Psychology Chapter 1

Front 1

Psychology

Back 1

The Scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

Front 2

Scientific Method

Back 2

A systematic process used by psychologists for testing hypotheses about behavior.

Front 3

Theory

Back 3

An Explanation of why and how behavior occurs.

Front 4

Pseudopsychology

Back 4

Psychological information or conclusions that sound scientific but that have not been systematically tested using the scientific method.

Front 5

Critical Thinking

Back 5

Thought processes used to evaluate and analyze information and apply it to other situations.

Front 6

Structuralism

Back 6

An early psychological perspective concerned with identifying the basic elements of experience

Front 7

Introspection

Back 7

Observing one's own thoughts, feelings, or sensations

Front 8

Gestalt Psychology

Back 8

An early psychological approach that emphasized how our minds organize sensory stimuli to produce the perception of a whole form.

Front 9

Functionalism

Back 9

An early psychological perspective concerned with how behavior helps people adapt to their environment.

Front 10

Psychoanalytic Theory

Back 10

Sigmund Freud's view that emphasizes the influence of unconscious desires and conflicts on behavior. humans create similar sexual agressions as animals. (But humans can think before they do.)

Front 11

Behaviorism

Back 11

A psychological perspective that emphasizes the study of observable responses and behavior.

Front 12

Stimulus

Back 12

Any object or event that is perceived by our senses.

Front 13

Response

Back 13

An organism's reaction to a stimulus

Front 14

Humanism

Back 14

A psychological perspective that emphasizes the personal growth and potential of humans

Front 15

Cognitive Psychology

Back 15

The study of mental processes such as reasoning and problem solving.

Front 16

Positive Psychology

Back 16

They study of factors that contribute to the happiness, positive emotions, and well-being.

Front 17

Biological Perspective

Back 17

An approach that focuses on physical causes of behavior.

Front 18

Neuroscience

Back 18

A field of science that investigates the relationships between the nervous system and behavior/mental processes.

Front 19

Evolutionary Perspective

Back 19

An approach that focuses on how evolution and natural selection influence behavior.

Front 20

Cognitive Perspective

Back 20

An approach that focuses on how mental processes influence behavior.

Front 21

Psychodynamic Perspective

Back 21

An approach that focuses on internal unconscious mental processes, motives, and desires that may explain behavior

Front 22

Behavioral Perspective

Back 22

An approach that focuses on external, environmental influences on behavior.

Front 23

Sociocultural Perspective

Back 23

An approach that focuses on societal and cultural factors that may influence behavior.

Front 24

Humanistic Perspective

Back 24

An approach that focuses on how an individual's view of themselves and the world influences behavior.

Front 25

Eclectic Approach

Back 25

An approach that integrates and combines several perspectives when explaining behavior.

Front 26

Prediction

Back 26

An expected outcome of how variables will relate.

Front 27

Hypothesis

Back 27

An educated guess.

Front 28

Predictive Hypothesis

Back 28

An educated guess about the relationships among variables.

Front 29

Casual Hypothesis

Back 29

An educated guess about how one variable will influence another variable.

Front 30

Population of Interest

Back 30

The entire universe of animals or people that could be studied.

Front 31

Sample

Back 31

The portion of the population of interest that is selected for a study.

Front 32

Naturalistic Observation

Back 32

Observing behavior in the environment in which the behavior typically occurs.

Front 33

Case Study

Back 33

An in-depth observation of one participant.

Front 34

Generalizability

Back 34

How well a researcher's findings apply to other individuals and situations.

Front 35

Survey

Back 35

A research method that asks a large group of people about their attitudes, beliefs, and/or behaviors.

Front 36

Correlation

Back 36

The relationship between two or more variables.

Front 37

Positive Correlation

Back 37

A relationship in which increases in one variable correspond to increases in a second variable.

Front 38

Negative Correlation

Back 38

A relationship in which increases in one variable correspond to decreases in a second variable.

Front 39

Experiment

Back 39

A research method that is used to test causal hypothesis.

Front 40

Independent Variable

Back 40

The variable in an experiment that is being manipulated.

Front 41

Dependent Variable

Back 41

The variable in an experiment that measures any effect of the manipulation.

Front 42

Experimental Group

Back 42

The group of participants who receive the manipulation that is being tested.

Front 43

Control Group

Back 43

The group of participants who do not receive the manipulation that is being tested.

Front 44

Placebo Effect

Back 44

A measurable change in participants behavior due to the expectation or belief that a treatment will have certain effects.

Front 45

Double-blind Study

Back 45

An experiment in which neither the experimenters nor the participants know to which group participants have been assigned.

Front 46

Confounding Variable

Back 46

Any factor other than the independent variable that affects the dependent measure.

Front 47

Random Assignment

Back 47

Method of assigning participants in which they have an equal chance of being placed in any group or condition of the study.

Front 48

Quasi-Experiment

Back 48

A research study that is not a true experiment because participants are not randomly assigned to the different conditions

Front 49

Institutional Review Board

Back 49

A committee that reviews research proposals to ensure that ethical standards have been met.

Front 50

Informed Consent

Back 50

Ethical principle that research participants be told about various aspects of the study, including any risks, before agreeing to participate.

Front 51

Confidentiality

Back 51

Ethical principle that researchers do not reveal which data were collected from which participant.

Front 52

Debriefing

Back 52

Ethical principle that after participating in an experiment involving deception participants be fully informed of the nature of the study.