Psych 260 Chapter 1&2 Definitions

Front 1

British empiricism

Back 1

17th centure school of philosophy championed by John Locke, according to which all contents of the mind are gained experimentally through the senses.

Front 2

Cognitive behaviorism

Back 2

Behavioral approach that incorporates cognitive concepts sugguesting that the environment influences our behavior by affecting our thoughts and giving us information.

Front 3

human perspective

Back 3

A psychological perspective that emphasizes personal freedom, choice, and self actualization.

Front 4

sociocultural perspective

Back 4

A perspective that emphasizes the role of culture and the social environment in understanding commonalities and differences in human behavior.

Front 5

norms

Back 5

test scores derived from relevant sample used to evaluate individual scores; behavioral rules ex.. societies "norms"

Front 6

collectivism

Back 6

A cultural factor that emphasizes the achievement of the group rather than the individual goals and in which personal identity is largely defined by ties to the larger social group.

Front 7

Behaviorism

Back 7

School of psychology that emphasizes the role of learning and environmental control over behavior and maintains that the proper subject matter of pschology is observable behavior

Front 8

Behavior modification

Back 8

Therapeutic procedures based on operant conditioning principles, such as positive reinforcement, operant, extinction and punishment

Front 9

terror management

Back 9

a theory that focuses on the ways that people defend against the fear of death.

Front 10

culture

Back 10

the enduring roles, beliefs, behaviors and traditions that are shared by a large group of people and passed from one generation to the next

Front 11

individualism

Back 11

a cultural characteristic that favors the achievement of the individual over group goals and which is characteristic of many western nations. self identity is based on one's own attributes and achievements.

Front 12

levels of analysis

Back 12

An approach to analyzing behavioral phenomena and their casual factors in terms of biological, psychological and enviromental factors.

Front 13

cognitive perspective

Back 13

Views humans as information processors and problem solvers whose actions are governed by thought and planning.

Front 14

introspection

Back 14

"looking within" and verbally reporting on immediate experience.

Front 15

gestalt psychology

Back 15

A German school of psychology that emphasized the natural organization of perceptual elements into wholes or patterns and insight to problem solving.

Front 16

Artificial intelligence

Back 16

The field within cognitive science that attempts to develop computer simulations of human mental processes.

Front 17

psychodynamic perspective

Back 17

A psychological perspective that focuses on inner personality dynamics,including role of unconcious impulses and defences in understanding behavior.

Front 18

repression

Back 18

The basic defence mechanism that actively keeps anxiety arousing material in the unconcious.

Front 19

structuralism

Back 19

The analysis of the mind in terms of its basic elements

Front 20

functionism

Back 20

Held that psychology should study the functions the whys of conciousness rather than its structure

Front 21

insight

Back 21

In Gestalt psychology the sudden perception of a useful relationship or solution to a problem.

Front 22

social constructivism

Back 22

The position that people construct their reality and belief through congnitions.

Front 23

hysteria

Back 23

A psychological disorder studied and treated by Freud in which physical symptoms appear without any apparent underlying organic cause.

Front 24

behavioral perspective

Back 24

A view that emphasizes the manner in which the environment and the learning experiences it provides shape and control.

Front 25

applied research

Back 25

Research involving the application of scientific knowledge to solve practical problems.

Front 26

Basic research

Back 26

Research designed to obtain knowledge for its own sake.

Front 27

behavior genetics

Back 27

the scientific study of the role of genetic inheritance in behavior.

Front 28

Biological perspective

Back 28

Perspective that focuses on the role of biological factors in behavior, including biochemical and brain processes as well as genetic and evolutionary factors.

Front 29

Evolutionary psychology

Back 29

A field of study that focuses on the role of evolutionary processes (especially natural selection) in the development of adaptive psychological mechanisms and social behavior in humans.

Front 30

Jigsaw program

Back 30

An applied research program in which knowledge gained from basic research on factors that increase and decrease intergroup hostility was translated into a cooperative learning program designed to reduce interracial hostility in racially integrated schools.

