Terms : Hide Images
| 24458876 | Psychology | the scientific study of behavior and mental processes | |
| 24458877 | empiricism | the view that (a) knowledge comes form experience via the senses, and (b) science flourishes through observation and experiment | |
| 24458878 | structuralism | an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the elemental structure of the human mind | |
| 24458879 | functionalism | a school of psychology that focused on how mental and behavioral processes function--how they enable the organism to adapt, survive, and flourish | |
| 24458880 | humanistic psychology | historically significant erspective that emphasized the growth potential of healthy people; used personalized methods to study personality in hopes of fostering personal growth | |
| 24458881 | nature-nurture issue | the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors | |
| 24458882 | natural selection | the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival will most likely be passed on to succeeding generations | |
| 24458883 | basic research | pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base | |
| 24458884 | applied research | scientific study that aims to solve practical problems | |
| 24458885 | counseling psychology | a branch of psychology that assists people with problems in living (often related to school, work, or marriage) and in achieving greater well-being | |
| 24458886 | clinical psychology | a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders | |
| 24458887 | psychiatry | a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who sometimes provide medical (for example, drug) treatments as well as psychological therapy | |
| 24458888 | levels of analysis | the differing complementary views, from biological to psychological to social-cultural, for analyzing any given phenomenon | |
| 24458889 | biopsychosocial approach | an integrated perspective that incorporates biological, psychological, and social-cultural levels of analysis | |
| 24458890 | gestalt | an organized whole. Gestalt psychologists emphasized our tendency to integrate pieces of information into meaningful wholes | |
| 24458891 | psychoanalysis | Freud's theory of personality and therapeutic technique that attributes thoughts and actions to unconscious motives and conflicts. Freud believed the patient's free associations, resistances, dreams, and transferences--and the therapist's interpretations of them--released previously repressed feelings, allowing the patient to gain self-insight | |
| 24458892 | behaviorism | the view that psychology (1) should be an objective science that (2) studies behavior without reference to mental processes. Most research psychologists today agree with (1) but not with (2) | |
| 24458893 | eclectic (modern trend) approach | an approach to psychotherapy that, depending on the client's problems, uses techniques from various forms of therapy | |
| 24458894 | evolutionary psychology | the study of the evolution of behavior and the mind, using principles of natural selection | |
| 24458895 | developmental psychology | a branch of psychology that studies physical, cognitive, and social change throughout the life span | |
| 24458896 | social psychology | the scientific study of how we think about, influence, and relate to one another | |
| 24458897 | health psychology | a subfield of psychology that provides psychology's contribution to behavioral medicine | |
| 24458898 | hindsight bias | the tendency to believe after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it. (Also known as the I-knew-it-all-along phenomenon.) | |
| 24458899 | critical thinking | thinking that does not blindly accept arguments and conclusions. Rather, it examines assumptions, discerns hidden values, evaluates evidence, and assesses conclusions. | |
| 24458900 | theory | an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events | |
| 24458901 | hypothesis | a testable prediction often implied by a theory | |
| 24458902 | operational definition | a statement of the procedures (operations) used to define research variables. For example, human intelligence may be operationally defined as what an intelligence test measures | |
| 24458903 | replication | repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic finding extends to other participants and circumstances | |
| 24458904 | case study | an observation technique in which one person is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles | |
| 24458905 | survey | a technique for ascertaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of people, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of them | |
| 24458906 | false consensus effect | the tendency to overestimate the extent to which others share our beliefs and behaviors | |
| 24458907 | population | all the cases in a group, from which samples may be drawn for a study. (Note: except for national studies, this does not refer to a country's whole population) | |
| 24458908 | random sample | a sample that fairly represents a population because each member has an equal chance of inclusion | |
| 24458909 | naturalistic observation | observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation | |
| 24458910 | correlation | a measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other. the correlation coefficient is the mathematical expression of the relationship, ranging from -1 to +1 | |
| 24458911 | scatterplot | 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 suggest the strength of the correlation (little scatter indicates high correlation). (Also called a scattergram or scatter diagram.) | |
| 24458912 | illusory correlation | the perception of a relationship where none exists | |
| 24458913 | experiment | a research method in which an investigator manipulates one of more factors (independent variables) to observe the effect on some behavior or mental process (the dependent variable). by random assignment of participants, the experimenter aims to control other relevant factors | |
| 24458914 | double-blind procedure | an experimental procedure in which both the research participants and the research staff are ignorant (blind) about hwhether the research participants have received the treatment or a placebo. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies | |
| 24458915 | placebo ("I shall please") effect | experimental results caused by expectations alone; any effect on behavior caused by the administration of an inert substance or condition, which is assumed to be an active agent | |
| 24458916 | experimental condition | the condition of an experiment that exposes participants to the treatment, that is, to one version of the independent variable | |
| 24458917 | control condition | the condition of an experiment that contrasts with the experimental condition and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment | |
| 24458918 | random assignment | assigning participants to experimental and control conditions by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between those assigned to the different groups | |
| 24458919 | independent variable | the experimental factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied | |
| 24458920 | dependent variable | the outcome factor; the variable that may change in response to manipulations of the independent variable | |
| 24458921 | mode | the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution | |
| 24458922 | mean | the arithmetic average of a distribution, obtained by adding the scores and then dividing by the number of scores | |
| 24458923 | median | the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it | |
| 24458924 | range | the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution | |
| 24458925 | standard deviation | a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score | |
| 24458926 | statistical significance | a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred by chance | |
| 24458927 | culture | the enduring behaviors, ideas, attitudes, and tradishared by a large group of people and transmitted form one generation to the next | |
| 24458928 | cross-sectional study | a study in which people of different ages are compared with one another | |
| 24458929 | longitudinal study | research in which the same people are restudied and retested over a long period |
