Psychology 101 - Exam 1

Front 1

basic research

Back 1

pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base

Front 2

applied research

Back 2

scientific study that aims to solve practical problems

Front 3

counseling psychology

Back 3

assists people with problems in living and in achieving greater well-being

Front 4

Clinical psychology

Back 4

studies, assesses and treats people with psychological disorders.

Front 5

psychiatry

Back 5

branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders, practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy

Front 6

hindsight bias

Back 6

the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it (I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon)

Front 7

critical thinking

Back 7

thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it aexamines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence and assesses conclusions

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theory

Back 8

an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events

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hypothesis

Back 9

a testable prediction, often implied by a theory

Front 10

operational definition

Back 10

a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables. (human intelligence - what a intelligence test measures)

Front 11

replication

Back 11

repeating the essence of a research study to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances. (usually with different situations)

Front 12

case study

Back 12

an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles

Front 13

survey

Back 13

a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitues or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group

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population

Back 14

all the cases in a group being studied, from wich samples may be drawn

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random sample

Back 15

sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion

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naturalistic observation

Back 16

observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation

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correlation

Back 17

a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together and thus of how well either factor predicts the other.

Front 18

correlation coefficient

Back 18

a statistical index of the relationship bewteen two things (from -1 to +1)

Front 19

scatterplot

Back 19

a graphed cluster of dots, each of which represents the values of two variables.
The slope of the points suggests the direction of the relationship between the two variables.
The amount of scatter suggests the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation)

Front 20

illusory correlation

Back 20

perception of a relationship where non exists

Front 21

experiment

Back 21

a research method in which an investigator manipulates one or more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental processes (the dependent variable). The experimenter aims to control other relevent factors (with random assignment)

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random assignment

Back 22

assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups

Front 23

double-blind procedure

Back 23

an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about whether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo

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placebo effect

Back 24

experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which the recipient assumes is an active agent

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experimental group

Back 25

the group that is exposed to the treatment, to one version of the independent variable

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control group

Back 26

the group that is not exposed to the treatment, serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment

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independent variable

Back 27

the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied

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dependent variable

Back 28

the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable

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mode

Back 29

the most frequently occuring score(s) in a distribution

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mean

Back 30

avarage of a distribution; adding the scores, dividing by the numer of scores

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median

Back 31

the middle score in a distribution (half the scores are above it, half are below it)

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range

Back 32

the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution

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standard deviation

Back 33

computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score

Front 34

structuralism

Back 34

an early school of psychology that used introspection (looking inward) to explore the elements of the human mind

Front 35

functionalism

Back 35

a school of psychology that focused on how our mental and behavrioral processes function (how they enable us to adapt, survive and flourish)

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behavorism

Back 36

view that psychology should be an objective science that studies behavior without reference to mental processes.
(J.B. Watson and B.F. Skinner)

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humanistic psychology

Back 37

historically significant perspective that emphasized the growth potential of healty people and the individual's potential for personal growth
Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow

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cognitive neuroscience

Back 38

the interdisciplinary study of the brain activity linked with cognition (including perception, thinking, memory and language.\)

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psychology

Back 39

the science of behavior and mental processes

Hint 39

behavior: anything an organism does, an action we can observe and record (like talking, smiling etc)
mental processes: internal subjective experiences we infer from behavior (sensations, perceptions, dreams, thoughts etc)

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science

Back 40

emperical (observable) phenomenon and has a method

Front 41

nature-nurture issue

Back 41

longstanding controversy over the relative contribution that genes and experience make to development of psychological traits and behavior.

Hint 41

nurture works on what nature endows

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natural selection

Back 42

Nature selects the traits that best enable an organism to survive and reproduce in a particular environment

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levels of analysis

Back 43

differing complementary views to look at any given phenomenon, from biological to psychological to social-culturale

Front 44

biophychosocial approach

Back 44

incorporates biological, phychological and social-culture levels of analysis

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culture

Back 45

enduring behaviors, ideas, attitueds and traditions shared by a group of people and transmitted from one generation to the next