimate control and information-processing center |
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| cells in the nervous system that support, nourish and protect neurons; they may also play a role in learning and thinking |
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| portion of the cerebral cortex lying just behind the forehead; involved in speaking and muscle movements and in making plans and judgments |
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| portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the top of the head and toward the rear; receives sensory input for touch and body position |
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| portion of the cerebral cortex lying at the back of the head; includes areas that receive information from the visual fields |
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| portion of the cerebral cortex lying roughly above the ears; includes the auditory areas, each receiving information primarily form the opposite ear |
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| an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movement |
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| area at the front of the parietal lobes that registers and processes body touch and movement sensations |
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| areas of the cerebral cortex that are not involved in primary motor or sensory functions; rather thay are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking and speaking |
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| the brain's ability to change by reorganizing after damage or by building new pathways based on experience |
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| the formation of new neurons |
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| the large band of neural fibers connecting the two brain hemispheres and carrying messages between them |
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| a condition resulting from surgery that isolates the brain's two hemispheres by cutting the fibers connecting them |
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| our awareness of ourselves and our environment |
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| the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition |
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| the principle that information is often simultaneously processed on separate conscious an unconscious tracks |
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| a condition in which a person can respond toa visual stimulus without consciously experiencing it |
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