Discovering Psychology 4Th Edition - Chapter 1

Front 1

The scientific study of behavior and mental processes.

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psychology

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Early school of psychology that emphasized studying the most basic components, or structures of conscious experiences.

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structuralism

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Early school of psychology that emphasized studying the purpose, or function, of behavior and mental experiences.

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functionalism

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Personality theory and form of psychotherapy that emphasize the role of unconscious factors in personality and behavior.

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psychoanalysis

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School of psychology and theoretical viewpoint that emphasize the study of observable behaviors, especially as they pertain to the process of learning.

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behaviorism

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School of psychology and theoretical viewpoint that emphasize each person's unique potential for psychological growth and self direction.

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humanistic psychology

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The application of principles of evolution, including natural selection, to explain psychological processes and phenomena.

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evolutionary psychology

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The attitudes, values and beliefs shared by a group of people and communicated from one generation to another.

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culture

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Branch of psychology that studies the effect of culture on behavior and mental processes.

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cross-cultural psychology

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The belief that ones own culture or ethnic group is superior to all others, and the related tendency to use ones own culture as a standard by which to judge other cultures.

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ethnocentrism

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Cultures that emphasize the needs and the goals of the individual over the needs and goals of the group.

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individualistic cultures

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Cultures that emphasize the needs and goals of the group over the needs and goals of the individual.

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collectivistic cultures

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Focuses on the relationship between behavior and the body's physical systems, including the brain and the rest of the nervous system, the endocrine system, the immune system, and genetics.

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biological psychology

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Investigates mental processes, including reasoning and thinking, problem solving, memory, perception, metal imagery, and language

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cognitive psychology

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The term traditionally used to describe research focused on such basic topics as sensory processes, principles of learning, emotion, and motivation. However, note that experiments may be conducted by psychologists in every area of psychology.

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experimental psychology

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Studies the physical, social, and psychological changes that occur at different ages and stages of the lifespan, from conception to old age.

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developmental psychology

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Explores how people are affected by their social environments, including how people think about and influence others. Topics as varied as conformity, obedience, persuasion. interpersonal attraction, helping behavior, prejudice, aggression, and social beliefs are studied.

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social psychology

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Examines individual differences and the characteristics that make each person unique, including how those characteristics originated and developed.

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personality psychology

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Focuses on the role of psychological factors in the development, prevention, and treatment of illness.

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health psychology

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Studies how people of all ages learn. Psychologists who help develop the instructional methods and materials used to train people in both educational and work settings. A related field, school psychology, focuses on designing programs that promote the intellectual, social, and emotional development of children, including children with special needs.

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educational psychology

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Is concerned with the relationship between people and work. Includes such topics as worker productivity and job satisfaction, personnel selection and training.

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industrial/organizational psychology

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Studies the causes, treatment, and prevention of different types of psychological disorders, such as anxiety or depression, eating disorders, and chronic substance abuse.

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clinical psychology

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A set of assumptions, attitudes, and procedures that guide researchers in creating questions to investigate, in generating evidence, and in drawing conclusions.

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scientific method

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Evidence that is based upon objective observation, measurement, and/or experimentation.

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empirical evidence

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A tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables.

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hypothesis

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A factor that can vary, or change, in ways that can be observed, measured, and verified.

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variable

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A precise definition of how the variables in a study will be manipulated or measured.

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operational definition

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The active process of trying to minimize the influence of preconceptions and biases while rationally evaluating evidence, determining the conclusions that can be drawn from evidence, and considering alternative explanations.

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critical thinking

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A branch of mathematics used by researchers to organize, summarize, and interpret data.

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statistics

Front 30

Name the four steps of the scientific method.

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1. Formulate a specific question that can be tested.
2. Design a study to collect relevant data.
3. Analyze the data and arrive at conclusions.
4. Report the results.

Front 31

A mathematical indication that research results are not very likely to have occurred by chance.

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statistical significance

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A statistical technique that involves combining and analyzing the results of many research studies on a specific topic in order to identify overall trends.

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meta-analysis

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To repeat or duplicate a scientific study in order to increase confidence in the validity of the original findings.

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replicate

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A tentative explanation that tries to integrate and account for the relationship of various findings and observations.

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theory

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Scientific procedures that involve systematically observing behavior in order to describe the relationship among behaviors and events.

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descriptive research methods

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The systematic observation and recording of behaviors as they occur in their natural setting.

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naturalistic observation

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A false or fake science that makes claims based on little or no scientific evidence.

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pseudoscience

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Alleged abilities or events that fall outside the range of normal experience and established scientific explanations.

