Vocab - Psychology - Chapter 1

Front 1

applied research

Back 1

Research that is designed to solve or examine specific, practical problems.

Front 2

basic research

Back 2

Research designed to obtain knowledge for its own sake.

Front 3

behavioral neuroscience

Back 3

A subfield of psychology that examines brain porcesses and other physiological functions that underlie our behavior, sensory experiences, emotions and thoughts.

Front 4

behavioral perspective

Back 4

A view that emphasizes how the environment and learning experiences shape and control behavior.

Front 5

behavioral genetics

Back 5

The scientific study of the role of genetic inheritance in behavior

Front 6

behaviorism

Back 6

A school of psychology that emphasizes the effects of learning and the environmental control on the behavior and maintains that the proper subject matter of psychology is observable behavior.

Front 7

biological perspective

Back 7

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

Front 8

biopsychology

Back 8

A subfield of psychology that focuses on the biological underpinnings of behavior, thought and emotion.

Front 9

British empiricism

Back 9

A 17th-century school of philosophy championed by Locke, according to which all the contents of the mind are gained through the senses.

Front 10

clinical psychology

Back 10

A subfield of psychology that focuses on the study and treatment of mental disorders.

Front 11

cognitive behaviorism

Back 11

A behavioral approach that incorporates cognitive concepts, suggesting that the environment influences our behavior by affecting our thoughts and giving us information.

Front 12

cognitive neuroscience

Back 12

An area of psychology that intersects the subfields of cognitive psychology and physiological psychology and examines brain processes that underlie mental activity

Front 13

cognitive perspective

Back 13

A view that emphasizes humans as information processors and problem solvers, and that focuses on the mental processes that influence behavior

Front 14

cognitive psychology

Back 14

An area of psychology that specializes in studying mental processes such as thinking memory, planning, reasoning, attention and perception.

Front 15

cultural (cross-cultural) psychology

Back 15

A subfield of psychology that explores how culture is transmitted to its members and examines psychological similarities and differences that occur between diverse cultures.

Front 16

developmental psychology

Back 16

A subfield of psychology that examines human physical, psychological and social development across a lifespan.

Front 17

evolutionary psychology

Back 17

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

Front 18

experimental psychology

Back 18

A subfield of psychology that focuses on basic processes such as learning, sensory systems (eg.hearing), perception and motivational states (eg. hunger)

Front 19

functionalism

Back 19

An early school of American psychology that focused on the functions of consciousness and behavior in helping organisms adapt to their environments and satisfy their needs.

Front 20

humanistic perspective (humanism)

Back 20

A psychological view that emphasizes personal freedom, choice and self-actualization

Front 21

industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology

Back 21

A subfield of psychology that focuses on people's behavior in the workplace.

Front 22

interaction

Back 22

An interaction occurs when the way in which one factor influences behavior depends upon the presence of another factor.

Front 23

natural selection

Back 23

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

Front 24

neurotransmitters

Back 24

Chemical substances that are released from the axons of one neuron,travel across the synaptic space, and bind to specially keyed receptors in another neuron, where they produce a chemical reaction that is either excitatory or inhibitory

Front 25

norms

Back 25

Rules (often unwritten) that specify what behavior is acceptable and expected for members of a particular culture or group.

Front 26

personality psychology

Back 26

A subfield of psychology that focuses on the nature of human personality

Front 27

positive psychological movement

Back 27

A view that emphasizes the study of human strengths, fulfillment and optimal living.

Front 28

psychoanalysis

Back 28

A psychology theory, developed by Freud, that emphasizes internal and primarily unconscious causes of behavior

Front 29

psychodynamic perspective

Back 29

A psychological perspective that focuses on how personal processes -including unconscious impulses, defenses and conflicts- influence behavior.

Front 30

psychology

Back 30

The scientific study of behavior and the mind.

Front 31

social psychology

Back 31

A subfield of psychology that examines people's thought feelings and behavior in relation to the social world.

Front 32

sociocultural perspective

Back 32

A view that emphasizes the role of culture and the social environment in influencing or behavior, thoughts and emotions.

Front 33

structuralism

Back 33

An early German school of psychology established by Wundt that attempted to study the structure of the mind by breaking it down into its basic components, which were believed to be sensations.