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An approach to psychology emphasizing the scientific study of observable behavioral responses and their environmental determinants.
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| An approach to psychology emphasizing the mental processes involved in knowing: how we direct our attention, perceive, remember, think, and solve problems. |
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| Resaerch that examines the relationships between variables, whose purpose is to examine whether and how two variables change together. |
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| The outcome—the factor that can change in an experiment in response to changes in the independent variable. |
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| An experimental design in which neither the experimenter nor the participants are aware of which participants are in the experimental group and which are in the control group until the results are calculated. |
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| An approach to psychology centered on evolutionary ideas such as adaptation, reproduction, and natural selection as the basis for explaining specific human behaviors. |
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| James's approach to mental processes, emphasizing the functions and purposes of the mind and behavior in the individual's adaptation to the environment. |
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| An educated guess that derives logically from a theory; a prediction that can be tested. |
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| A manipulated experimental factor, the variable that the experimenter changes to see what its effects are. |
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| The degree to which changes in the dependent variable are due to the manipulation of the independent variable. |
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| Darwin's principle of an evolutionary process in which organisms that are best adapted to their environment will survive and produce offspring. |
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The situation where participants' expectations, rather than the experimental treatment, produce an experimental outcome.
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| A sample that gives every member of the population an equal chance of being selected. |
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| Research pariticipant bias |
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| In an experiment, the influence of participants' expectations, and of their thoughts about how they should behave, on their behavior |
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| Wundt's approach to discovering the basic elements, or structures, of mental processes. |
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| Glands at the top of each kidney that are responsible for regulating moods, energy level, and the ability to cope with stress. |
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| An almond-shaped structure within the base of the temporal lobe that is involved in the discrimination of objects that are necessary for the organism's survival, such as appropriate food, mates, and social rivals. |
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| The part of the neuron that carries information away from the cell body toward other cells. |
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| Part of the forebrain, the outer layer of the brain, responsible for the most complex mental functions, such as thinking and planning. |
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| Treelike fibers projecting from a neuron, which receive information and orient it toward the neuron's cell body. |
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| The portion of the cerebral cortex behind the forehead, involved in personality, intelligence, and the control of voluntary muscles. |
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| The structure in the limbic system that has a special role in the storage of memories. |
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| A loosely connected network of structures under the cerebral cortex, important in both memory and emotion. Its two principal structures are the amygdala and the hippocampus. |
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| A layer of fat cells that encases and insulates most axons. |
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| A region in the cerebral cortex that processes information about voluntary movement, located just behind the frontal lobes. |
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Chemical substances that are stored in very tiny sacs within the terminal buttons and involved in transmitting information across a synaptic gap to the next neuron. |
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| Parasympathetic nervous system |
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| The part of the autonomic nervous system that calms the body. |
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| A pea-sized gland just beneath the hypothalamus that controls growth and regulates other glands. |
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| Sympathetic nervous system |
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| The part of the autonomic nervous system that arouses the body. |
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| Tiny spaces between neurons; the gaps between neurons are referred to as synaptic gaps. |
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| The minimum amount of stimulus energy that a person can detect. |
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| Depth cues that depend on the combination of the images in the left and right eyes and on the way the two eyes work together. |
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| The operation in sensation and perception in which sensory receptors register information about the external environment and send it up to the brain for interpretation. |
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| The ability to perceive objects three-dimensionally. |
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| The degree of difference that must exist between two stimuli before the difference is detected. |
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| Neurons in the brain's visual system that respond to particular features of a stimulus. |
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| Figure-ground relationship |
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| The principle by which we organize the perceptual field into stimuli that stand out (figure) and those that are left over (ground). |
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| A school of thought interested in how people naturally organize their perceptions according to certain patterns. |
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| Senses that provide information about movement, posture, and orientation. |
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| The simultaneous distribution of information across different neural pathways. |
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| The process of organizing and interpreting sensory information so that it makes sense. |
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| The process of receiving stimulus energies from the external environment and transforming those energies into neural energy. |
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| A change in the responsiveness of the sensory system based on the average level of surrounding stimulation. |
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| The detection of information below the level of conscious awareness. |
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| Sense that provides information about balance and movement. |
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