Chapter One Vocabulary

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psychology

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the scientific study of behavior and mental processes

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structuralism

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early school of psychology that emphasized studying the most basic components, or structures, of conscious experiences

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functionalism

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early school of psychology that emphasized studying the purpose, or function, of behavior and mental experiences

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psychoanalysis

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personality theory and form of psychotherapy that emphasize the role of the unconscious factors in personality and behavior

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evolutionary psychology

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application of principles of evolution, including natural selection, to explain psychological processes and phenomena

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culture

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attitudes, values, beliefs, and behaviors shared by a group of people and communicated from one generation to another

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cross-cultural psychology

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branch of psychology that studies the effects of culture on behavior and mental processes

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ethnocentrism

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belief that one's own culture(ethnic group) is superior to all others, and the related tendency to use one's own culture as a standard by which to judge other cultures

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individualistic culture

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cultures that emphasize the needs and goals of the individual over the needs and goals of the group

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collectivistic culture

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cultures that emphasize needs and goals of group over the needs and goals of the individual

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psychiatry

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medical specialty area focused on the diagnosis, treatment, causes, and prevention of mental and behavioral disorders

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scientific method

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a set of assumptions, attitudes, and procedures that guide researchers in creating questions to investigate, in generating evidence, and in drawing conclusions

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empirical method

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verifiable evidence that is based upon objective, and/or experimentation

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hypothesis

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a tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variable; a testable prediction or question

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critical thinking

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active process of minimizing preconceptions and biases while evaluating evidence, determining the conclusions that can reasonably be drawn from evidence, and considering alternative explanations for research findings or other phenomena

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variable

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a factor that can vary, or change, in ways that can be observed, measured, and verified

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operational definition

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a precise description of how variables in a study will be manipulated or measured

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statistics

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branch of mathematics used by researchers to organize, summarize, and interpret data

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statistically significant

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mathematical indication that research results are not very likely to have occurred by chance

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meta-analysis

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statistical technique that involves combining and analyzing the results of many research studies on a specific topic in order to identify overall trends

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replicate

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repeat or duplicate a scientific study in order to increase confidence in the validity of the original findings

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theory

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tentative explanation that tries to integrate and account for the relationship of various findings and observations

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descriptive research methods

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scientific procedures that involve systemically observing behavior in order to describe the relationship among behaviors and events

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naturalistic observation

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systematic observation and recording of behaviors as they occur in their natural setting

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pseudoscience

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fake or false science that makes claims based on little or no scientific evidence

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case study

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an intensive study of a single individual or small group of individuals

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survey

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a questionnaire or interview designed to investigate the opinions, behaviors, or characteristics of a particular group

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sample

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a selected segment of the population used to represent the group that is being studied

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representative sample

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selected segment that very closely parallels the larger population being studied on relevant characteristics

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random selection

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process in which subjects are selected randomly from larger group such that every group member has an equal chance of being included in the study

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correlational study

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research strategy that allows the precise calculation of how strongly related two factors are to each other

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correlation coefficient

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numerical indication of the magnitude and direction of the relationship between two variables

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positive correlation

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finding that two factors vary systematically in the same direction, increasing or decreasing together

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negative correlation

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finding that two factors vary systematically in opposite directions, one increasing as the other decreases

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experimental method

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research method used to demonstrate a cause-and-effect relationship between changes in one variable and the effect that is produced on another variable

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independent variable

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purposely manipulated factor thought to produce change in an experiment

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dependent variable

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factor that is observed and measured for change in an experiment; thought to be influenced by the independent variable

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extraneous variable

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factor other than ones being studied that if not controlled could effect the outcome of an experiment

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experimental group

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group of participants who are exposed to all experimental conditions, including independent variable

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placebo

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fake substance, treatment, or procedure that has no known direct effects

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placebo effect

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any change attributed to a person's beliefs and exceptions rather than an actual drug, treatment, or procedure

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random assignment

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all the participants have an equal chance of being assigned to any of the experimental groups or conditions

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double-blind technique

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participants nor the researcher interact with the participants are aware of the group or conditions to the participants have been assigned

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demand characteristics

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in a research study, subtle cues or signals expressed by the researcher that communicate the kind of response or behavior that is expected from the participant

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practice effect

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any change in performance that results from mere repetition of a task

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main effect

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any change that can be directly attributed to the independent or treatment variable after controlling for other possible influences

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natural experiment

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a study investigating that effects of a naturally occurring event on the research participants

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comparative psychology

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branch of psychology that studies the behavior of different animal species