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AP Psychology: Prolouge and Chapter 1 Myers Flashcards

Vocab from Baron's AP Psychology prep book and Psychology, AP Edition with Discovery Psychology

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1621921219introspectionfirst began in laboratory set up by Wilhelm Wundt; process of reporting on one's own conscious mental experiences0
1621921220structuralismidea proposed by Wundt that the mind operates by combining subjective emotions and objective sensations; aimed to uncover the basic structures that make up mind and thought1
1621921221functionalismtheory presented by William James; emphasizes adaptiveness of the mental or behavioral processes2
1621921222Wilhelm Wundtset up first psychological laboratory in Leipzig, Germany in 1879; known for training subjects in introspection and for his theory of structuralism3
1621921223Margaret Floy Washburnfirst woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology4
1621921224William Jamespublished The Principles of Psychology, the science's first textbook; responsible for theory of functionalism5
1621921225Mary Whiton Calkinsstudied with William James and went on to become president of the American Psychological Association6
1621921226G. Stanley Hallstudent of William James who pioneered he study of child development and was the first president of the APA7
1621921227Gestalt psychologytheory that states that the whole experience is often more than just the sum of the parts, because the way we experience the world is more than just an accumulation of various perceptual experiences; relatively little influence on current psychology8
1621921228Max WertheimerGestalt psychologist who argued against dividing human thought and behavior into discrete structures9
1621921229psychoanalysistheory that states a part of our mind over which we do not have conscious control determines, in part, how we think and behave10
1621921230Sigmund Freudrevolutionized psychology with his psychoanalytic theory; believed the unconscious mind must be examined through dream analysis, word association, and other psychoanalytic therapy techniques; criticized for being unscientific and creating unverifiable theories11
1621921231behaviorismtheory that states psychologists should look at only behavior and causes of behavior, and not concern themselves with describing elements of consciousness; dominant school of thought in psychology from the 1920s through the 1960s12
1621921232John Watsonpsychologist who believed the science must limit itself to observable phenomena; wanted to establish behaviorism as the dominant paradigm of psychology13
1621921233B. F. Skinnerbehaviorist who expanded the basic ideas of behaviorism to include the idea of reinforcement- environmental stimuli that either encourage or discourage certain responses14
1621921234humanismmodern psychological viewpoint that stresses individual choice and free will; suggests that we choose most of our behaviors and these choices are guided by physiological, emotional or spiritual needs; not easily tested by the scientific method; includes theorists Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers15
1621921235biopsychologymodern psychological perspective that explains human thought and behavior strictly in terms of biological processes (e.g. genes, hormones, and neurotransmitters)16
1621921236evolutionary perspectivealso known as Darwinian; modern psychological perspective that examines human thoughts and actions in terms of natural selection; similar to biopsychology17
1621921237behavioral perspectivemodern psychological perspective that explains human thought and behavior in terms of conditioning; looks strictly at observable behaviors and what reaction organisms get in response to specific behaviors18
1621921238cognitive perspectivemodern psychological perspective that examines human thought and behavior in terms of how we interpret, process, and remember environmental events19
1621921239sociocultural perspectivemodern psychological perspective that looks at how our thoughts and behaviors vary from people living in other cultures; emphasizes the influence of culture on the way we think and act20
1621921240Jean Piagetcame up with a cognitive developmental theory, which focuses on how our cognitions develop in stages as we mature21
1621921241developmental perspectivemodern psychological perspective emphasizing that change occurs across a lifespan; focus has shifted over recent years to teens and adults22
1621921242trait viewmodern psychological perspective that views behavior and personality as the products of enduring psychological characteristics23
1621921243basic researchexplores questions that are of interest to psychologists but are not intended to have immediate, real-world applications; also referred to as experimental psychology24
1621921244operational definitionsa researcher's explanation how the variable of an experiment will be measured25
1621921245validresearch that measures what the researcher set out to measure; accurate26
1621921246reliableresearch that can be replicated and is consistent27
1621921247participantsindividuals on which research is conducted28
1621921248samplingthe process by which participants for research are selected29
1621921249populationincludes anyone or anything that could possibly be selected to be in the sample for research30
1621921250random selectionevery member of the population has an equal chance of being selected as a participant in research31
1621921251stratified samplingprocess that allows a researcher to ensure that the sample represents the population on some criteria32
1621921252laboratory experimentsexperiments conducted in a lab, a highly controlled environment; advantage of being easily controlled33
1621921253field experimentsexperiments conducted in the world; advantage of being more realistic34
1621921254confounding variablesany difference between the experimental and control conditions, except for the independent variable, that might affect the dependent variable35
1621921255assignmentthe process by which participants are put into a group, experimental control36
1621921256random assignmenteach participant has an equal chance of being placed into any group37
