Mastering The World Of Psychology Ch. 1 Vocab

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psychology

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The scientific stoudy of behavior and mental processes.

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scientific method

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The orderly, systematic procedures that researchers follow as they identify a research problem, design a study to investigate the problem, collect and analyze data, draw conclusions, and communicate their findings.

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theory

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A general principle or set of principles proposed to explain how a number of seperate facts are related.

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replication

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The process of repeating a study to verify research findings.

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hypothesis

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A testable prediction about the conditions under which a particular behavior or mental process may occur.

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basic research

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Research conducted to seek new knowledge and to explore and advance general scientific understanding.

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applied research

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Research conducted specifically to solve practical problems and improve the quality of life.

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structuralism

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The first formal school of thought in psychology, aimed at analyzing the basic elements, or structure, of conscious mental experience.

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functionalism

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An early school of psychology that was concerned with how humans and animals use mental processes in adapting to their environment.

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behaviorism

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The school of psychology that views observable, measurable behavior as the appropriate subject matter for psychology and emphasizes the key role of environment as a determinant of behavior.

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psychoanalysis

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The term Freud used for both his theory of personality and his therapy for the treatment of psychological disorders; the unconscious is the primary focus of psychoanalytic theory.

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humanist psychology

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The school of psychology that focuses on the uniqueness of human beings and their capcity for choice, growth, and psychological health.

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cognitive psychology

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The school of psychology that sees humans as active participants in their environment; studies mental processes such as memory, problem solving, reasoning, decision making, perception, language, and other forms of cognition.

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Gestalt psychology

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The school of psychology that emphasizes that individuals perceive object and patterns as whole units and that the perceived whole is more than the sum of its parts.

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information-processing theory

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An approach to the study of mental structures and processes that uses the computer as a model for human thinking.

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descriptive research methods

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Research methods that yield descriptions of behavior.

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naturalistic observation

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A descriptive research method in which researchers observe and record behavior in its natural setting, without attempting to influence or control it.

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laboratory observation

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A descriptive research method in which behavior is studied in a laboratory setting.

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case study

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A descriptive research method in which a single individual or a small number of persons are studied in great length.

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survery

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A descriptive research method in which researchers use interviews and/or questionanaires to gather information about the attitudes, beliefs, experiences, or behaviors of a group of people.

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population

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The entire group of interest to researchers, to which they wish to generalize their findings; the group from which a sample is selected.

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sample

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A part of a population that is studied to reach conclusions about the entire population.

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representative sample

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A sample that mirrors the population of interest; it includes important subgroups in the same proportions as they are found in the population.

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experimental sample

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The only research method that can be used to identify cause-effect relationships between two or more conditions or variables.

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variable

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Any condtion or factor that can be manipulated, controlled, or measured.

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independent variable

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In an experiment, a factor or condition that is deliberately manipulated to determine whether it causes any change in another behavior or conditon.

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dependent variable

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The factor or condition that is measured at the end of an experiment and is presumed to vary as a result of the manipulations of the indpendent variable(s).

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experimental group

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In an experiment, the group that is exposed to an independent variable.

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control group

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In an experiment, a group similar to the experimental group that is exposed to the same experimental enivronment but is not given the treatment; used for the purposes of comparison.

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confounding variables

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Factors or conditons other than the independent variable(s) that are not equivalent across groups and could cause differenves among the groups with respect to the dependent variable.

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selection bias

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The assignment of participants to experimental or control groups in such a way that systematic differences among the groups are present at the beginning of the experiment.

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random assignment

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The process of selecting participants for experimental and control groups by using a chance procedure to guarantee that each participant has an equal probability of being assigned to any of the groups; a control for selection bias.

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placebo effect

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the phenomenon that occurs in an experiment when a participant's response to a treatment is due to his or her expectations rather than the treatment itself.

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placebo

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An inert or harmless substance given to the control group in an experiment as a control for the placebo effect.

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experimenter bias

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A phenomenon that occurs when a researcher's preconceived notions or expectations in some way influence participants' behavior and/or the researcher's interpretation of experimental results.

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double-blind technique

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A procedure in which neither the participant nor the experimenter knows who is in the experimental and control groups until after the data have been gathered; a control for experimental bias.

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correlation method

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A research method used to esablis the degree of relationship (correlation) between two charcteristics, events, or behaviors.

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correlation coefficient

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A numerical value that indicates the strength and direction of the relationships between two variables; ranges from +1.00 (a perfect positive correlation) to -1.00 (a perfect negative correlation).

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critical thinking

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The process of objectively evaluating claims, propsitions, and conlusions to deteremine whether they follow logically from the evidence presented.

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evolutionary psychology

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The schoo of psychology that studues how humans have adapted the behaviors required for the survival in the face of environmental pressures over the long course of evolution.

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biological psychology

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The school of psychology that looks for links between specific behaviors and equally specific biological processes that often help explain individual differences.

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neuroscience

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An interdisciplinary field that combines the work of psychologists, biologists, biochemists, medical researchers, and others in the study of the structure and function of the nervous system.

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sociocultural approach

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The view that social and cultural factors may be just as powerful as evolutionary and physiological factors in affecting behavior and mental processing and that these factors must be understood when interpreting the behavior of others.

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psycholigcal perspectives

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General points of view used for explaining people's behavior and thinking, whether normal or abnormal.