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Psychology
Unit 1
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| nature-nurture issue | the longstanding controversy over the relative contributions that genes and experience make to the development of psychological traits and behaviors. Today's science sees traits and behaviors arising from the interaction of nature and nurture |
| applied research | scientific study that aims to solve practical problems |
| clinical psychology | a branch of psychology that studies, assesses, and treats people with psychological disorders |
| cofounding variable | a factor other than the factor being studied that might influence a study's results; random assignment controls for confounding variables |
| informed consent | giving potential participants enough information about a study to enable them to choose whether they wish to participate |
| inferential statistics | numerical data that allow one to generalize- to infer from sample data the probability of something being true of a population |
| statistical significance | a statistical statement of how likely it is that an obtained result occurred randomly |
| empiricism | the view that knowledge originates in experience and that science should, therefore, rely on observation and experimentation |
| structuralism | an early school of psychology that used introspection to explore the structural elements of the human mind |
| functionalism | an early school of thought promoted by James and influenced by Darwin; explored how mental and behavioral processes function-how they enable the organism to adapt, survive and flourish |
| natural selection | the principle that, among the range of inherited trait variations, those contributing to reproduction and survival with most likely be passed on to succeeding generations |
| psychometrics | the scientific study of the measurement of human abilities, attitudes, and traits |
| basic research | pure science that aims to increase the scientific knowledge base |
| industrial-organizational (I/O) psychology | the application of psychological concepts and methods to optimizing human behavior in workplaces |
| human factor psychology | the study of how people and machines interact and the design of safe and easily used machines and environments |
| 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 |
| psychiatry | a branch of medicine dealing with psychological disorders; practiced by physicians who often provide medical treatments as well as psychological therapy |
| Wilhelm Wundt | started the first experimental psychology lab; structuralism |
| Edward Titchener | William Wundt's student; founder of early field of psychology known as Structuralism |
| William James | Founder of early field of psychology known as functionalism; wrote first psychology textbook The Principles of Psychology |
| Intuition | an effortless, immediate, automatic feeling or thought, also known as a gut feeling or a hunch. |
| Hindsight bias | the tendency to believe, after learning an outcome, that one would have foreseen it... (I knew it along phenomenon) |
| illusory correlation | expected or suspected relationship between variables where non actually exists. |
| theory | an explanation using an integrated set of principles that organizes observations and predicts behaviors or events |
| hypothesis | A testable prediction that is often implied by a theory ("If___then_____") |
| operational definition | A clear and detailed statement about how exactly data collected from the variables will be measured; allows for accurate replication |
| replication | repeating the essence of a research study, usually with different participants in different situations, to see whether the basic findings are valid |
| case study | a descriptive technique in which one individual or group is studied in depth in the hope of revealing universal principles |
| naturalistic observation | a descriptive technique of observing and recording behavior in naturally occurring situations without trying to manipulate and control the situation |
| survey | a descriptive technique for obtaining the self-reported attitudes or behaviors of a particular group, usually by questioning a representative, random sample of the group |
| introspection | the process of looking inward in an attempt to directly observe one's own psychological processes |
| population | all those in a group being studied, from which samples may be drawn |
| random sample | a sample that fairly represents a population because each member of a target population has an equal chance of inclusion |
| correlation | A measure of the extent to which two factors vary together, and thus of how well either factor predicts the other;- often shown by naturalistic observation or surveys. |
| correlation coefficient | a statistical measure of the strength and direction of a relationship between two things (from -1.00 to +1.00) |
| variable | anything that can vary and is feasible and ethical to measure; correlation looks at the relationship between variables |
| scatterplot | a graphed cluster of dots, (which represent variables) that shows the strength and direction of relationships between variables |
| regression towards the mean | the tendency for extreme or unusual scores to events to fall back (regress) toward the average. |
| experiment | a research method in which variables are manipulated (independent variables) to observe the effect of the manipulation (the dependent variables); Only way to determine cause and effect |
| sampling bias | a flawed sampling process that produces an unrepresentative sample; cannot be generalized to a population |
| experimental group | In an experiment, the group that is exposed to the treatment, (to one version of the independent variable) |
| control group | In an experiment, the group that is not exposed to the treatment; contrasts with the experimental group and serves as a comparison for evaluating the effect of the treatment. |
| random assignment | assigning participants to experimental and control groups by chance, thus minimizing preexisting differences between groups (equalizes groups) |
| double-blind procedure | 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. Commonly used in drug-evaluation studies. |
| placebo effect | experimental results caused by expectations alone; |
| independent variable | in an experiment, the factor that is manipulated; the variable whose effect is being studied |
| dependent variable | in an experiment, the outcome that is measured; the variable that may change when the independent variable is manipulated |
| validity | the extent to which a test or experiment measures or predicts what it is supposed to |
| debriefing | the post-experimental explanation of a study, including its purpose and any deceptions, to its participants |
| descriptive statistics | numerical data used to measure and describe characteristics of groups. Includes measures of central tendency and measures of variation. |
| histogram | a bar graph depicting a frequency distribution |
| mode | the most frequently occurring score(s) in a distribution |
| mean | the average of a distribution, obtained by adding all the scores and then dividing by the number of scores |
| median | the middle score in a distribution; half the scores are above it and half are below it |
| skewed distribution | a representation of scores that is lopsided due to outliers (way-out scores) |
| range | the difference between the highest and lowest scores in a distribution |
| standard deviation | a computed measure of how much scores vary around the mean score |
| normal curve | Also called a normal distribution; a symmetrical, bell-shaped curve that describes distribution of many types of data; most scores fall near the mean (68% within 1 standard deviation) and fewer near the extremes. |
| Charles Darwin | developed the theory of evolution (basis of nature vs. nurture argument) |
| Mary Whiton Calkins | First female president of the APA |
| Margaret Floy Washburn | first woman to earn a Ph.D. in psychology |
| Dorthea Dix | Early pioneer in therapy for psychological disorders |
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