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| the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation. |
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| an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind. |
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| a school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavioral processes function--how they enable us to adapt, survive, and flourish |
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| the study of behavior and thinking using the experimental method |
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| the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. |
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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 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 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-cultural levels of analysis. |
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| a branch of psychology concerned with the links between biology and behavior. |
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| the study of the rots of behavior and mental processes using the principles of natural selection |
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| a branch of psychology that studies how unconscious drives and conflicts influence behavior, and uses that information to treat people with psychological disorders |
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| the scientific study of observable behavior, and its explanation by principles of learning |
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| the scientific study of all the mental activities associated with thinking, knowing, remembering, and communicating |
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| social-cultural psychology |
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| the study of how situations and cultures affect our behavior and thinking |
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| the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits |
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| pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base |
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| a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span |
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| the study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning |
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| the study of an individual's characteristic pattern of thinking, feeling, and acting |
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| the study of how psychological processes affect and can enhance teaching and learning |
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| the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to eachother |
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| scientific study that aims to solve practical problems |
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| industrial organizational psychology |
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| the application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces |
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| a branch of psychology that explores how people and machines interact and how machines and physical environments can be made safe and easy to use |
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| a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living and in achieving greater well-being |
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| a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological diseases |
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| a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who often provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy |
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| the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen 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 |
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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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| 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, form which samples may be drawn |
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| a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion |
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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 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 (-1 to 1) |
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| a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents 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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| the perception of a relationship where none exists |
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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. |
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| assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups. |
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| an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo |
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| experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent |
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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 |
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| the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied |
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| the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable |
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| a factor other than the independent variable that might produce an effect in an experiment |
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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 |
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| a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance |
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| a nerve cell; the basic building block of the nervous system |
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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 bushy, branching extensions of a neuron that receive messages and conduct impulses toward the cell body |
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| the extension of a neuron, ending in branching terminal fibers, through which messages pass to other neurons or to muscles or glands |
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| a layer of fatty tissue segmentally encasing the fibers of many neurons; enables vastly greater transmission speed of neural impulses as the impulse hops from one node to 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 required 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. |
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| chemical messenger that crosses the synaptic gaps between neurons. When released by the sending neuron, it travels across the synapse and binds to receptor sites on the receiving neuron, thereby influencing whether that neuron will generate a neural impulse |
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| the neurotransmitter's reabsorption 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 systems |
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| the brain and the spinal cord |
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| peripheral nervous system |
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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 axons that form neural "cables" connecting to the central nervous system with muscles, glands, and sense organs |
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| the division of the peripheral nervous system that controls the body's skeletal muscles. |
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| the part of the peripheral nervous system that controls the glands and the muscles of the internal organs. 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 systems that arouses the body, mobilizing 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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| 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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| the endocrine system's most influential gland. Under the influence of the hypothalamus, the pituitary regulates growth and controls other endocrine glands |
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| an amplified recording of the waves of electrical activity that sweep across the brain's surface. |
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| X-ray photographs taken from different angles and combined by computer into a complete representation of a slice throughout the body |
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| a visual display of brain activity that detects where a radioactive form of glucose goes when the brain is completing a task |
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| a technique that uses magnetic fields and radio waves to produce computer-generated images of soft tissue. |
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| a technique for revealing bloodflow and, therefore, brain activity by comparing successive MRI scans. |
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| the intricate fabric of interconnected neural 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 |
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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 from the opposite ear |
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| an area at the rear of the frontal lobes that controls voluntary movements |
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| area at the front of the parietal loves 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, they are involved in higher mental functions such as learning, remembering, thinking, and speaking |
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| impairment of language, usually caused by left hemisphere damage either to Broca's area (impairing speaking) or to Wernicke's area (impairing understanding) |
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| controls language expression-an area, usually in the left frontal lobe, that directs the muscle movements involved in speech |
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| controls language reception--a brain area involved in language comprehension and expression; usually in the left temporal lobe |
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| the brain's ability to change, especially during childhood, 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 and unconscious tracks |
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| the study of the relative power and limits of genetics and environmental influences on behavior |
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| every nongenetic influence, from prenatal nutrition to the people and things around us |
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| threadlike structures of DNA molecules that contain genes |
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| a complex molecule containing the genetic information that makes up the chromosome |
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| the biochemical units of heredity that make up the chromosomes; segments of DNA capable of synthesizing a protein |
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| the complete instructions for making an organism, consisting of all the genetic material in that organism's chromosomes |
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