1621921257participant-relevant confounding variableswhen groups are not randomly assigned during an experiment; increases the chance of participants in the two groups differ in any meaningful way38
1621921258group matchingused if one wants to ensure that the experimental and control groups are equivalent on some criterion (e.g. sex, IQ scores, or age)39
1621921259situation-relevant confounding variableswhen the situations into which the different groups of an experiment are put are not truly equivalent; can create invalid experiment results due to the situation rather than the independent variable40
1621921260experimenter biasthe unconscious tendency for researchers to treat members of the experimental and control groups differently to increase the chance of confirming their hypothesis41
1621921261double-blind procedurewhen neither the participants nor the researcher are able to affect the outcome of the research42
1621921262demand characteristicscues about the purpose of the study; participants use such cues to try to respond appropriately, skewing the validity of the experiment43
1621921263response biasthe tendency for subjects to behave in certain ways; can alter validity of experiment44
1621921264social desirabilitythe tendency of participants to try to give answers that reflect well upon them45
1621921265pseudopsychologyerroneous assertions or practices set forth as being scientific psychology46
1621921266confirmation biasthe tendency to attend to evidence that complements and confirms our beliefs or expectations, while ignoring evidence that does not47
1621921267Platoancient Greek philosopher who studied areas like cognition; was first philosopher credited with the study of gaining knowledge48
1621921268Aristotleancient Greek philosopher who developed theories of sensation, perception, cognition, memory, problems olving, and ethics49
1621921269René Descartes17th century French philosopher who asserted that human sensations and behaviors are based on activity in the nervous system50
1621921270Wolfgang KohlerGestalt psychologist who studied insight learning, an overlooked form of learning marked by sudden "Aha!" experiences51
1621921271neurosciencefield devoted to understanding how the brain creates thoughts, feelings, motives, consciousness, memories and other mental processes52
1621921272cognitionsmental processes, such as thinking, memory, sensation, and perception53
1621921273cognitive neurosciencean interdisciplinary field emphasizing brain activity as information processing; involves cognitive psychology, neurology, biology, computer science, linguistics, and specialists from other fields who are interested in the connection between mental processes and the brain54
1621921274psychodynamic psychologymodern clinical viewpoint emphasizing the understanding of mental disorders in terms of unconscious needs, desires, memories, and conflicts55
1621921275clinical viewpsychological perspective emphasizing mental health and mental illness; psychodynamic and humanistic psychology are variations of this56
1621921276empirical investigationan approach to research that relies on sensory experience and observation as research data57
1621921277scientific methoddeveloping a hypothesis, performing a controlled test, gathering objective data, analyzing results, and publishing, criticizing, and replicating the results58
1621921278random presentationprocess by which chance alone determines the order in which the stimulus is presented in an experiment59
1621921279ex post factonon-experimental method; research in which subjects are chosen based on a pre-existing condition60
1621921280correlational studiesnon-experimental method; a type of research that is mainly statistical in nature; determines the relationship between two variables61
1621921281surveynon-experimental method; a quasi-experimental method in which questions are asked to subjects; when being designed, the researcher hast o be careful that the questions are not skewed or biased towards a particular answer62
1621921282naturalistic observationnon-experimental method; research in which subjects are observed in their natural environment63
1621921283longitudinal studynon-experimental method; a type of study in which one group of subjects is followed and observed (or examined, surveyed, etc.) for an extended period of time (years.)64
1621921284cross-sectional studya study in which a representative cross section of the population is tested or surveyed at one specific time65
1621921285cohort-sequential studya research method in which a cross section of the population is chosen and then each cohort is followed for a short period of time66
1621921286frequency distributiona summary chart, showing how frequently each of the various scores in a set of data occurs67
1621921287histograma bar graph depicting a frequency distribution; the height of the bars indicates the frequency of the group of scores68
1621921288descriptive statisticsstatistical procedures used to describe characteristics and responses of groups of subjects69
1621921289measure of variabilityhow closely scores bunch up around the central point; a statistic that indicates the spread of distribution70
1621921290measures of central tendencyaverages; mean, median, and mode71
1621921291hindsight biaspeople's tendency upon hearing about research findings to think that they knew it all along72
1621921292applied researchresearch conducted in order to solve practical problems73
1621921293standard deviationa measure of variability that indicates the average difference between the sources and their mean74
1621921294normal distributiona bell-shaped curve, describing the spread of a characteristic throughout a population75
1621921295correlation coefficienta number between -1 and +1 expressing the degree of relationship between two variables76
1621921296inferential statisticsstatistical techniques (based on probability theory) used to assess whether the results of a study are reliable or whether they might be simply the result of chance; often used to determine whether two or more groups are essentially the same or different77
1621921297representative samplea sample obtained in such a way that it reflects the distribution of important variables in the larger population in which the researchers are interested; variables such as age, income level, ethnicity, and geographic distribution78

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