Front 31

Mind-body dualism

Back 31

The philosophical position that mind in a non-physical entity that is not subject to physical laws and cannot be reduced to physical laws and cannot be reduced to physical processes; body and mind are seperate entities.

Front 32

Monism

Back 32

The philosophical position that mental events are reducible to physical events in the brain, so that "mind" and body are one and the same.

Front 33

Natural Selection

Back 33

The evolutionary process through which characteristics that increase the liklihood of survival are preserved in the gene pool and thereby become more common in a species over time.

Front 34

Self-actualization

Back 34

In humanistic theories, an inborn tendency to strive toward the realization of one's full potential.

Front 35

Psychology

Back 35

The scientific study of behavior and its causes.

Front 36

Sociobiology

Back 36

Holds that complex social behaviors are also built into the human species as products of evolution.

Front 37

Double-blind procedure

Back 37

A procedure in which both the participant and the experiments are kept unaware of the research condition to which the participant has been assigned.

Front 38

Experiment

Back 38

A research method in which the researcher manipulates an independent variable under controlled conditions and measures whether this produces changes in a dependent variable.

Front 39

Experimental group

Back 39

In an experiment, the group that recieves a treatment or is exposed to an active level of the independent variable.

Front 40

Experimental methods

Back 40

Research methods that involve manipulations to establish cause and effect relationships between two or more events.

Front 41

Experimenter expectancy effects

Back 41

Subtle and unintentional ways in which an experimenter influences participants to behave in a way that will confirm the experimenter's hypothesis.

Front 42

External validity

Back 42

The degree to which the results of a study can be generalized to other people, settings, and conditions.

Front 43

hypothesis

Back 43

A tentative explanation or prediction about some phenomenon.

Front 44

Independent variable

Back 44

In an experiment, the factor that is manipulated by the researcher.

Front 45

Internal validity

Back 45

The degree to which an experiment produces clear casual conclusions.

Front 46

Naturalistic observation

Back 46

A method in which the researcher observes behavior in a natural setting and tries to avoid influencing the participants being observed.

Front 47

Negative correlation

Back 47

As scores on one variable change, scores on a second variable change in the opposite direction.

Front 48

Operational definition

Back 48

Defining a concept or variable in terms of the specific procedures used to produce or measure it.

Front 49

Placebo

Back 49

An inactive or inert substance that has no medicinal value but is believed by patient to be helpful.

Front 50

Placebo effects

Back 50

A change in behavior that occurs because of the expectation or belief that one is recieving treatment.
Example:Expecting vodka and recieving water, patient doesn't know and still thinks he is drunk because he doesnt know any different.

Front 51

Population

Back 51

In a survey, the entire set of individuals about whom we wish to draw a conclusion.

Front 52

Positive correlation

Back 52

As scores on one variable change, scores on a second variable change in the same direction.

Front 53

Random assignment

Back 53

A procedure in which each participant has an equal liklihood of being assigned to any one group within a experiment.

Front 54

Random sampling

Back 54

A method of choosing a sample in which each member of the population has an equal opportunity to be included in the sample.

Front 55

Replication

Back 55

The process of repeating a study to determine whether the original findings can be duplicated.

Front 56

Representative sample

Back 56

A sample that accurately reflects the important characteristics of the population.

Front 57

Sample

Back 57

In a survey, a subset of individuals drawn from the population.

Front 58

Scatter plot

Back 58

A graph commonly used to examine correlational data; each pair of scores on variable x and variable y is plotted as a single point.

Front 59

Survey research

Back 59

A method in which questionnaires or interviews are used to obtain information about many people.

Front 60

Theory

Back 60

A set of formal statements that explain how and why certain events or phenomena are related to one another.

Front 61

Validity

Back 61

The extent to which a test measures what it is supposed to; the degree to which a diagnostic system's categories contain the core features of the behavior disorders and permit differentiation among the disorders.

Front 62

Variable

Back 62

Any characteristic of an organism or situation that can differ.