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paranormal phenomena

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In order to claim to be scientifically tested and proved true, there must be identifiable evidence that could prove the claim false.

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rule of falsifiability

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The mistaken belief that two factors are related when they are not.

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illusory correlation

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An intensive study of an individual or small group of individuals.

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case study

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A questionnaire or interview designed to investigate the opinions, behaviors, or characteristics of a particular group.

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survey

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A selected segment of the population used to represent the group that is being studied.

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sample

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A selected segment that very closely parallels the larger population being studied on relevant characteristics.

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representative sample

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Process in which subjects are selected randomly from a larger group such that every group member has an equal chance of being included in the study.

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random selection

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A research strategy that allows the precise calculation of how strongly related two factors are to each other.

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corellational study

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A numerical indidcation of the magnitude and the direction of the relationship between two variables.

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correlation coefficent

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A finding that two factors vary systematically in the same direction, increasing or decreasing together.

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positive correlation

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A finding that two factors vary systematically in opposite direction, one increasing as the other decreases.

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negative correlation

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A method of investigation used to demonstrate cause-and-effect relationships by purposefully manipulating one factor thought to produce change in another factor.

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experimental method

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The purposely manipulated factor thought to produce change in an experiment.

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independent variable

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The factor that is observed and measured for change in an experiment; thought to be influenced by the independent variable.

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dependent variable

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The process of assigning participants to experimental conditions so that all participants have an equal chance of being assigned to any of the conditions or groups in the study.

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random assignment

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In an experiment, the group of participants who are exposed to all experimental conditions, including the independent variable or treatment of interest.

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experimental group

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In an experiment, the group of paricipants who are exposed to all experimental conditions, except the independent variable; the group against which changes in the experimental group are compared.

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control group

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In an experiment, a control group in which the participants are exposed to a fake independent variable, or placebo. The effects of the placebo are compared to the effects of the actual independent variable on the experimental contol group.

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placebo contol group

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Any change in performance that results from mere repetition of a task.

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practice effect

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Changes in the subject's behavior produced by a subjects belief that change should happen; also called placebo effects.

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expectancy effects

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Experimental technique in which neither the participants nor the researcher interacting with the participants is aware of the group or condition in which the participants have been assigned.

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double-blind study

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In a research study, subtle cues or signals expressed by the researcher that communicate the kind of response or behavior that is expected from the participant.

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demand characteristics

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Branch of psychology that studies the behavior of different animal species.

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comparative psychology

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American psychologist who conducted research on memory, personality, and dreams; established one of the first US psychology research laboratories; first woman president of the American Psychological Association.

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Mary Whiton Calkins

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English naturalist and scientist whose theory of evolution through natural selection was first published in "On the Origin of Species" in 1859.

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Charles Darwin

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Austrian physician and founder of psychoanalysis.

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Sigmund Freud

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American psychologist who established the first psychology research laboratory in the United States; founded the American Psychological Association.

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G. Stanley Hall

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American philosopher and psychologist who founded psychology in the United States and established the psychological school called functionalism.

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William James

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American humanistic psychologist who developed a theory of motivation.

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Abraham Maslow

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Russian psysiologist whose pioneering research on learning contributed to the development of behaviorism; discovered the basic learning process that is now called classical conditioning.

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Ivan Pavlov

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American psychologist who founded the school of humanistic psychology.

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Carl Rodgers

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American psychologist and leading proponent of behaviorism; developed a model of learning called operant conditioning; emphasized studying the relationship between environmental factors and observable behavior.

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B.F. Skinner

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British-born American psychologist who founded structuralism, the first school of psychology.

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Edward B. Titchner

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American psychologist who was the first woman to earn a doctorate in psychology in the United States; published research on mental processes in animals.

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Margret Floy Washburn

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American psychologist who founded behaviorism, emphasizing the study of observable behavior and rejecting the study of mental processes.

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John B. Watson

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German psychologist who founded psychology as a formal science; opened first psychology research laboratory in 1879.

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Wilhelm Wundt

Front 75

Who proposed the doctrine of interactive dualism? What does interactive dualism propose?

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Interactive dualism was proposed by Rene Descartes. Interactive dualism is the idea that the mind and body are separate entities.

Front 76

What psychological school of thought was criticized for relying too heavily on the method of introspection?

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Structuralism

Front 77

Behaviorism rejected the emphasis on ________ promoted by structuralism and functionalism.

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consciousness

Front 78

What are the seven major perspectives in psychology?

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Biological, Psychodyamic, Behavioral, Humanistic, Cognitive, Cross-Cultural, & Evolutionary.