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Psych Vocabulary
vocabulary
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| psychology | the scientific study of the mind, brain and behavior |
| levels of analysis | rungs on a ladder of analysis, with lower levels tied most closely to biological influences and higher levels tied most closely to social influences |
| multiply demand | caused by many factors |
| anorexia nervosa | psychiatric condition marked by extreme weight loss and the perception that one is overweight even when one is massively underweight |
| individual differences | variations among people in their thinking, emotion, personality and behavior |
| naive reason | belief that we see the world precisely as it is |
| scientific theory | explanation for a large number of findings in the natural world |
| hypothesis | testable prediction derived from a scientific theory |
| confirmation bias | tendency to seek out evidence that supports our beliefs and deny, dismiss or distort evidence that contradicts them |
| belief perseverance | tendency to stick to our initial beliefs even when evidence contradicts them |
| metaphysical claim | assertion about the world that's not testable |
| pseudoscience | set of claims that seems scientific but isn't |
| ad hoc immunizing hypothesis | escape hatch or loophole that defenders of a theory use to protect their theory from falsification |
| patternicity | the tendency to perceive meaningful patterns in their absence |
| terror management theory | theory proposing that our awareness of our death leaves us with an underlying sense of terror with which we cope by adopting reassuring cultural worldviews |
| scientific skepticism | approach of evaluating all claims with an open mind but insisting on persuasive evidence before accepting them |
| critical thinking | set of skills for evaluating all claims in an open-minded and careful fashion |
| correlation-causation fallacy | error of assuming that because one thing is associated with another, it must cause the other |
| variable | anything that can vary |
| falsifiable | capable of being disproved |
| replicability | when a study's findings are able to be duplicated, ideally by independent investigators |
| decline effect | fact that the size of certain psychological findings appears to be shrinking over time |
| introspection | method by which trained observers carefully reflect and report on their mental experiences |
| functionalism | school of psychology that aimed to understand the adaptive purposes of psychological characteristics |
| natural selection | principle that organisms that possess adaptations survive and reproduce at a higher rate than do other organisms |
| cognitive psychology | school of psychology that proposes that thinking is central to understanding behavior |
| behaviorism | school of psychology that focuses on uncovering the general laws of learning by looking largely at observable behavior |
| cognitive neuroscience | relatively new field of psychology that examines brain functioning and thinking |
| psychoanalysis | school of psychology founded by Sigmund Freud, that focuses on internal psychological processes of which we are unaware |
| evolutionary psychology | discipline that applies Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection to human and animal behavior |
| basic research | research examining how the mind works |
| applied research | research examining how we can use basic research to solve real-world problems |
| interconnectivity | known as connectedness, belief that people can connect to their environment and other people |
| parsimony | the simplest explanation of an event or observation is the preferred explanation - suggests that all things are equal - ties into Occam's Razor and is also known as logical simplicity |
| correlate | a relationship between two variables |
| replicate | the repetition of a research study |
| empiricism | the only source of knowledge comes through our senses - founded by john locke |
| metaphysical | a type of philosophy or study that uses broad concepts to help define reality and our understanding |
| attribution bias | negative interpretations of people's behaviors |
| reciprocal determinism | a person's behavior both influences and is influenced by personal factors and the social environment |
| impingement | perception, impact or contact with a sensory receptor |
Created by:
kaitlynkolla
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