Chaper 1 - The Science Of Psychology

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psychology

Back 1

the scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

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structuralism

Back 2

School of psychology that stresses the basic units of experience and the combinations in which they occur.

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functionlist theory

Back 3

theory of mental life and behavior that is concerned with how an organism uses its perceptual abilities to function in its environment.

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psychodynamic theories

Back 4

personality theories contending that behavior results from psycholoogical factors that interact within the individual, often outside conscious awareness.

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behaviorism

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school of psychology that studies only observable and measurable behavior.

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Gestalt psychology

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school of psychology that sudies how people perceive and experience objects as whole patterns.

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humanistic psychology

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school of psychology that emphasizes mental health and well-being, self-understanding, and realizing one's full human potential.

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cognitive psychology

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school of psychology devoted to the study of mental processes in the broadest sense.

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evolutionary psychology

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an approach to, and subfield of, psychology that is concerned with the evolutionary origins of behaviors and mental processes, their adaptive value, and the purposes they continue to serve.

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positive psychology

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an emerging field of psychology that focuses on postive experiences, including subjective well-being, self-determination, the relationship between positive emotions and physical health, and the factors that allow individuals, communities, and societies to flourish.

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gender

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the psychological and social meanings attached to being biologically male or female.

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feminist theory

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feminist theories offer a wide variety of views on the social roles of women and men, the problems and rewards of those roles, and prescriptions for changing those roles.

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race

Back 13

a subpopulation of a species, defined according to an identifiable characteristic (such as geographic location, skin color, hair texture, genes, facial featuures, etc....)

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ethnicity

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a common cultural heritage - including religion, language, or ancestry - that is shared by a group of individuals.

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culture

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the tangible goods and the values, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs that are passed from one generation to another.

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scientific method

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an approach to knowledge that relies on collecting data, generating a theory to explain the data, producing testable hypotheses based on the theory, and testing those hypotheses empirically.

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hypothesis

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a specific, testable prediction derived from a theory.

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theory

Back 18

general, systematic explanation of a phenomenon that organizes known facts and allows us to predict relationships.

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naturalistic observation

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research method involving the systematic study of animal or human behavior in natural settings rather than in the laboratory.

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observer bias

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expectations or biases of the observer that might distort or influence his or her interpretation of what was actually observed.

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case study

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intensive description and analysis of a single individual or just a few individuals.

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survey research

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research technique in which questionnaires or interviews are administered to a selected group of people.

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correlational research

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research technique based on the naturally occurring relationship between two or more variables.

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experimental method

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research tecnnique in which an investigator deliberately manipulates selected events or circumstancesa nd then measures the effects of those manipulations on subsequent behavior.

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participants

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individuals whose reactions or responses are observed in an experiment.

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independent variable

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in an experiment, the variable that is manipulated to test its effects on the other, dependent variable.

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dependent variable

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in an experiment, the variable that is measured to see how it is changed by manipulations in the independent variable.

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experimental group

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in a controlled experiment, the group subjected to a change in the independent variable.

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control group

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in a controlled experiment, the group not subjected to a change in the independent variable; used for comparison with the experimental group.

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experimenter bias

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expectations by the experimenter that might influence the results of an experiment or its interpretation.

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random sample

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sample in which each potential participant has an equal chance of being selected.

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representative sample

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sample carefully chosen so that the characteristics of the participants correspond closely to the characteristics of the larger population.

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ethical standards

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ethical requirements that psychlogists who offer therapy or other professional services must adhere to.