Term
|
Definition
| the view that psychology 1) should be an objective science 2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not (2). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| emphasized the importance of current environmental influences on our growth potential, and the importance of having our needs for love and acceptance satisfied. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory, and language). |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the science of behavior and mental processes. The study focuses on both internal processes and external behavior. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today's science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interactions of nature and nurture. Nurture works on what nature endows. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any gven phenomenon. Explains behavior from different viewpoints. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an integrated approach that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base.
• Each field studies it’s own area to build knowledge base. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
scientific study that aims to solve practical problems.
• Applies knowledge to specific situation. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a branch of psychology that assist people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (i.e. drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that we would have foreseen it. Works on the basis of common sense. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events.
•a theory simplifies, and by linking facts and bridging them to deeper principles, a theory offers a useful summary |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a testable prediction, often implied by a theory. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables. i.e. Human intelligence may be operationally defined as "what an intelligence test measures." |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| 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. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| all the cases in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| observing an recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the extent to which two factors vary together, and how well either factor predicts the other. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| is the mathematical expression of the correlation (relationship), ranges from -1 to +1. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
the perception of a relationship where none exists.
• Illusory correlations help explain many superstitious beliefs. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors to observer the effect on some behavior or mental process. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| in an experiment, the group that is exposed to the treatment. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| in an experiment, the group that is NOT exposed to the treatment. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Neither the participants nor the researchers know which research participants received the treatment or the placebo. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused b the administration of an inert substance or condition, which recipient assumes is an active agent. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| factor that is manipulated and whose effect is being studied. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the variable that may change in response to manipulation of the independent variable. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, an traditions shared by a group of people, and transmitted from one generation to the next. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Greek philosopher who is credited with beginning to look at and theorizing about human behavior (motivation, emotion, perception). He wanted to understand human nature. |
|
|
Term
| What was the first psychology experiment? |
|
Definition
Wilhelm Wundt, a German philosopher, started the field of psychology and is one of the Founders of Psychology. He performed the first psychological experiment --> how long did it take for people to react to a sounding buzzer and flip a switch?
• Wundt was seeking to measure the atoms of the mind and defined psychology as the science of mental life. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Russian physiologist; pioneered the study of learning, as well as winning the first Nobel Prize for Russia for his discovery over the digestive system. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Austrian physician; developed an influential theory of personality (the five stage theory of Psychosexual Development) and believed that physical ailments were due to unresolved unconscious issues. Really into sexual stuff, not in doing it, or maybe I am not sure, kinda don't want to know, but he researched it. Conclusion: apparently we are all horny. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| Swiss biologist; most influential observer of children. Studied children's thinking and logic, helped create intelligence tests for children, and created the four stage theory of Cognitive Development. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| American philosopher; author of an important 1890s textbook, Principles of Psychology. Espoused pragmatism. |
|
|
Term
| John Watson and B.F. Skinner |
|
Definition
| Redefined psychology as the scientific study of observable behavior; behaviorism. They dismissed introspection of any kind. |
|
|
Term
| How has psychology evolved over time? |
|
Definition
| In the early days, psychology focused on introspection - inner sensations, images, and feelings - and until the 1920s, psychology was defined as the science of mental life. Then in the 1960s, the cognitive revolution occurred, which focused on the importance of how our mind processes and retains information. |
|
|
Term
| Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow |
|
Definition
| developed humanistic psychology. |
|
|
Term
| What is cognitive psychology? |
|
Definition
| Study of how mind interprets and retains information; how the mind works. |
|
|
Term
| What are the seven different perspectives of psychology? |
|
Definition
1. Neuroscience: brain’s wiring and effect
2. Evolutionary: survival of the species
3. Behavior Genetics: genes effect on behavior
4. Psychodynamic: unconscious drives → Freudian, unresolved conflicts.
5. Behavioral: external cause and effect → John Watson and B.F. Skinner
6. Cognitive: brains interpretation of events
7. Social-Cultural: societal and cultural impact → these two elements impact you the most in how you are as an individual. |
|
|
Term
| What is the downside of hindsight bias and overconfidence? |
|
Definition
• Hindsight Bias: "I knew it all along"
• Overconfidence: we think we know more than we do.
This causes us to overestimate our intuition. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| exploring the links between the brain and the mind. |
|
|
Term
| Development psychologists |
|
Definition
| studying our changing abilities from womb to tomb. |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| exploring how we view and affect one another. |
|
|
Term
| What is the scientific attitude? |
|
Definition
| The empirical approach; allowing the facts speak for themselves, while being open-minded and approaching new ideas with slight skepticism. |
|
|
Term
| What criteria does a theory need to meet to be considered useful? |
|
Definition
1. Effectively organizes a range of self-reports and observations
2. Implies clear predictions that anyone can use to check the theory or to derive practical application
3. The research will probably lead to a revised theory that better organizes and predicts what we know about the topic being researched. |
|
|
Term
| What are the three methods used when testing out a hypothesis or theory? |
|
Definition
1. Descriptive method → describes behavior
2. Correlation method → which associates different factors
3. Experimental method → which you manipulate factors to discover their effects. |
|
|
Term
| What are the upsides and downsides of case studies? |
|
Definition
• Intensive case studies can be very revealing, because they can show us what can happen, and they often suggest directions for further study.
• If the individual being studied is atypical, the unrepresentative information can lead to mistaken judgments and false conclusions. |
|
|
Term
| What is tricky about surveys? |
|
Definition
The answers often depends on how questions are worded and respondents are chosen:
1. Wording Effects: wording is such a delicate matter, critical thinkers will reflect on how the phrasing of a question might affect people’s expressed opinions.
2. Random Sampling: consider the sample. You cannot compensate for an unrepresentative sample by simply adding more people. |
|
|
Term
| What is the purpose of a natural observation? |
|
Definition
| Naturalistic observations do NOT explain behavior, but DESCRIBE it. → They are observations, made in natural habitat, helped to show that the societies and behavior of animals are far more complex than previously supposed. |
|
|
Term
| What is an erroneous conclusion to jump to went dealing with a correlation? |
|
Definition
| That correlation (association) means causation! That's wrongo! |
|
|
Term
| What do psychologists do to isolate cause and effect? |
|
Definition
Psychologists can eliminate the influence of other factors that may account for the results they observe.
1. manipulating the factors of interest
2. holding constant (controlling) other factors |
|
|
Term
| What advantage does random assigning have? |
|
Definition
| Randomly assigning eliminates alternative explanations and supports the conclusion. |
|
|
Term
| What is the advantage of the double-blind procedure? |
|
Definition
| By randomly assigning people to the experimental and control conditions, researchers can be fairly certain the two groups are otherwise identical. |
|
|
Term
| What role do operational definitions play in experiments? |
|
Definition
| They specify the procedures that manipulate the independent variable. |
|
|
Term
| What is the aim of an experiment? |
|
Definition
An experiment aims to manipulate an independent variable, measure changes in the dependent, variable, and control all other variables.
o Has at least two different groups: an experimental group and a comparison/control group. |
|
|
Term
| What are some characteristics of critical thinking? |
|
Definition
o Open-minded
o Identify biases and assumptions
o Attitudes of skepticism → willing to reexamine
o Facts from opinions → separating the two
o Don’t oversimplify → acknowledging the world is complex
o Use logical inference → carefully examine the information and recognize inconsistencies
o Review all evidence → Before you reach a conclusion |
|
|
