approaches - key terms

Question 1

independent variable

Answer 1

the variable that is changed/ manipulated by the experimenter

Question 2

psychodynamic approach

Answer 2

focuses on unconscious mind processes and unresolved past conflicts as influences on behaviour

Question 3

Opportunity sampling

Answer 3

Using readily available participants at the time

Question 4

Free will

Answer 4

The idea that we can play an active role and have a choice in how we behave

Question 5

Cultural bias

Answer 5

Tendency to judge people in terms of one’s own cultural assumptions

Question 6

Validity

Answer 6

Whether a test measures what it has set out to measure

Question 7

Behaviourist approach

Answer 7

Approach that all behaviour is learned from the environment

Question 8

Ecological validity

Answer 8

How well a study’s results can be applied to real life

Question 9

Holism

Answer 9

An approach to understanding the human mind and behaviour that emphasises the interconnectedness

Question 10

Reliability

Answer 10

Refers to the consistency of measurements in which multiple investigators should get the same or similar results

Question 11

Social learning theory

Answer 11

theory that people learn through observing, imitating and modelling others behaviour

Question 12

Internal validity

Answer 12

Questions whether a researcher has measured what they set out to measure

Question 13

Beta bias

Answer 13

Ignore or minimise the differences between genders

Question 14

Dependent variable

Answer 14

The variable that the experimenter measures

Question 15

Cognitive approach

Answer 15

Focuses on how our mental processes e.g. thoughts and perceptions affect behaviour

Question 16

Random sampling

Answer 16

Where participants have an equal chance of being selected

Question 17

Soft determinism

Answer 17

All human action has a cause but people have mental control over behaviour

Question 18

Extraneous variables

Answer 18

Anything that could affect the dependent variable in which reduces internal validity

Question 19

Humanistic approach

Answer 19

Claims that human being are self-determining and have free will

Question 20

volunteer sampling

Answer 20

Where people put themselves forward

Question 21

Biological approach

Answer 21

Behaviour has a physical basis in which we must look at biological structures and processes to explain nehaviour

Question 22

Hypothesis

Answer 22

A testable statement that is a general prediction about what the researcher expects in an investigation

Question 23

Alpha bias

Answer 23

When a theory assumes that gender is profoundly different and exaggerated these differences

Question 24

Hard determinism

Answer 24

View that forces outside of our control shape our behaviour

Question 25

Reductionism

Answer 25

Understanding complex behaviours and mental processes by breaking them down into simpler components

Question 26

Ethical guidelines

Answer 26

Set of rules outlining what is and what’s not acceptable
- protection of participants, confidentiality, deception, informed consent, right to withdraw