Psychology 107 Test 1

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applied psychologist

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psychologists who extend the principles of scientific psychology to practical problems in the world

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human factors psychologists

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play a key role in designing and engineering new products

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research psychologist

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psychologists who try to discover the basic principles of behavior and mind

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empiricism

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the idea that knowledge comes directly from experience

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tabula rasa

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blank tablet
"aristotle"

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behaviorism

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a school of psychology proposing that only proper subject matter of psychology is observable behavior rather than immediate conscious experiment

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nativism

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the idea that some knowledge is innate, or present at birth

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Wilhelm Wundt

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established the first psychological laboratory in 1879, at the university of Leipzig--founder/father of modern psychology

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Nature vs. Nurture

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all psychological characteristics such as intelligence, emotion, and personality are influenced by genetic factor. At the same time, genes never act alone; they always act in concert with experience

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fuctionalism

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an early school of psychology; functionalists believed that the proper way to understand mind and behavior is to first analyze their function and purpose

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structuralism

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an early school of psychology; structuralists tried to understand the mind by breaking it down into basic parts, much as a chemist might try to understand a chemical compound

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scientific method

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a multistep technique that generates empirical knowledge-that is, knowledge derived from systematic observations

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descriptive research

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methods designed to observe & describe a behavior

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case study

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a descriptive research technique in which the effort is focused on a single case, usually an individual

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random sampling

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a procedure guaranteeing that everyone in the population has an equal likelihood of being selected for the sample

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aptitude test

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designed to measure the potential for success in a given profession or area of study

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mean

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the arithmetic average of a set of scores

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median

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most frequently occuring

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mode

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middle point

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standard deviation

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an indication of how much individual scores differ or vary from the mean

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range

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the difference between the largest and smallest scores in a distribution

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correlational research

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to determine whether a relationship exists between 2 measures of behavior, the one recorded and the one expected

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correlation

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a statistic that indicates whether 2 variables vary together in a systematic way; correlation coefficients vary from +1.00 to -1.00

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experimental research

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a technique in which the investigator actively manipulates the environment to observe its effect on behavior

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external validity

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the extent to which results generalize to other situations or are representative of real life

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debriefing

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at the conclusion of an experimental session, informing the participants about the general purpose of the experiment, including any deception that was involved

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hypothesis

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a predicition about the characteristics of the behavior under study

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participant observation

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the observer attempts to become a part of the activities being studied

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indirect naturalistic observation

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a way to measure behavior indirectly by looking at the results of the behavior, rather than the behavior itself

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independent variable

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the aspect of the environment that is manipulated in an experiment. It must consist of at least 2 conditions

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experimental group

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independent variable

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control group

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doesn't change

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internal validity

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the extent to which an experiment has effectively controlled fro confounding variables; internally valid experiments allow for the determination of causality

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confounding variable

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an uncontrolled variable that changes along with the independent variable

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placebo

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an inactive, or inert substance that resembles an experimental placebo

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double-blind study

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neither participants nor research observers are aware of who has been assigned to the experimental and control groups; it's used to control for both subject and experimenter expectancies

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informed consent

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the principle that before consenting to participate in research, people should be fully informed about any significant factors that could affect their willingness to participate

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confidentiality

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the principle that personal information obtained from a participant in research or therapy should not be revealed without the individuals permission